State Semi-Finals This Freeport game against Trinity Christian reminds me a bit of the SEC championship between Florida and Alabama yesterday. The Freeport defense allowed too many runs and their offense couldn't quite get the momentum in their favor - quite like Florida. From what I saw of the game, their hopes of even winning this game basically floated away like the balloons released by the fans before the kick off. But they had a great run (as did Florida) and have something to be proud of. This is the first season that Freeport has ever gone this far in football and probably won't be their last.
Wow, even the final score: 36-14, looks similar to the SEC game: 32-13.
What are the odds?
The above photo is a blocked kick by Freeport...I sensed that one coming. (The ball is right in the middle of the picture and was believed to be blocked by either 70 or 44)
Before I finish this part of my blog, I had to post a picture of the team waiting in mid-field for the remaining seconds of the first quarter to end. Their breath looked like a cloud of smoke and was utterly funny:
Hence my blog title:
Regional Semi-Finals Two weeks prior to this past Friday, I was at Freeport once again and watched them dominate the Class 1A Regional Semi-Finals. The final score: 48-12 against Blountstown was not a shocker - at least to me - with this Freeport team truly dominating the game like they usually did most of the season. The second photo was the one published in the paper.
VIDEO from the game:
Earlier that week, I traveled to Crestview to photograph a girl's basketball game. They played the Fort Walton Beach Vikings and lost in a 49-38 season opener. I photographed Florida women's basketball once, so I was curious how the high school level would be. Turns out it was a little slower and of course a little darker in the gym than UF but was overall very similar. The first two were published in the paper:
This photo just struck me as interesting, so I put in on here for that reason:
That was the last year that the Choctaw Indians beat their archrival: the Fort Walton Beach Vikings. Going into this game with five wins in a row this season, Choctaw had more to prove and more to gain against their Viking foes. The late scoring touchdown in the four quarter tied the score with about two minutes left in the game. Freddie Gray's (#21) interception catch on the Vikings drive and a touchdown a few plays later with less than a minute left in the game gave Choctaw the seven point lead that was deemed more than memorable. When the clock ran out and the Indians secured their 17-10 win, the fans flooded onto the field and cheered with the players.
Not only did the Indians break their 5 game losing streak against FWB...
They also broke the 19-19 tie in the series and raised it to 20-19.
On a night that was more than memorable to the Choctaw Indians, I found myself celebrating (silently) for one more reason than they were...
The last time Choctaw beat Fort Walton Beach was during my senior year at Choctaw. The first time I've attended the game since that night so many years ago is the time that the team finally broke the streak. Now THAT was truly the most memorable part of the night for me.
Video footage of the game along with the celebration at the end:
To say I entered into this assignment like any other football game would be a lie. Sure, a part of me is biased toward Choctaw, but I never let my personal feelings dictate how I cover an assignment. Yeah, I did want Choctaw to win, but my job is to photograph the game and capture feature images from both sides. I wanted to gather enough footage to balance the video and images with the exception of the winning and celebrating moments. If the Vikings had won, my images would have mostly contained red and blue screaming fans and players. Instead, I received a double dosage of excitement by being able to photograph and videotape my alma mater celebrating and cheering.
The closing seconds of the game were painful, that is, they were long and dragging. The energy off of the fans behind me was radiating and contagious. I wanted to break out and join them in celebrating, but I kept my focus on the task at hand. I photographed and videotaped several eager fans cheering and chanting as they waited impatiently to storm onto the field:
Once the game was officially over and the fans gathered in the middle of the field, I squeezed through the crazy Indian fans and grabbed a few good moments on video. When I discovered where the players were converging, I ran to the front in time to catch some chanting in the video and cheering in some images:
This game was by far my favorite football game to photograph/video this entire season. Covering a Choctaw game was part of it, but the suspense, the intensity, and the last-minute game-changing plays by Choctaw in this epic rivalry made this game one of the best all season. I am thankful that the staff photographer handed me the torch for this game and entrusted me with the sole responsibility to photograph football, fan & cheerleader, and band images for both teams as well as football, fan, and celebration video footage from both sides. This was by far the most work I've put into a game this season and it worked out very well.
The band photos were a lot of fun for me and made halftime fly by fast. The color guards were in front of me the majority of the shows, so I mostly have images of them performing. Here are two images from Fort Walton Beach's marching band:
These two images are from the colorguard of the Style Marchers:
If you were to ask me how that night could have been more memorable, my mind would draw a blank. If you were to ask me what I would have done differently, I would tell you a few minor issues. But, when I look at all the plays, all the photos, all the video footage, and all the screaming fans, there really couldn't have been anything better. Sure, my video camera froze on me during the second quarter and caused me to miss a few plays, and sure the intense play-making on the field had me running back and forth like a chicken with its head cut off, but it was worth it.
On Veteran's Day I photographed the Veteran's Day Ceremony at Beal Memorial Cemetery. In the hour-long ceremony, members of our military lined the grass by the flag pole with colorful wreaths for veterans in different cities and wars. The Fort Walton Beach city wreath (pictured below) was one of the components.
The event was meaningful and sentimental, but also very predictable from a photographer's standpoint. I looked toward the crowd for some versatile images and discovered a mother holding her daughter while they sat in a lawn chair (top picture). I watched them intently and captured an image of both of them gazing up at a miniature flag. The moment doesn't tell the story of the event too well, but it adds a special touch to the overall setting. Both images were published in the daily paper as well as the Eglin Dispatch.
