Going for Two and the Providence of God

Which one do you choose?

We ran into our second strong team in game two. Well coached and brimming with veteran play makers, Lexington Christian really took it to us in the first half.

We limped into our locker room down 28-6.

You have to realize the significance of this. Last year, we had a similar experience against Father Ryan. We were stuffed and stymied and I stood outside our locker room and did something very out-of-character for me. I said to our coaches, "it will be a miracle if we get back in this". We went out the 2nd half that game and gave a very lackluster performance and was pummeled.

A couple of my coaches were not happy with my lack of fight and finish, and they were right. I was their leader and showed a lot of doubt and weakness in that situation.
After that night- I vowed to never seem so hopeless ever again.

Fast forward to last night. I thought about that as I walked toward the locker room.

Now believe me when I say that a lot of times, we all give 'coach talk' that is somewhat cliche' and you wonder if it even sinks in.

I looked at our players- we were pretty roughed up. We had icebags and long faces everywhere.

I basically said that we had two choices- we could do like most people did, go out and lay down, get drummed and start over next week- OR we could decide to go out swinging with everything we had.

We chose option B-

I love the way we picked it up and played opportunistic in the 2nd half.

Two good punts flipped the field twice- two big turnovers, and a blocked punt later- we pulled it to 28-21 with about 6 minutes left.

We still struggled and had to punt, but pushed them deep with about 4 minutes to go. 3 and out... they punted and we started at midfield with 3:25 left.

We drove it down, overcoming two 4th down conversions and pushed it across the goal line with 31 seconds remaining.

Now my decision- go for 1 or 2?

I chose option B.

There are a couple of reasons I made that call, and it would not be appropriate to address it all here.

But.... the pass fell short.... game over.... 28-27.

It hurts to lose those. I mean a deeeep huurt! I spent a good part of that evening reviewing the call and the communication. There are a couple of things I definitely would have done differently- but I still would go for 2 knowing why I made that decision.

Where does God's sovereignty fit in that picture? Theologians have been debating this issue for centuries.

I do know this- when I look at my response 1 year ago vs Father Ryan and my response last evening in a similar circumstance- I know this... God is changing me. He uses the hard road and pain as a teacher. I am even better after last night because of some lessons I learned.

Finally, I am still so proud of my team. They have fought like warriors the last two weeks.

The team we lost to last week was ahead 50-0 at halftime last night against a 5A Tennessee team..

We lost to the likely A and AA Kentucky state champions the last two weeks- it's time to move into our region play and see what we have.

All I can say is... I am very confident...we will be ready.