I arrived home from my beach vacation in time to catch the East Limestone-Russellville football game tonight. It was a fight for inches. Twice East Limestone ate up inches of gridiron while running back kick-off returns. A punter mishandling a snap placed East inches from the goal line and a quick TD.
Closing out the third quarter with the lead, East Limestone tried to run the ball to take time off the clock. A fumble put Russellville in position to tie the game. My friend Hilton, who is pregnant, said the suspense was going to make her start having contractions.
A field goal put East back on top with seconds remaining, but Russellville gained ground on its last possession until an interception appeared to clinch it for East. A penalty took those hard earned inches away, and Russellville went sprinting for the end zone on the next play only to lose a bobbled ball which was intercepted by East and taken to its end zone. East won 37-28.
I am not a graduate of East Limestone. I am a Mustang, and graduate of Loretto High School in Tennessee.
But East Limestone has become my adopted school inch by inch. One of my best friends - Jennifer Janzen, aka Miss Sam, became band director, so I began to meet the students and parents when I helped out or came to see the band perform. That put me inches closer to having a "home" school in Limestone County.
When I got a job at the Athens paper, I covered East for sports. The late Coach Cav let me cover the games from the sidelines, which I preferred over the press box. I just had to promise to stay out of his way and not quote some of the more colorful outbursts he made during the game. That moved me a few more inches toward a favorite Limestone team.
As time went on, the principal, Coach Black, adopted me as a fan. I know where to park, where to sit and what to cheer. I can't walk to the concession stand without stopping every few feet to talk to folks I know. Once I reach the concession stand, I know what to eat to add a few inches to my waistline (thank you deep fried Twinkies and deep fried Snickers).
That's how, inch by inch, I've found myself Lovin' it in East Limestone.
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