I was given sideline access for the State Championship game between Northwest High School in Wichita vs. Mill Valley High School in Shawnee, Kansas. It was played at a neutral site about equidistant for each team in a University site for Pittsburg State University, about 155 miles away. My team was Northwest win the all-white and they started off badly, two fumbles after they had a 4 play 80-yard drive to go-ahead 7-0. The end of the first quarter had Northwest in a hole, 21-7. The teams played evenly from then on with Northwest having tied the game at 31 all and had the ball but penalties and a third down and three pass play caused them to have to kick and Mill Valley ended up with a win. I shot all but one game this year and the team ended up 12-1. My wife and I have been very attached to the young men on this team and she gets a hug before the game from many of the seniors and she was the one to comfort an injured player at Sub-State. I will miss the seniors who will go on to better things but will always hope for the best for them. The game started at 1:00 and the lighting was harsh but who could complain since it was 60 degrees out during the game and then winter hit an hour or so after the game and we got cold and very strong winds. Here are a couple of photos taken with the M-1, 50-200mm 2.8/3.5. The first one is the obligatory chest bump between a player and the Quarterback who had just had a keeper for 50 yards. The second was the after point attempt by the other team that failed after the game was tied. Kids got up very high for this one and did not block but altered the trajectory. Much easier shooting with sunlight but I missed my shooting partner, my wife, who was doing a holiday family photo shoot and a wedding later in the day.
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