Alright folks, let me walk y’all through how I put together that Waynesville High football preview against our rivals. Woke up early Tuesday buzzing ’cause this matchup’s been cooking all season.
Digging Up The Dirt First
Dragged my laptop to Pete’s Diner downtown for breakfast tacos and started digging. Pulled up last three seasons’ game footage on Hudl till my coffee went cold. Noticed something – every time their quarterback gets pressured left, he throws ducks.
- Watched every single snap from their last four games twice over
- Called Coach Henderson during his planning period – dude was chewing sunflower seeds so loud I could hear it through the phone
- Snuck into practice after school pretending to check the booster club concessions inventory
The Grind In The Bleachers
Thursday night I’m freezing my butt off in the stadium tracking formations. Our defensive coordinator spots me scribbling notes and goes “You writing spy reports now?” Made me jump clean outta my seat.
Key things I eyeballed:
- Number 33 always limps after kick returns – guy’s playing hurt
- Their left guard keeps false starting when crowd gets loud
- Waynesville’s backup QB was taking extra snaps with starters during water breaks
Putting Meat On The Bones
Friday afternoon I’m glued to my kitchen table with stat sheets everywhere. Cat knocked over my Gatorade onto the penalty yards printouts – had to use the hair dryer to save ’em. Called up my buddy who announces JV games to fact-check what I saw.
Final breakdown came down to:
- Gotta blitz left side early and often
- Make their running back turn outside where he fumbles
- If we go down by 10 before halftime, panic mode activated
Hit publish just before midnight hearing the sprinklers kick on outside. Whole process took four days, two diner meals, and one near-heart attack from Coach Henderson. But man, seeing folks arguing about my predictions in the comments? That’s why I do this.