HIGH POINTS FROM EL CAMINO REAL
CHRIS DAVIS elcaminoreal@consolidated.net
Folks along El Camino Real are finally settling down a bit after all the excitement on Saturday. Our Alto Yellowjacket football team brought home their second Class A Division 1 football state championship trophy by defeating the Seymour Panthers with a score of 22- 0 in Midlothian. If you don't want to read about some great kids and some great coaches then you probably threw away four bits' this week.

Last year when the Alto Yellowjackets brought home the very first football state championship in Cherokee County history, folks in Alto were so proud they were almost bursting. We lost some great guys to graduation last year and many folks, including myself, figured that we would have a rough time pulling off a repeat of that season. Thank goodness our coaches and kids didn't have that attitude. They just reloaded the empty spots with new faces and practiced hard for the upcoming season. We have had some really good players, but altogether they made up a great team that supported each other.

We faced some pretty awesome opponents and it seemed at every game we were thinking we could be looking at the end of our winning streak. I'd ask Clayton Scott every week if we were going to make it and he always gave me the same answer: "We got it, Fat Boy, don't worry!" I kept on worrying right into the playoffs. I was even worried when the "Back-2-Back" Tshirts went on sale. I guess I just like to worry.

After we defeated Granger, we had to take on the winner of the Seymour and Sunray game. If Sunray had won then we'd have to go all the way to Wichita Falls for the championship. So I cheered for Seymour, so we could play in Midlothian because I figured it would be warmer. I didn't worry too much because I had bigger problems. My mother-inlaw, Juanita Holcomb, informed me that she was the only person left in Alto last year during the state championship and that I would be taking her to the game. We all figured that we could handle the cold if we didn't have to deal with the rain like we did at the Groveton game. On Saturday morning we headed up to the gym about 8 a.m. for a pep rally before the boys left on the charter bus. A big bunch showed up to cheer the boys on and it took my mind off of having to go pick up the mother-in-law. When we got to my mother-in-law's house she came outside in a snow white coat with a fur collar around the hood. (They don't always wear black and have pointy hats, the real ones wear all sorts of different things.) She told me that she didn't want to get her coat dirty. When I turned onto Hwy 287 in Elkhart, she said I was slinging her all over the back seat and that she was going to get the swimmy head. I just kept driving. We stopped at Chili's to eat in Corsicana and the wind was blowing so hard that the pansy plants were breaking off in the flower beds and blowing across the parking lot. We made it inside - then she made me take her white coat back out to the car because she didn't want it to get dirty. When I went back outside with the coat I remember thinking that Hell was supposed to be hot. Then she said that I was rushing her while she ate. I looked around to make sure that anyone who knew the Heimlich maneuver minded their own business in case there was trouble.

When we arrived at the game the wind hit us when we opened the door and I thought that it cut me in two. We grabbed everything warm and headed into the game. All of Alto and half of East Texas was there, but you couldn't tell who anyone was because they were so wrapped up. Some folks who had been holding off a bathroom stop ran into the stadium restrooms in coveralls and velcro-attached gloves and frantically fumbled with zippers. You can't ask for help with your zipper in a restroom, no mater how cold it is. It's just not done. Outside the wind was blowing so hard that hats would fly off of people's heads like bottle rockets and shoot into the sky and out of the reach of its wearer. We finally got seated and prepared to watch our Yellowjackets battle for the championship. I looked down at the mother-in-law and she looked almost comfortable in her white coat with the fur-trimmed hood. She is no spring chicken(more of an albatross, I'd say), but she was making it pretty well. I looked down in the stands and saw my little nineweek old cousin Ross Davis wrapped up in several blankets. He didn't stay long but he can say that he saw Alto win a state championship. We aren't all crazy, we just love our Yellowjackets and support them all the way.

The boys played a grueling game in the frigid wind. They weren't able to show the Seymour Panthers all their fancy moves but they were still able to show them more than they wanted to see. When the Panthers punted the football into the air and the wind caught the ball and sent it six yards behind the kicker, I knew the game was over. When the final whistle blew we poured onto the field to congratulate our boys. The cold didn't seem so bad when it was mixed with the warm tears and hugs. We picked up the mother-in-law on our way back through the stands and headed our halffrozen bodies for Alto.

The town began filling up with folks around 9:45 p.m. and the crowd grew in anticipations of our team's return. The charter bus was led into town by the police and fire trucks with sirens blaring. Cheerleaders led the crowd in cheers and everyone pressed the panic buttons on their key rings. Horns blew and lights flashed to celebrate our boys' return. The charter bus stopped in front of the Dollar Store in the middle of town and the boys stepped off the bus with their state championship trophy.

It just doesn't get any better than this, until next football season that is. Spring is just around the corner and the Alto Yellowjackets will be reloading for a three-peat. The Yellowjackets will start next year with a 28 game winning streak - just seven wins away from a Class 1A state record. Congratulations to the Alto Yellowjackets for bringing back-to-back state championships home to Alto and Cherokee County.

If you want to know the technical stuff you better read what the sports writers have to say. We've got great kids, great coaches and some of the best fans in the world. A special thanks to our seniors for the joy you have brought as we've watched you play. I'll see ya next week!

And remember, Life's battles don't always go to the stronger or faster man. But sooner or later, the man who wins is the man who thinks he can. - Vince Lombardi.