Down and Set

A hometown divided never stood so tall.

Few trivialities rival the outcome of a football game, yet tonight offered no ordinary contest. The first in a continuous future promising to last so long not a soul will remember how it all started, lines were drawn between neighbor and neighbor, friend and friend.

So too was the field marked time from time, allegiance from allegiance, expectation from seldom considered expectation. Black and red dotted one side, blue and gold the other. Few knew how to feel, or at least how to feel strongly. Yet, each one did.

A time will come for cheering for the one and casting down the other. At least for some it will. But that night is not this night. This night, washed clean by the cold September rain needed more than anything else in this bruised town, there were only proper respects for both teams.