The Dancing Cardinals

There we were at McDonalds eating warm, soft, cinnamon rolls and hot chocolate to heat us up before our big game at Valley Stadium. We had played three games that day to get to this one, the 4th Grade Flag Football Championship. My team was called the Louisville Cardinals. I was thrilled and worried about whether or not we would win. The year before, we lost the Championship Game because the other team made a touchdown in the last few minutes to tie it up. The game ended in a tie, and they were given the win because they had won more games then us that year. I savored my snack, and then my teammates and I drove to the field.
When we got to the field we practiced for about 45 minutes. The ten of us and our coach had a motivating pep talk, “You guys ready?!” coach asked.
“Yeah!!” We yelled.
“We gonna win?!”
“Yeah!!”
“Are you going to play the hardest you’ve ever played?!”
“Yeah!!”
“Alright let’s get out there and kick some UCLA rear end!!”
Then we ran out onto the field and looked up and saw all the people there to watch the game. They all were snuggled up in their blankets, coats, hats, and gloves. It was a chilly 45 degrees outside. I could see my breath in the cold air. My hands were protected by gloves and my head by a hat.
The game started badly for both teams. At the end of the 1st quarter the score was tied at zero. Then UCLA came out strong in the 2nd quarter and scored two times. The score was 14-0 at halftime and our dependable quarterback Max and I were talking. He said “We should try to screw them up somehow.”
“What was that song you were singing earlier?” I asked.
“Oh, Work It Shake It?”
“Yeah, it might distract them a little bit.”
“Worth a try.”
“Hey everybody, if we’re on the sideline let’s sing Work It Shake It and pump our arms and shake our behinds to distract them.”
“Okay.” Everyone replied, with a little grin on their faces.
The 3rd quarter started and we began to sing. We worked up some momentum by singing and I scored on a short curl and out touchdown pass. The score was 14-7 at the end of the 3rd quarter. When the 4th quarter started the crowd was even singing with us.
Then Nick, our speedy running back, juked and sprinted his way to score on a 30 yard dash that tied up the game. The coach of UCLA actually cursed at one of their players for being distracted by our song and dance.The distraction was working. Now all we had to do was stop them because this time we were undefeated and had a better record. We stopped them and got the ball back with three minutes left on the clock. Then Zach, one of our fast wide receivers scored on a long bomb to seal the deal. The crowd went so crazy I couldn’t hear the snap on the next play.
Finally the ref blew the whistle. We won! 21-14. We got our 1st place trophies, and they got theirs for best sportsmanship which they shouldn’t have gotten since their coach cursed at a player. Our hard work finally paid off and we had fun with it too with all the singing and dancing. I was exhausted from playing but my adrenalin was pumping so hard that I wasn’t tired in a way. All the players and parents went to Max’s house to celebrate the win.
“We did it! It worked!” Max yelled.
“Yeah, who would’ve thought we’d win by singing and dancing.” I said.