Allen Eagles

This afternoon, we went to Cowboy Stadium for the second round of Playoffs for the Allen Eagles. 

 I LOVE LOVE LOVE this stadium!

And it's a good thing we get to come here once a year to watch the high school playoffs because I would never be caught dead at an actual Cowboys game.  :)

Up to this point, the Eagles were undefeated.  Through the season...through the first playoff game against Keller Cental last week...and then...Euless Trinity High School!  These guys are seriously scary.  We lost to them last year.  There are quite a few BIG Polynesian players on their team, so they start every game with a "haka."

Haka (singular is the same as plural: haka) is a traditional ancestral war cry, dance or challenge from the Māori people of New Zealand. It is a posture dance performed by a group, with vigorous movements and stamping of the feet with rhythmically shouted accompaniment. The New Zealand rugby team's practice of performing a haka before their matches has made the dance more widely known around the world.  (Wikipedia)

Here's the Trinity Trojans' haka from a couple of years ago...

...scary, huh??  Would you want to play against those guys??

They were BIG, intimidating, and for the first quarter they kicked our butts!  But then, as usual, our family's favorite player, Andrew Rodriguez, caught a couple of great passes and finally made the first TD of the game.  

But, by the half we were still down 19-14.  

 Andrew was frustrated, but managed a little wave as he walked off the field.

The Scout Master made friends with a colorful cotton candy guy during the halftime show.

After halftime, no matter where we are, no matter what the score, we always...always kick it into gear.  I'm pretty sure that's to the band's credit because they play their heads off after the stress of the halftime show is over.  We sat next to them this time, and it was awesome.  With all the energy they produce, I think I could have even caught a couple of TD passes!  

 (that cute redhead in the middle of that percussion section is TCD's cute friend, Jeff)

Oh, how I wish I could end this post by saying that we won against these crazy scary Tongan guys, but unfortunately, we didn't.  This is how close we came...

 ...8 yards! 

The final score was 28-21

But no matter what...we still LOVE this incredible team.  They are so talented and so determined and we have loved every second of every game this season.   They have LEFT NO DOUBT in our minds that they are true champions.