what a V I C T O R Y

We're still on a high. It had to be the most intense, hard-fought game we've ever seen or the boys have EVER played. E V E R. We were on the edge of our seats the entire game. It was way too intense.
Here's the link to the Stars and Stripes article:
http://www.stripes.com/sports/ramstein-wins-special-teams-battle-game-1.159122

It was the first semi-final game for Europeans. A loss would have ended their season.
With the win, they get to play next Saturday night in the European Division I Championship game.

A night game in a real stadium with lights. How exciting for a crew of kids only used to playing on Saturday afternoons.

It felt like the score was tied the entire game- because it was.

For each touch down our boys made, Vilseck came back to score immediately after with huge runs on the kick off.

Those boys were quick and ran that ball. It was almost unbelievable to watch time after time after time.
In the end, it was tied at 21 with less than two minutes in the game. Vilseck went to punt and a player on our team blocked the punt, grabbed the ball then fumbled the ball, which was recovered by another player on our team on the Vilseck 5-yard line with about a minute to go. Talk about STRESS.

With about ten seconds to go, a field goal was kicked in to decide the game. With no time on the clock, the refs called a couple penalties.

With both teams down on a knee waiting to see what was up- the head ref wanted a team captain.

The crowd was silent- not even a baby crying.

NO one talking.
Justin ran out there and found out they were calling Vilseck on two penalties.

He declined the penalty- GAME OVER. We could all sigh a big sigh of relief. It was amazing.

It was beyond emotional for our kids- especially the seniors playing their last home game. I didn't get choked up until I saw Justin completely emotional. His ankle flared back up this week and we could tell he was playing in pain, but still playing with everything he had inside.

As soon as he finished his post-game interviews and he found us, he hugged his dad- not letting go for a long, long time. I think he could finally let the tears flow. It was a moment we'll treasure forever. So, so special.

Next week, the game will be live-streamed on AFN online- so it can be watched LIVE online from the states. I believe kick-off is at 5:00 or 6:00 Germany time, so mid-morning or noon in the states. I'll let you know the link when we get it!