Down, Set, Hut!

 I knew that Jackson had been playing football for a very long time.  I didn't quite realize that it all started four years ago in the summer of 2015.  He was blessed with a crazy talented team and they won the championship that very first season. Flag Football champs!

Go Warriors!  We had no idea that this would be the start of something huge.

The following fall, Coach Allan took over and they became the Cowboys. 
My little #12 was the cutest football player I'd ever seen.

He led these kiddos to another championship.  They were so much fun to watch!

Jackson was the quarterback and did a fantastic job the entire season.

These kids won by huge margins almost every game.  

Jackson was blessed with amazing receivers and he had an incredible arm, too.

He always had plenty of fans at his games...

and we loved watching him continue to earn those 1st place trophies.

The wins kept coming, even after the boys started playing a year up.

And his loyal fans were there for the ride, too!

This continued for years, but then the team split up, and we thought that Jackson had probably played his last football game.  Not so fast, though.  The last week of 6th grade, the head coach for football at his school called his dad.  The conversation went something like this: "Mr. Hays, we'd really like for Jackson to play quarterback next year for MMS.  I've seen him play during P.E. and he's really good."  After much discussion, we decided to let him try it out.  This time it was for real football--pads, helmets, boys trying to tackle my child and smash him into the ground.  Oh my!

Before we knew it, the day of the first scrimmage was upon us.  Coach Woodyard told the boys to come to school in their best dress clothes.  Goodness, I know he's my son, but he's so handsome!  All day I was just worried sick.  My stomach hurt, and I may or may not have cried a few times.  I just couldn't shake the thought of how much he might get hurt, and how much pressure playing quarterback would entail.  He was cool, calm, and collected, though.

So many students stayed after school to watch the boys play.  Jackson probably had the most fans--all four grandparents, both sisters, a cousin and his dad and I were there to support him.

Let's do this, boys.

First play of the game, and Jackson threw a touchdown to Blake!  What a way to kick things off!

The game continued to go well, and his offensive line held strong.

On one play he had to scramble.  Turns out, this boy can run!

Go, Jackson, go!  He got the first down, but got tackled really hard at the end of the run. 
But he survived!  Whew!

He threw another touchdown pass with this big kid all up in his face.  Go Jackson!

After the game was over, the boys were all smiles.

They all did so good!

Maybe I can get used to being a football mom after all.

Shoot, who are we kidding? 
If this kid is doing it, I'll be there cheering for him every step of the way. 
I've got much love for my QB 1.
Go Mavericks!