My alma mater competed in the state football championship tonight. Thanks to Fox Sports Southwest, I was able to watch the game online. Thanks to Facebook and Twitter I was able to watch it with fellow alumni, as we all screamed at our computer screens. Jumped up and down. And scared our children (literal for most of them, my cat just stayed far far away).

My Cameron Yoemen lost by 6 points in the last 30 seconds of a game that Hollywood could not have scripted. This game was what Texas High School football is all about. My friend told me via text that this game would be better than any collegiate or NFL game I’d watched all year…

…she was right.

I have always been proud of my alma mater. A school with family history. A school whose traditions so mirrored my college’s that the transition from one to another was seamless. But over time, I’d forgotten. I’d forgotten the adrenaline of a great high school football game. I’d forgotten the pride my school has. I’d forgotten how I am forever a Cameron Yoemen, with a loyalty that I find is hard to find in schools here in Tennessee. (Oh there’s a school pride, so no Nashvillians hang me for saying that. There’s just an almost rabid quality to it back home. There is a reason all the football movies made are set in Texas.)

I found myself glued to the computer screen, literally yelling and cheering for my team. I could hear the band play and found myself chanting old cheers along with the cheerleaders. I was 18 again for awhile.

To any Cameron Yoemen who might stumble upon this blog: HOLD YOUR HEAD HIGH. What I watched tonight was the most incredible high school football game I’d ever witnessed. You’ll be back next year, fighting for that state title again. You played an incredible game, an incredible season. I wish I could have been in that high school parking lot in front of the athletic building, right along side dozens of other Yoe fans and alumni, welcoming you back home after a long ride back. You probably spent the ride going over the, “Coulda, woulda, shouldas” but they do no good now. No, now you need to bask in the glow of the best season this school has had in thirty years.

Congratulations, Yoemen. You did the whole Yoe Nation proud… you played an amazing game. Amazing. And when I come home at Christmas, I WILL be getting myself Yoemen swag to wear proudly around Music City… Because you have reminded me of a part of my roots I’d “forgotten” about, a part that I am ready to tell anyone who asks about.

GO BIG YOE!