This isn’t the article I’m supposed to write. This isn’t what I wanted to write.

What I want to write is an article full of the words “congratulations,” “Bailey,” “touchdown,” “back-to-back,” “celebration,” “Twitty,” “Hodge,” “Chapman.”

It would be easy — relatively speaking, of course — to write the facts; the big plays, the statistics, the quotes. It would be easy to keep myself out of it, but what I experienced down on the field at Williams Brice Stadium alongside my Chapman Panthers was much more than the final score.

The score has something to say, but not everything. The score is about Chapman football, their dedication to the game, the endless days of practice and who played better for those three hours. On the field Saturday, I experienced something that surpasses the score, all the numbers and hard data.

I experienced a coaching staff and a group of players that focus on more than wins and losses. A team that focuses on each other, above all.

I experienced the Chapman Panthers.

I don’t know much about football, but I know we started out rough. The players were “letting emotions get the best of (them)” as head coach Mark Hodge put it. On the sidelines, you could feel it, the shakiness and anxiety.

During the game, I walked up and down the sidelines, alone as the one Prowl representative. I was an uncomfortable outsider, carrying a pen, a notepad and a limited amount of football knowledge.

I didn’t — and still don’t — know all of what happened during the game, at least not in technical terms. What I do know is that as I walked, I felt the energy from the players as they looked their coaches in the eyes and made the decision to push back against Dillon.

Every player looked to another, not degrading and asking why they weren’t playing harder, but with encouragement.

A team, all with the same stream of thought: one goes down and we all go down alongside him.

That intensity showed in the second quarter. Down 21-0, the team decided it wasn’t quite ready to end the season.

By this point, I had moved into the student section, and as our Chapman Panthers pushed back, it got a little louder, and the students’ spirits went up with the players.

I had moved to the student section because I felt alone on the sidelines, and I wanted to be back surrounded by my people. Or so I thought.

What I quickly realized was that I wanted nothing more than to be back around the boys, around this large collective heart made up of individual players, whose love for the game, for each other and for the school led them to 21 unanswered points and a shot at a second-straight 3A state championship.

As I approached the crowd of reporters gathered around waiting for Hodge to throw out credit to Bailey, Twitty and Phongstat, Hodge quickly clarified the reasoning behind Chapman’s 21 point comeback.

“It’s all the God-given ability,” Hodge said. “Everyone always counts Him out of it, but it’s all Him.”  

Shortly after I got this quote, I, along with everyone in the stands, realized senior quarterback Colton Bailey had taken off his equipment. A little while later, his arm, the one that put the Panthers on the board in that miraculous second quarter, was in a sling.

Bailey’s look of devastation, his eyes filled with tears, hurt — it hurt me, hurt his teammates and hurt his fans. No one was mad. Everyone was hurt for this star, this terrific player and terrific person who would spend the last two-quarters of his high school football career on the sidelines.

And then Bailey walked over to backup quarterback Mikele Colasurdo, put his arm on his shoulder and spoke words of encouragement to him.  

“I told him the score is 0-0 and all you have to do is go win this half and bring home this state championship,” Bailey said. “I reminded him that he’d been preparing for something like this for two years. I made sure he knew I believed in him. He had this, and then he went out.”

This moment served as a transition, not just from quarterback to quarterback in this game but from the past to the future. Bailey had brought his team to Columbia twice. It was time to pass the torch.

His encouragement was felt all across the orange and blue side of Williams-Brice Stadium.

Everyone in Inman wanted a win, and every player shed tears over the hard loss on Saturday. Seniors kept their helmets on while they shook hands with Dillon, realizing once they took it off, it wouldn’t be going back on.

We lost, and it was rough.

But the score wasn’t everything and never will be for our Chapman Panthers. The town still gathered in downtown Inman afterward, celebrating every accomplishment, broken record and memory made this season.

For Chapman High School and its fans, it’s about more than just football.

“It’s easy for you to show up when you win the last game,” Hodge said at the town gathering. “But when things happen like it did tonight, for you to still show up, it really means more. These boys will always look back later in life and see how much you all mean to them.”

However, it’s not only the boys that will always look back and remember that moment.

It’s the entire student section that cheered the boys on through a state championship win and a subsequent 14-game winning streak.

Panthers, you took us all to Williams Brice, twice. Win or lose, you made memories that will never be forgotten.

I know I will never forget the energy I felt while on that field and the way our players held their heads high with pride and grace even as the game slipped away.

Thank you, Panthers. Congratulations on a well-deserved, outstanding season.

I may not know a lot about football, but I know I stood alongside a truly special team that day. Thank you, Panthers, for letting me share this experience with you all.