JUST KNOCK THE BALL DOWN DAMMIT

It’s not Plano East/John Tyler, but nothing is or ever will be. But damn if Gonzaga/DeMatha from Maryland’s Washington Catholic Athletic Conference playoffs isn’t at least a cousin or even sibling of high School football’s most mind-boggling finish.

Gonzaga did that after entering the fourth quarter down 33-21, scoring three TDs in the last three minutes of the game to say alive. High school football seems like high school drugs: Unregulated, dangerously unbalanced, and with very high highs and very, very low lows.

Oh, but there are lessons here. Watching DeMatha celebrate what they thought was a game-winning kick for a solid minute? And then seeing that all evaporate in an instant, thus giving a crowd full of young people a harsh lesson all at once with maximum efficiency? That lesson being “never celebrate anything, ever, especially if there is time on the clock, because what’s waiting for you on the other side is so much worse than you could have possibly imagined?”

That’s important to learn, and we’re just glad they all got to learn it together. This is something a lot of college fans learn early and learn well. For instance: Indiana Football Fans might even suggest waiting several days just to be sure. This seems prudent and smart for anyone, but most especially for Indiana football fans. We don’t know how you’re all not dead from despair or why you keep going, but we admire you for it nonetheless.