After reading JJ McDowell’s piece (Insider, Oct. 4) I got to thinking about football at a young age and how I share a lot of the same thoughts and feelings that he does. Football has led me to some of my best friendships in life, and some of the greatest memories that I have had. As I said in my previous post, I am now engaged and with all of the planning underway it has come to my attention that everyone on my side of the wedding party are friends that I grew up with, a couple of them are guys that I met for the first time playing football. Including myself four of us played Pop-Warner together for the Putnam Redskins.

I think every young kid playing Pop-Warner dreams that they will one day become a Heisman trophy winner and go on to play in super bowls. I remember being at that age and how fun it was to dream that one day I would play in the N.F.L.

When I started playing football at age eight I remember nothing being more important than winning. Although that feeling has stayed with me, I do understand that sometimes you don’t win them all. I mention this because my nephew Shawn Jr. is in his first year of tackle football playing for the same team that my brother Shawn and I played for. He is at that age when kids cry after losses, and walk around telling everyone that they will be a professional football player when they get older. He just recently told me that if I don’t want to be a cop that I can drive his limo for him when he makes the N.F.L. (how nice of him) Last week he called me right before my game to let me know that he scored his first touchdown.

We are approaching the half way point of our season and for the first time in school history we sit undefeated at 4-0. This past week we got a huge divisional win against Bridgewater State College who came into the game ranked one spot ahead of us at #2 in the New England D III football poll. With the win on Saturday we moved up to #2 — the school’s highest ranking.

A steady effort by the offense and a great game from the defense was crucial in stopping Bridgewater’s high powered offense. Dee Whitehead had a big day for the defense coming up with a fumble return for a TD, and also a pick late in the game that sealed the win. The game had a little extra hype as a couple of Bridgewater’s players were very vocal in the papers in the week leading up to the game. The win put us atop the division with Maine Maritime who we will square off with in two weeks.

This week we are back on the road as we travel to Beverly, Mass., for a showdown with Endicott College. We are preparing as best we can right now trying to deal with some injuries as I’m sure every college team is by now. A concern for us as always when we go on the road is whether or not we will make it there. The last time we traveled one of our buses broke down and caught on fire. As long as nothing happens that prevents us from getting to the game on Saturday it should be a great game between two very good teams.

My earliest memories of football all trace back to backyard football with my friends from back home in Crystal Lake, IL. No matter the weather we were out there playing everyday right after school, and if you couldn’t make it, you better have had a pretty good excuse or else the next day of school was a living nightmare. No one came to watch us and there were certainly no camera crews around, but the passion we experienced together for those two hours exceeded the fulfillment any newspaper clipping could have temporarily provided.

This grueling game has taught me some lifelong lessons and it has introduced me to some lifelong friends. The game of football was a key factor in my path towards Augustana College and it has allowed me to be acquainted with the ‘backyard’ atmosphere that division III football brings. I don’t play in front of tens and thousands of people every Saturday, you won’t find me in the 2005 edition of NCAA Football for Playstation 2, nor did I get a full scholarship, but that is fine with me because I am playing the game I love with friends and coaches I care about.

That said, my teammates and I took a good initial step on the opening day of CCIW play as the Vikings of North Park bussed through 150 miles of corn to take us on in Rock Island. North Park got my adrenaline flowing as they stepped onto our field with a little swagger being 3-0 for the first time in quite a while. They approached the game with a different emotion than previous North Park teams and because of that alone, I think they will pick up a conference victory this year. However, last Saturday we jumped out to a 19-0 lead by the start of the second quarter, and again, our defense and ground attack rode with the momentum. The defense was lead by Tom Anthony and his three interceptions as Aaron Kuzniar led all Augie ball carriers with 146 yards on 15 carries. As the final seconds ticked away the scoreboard read 50-6 in our favor, but walking away from this game, we are completely aware that there are many things we need to improve upon in the following weeks to become a better football team.

Holding that thought, we travel to Kenosha, WI in week 6 to face the defending conference champions and the number 16 team in the nation, Carthage College. Returning 10 of 11 starters on defense from that conference championship team a year ago, our offense is up for the steepest challenge yet this year which should make for quite a game. As we strive to improve week to week we know that we must have a strong and productive string of practices leading up to an emotional game this Saturday at 6:00 pm under the lights. There won’t be tens and thousands of people in Kenosha on Saturday night, but you can surely bet that the intensity between the lines will match any other big game in the nation on any other football field … or backyard.