Tale of Two Halves

A photo taken early in a sporting event, one that at the time looks so great, often ends up being almost thrown away because the tide's turned and the play pictured no longer figures to be as good in the end.

For the entire first half of the Montville-St. Joseph class SS state title game it looked like, despite a sputtering offense, the Indians might very well prevail over their down-state opponent on the strength of their defense. On this play I had positioned myself behind the line of scrimmage hoping to focus on the defensive efforts of the Montville line. I was rewarded when Tyler Girard-Floyd came off his blocker and had an open shot at St. Joseph quarterback Joe Della Vecchia.

Girard-Floyd came up from the sack in full jubilation and I had the entire play recorded in photos. At halftime, with Montville leading 3-0, I sent this photo back to the office to be posted with the update on the Web site. By the end of the third quarter though, Montville had fumbled away several good scoring drives and the St. Joseph offense had found a rhythm.

The emotion of the moment I'd recorded was no longer the story of the game and my photo was doomed from ever seeing print or prominent play on the Web.