Danny Paterson was a 7th grade boy who lived in Lansing, MI and went to Jefferson Jr. High (home of the Hurricanes). His favorite sport was football, but he had been back up quarterback for the whole season. Lance McNabb, the star 8th grade quarterback who was the coolest and most popular, was also a jerk to all the 7th graders.
It was the semi-final game, 4th quarter with 2 minutes to go. Jefferson Jr. High was down 27-21 to the undefeated Houghton Lake Chargers. The Hurricanes had the ball on their own ten yard line. Danny was on the bench and was wondering if he should quit football because it wasn’t worth it anymore. Then he decided to just watch the game. Third and seven, Lance McNabb did a rollout to the left and took off to first down marker. Then he got clobbered by the all-star linebacker Eli Woods. Lance couldn’t get up. The coach made sure he was ok and it turned out that he broke some ribs. “Danny, get in at QB,” said coach Griffin. Danny jumped up and ran out on the field and called a play. There was 45 seconds left on the clock and Danny threw a quick bullet to their star receiver Brandon Knight and it was too high. Thirty seconds left and Danny called the play. ”Pound the Rock,” is what his Dad has always told him when nothing would go well for him. Pound the rock means when you want to give up; you need to summon all your energy and be like God and the rock, meaning nothing can break you. Danny received the snap and threw a hail mary to the end zone where Brandon caught it and they won the game.
The next week at school Danny was now the most popular kid around. He wasn’t picked last in P.E. soccer, the girls would hang around him, and everyone liked him. He was so caught up in the moment that he was late to all the practices and he didn’t care.
It was the championship game, Danny started at QB, and they were against the high powered team called the Detroit Nationals. The first play of the game, Danny hiked the ball and threw an interception for a touchdown. It was the 4th quarter and Danny had yet to complete a pass with 4 interceptions and 2 fumbles. The score was 17-0 with the Hurricanes losing. All Danny could think about was how mad and tired he was. Then he remembered….. “Pound the rock, pound the rock,” and he prayed to God that he could lead his team to a win. The next play, he rolled out and ran 68 yards for the touchdown and believed that he could win. He summoned all his energy and brought them back within one point. The score stood at 21-20 with 12 seconds left and Danny had to kick it in for three points. The ball was snapped, the kick was up, and he missed. The ball was kicked too far left and they lost the game. Even though they lost Danny ran off the field as a winner.
Danny later went to the Michigan State University and was the teams’ star quarterback and won the Heisman trophy as a senior. He graduated with a degree in Animal Science and lived the rest of his life as a winner.
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