The Road to the Georgia Dome

(Note:  I wrote this back in mid-December, but I'm just now finishing the post!  Just thought I'd mention that, since some of my timing references might not make sense otherwise!)

Wow!  I have been completely absent from the blogging world for the a LONG time!! Our busy season escalated even more over the past month or so with the incredible experience of Landmark making it to the state championship game!  Everything that possibly could got put on the back burner, so, needless to say, there have been no blog updates!  Glad to be getting back in the swing of things, and thought it was only fitting that this post include some updates and pictures from the last couple of weeks of the playoffs, and specifically the Dome!

The absolute best group of coaches around!
Unity starts here, and these guys are incredible leaders!

 This little 4-seed team out of Fairburn, GA just went on a ride that these young men (and their coaches) will never forget!  We were the underdogs for 6 straight games in a row.  We had to win the last regular season game (on the road) to even make the playoffs.  Needless to say, that was a huge win, and from there we took it one week at a time.  As one of our coaches put it, we went on a "tour of Georgia"   From Norcross to Rome, from Savannah to Augusta, to McDonough, and finally to Atlanta at the Georgia Dome, week after week these guys took everyone by surprise.  We played our last home game somewhere around mid-October!  Landmark is the 4th smallest school in the state of Georgia to even compete in football, and here these guys were just doing what they do, week after week with great confidence, unity, and focus.  This group of young men was able to grasp the concept their coaches stressed to them from the beginning of the season...we play for the front of the jersey, not the back. It's not about me.  It's about honoring our Lord and loving our brothers more than ourselves.  Kenny and the other coaches asked these players from week one of the season, "If you could win a state championship but NO ONE gets ANY individual glory, would you still want it? "  Well, these guys proved that they did, and not just with their mouths, but with everything in them.  It was an awesome thing to watch and be a part of.  It was an incredible thing for our own boys to get to experience alongside them, looking up to them.

Ajani, David, Joshua, and Bryant...all coaches' sons and waterboys for the team..
what a crew!!!

It all came down to the Georgia Dome last Saturday, and with 5 minutes left in the game, Landmark was trailing only 6-3...NOT a situation Savannah Christian had been in before.  They had solidly beaten all of their opponents throughout the season, and even in the playoffs. In fact, they only had one game that was even close through the entire season. This was Savannah's 3rd year straight to the championship game, and they were undefeated when they met Landmark at the dome.  Many across the state even referred to them  as the "University of Savannah", because of how huge and athletic their boys are! Our guys went out there and gave those boys the game of their life.  In the end, Savannah came out ahead and we came in second...they beat us, and I'd be lying to say that didn't stink, because it did!  Ofcourse, if you're going to play a game, you play to win...no shame in that.  However, these young men and coaches had no need to hang their heads.  They had just made Landmark history. They played with all of their hearts and left nothing behind.  They forever will tell stories to their own kids and grandkids about the season they made it to the dome and how amazing that journey was.  They will recall incredible friendships that only grew more and more solid throughout this season because of all they went through and accomplished together.  They will remember their coaches who helped build them into the men they one day will be by spending day after day, hour after hour coaching them, teaching them, and mentoring them through this little game called football. 

One reminder Kenny gave the guys at the team meal the night before the dome, and he and his coaches always discuss at the beginning of each season is this...He said, " 'What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his soul?'   What will it profit anyone if we win a state championship, but any one of you were to lose your very soul? What would it even matter?  If I lead you to a state championship game, but don't lead you to the One who saves your soul and gives you life, I have failed you as a coach.  Don't ever forget that.' "  Just a glimpse into what makes Landmark football different...building men in a way that matters.

sure hate this is blurry, but here's a shot from Caleb's ipod before the game in the dome.
Love these fellas!!!


**I do want to give a big congratulations to my sweet husband for winning the Coach of the Year Award for all divisions (Single A through 5A) for Fulton County (Atlanta area) and the Associated Press Single A Coach of the Year for the entire state of Georgia!  I love you, Kenny Dallas!!!  You ARE the real deal!  God's word says in Luke 6:40, "When a student is fully trained he will be like his master."  These young men who have been trained under Coach Dallas and these other incredible coaches, this year and in the years before, have so much potential for impacting this world for the kingdom of God it overwhelms me.  They have been so blessed to have this kind of example and influence in their lives, and all I know is that the Lord has big plans for each of them in the future. Love all of you boys!!!