The Hometown Legend
By: Jerrry B. Jenkins
Pages 130-301 (of 301)

This week, I finished the second half of Hometown Legend. When we last left off, the championship coach of the old high school football team of Athens City, Alabama returned after leaving for more than 10 years when his son died during a game. The coach is very tough and kicked more than 37 players off the football team because they were too weak (mentally). This didn’t set well with the parents. The team, though smaller, went on to win their first game in a long time. Seven days away from the championship game, their star quarterback, Elvis, sprained his wrist and could not play. Things started going badly for the rest of the team. The next few days were rough on the players but somehow they managed to make it to the play-offs. During the first half of the game, they were losing 27-0. But during the second half, they scored 39 points because they had more spirit, heart and pride. During halftime, the coach had given the team members the award-winning jerseys from 10 years ago. The star quarterback received the jersey of the coach’s dead son.

I wonder if the team members felt proud when they wore those old jerseys. I wonder how the star quarterback felt wearing the jersey of the dead coach’s son. He probably felt really special because the coach’s son had been the best on the team. It must have been very difficult for the coach to do that. I can’t imagine how thrilling it was for the players to go from getting creamed during the first half of a game, to completely turning the game around the second half. Though the Athens City Crusaders didn’t win the championship, they came together as a team and made the town proud. I’m sure that is a memory that will last a lifetime. This book relates to me because I like football. The Super Bowl starts in three weeks and my family is planning to watch it. Though I have never played football, I like to cheer and eat snacks during a game. I would give this book a 4-1/2 out of 5. I recommend it to anyone that likes reading about football.