Ashley's Team

It was a hot and humid, early August morning in Newark, New Jersey. Usually it is the best time of day for the early-risers, especially for Coach John Jankowski, who liked to run his daily errands before the scorching sun started to bake the concrete and asphalt of New Jersey’s largest city. Usually in the early mornings of summer the air is still fairly clean and the shadows from the trees fall across the ground. Coach Jankowski was sitting on the players’ bench just before seven a.m. looking out across the empty but beautifully manicured football field. The wonderful smell of freshly cut grass lingered in the air. The field’s green grass was offset with white lime that was used to mark the yard lines. There were brand-new orange goal posts in place. Coach turned around and smiled when he realized the cement stadium seats were sandblasted and were so clean that the early morning sun glistened off them. He thought it was about time that the city of Newark threw a few bucks toward the football team. All winter long, Coach Jankowski begged and pleaded for more money to improve the condition of the football facilities. After all, he thought, he had winning teams just about every year since he took over the team some ten years ago. The least the city could do was upgrade the conditions for a high school football team that was a favorite to win their sectional title in Essex County and, more importantly, was a contender for the number-one ranking in the newspaper poll. The Essex High School Red Demons were coming off a nine-and-two year, with most of its starters returning. Much was expected from the Essex football team, and Coach Jankowski wanted to deliver. In a week, players would report in the summer heat to begin their quest for a state championship that would take them from the oppressive heat of summer through the bitter cold of early December.

Coach, as his players called him, was pleased with what he saw, and the coaching juices were flowing. Coach Jankowski liked to come out to the field a week or two before the season and sit alone on the home bench to clear his mind and get his game plan ready for the upcoming season. Yes, this would be the most pressure he would be under as a head coach. He realized he would have to win it all if he were to satisfy the Essex fans, especially with the talent he possessed. There was a lot of young blood in town that wanted his job. Critics said that football had changed, and that as the game modernized, Coach Jankowski remained the same. His supporters pointed out that he had winning seasons just about every year, although the state championship seemed to always elude his grasp; but Essex was a power and they always played tough football. But this season would be different. Sixty-year-old Coach John Jankowski could feel it in his bones like he could feel a New Jersey thunderstorm that was on the way when his arthritic knees would begin to ache. He felt that he finally had the team that was going to be special, a team that would take him all the way to the state championship in his final year of coaching. Another nine-and-two year, a year that other schools would kill for, would not be good enough. But one thing was certain and that was that his team would be the toughest, most physically fit team in the state. They would be ready to play, and that meant they played his way.