An upset is fun when it is your team pulling it off

The clock ticked down to zero and almost no one could believe what the score board showed.

The visiting team was jumping up and down while the band played the fight song. No one had predicted this victory. 

Now many of you may be thinking I am describing Auburn’s 27-24 upset of the Georgia Bulldogs a few Saturdays ago. It may have been close to this, but I was not at the game so I do not know how Auburn’s band was treated after the contest.

I was at home stunned at the upset. That was not how I figured the game would go. But it did remind me of the upset I watched my freshman year in high school when the Baldwin Braves upset the undefeated and highly touted Warner Robins Demons.

My Braves went in to that game with a 4-2 record. That year’s season began with a 20-14 victory at home over Newton County before hosting and taking down Southwest-Macon 16-14. A trip to Macon saw Baldwin 

beat Southeast 19-0 before returning home to beat Hephzibah 21-10. At that point, I thought we had a good team. A trip to Evans in Augusta saw the Braves lose 10-0 before returning home to fall to Central-Macon 28-6. We were 4-2 with an open date. And a trip to Warner Robins was next. 

The Demons began the year at Lowndes with a 23-13 victory. They hosted Hephzibah, winning 49-6. They then took the trip to Evans where they won 33-14. Unlike Baldwin, Warner Robins destroyed Southwest-Macon 42-13. They then beat Central-Macon 28-12 and followed that by clobbering Butler 40-7.

Warner Robins was 6-0. I’m sure they were not overly concerned about Baldwin. As a freshman and member of the Baldwin Braves band, I had to travel to Warner Robins and cheer on the team on Oct. 21, 1988. 

The game was close in the first half, but try as they might, the Demons could not pull away. What I remember is Baldwin scored late to take a 15-13 lead. The Braves were able to hang on. Like a crowd of people counting down to the new year each December, the band counted down the seconds and cheered loudly when the horn went off to signal the end of the game. 

We played the fight song and booked it to the buses and got out of dodge. A year later, Warner Robins came to Baldwin. It was a hot ticket, featuring the team that beat Warner Robins the year before. 

The Demons got their revenge, beating the Braves 28-6.

In 1988, Warner Robins only had one defeat – the 15-13 loss to Baldwin. The Demons went on to a 14-1 record, taking the Class AAAA title. Baldwin loss to Butler the very next week 31-0 and the following week against Northside-Warner Robins 28-13 before edging Northeast-Macon 14-13 to finish with a 6-4 record.

I thought of this game from 1988 moments after Auburn beat Georgia. I know how it felt to be celebrating a win of this magnitude. Auburn and its fans deserved to celebrate – does not mean I totally like it – but they won.

What happened to the top-ranked Bulldogs? I do not believe they overlooked Auburn. I can say they played their worst game of this year and one of their worse games since Kirby Smart took over in 2016.

And despite that, the Bulldogs were on their way to a potential game-winning drive when the last turnover happened. 

Every weekend in the fall across this country, high schools, colleges and NFL teams line up to play each other. There is always a favorite team picked to be victorious. There is also the other team that is the underdog. They did not show up with the idea of losing that game.

They put in the work, and yes, they have all intentions of winning. And if the top-ranked team has a bad day on the field, upsets will happen.

Warner Robins High School football fans know how that felt in 1988. Georgia Bulldogs fans know how that feels now. 

The Demons responded by bringing home the top-prize. Only time will tell how the Georgia Bulldogs will respond.