It's weird how I am always thinking about a movie when I try to write a column. The number of times I have watched The Wizard of Oz is fairly high - my almost 8-year old niece, Grace, can quote and sing everything in the movie. Just to live in Munchkinland for a day and represent the Lollypop Guild. Wow. But, that is what dreams are made of. Well, such is the stuff of dreams in life and sports as well. When practicing _______ (fill in the blank with any sport), you are always thinking about what you will do if you get the last second shot. Or the last chance to run the ball. Or the last at bat. The last pitch. The last set. The last spike. The last 20 meters to catch another runner. The last putt to win a conference championship. Each and every sport - each and every athlete - will always have 'a moment'. On CBS every March, after the Mens National Championship game in basketball has ended, they play a song called One Shining Moment. It gets to me every year, in an emotional way. Some of the emotion because it is a cool song. The rest of the emotion is because Iowa has never, nor will they in my lifetime (more than likely), have the chance to get that one moment. So how is it that in West Branch on the football field - it seems every game, every season, has 'that' moment. For the Bears of 2010, I think it happened on Friday, October 22nd at 9:38pm. And, it came at the hands and feet of one of the youngest members of the varsity squad. With the Bears on the comeback trail, the Yellow Brick Road if you will, it seemed a big miracle needed to happen. The comeback trail, or YBR, was long traveled on Friday. In fact, from the beginning of the first quarter until near the completion of the game, West Branch found itself trying to find a heart. a brain. a home. the noi-ve. And, suddenly, here comes THE BOOM! To clarify, West Branch was trailing the North Cedar Knights 21-0 through 32:00 of play. Being manhandled up and down the field. One touchdown by senior tailback Travis Maher. Knights 21, Bears 7. Then, WB kicker Brandon Young pulled out his spin wedge shoes and used a Pro-V1 football to get the ball to land at the Knight 12 yard line and immediately bound back toward his teammates. One teammate, Jake Sheyko, jumped on the loose ball. Young would then scamper 20 yards for a second WB touchdown. Knights 21, Bears 14. And then..... Sophomore running back/defensive end Cade Jones has always been known as a kid with speed. He is also one of the most pure and kind kids I have ever encountered in my years of being in West Branch. I have never heard a rude word as it pertains to Cade. He usually has a smile on his face. A selfless, humble kind of kid. The Bears football team seems to be full of those each and every year. So, good things can happen and should happen for good people like that. 9:38pm (at the 10:42 mark of the fourth quarter): The Knights are set up to punt. Just before the snap to punter Jordan Hay, a shuffle from right side linebacker to left rush end by Jones. The snap. The rush by Jones. The clear lane to the punter. And then, the BOOM! Well, two booms. One, the boom of the ball off of Hay's right foot. The second, the BOOM of the blocked punt off of Jones' two hands. 9:39 (at the 10:32 mark of the fourth): Jones finishes what he started by recovering the loose ball at the 12 yard line of North Cedar. 9:41 (at the 9:42 mark of the fourth): West Branch fullback Eli Elliott rumbles up the middle and crosses the goal line. Knights 21, Bears 21. And the to think we are just getting started. The Bears still needed to buckle down and hold the Knights to three and out to have a shot. With Uncle Momentum clearly visiting the WB sideline, and North Cedar clearly shaken by the events that were transpiring, the Bear defense began to impose its will. Hay, attempting to avoid pressure from defensive end Logan Avant, rolls to his right and launches a ball downfield. It is caught at the West Branch 43 yard line....by WB defensive back Sid Thompson. Talk about an intriguing setup for one of the those moments. First down. Jones gets the ball and rumbles through the left side of the line for 13 yards. First down. An inside handoff from Maher to senior wingback Rilen Carew goes for 23 more yards. And, now, we reach the One Shining Moment point of our story. First down Bears, at the Knight 23. Young takes the snap. He turns his left shoulder, and hands the ball off to Jones...who then follows one blocker. then two. then three and four. And then what happens? Of course. He runs the next 13 yards to the end zone, putting the Bears ahead...after being behind...after being counted out...searching for a heart, and courage, and their noi-ve. At the game on Friday were many members of the media. One of the TV stations, KCRG-TV9 (ABC), named this battle its 'Game of the Week'. So, to the victor go the spoils. The spoils of being interviewed on LIVE TV. Also, to the victor goes a District Championship for Class 1A District 6 in 2010. For the Bears, that spoil just happens to be a near annual thing - this is number 14 in the last 17 years. And 16th conference or district title in the last 21 seasons. Who would the KCRG crew choose to interview? Well, of course they want Bears Head Coach Butch Pedersen. That is the given. The other guy they wish to speak with? A very kind, well spoken sophomore. Who never asks for the spotlight, nor does he want it. "It was a gut check. We've never been behind all season. And, wow. ... For all the people out there, this is a tremendous North Cedar team. We just got the best of them tonight." Jones said to Susan Harman of the Iowa City Press-Citizen. "I cannot make that touchdown run without the other 10 guys. Without them, I am nothing." he said on LIVE television. After the interview of Jones, his teammates who were standing behind him, cheered loudly. They just captured the moment when the light was beginning to fade away. Down 21 points and coming back to win. That is the first time in the coaching career, 27 years, of Pedersen this has ever happened. West Branch is used to leading by 21, so it was uncharted territory. It means the Bears will be able to be at the friendly confines of the Little Rose Bowl on Wednesday night against Clayton Ridge. Another moment of opportunity will present itself, probably on numerous occasions. Playing on your own field will help sort things out. The Bears have only lost (3) games in the last seven seasons at Oliphant Street Field. There's no place like home. There's no place like home. There's no place like home.