After the exuberant helmet to helmet player group hug; after the slow walk to the center of the field, where the opposing coaches in a tie game met for a formal well-met handshake, Caydance walked alone to the coach's cottage, remembering the way that Durango strode to where Mira stood with the band and kissed her as if there was no one else in the stands; River's shy acceptance of the bouquet of roses, which the Glockenspiel player handed him; AKA Harvey's pleasure when several El Dorado coaches asked him for his autograph; and how Will left the arena with his glamorous boyfriend's arm slung over his shoulder. On her way, the entire Huygens O-line and the entire El Dorado O-line were overheard making plans for a night on the town – until they were interrupted by Coach Perkins-Sinclar, who pointed sternly to the buses waiting to take his players home to desert and mountains, somewhere close to the Nevada state line -- not somewhere in downtown San Francisco.

It was the last game of the season for Griff, but for Caydance, almost a month of classes remained before the sadness of the departure of her extended family: this semester's students. And, in the coming weeks, she had the ups and downs of student progress on final projects to look forward to. It was an entirely different environment than a football field in the aftermath of the last game of the season.