Early Friday morning my mother and I piled our bags onto the large travel bus along with about 30 other people. Despite the cold and lack of sleep I was entirely ready to start the trip down to Jacksonville, Al.

About five hours later everyone was awake and talking, as we passed through the Smokey Mountains and admired the beautiful multicolored trees and lakes under a perfectly blue sky.

Assistant ticket manager Marcia Hendrix stood up with a microphone and asked trivia questions about the Redhawks football team and provided prizes for the winners.

"This is the first time we have taken a bus for this in 29 years!" shouted athletic director John Shafer.

All I kept thinking about was how awesome it was to be part of something that is so rare for Southeast Missouri State University.

The bus traveled through a wooded area for about 40 minutes until we finally hit the campus of Jacksonville State University. There were people present that had camped out in their RVs outside Burgess-Snow Field the night before, just to get a good tailgating spot.

A handful of girls and I made our way to the front row closest to the away end zone with signs and emptied bottles filled with coins for noise makers. The entire Southeast section started to fill up as it neared closer to game time.

The team came out doing their signature swag surf as we all cheered loudly. They carried themselves proudly, probably because the third runner up for the 1973 Heisman Trophy, Rich Glover, was their guest speaker the day before.

And so the game began.

With about three minutes left in the first quarter Redhawks quarterback Matt Schieble rushed passed the pylons for one-yard touchdown. Cheers erupted from the Southeast fans. We were on the scoreboard first.

In the second quarter Jacksonville State scored a touchdown that tied the score at seven. With the addition of a field goal the Gamecocks took the lead.

In the second half, JSU kicks another field goal to make the score 7-13.

At the end of the third quarter Schieble punched in a touchdown to give Southeast a one point lead.

And so the fourth quarter started.

Jacksonville scored a touchdown and Southeast answered back with a 19-yard passing touchdown caught by sophomore D.J. Foster.

Minutes later the Gamecocks kicked a field goal making the score 21-22.

With five minutes left in the game Harris rushes in for a touchdown putting the Redhawks back in the lead to a score of 27-22.

We were all going nuts.

"No rushing the field after the game, I repeat no rushing the field," commanded a voice over the intercom.

My heart raced as I jumped up and down slapping high fives with everyone around me.

Jacksonville state with possession and they moved up the field. It's a fumble. Everyone jumped their feet.

Joshua Jackson stood up and handed the ball to the referee but somehow the call gave Jacksonville possession.

With only seconds left on the clock, the Gamecocks miraculously scored a touchdown. The final score was 27-29, a two-point loss.

We all stood speechless as we watched the masses around us celebrating. I sat down and told myself it could be worse, at least it wasn't a blowout loss.

They didn't beat Southeast, the clock simply ran out of time.

On the bright side, Southeast still has a chance to have sole ownership of the OVC title if Jacksonville loses this Saturday to Tennessee Tech. Either way, though, the Redhawks still have the right to say they are OVC champions.

Let's move on because now the real battle begins, it's time for the playoffs.