This column was written before and after the Fort Dale vs. Faith game.

Friday night instills in me a kind of excitement.

Not the kind of "let's go party" excitement or "let's go cause trouble," but a kind of nervous excitement.

It's the kind of excitement that stems from wonder.

Every Friday I have the same routine, I work until about 4 p.m. on Saturday's section, put as much of it together as I can.

This usually includes putting Kendall's, David's and Morgan's columns in place and then any kind of non-football story that I may have done since Wednesday, like Fort Dale volleyball.

But, once that gets done and I have idle time, that's when my nervous energy kicks up.

My friends call it ADD.

My response is that I'm ready for some football.

The nervous energy will go on until time to go to the stadium, once I get there, and hear the crowd and the band and see the action on the field.

I feel at home, the calm creature in a sea of organized chaos.

I love road games nearly as much as I do home games.

But home games after a while, can get mundane.

Road games keep everything interesting.

When I leave to go to a road game, I pack my camera, notepad, recorder and about 15 pens into my big camera bag, load it into my Blazer and I'm on my way.

In all the year's I've covered high school football and all the small middle of no-where town's I've visited one thing remains the same.

I can get to the town, it's just the stadium I have problems with.

Thank God for gas stations.

It's gotten to the point that I will tell my writers when they are going on the road, to stop at a gas station and ask directions to the stadium.

Friday night, however, this truism didn't ring so true. On my way to Faith Academy, I stopped at two gas stations with the same result.

"Here's a phone book, you could call and get directions to the school."

But after nearly four of driving, at some point in circles, my salvation came in the form of a red pickup truck with a 10 tag, and a Fort Dale sticker on the tailgate. But, due to the constant flow of traffic, my bright red beacon traveled on with me being forced to yield onto a side street.

But, due to sheer luck, I was able to find the school and then the stadium.

Once I get to the stadium and feel the infamous "hostile environment" that every athlete talks about my nervous energy turns to calm.

I had the opportunity to watch Fort Dale and Faith play. These