Where are my high school football people at? For the last five years we’ve been to almost all of my kids’ high school football games. My son played his junior and senior years. Friday nights late August through November belonged to watching the boys of fall under the lights. Our team has been in the playoffs every year since we started attending, one year the even made it to the final four. Ten-twelve weeks, almost an entire quarter of a year we could be found at a football game on a Friday night, even driving as far as three hours to attend.

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Though our state is allowing a football season this year, it is with restrictions. We were lucky enough to get vouchers to attend the first game of the season, against our biggest rivals. Another high school that is only a mile away. It is always a big event and packed out when there aren’t social distancing restrictions. But the season has been cut short by four games, and we’re not able to always obtain vouchers.

When I picked up the book Throw Like a Girl by Sarah Henning, I got to thinking about all the Young Adult books I’ve read (or wrote) to help replace actual football games. Okay, so they don’t really replace them, but the books will take you to games if you’re missing them.

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Throw Like a Girl – the book that inspired this post. I’m only about halfway through it, but I’m loving it. The main character, Liv, is a star softball player, but she ends up in a fight that makes her lose her scholarship to the private school she’s been attending. She ends up going to public school, the same school that she was playing when she got into the fight. She tries to convince the softball coach to let her join the team, but the coach wants her to show she’s a team player before she allows it. So Liv ends up on the football team as backup quarterback. This is not just about football, but it also contains a love story.



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2. Another girl quarter back is featured in Catching Jordan. It has been awhile since I read this one, but the author, Miranda Kenneally, is an auto-read author for me. Catching Jordan was my first novel of hers and I have been a fan ever since. What I remember of this book is Jordan is the quarterback. A new kid is on the football team who is just as good as Jordan and threatens to take her spot. Of course, there is a romance brewing in this story as well.

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3. The Revenge Playbook is so much fun. Four girls who would otherwise not be friends find common ground in wanting to get even with some football players. These four girls band together and come up with ways to sabotage the boys who have hurt them in different ways. I love when a book can explore more than one main character and they are all completely different. This story had me laughing out loud so many times. It is not only funny, but also hard to put down.

Now a few of my own. I have noticed that I tend to set a lot of my stories during football season. In A Homecoming to Forget the main character, Sawyer, loses her memory after her homecoming dance. This story is set during football, and she happens to be dating the quarterback, she has no recollection of the relationship. Since this book takes place in the fall, Sawyer does end up at a couple football games.

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In Boy of the Week we again see some pigskin. Kacey, the main character is boy crazy, so of course, she is found at football games, where there are boys. This novel takes place over the course of several months and includes a basket ball game and even a wrestling match. Boy of the Week has recently been released on Audible so if you prefer audiobooks, go get a copy and listen.

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Finally, the Running Series. This series follows Garrett, a running back on his high school team his junior year all the way through college. Not only do Running Back, Running on Empty, and Running Forever contain football, but they are also jam packed with lots of drama and a little bit of faith.

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So there you have it, several books to get you through this season if you enjoy football, love stories, and drama.

Are there any high school football stories that you’ve read that I didn’t mention? I’d love to hear about them.