Oct. 11, 2018 -- Heights Middle School football players did not believe Coach Kevin Bates when he told them where they’d be playing next: First Energy Stadium. It wasn’t until they walked through the gates of the sold-out game between the Cleveland Browns and the New York Jets wearing their Tiger Nation black and gold that they finally realized, “Ok, this is real.”

This once in a lifetime opportunity to scrimmage at halftime of a professional football game was arranged by Heights High varsity coach Mac Stephens. Stephens’ years playing with the Minnesota Vikings and the New York Jets have left him with lasting – and invaluable – connections to the National Football League.

The middle school team was originally scheduled to play against Euclid Middle School, who backed out at the last minute. This turned out to be lucky as more Heights players had the chance to play and more families had the chance to attend the game. Bates split his team so it was Black versus Gold for the eight-minute scrimmage.

“The kids were wide-eyed at first,” said Bates. “But when I told them that I’d played in front of 120,000 fans every Saturday in college, they relaxed a little.” After all, they were only playing in front of 74,000! He said that once they got over their initial jitters and into their groove, they “were able to showcase their talents like they do at any other football game.”

The Black squad beat the Gold squad but however you look at it, it was a victory for Cleveland Heights. And that victory must have been contagious, as the Browns beat the Jets 21 to 17, for their first win in 635 days.