They’ve dreamed of playing high school football against each other for years, but now it’s a reality that two cousins have to face and so do their families. Garrett Wells #4, wide receiver of the Brownwood Lions and his cousin Westley Pritchard #6, cornerback of the Glen Rose Tigers will face off in Friday’s Division II 3A Region I area playoff game.
The boy’s grandparents Edwin and Jan Hipsher of Santa Anna have agreed to sit on opposite sides of the field. Edwin will be on the Lions’ side for Garrett and Jan with the Glen Rose side for Westley.
In a letter to the boys, the Hipshers stated that they want each of them to “play the best for their teams and for themselves” – “play honorably and fair” – “to remember at the end of the night…you trained, you played…you either won or lost…but remember it is a game.” They reminded them of an old saying: “It is not whether you win or lose but how you play the game.”
As grandparents wanting to preserve the relationship the cousins have, they also warned that one will be celebrating and the other will be devastated at the conclusion of the game. They stated that they will be there for both, asking them to be big enough to congratulate the winner or humble enough to have consideration for the loser.
The whole family is excited and nervous about the game including Garrett’s mom, Sheri.
“Well, I’m excited and nervous at the same time about them playing against each other because our family is so close,” said Sheri Wells. “Of course I know that the Brownwood Lions will win.” She stated that she reminded Pritchard that “the Lion is the King of the Jungle.”
Pritchard and Wells both stated that lining up against each other will be different because they know each other so well, not like lining up against a big stranger that you feel threatened by.
Wells and Pritchard have grown up together, actually step-cousins, but as they put it, they are more like brothers. They spend holidays together as well as going hunting and fishing, wrestling and all the fun things cousins typically do.
“We’re pretty tight step cousins, but more like brothers,” Garrett Wells said.
Wells and Pritchard have played each other in other sports in the past, but not with as much at stake, such as 7-on-7 the summer before their freshman year and a basketball tournament in Jr. High, both of which Wells stated that Brownwood won.
Facing off in football during such an important game is something they have wished for but now the reality is a little harsh.
“Before, I thought it would be cool, but now it’s got consequences,” said Pritchard. “We hadn’t won a playoff game in four years until last week.”
Knowing that they are both seniors and this is their last chance to get a state title for either team, Wells stated it’s going to be unusual after it’s over knowing that one of them will be happy and the other sad.
“It’s going to be tough,” said Wells. “But no matter how it turns out, I’m going to give him a big hug.”
Conversations over Facebook have been “trash talk” between the two. Wells stated that he has joked with Pritchard that he hopes he doesn’t see him at Thanksgiving because Brownwood will be at another playoff game.
Both teams have something to prove during the game, with Glen Rose being the underdog who wasn’t supposed to beat Bridgeport last week, and Brownwood being the team that has had to rebuild after losing so many star players to graduation last year.
“I wish we had played before, I wish one of us was a junior,” Pritchard said regarding this game being the end of one of their high school football careers.
Both said that they take the game very seriously for the sake of the win and realize that it will be something that they will remember forever, a very special circumstance.
Brownwood faces Glen Rose Friday night at 7:30pm in Stephenville.
Pictured above are Wells and Pritchard. Photo contributed by Sheri Wells.
