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  • We end tonight with the football play of the month.

  • It was executed with amazing precision by the Eagles.

  • The Olivet Eagles. Steve Hartman has the play

  • and the post-game analysis On the road.

  • Between classes, they schemed and conspired.

  • For weeks, the football players here at Olivet Middle School

  • in Olivet, Michigan secretly planned their remarkable play.

  • - Today gonna be go. This is a crazy idea.

  • "No, everyone was in on it."

  • "But the coaches didn't know anything about it."

  • "We were like, going behind their back."

  • I just never heard of a team coming up with a plan to NOT score.

  • "It's just like to make someone's day, make someone's week.

  • Just make them happy."

  • The play - which was two plays, actually -

  • happened at a home game earlier this month.

  • The first part of their plan was to try to get

  • as close to the goal line as possible without scoring,

  • even if it meant taking a dive on the one-yard-line,

  • which it did.

  • The crowd was not happy.

  • Quarterback Parker Smith: "Our kids knew

  • 'Hey! We got this! This is our time! This is Keith's time!'"

  • Keith Orr is the little kid in the brown jacket.

  • He's learning disabled, struggles with boundaries,

  • but in the sweetest possible way.

  • Because of his special nature it's no surprise

  • that Keith embraces his fellow football players.

  • What is surprising is how they have embraced him.

  • "We thought it would be cool do something for him.

  • Because we really wanted to proof that he was part of our team

  • and he meant a lot to us.

  • Nothing can really explain getting a touchdown

  • when you've never had one before."

  • Which brings us to Part 2 of their play.

  • If you didn't see Keith,

  • it's because they were so protective of him.

  • But he was in the middle of that rush.

  • And when you crossed the goal line, what was that like?

  • "Awesome!"

  • "It was like 'Did he just scored a touchdown?

  • Get your camera out!'

  • Keith's parents Carrie and Jim almost missed the moment,

  • but they got the significance.

  • "Somebody's always going to have his back -

  • from now until the day he graduates."

  • She's right. When the football team decides you're cool,

  • pretty much everyone follows suit.

  • Today, Keith is a new kid,

  • although by no means was he the only one

  • who was profoundly changed.

  • How was it like for you? "Once I saw him go in,

  • I was smiling to here [pointing to his cheeks],

  • a wide receiver Justice Miller.

  • "Nothing can wipe that smile off my face."

  • Why did it affect you so much?

  • "Because he's never been cool or popular

  • and he went from being, like, pretty much a nobody

  • to making everyone's day."

  • Justice admits the play wasn't his idea.

  • I would have not really thought about that.

  • He says it never crossed his mind to give Keith any glory.

  • "I went from being somebody who mostly cared about myself and my friends

  • to caring about everyone and trying to make

  • everyone's day in everyone's life."

  • Which may just make that touchdown

  • the most successful football play of all time.

  • Steve Hartman, On the road, in Alavet, Michigan

We end tonight with the football play of the month.

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