My heart was pounding; I was pumped up for the AFC championship. My dad had gotten us tickets and the Ravens were about to kick the ball off to start the game.

Right out the gates the Steelers showed the ravens they weren’t messing around. Big Ben, the quarterback of the Steelers completed a 45 yard bomb to Hines Ward. After that the drive slowed down and the Steelers settled for a field goal. “Alright!” I yelled as we got in front. “Don’t get to excited,” my dad said, “There is still a lot of football left.”

In the first quarter the ravens couldn’t even get a first down so the Steelers dominated and by the end of the 1st quarter the Steelers’ lead was 6-0. Everything was going according to plan.

The second quarter also started out with a bang when Ben Roethlisberger side stepped an oncoming pass rusher and flinged it out to Santonio Holmes who ran it all the way in for the touchdown. The Steelers went up 13-0 nothing and it looked like they might not have had to score again the way their defense was playing. That wasn’t the case though.

On the Ravens next possession they showed some life. Willis Magahee, the ravens running back, punched it in for a touchdown and the Steelers lead was down to 13-7. The Rest of the second quarter was a defensive struggle and the halftime score was 13-7. My dad didn’t look too happy though because you could sense that the momentum had shifted to the Ravens side.

After a nice long break the action started up again. After a couple three and outs by both teams the Steelers broke through and got another field goal following a nice Willie Parker run. For the rest of the third quarter all the teams did was punt the ball away and the third quarter ended the Steelers 16 and the ravens 7. It was on to the 4th quarter where the game got really interesting.

The Ravens started out with the ball. After a couple of first downs fort them their running got another touchdown and cut the Steelers lead down to 2. I got a bad feeling at the pit of my stomach after that touchdown and it got even worse because after the ravens scored that touchdown the Steelers went 3 and out and gave the ravens the ball with a chance to win the game.

Stop them, stop them! That’s all I was think at that moment. If they didn’t stop them the whole season would have been a waste. The Steelers had been leading the whole game, they couldn’t let the game slip away. You know what the Steelers did that and more. On the very next play the ravens quarterback threw an interception to the great Troy Polamalu, who ran it all the way back for a touchdown sealing the win for the Steelers. When he scored that touchdown everyone in that stadium erupted into screams.

In the last 10 seconds everyone was counting them down. 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 and everyone jumped up and cheered. I hugged about 10 people that I didn’t even know. All the Steelers players threw their helmets into the air and ran onto the field. The crowd of thousands of people started to sing a song called “Pittsburgh’s going to the super bowl!” It was amazing. It was one of the best feelings I’ve ever had.

When I look back at the game I realize something now. We had all come together. We hugged. We had laughed. We all loved the Steelers. It made me think under the right circumstances, anyone can be your family.