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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

HELENA – Every week before a game, Spain Park head coach Tim Vakakes sends a text to his nephew James, a sophomore long snapper for Helena. “Have fun and do your job.”

This past week on Friday, Sept. 13 was different than most though as the two faced each other for the first time. However, that didn’t change their pregame texts or their love for each other, their teams and high school football.

“It was fun,” Tim said. “It just happens that that’s my job and it happens that we signed up to play them in our region.”

The two shared a couple of moments before the game, first with the Helena sixth-grade baseball team that both Tim and James coach and Tim’s son plays on, and then on the field after the two head coaches met.

“Before the game, we were warming up and I saw him, he was talking to coach (Richie) Busby and I just went up to him and he just told me, ‘Good luck,’” James said. “And just like being there, talking to him, but being on the other team from him was something I’d never done before, and it was a cool experience.”

Playing high school football is a family tradition, but the similarities between uncle and nephew go even deeper than that. James plays long snapper for Helena, the same position both Tim and his dad EJ played at Homewood under coach Bob Newton.

James said he was initially pushed toward the position but discovered his own love for it.

“It was in probably sixth grade,” James said of his origins as a long snapper. “My dad just told me to do it, and I didn’t think anything other than I just started doing it. It’s kind of fun, so I just kind of stuck to it.”

That makes both his father and uncle valuable examples to learn from. While Tim offered some loving pointers after the game, he was impressed with how well he performed in the elements as it rained throughout the game.

“The first thing I told him after the game is one of his snaps was low. He’s got to get his dad-gum snap up,” Tim said. “But he did a good job, and it’s not easy to snap in the rain.”

The game was also a homecoming for Tim as he currently lives in Helena while he coaches at Spain Park.

While that made it special to coach a game near his home and share the experience with many of the friends and family in attendance, he said that didn’t change his desire to win the game.

“There’s a lot of good people in Helena and a lot of good families and kids and my son, that’s where he’s going to go, and that’s where my little girl is and my nephews and my niece,” Tim said. “It was a lot of fun seeing people, but in terms of making it different trying to win because of that, that wasn’t the case.”

The game was even more special because of the bonds the entire Vakakes family has built around high school football throughout their lives.

James recalled serving as ball boy for Tim’s teams since he was as young as six, and his entire family has supported Tim throughout his coaching career. Now, his family got to support both James and Tim on the same field taking part in the sport that they love.

“We’ve all been going to his games for a long time, been going to Helena games, Spain Park, when he was at JO then, when they were at Fairfield and I was real little,” James said. “High school football is part of Vakakes really, and it was a really special thing to play against him with the whole family there to support both of us. It was really cool.”

Despite being on opposite sidelines, James and Tim both said there was no love lost between the two and that one game could never break their tight bond as a family.

“Being able to be on the other sideline was pretty cool, but it was nothing personal,” James said. “We were both trying to win the game. It was really fun.”

While having family members on different teams made it difficult for some of their relatives to pick a side to cheer for, their family ties won out in the end and remained more important than the result, despite James and Tim’s love for their respective teams.

“I told him before the game, ‘If we win, you’re still going to be my oldest nephew, if we lose, you’re still going to be my oldest nephew,’” Tim said.

The Jags got the better of the Huskies in a 28-26 thriller, giving the win on the field to Tim. However, he had another condition for a successful night: that James had fun and did his job, just like he asked in his pregame text.

“I thought he did both of those,” Tim said.