“Set! Hut, hut, HUT, Hike!”
On the hard count, one of the defensive tackles jumped offsides—chalk one up to Matt as it was now first and five after the penalty.
This time, when they lined up, Matt didn’t have any theatrics. He just ran the play and snapped the ball on the first sound.
“Set!”
From the line action, David figured out that they were running a trap play up the middle. The guard had let the tackle go because John had pulled, and the play was designed for him to block the unblocked defensive tackle. The idea was for him to kick out, and the guard would block David. It set up a situation where the offense outnumbered the defense on a section of the field, making it hard to tackle the running back until he cleared the line of scrimmage.
The key to stopping the play was the free defensive tackle. The tackle had to recognize that he hadn’t been blocked and have his head on a swivel. If John got a clean block, Marcus could easily break free. If the defensive tackle held his ground and met John in the hole, it would cause a pileup, and Marcus would have nowhere to run.
David engaged the guard and used his hands to keep him at bay while he watched the play develop. Then the unexpected happened. John ignored the defensive tackle, turned upfield, and zeroed in on David. David was wrestling with the guard and realized how vulnerable he was, so he just went to the ground.
Both the guard and John landed on top of him. Having over six hundred pounds on top of him was a tad uncomfortable. John took the opportunity to rabbit-punch David in the back. The umpire and one of the side judges threw flags and rushed in to prevent John from hitting David again.
That started a tussle as several of David’s teammates on defense pulled John and the guard off him. Words were exchanged, and more flags were thrown.
David bounced up, not wanting to show that the punch had hurt—which it had. Not for the first time, he said a prayer of thanks to Range Sports for providing him with his protective bodysuit. It was made of a composite material that had been designed to protect military personnel. The suit dispersed impact over a larger area to reduce damage. That didn’t mean, though, that he wouldn’t have a bruise.
Marcus had been crushed by the tackle that John hadn’t blocked and limped off the field, holding his shoulder. When David saw that, he became pissed. Matt and John’s game had gone too far. He pulled the defense into a huddle while all the penalties were sorted out.
When he had their full attention, he began.
“John has targeted me on the last two plays. I think Matt’s behind it. I just want you to have my back and keep an eye out for me,” David said.
“This is going to get someone hurt,” Clay said.
“We got this,” Mario added.
David had never understood why referees didn’t have the latitude to act as judges. It seemed that whenever there were flags thrown against both the offense and the defense, the officials always applied offsetting penalties and made them replay the down. David’s irritation level went up even more when he saw that John was still in the game.
On the next play, the offense ran a bubble screen to John’s side of the field. If David hadn’t been looking for him, John might have ended his career. As David sprinted to help tackle the slot receiver, John dove at David’s legs, aiming for his knees. David managed to get his feet off the ground and went flipping over John. The crowd gasped because it looked like John had just caved in David’s knee.
David grabbed for his knee because he’d felt the impact and was worried he might be hurt. When he did, he saw Matt pump his fist in celebration. That was when Percy ended Matt’s day by slamming into him from behind and pancaking him into the turf.
The trainers rushed onto the field toward both David and Matt. When John saw that Matt wasn’t moving, he ripped off his helmet and swung it at David like a club. David’s cat-like reflexes saved him as he rolled out of John’s reach. John decided to end David’s life and roared his intent to finish David when their center—the offensive line captain—leveled John. Seeing him take charge stopped the defense from retaliating.
David was disappointed when they made him go get checked out, along with Marcus. John was benched, and the defensive line coach was chewing him out. Matt’s day was done, as he’d been knocked out when Percy crushed him. David had no doubt Matt would think twice before again celebrating a teammate being injured.
David figured his day was done as well when one of the team managers stole his helmet. So, he found a spot on the bench and applied the ice pack he’d been given for his knee. They informed him it was just bruised.
Toward the end of the game, Coach Clayton called his name.
“Dawson, you’re in at quarterback!”
David stood up and found a smirking team manager who had his helmet.
“Go get ‘em,” she said as she handed David his helmet.
David nodded and trotted onto the field. He felt a twinge in his knee, and his back felt tight, but he’d played with worse. He was ready.
By now, there were mainly backups playing to get some experience in game-like conditions. All five of the other quarterbacks had been given at least a series to show their stuff. David honestly hadn’t thought he would get his.
Coach Thomas, USC’s offensive coordinator, signaled in the play he wanted, and David brought the team together in a huddle. David still had a chip on his shoulder because of what Matt had incited John to try to do to him. Every opponent that had pissed David off in the past had come to regret it. What followed was a textbook session on how to throw a football. From the first pass, David could tell he was on. His footwork had him gliding and in position for each throw. He made his case for starting.
On his final play, the number-one defense had snuck onto the field, intending to stop the bloodbath that was occurring.
David got his offense set and then addressed his defensive teammates.
“Hello, fellas. I plan on scoring on this play,” David taunted.
If David thought that Andres and the baseball team needed to see someone about their trigger word usage, the defense could write a book on what not to say. David cracked a grin as he made plans to borrow some of the insults thrown his way.
“Set! Hike,” David barked.
Coach Thomas had called for a deep crossing route that took time to develop. David watched with a sense of déjà vu as Percy literally tossed the left offensive tackle aside and had a clean shot at him. David knew that the play was busted, so he decided to play Captain Chaos and began to dance around in the backfield.
Percy put his big paw out and swiped at David’s head. Percy had a tendency to go high and flatten opposing quarterbacks, so David was prepared for him. He ducked.
“The fuck!” Percy barked when his prey disappeared.
David planted his foot, dodged under Percy’s grab attempt, and cut around the line into the open field. The defense was having none of that, so they all converged to cut off David’s attempt to humiliate them. Not seeing a way through, David lowered his shoulder and drove straight into two defenders, who bounced off him.
With his momentum slowed, they had him. That was until he made this move where he went from running forward to hopping backward. Another defender ran right in front of David and took out two more. In his head, David heard the music and timeless refrain from MC Hammer’s U Can’t Touch This.
David accelerated downfield again and found USC’s All-Conference safety, Mario Robinson, zeroing in to lower the boom and end David’s fun. Robinson was known to be a ferocious hitter. David waited till the last moment and made a spin move to avoid the tackle. From there, David sprinted to the end zone.
He handed the ball to the back judge. When he turned around, he was swarmed by both the offense and defense.