The worst thing our teammates might do was drink some beer or get a girl pregnant. You never heard of them breaking into cars or doing drugs because most were good boys and the town loved them. Tonight the town showed them their support. By 6:30, the stands were packed for our 7:15 kickoff. The vaunted offense of Eastside had everyone worried. The weather predictions said it was supposed to drop to the mid-40s with the possibility of heavy rain. The townsfolk knew that as long as there wasn’t any lightning, the game would be played.
Kevin and Mike ran us out for warm-ups. We then broke apart and ran some drills. This gave me a chance to check out Eastside. It didn’t take long to figure out who their new star quarterback was. He was a blond kid who was almost six-six. He looked comfortable dinking short passes to his ultra-quick receivers. Our defense would have to have a heck of a game to keep up with this bunch.
I looked up into the stands and noticed several recruiters. They were easy to spot with their jackets blazing their school’s logos. I’d bet they were here to see the California kid play. I hoped our guys could get some good exposure. Before I could spot my friends, we were herded back into the locker room.
I found Kevin in a deep discussion with several of his defensive players.
“Hey, guys, sorry to interrupt, but can I make one suggestion?”
They just looked at Kevin, and he gave me a nod.
“I was watching the game films, and that big quarterback was never touched. On the first play call a safety blitz to his blind side and put him on his butt, even if it means a penalty.”
“What happened to playing disciplined?” asked Kevin.
“He just looks so cocky and smooth in warm-ups. We need to shake him up and have him wondering when’s the next time he’s going to get hit.”
Kevin just nodded his thanks and I went over to where the offense was having their pregame meeting. Magic was getting the team fired up.
“Remember what got us here. We’re going to need to score tonight to stay in this game.” He focused on me. “Double D, I want you to run and hit like a man possessed. Luke, I expect you to have a huge game. You big guys hold your blocks. They’re quick and pursue like crazy. If you lose your block, look for someone else to hit.”
Coach Lambert and the rest of the staff came in.
“Okay, y’all gather around. I just want to say I’m honored to be part of this team. You boys have worked your butts off. I’ve never had a team that I’m prouder of, so win or lose, you’re all winners in my book. Okay, so let’s cut the crap. I want to win this game. We win this one and we control our destiny in getting a playoff spot at the end of the year. If Eastside wins, they’ll have the tiebreaker of head-to-head. We’ll have to run the table and hope that they lose.
“I know y’all know this. I remind you of this so you know what’s on the line. This community loves you. For some of you this could be the highlight of your high school football career. We all know how everyone likes to brag about how they did,” Coach said.
This got a laugh because we’d all heard people talk at family gatherings.
“This is your moment to shine. Go out there and win this game. On three, team. ONE, TWO THREE, TEAM!”
Luke and Kevin led us out. The cheerleaders had made a big paper banner, and the marching band was lined up to feed us to our side of the field. When the bandleader saw us come out of the locker room, the school song started and the fans were on their feet. Kevin and Magic ripped through the banner and you could feel the excitement in the air. I don’t think my feet touched the ground as I floated to our sideline.
Our captains went out to the center of the field and met their Eastside counterparts. Everyone shook hands and the referee did the coin toss. Eastside won the toss and deferred the choice to the second half. We elected to start on offense.
While our kick-return team was getting ready to receive, Magic and Luke found me. We made a point to talk before the first offensive series of each game. Magic took the lead.
“Normally we’d run veer right and give the ball to David to start the game. His big hits set the tempo. Today I want to run the same play, but I’m going to pitch to Luke and catch them cheating.”
“Are you sure? David’s had a lot of success knocking heads,” Luke suggested.
“I think it’s a brilliant idea. Magic can sell it and I’ll try to cause some havoc. You need to show them they aren’t the only ones with speed,” I said.
It was time to join the offense on the field. The kickoff had gone through the end zone, so we would start on our 20 yard line. When we lined up, I saw that Eastside was in their three-four defense. That meant they had three down linemen and four linebackers. It would allow their speedier linebackers to chase down our veer offense. The nose tackle was huge. He must’ve been six-four and weigh close to 250 pounds. In high school, that was a big kid. He was lined up in the center-guard gap on the right side. He cheated over, because they’d done their homework. They expected me to carry the ball on first down.
“Down. Set. Hut, HUT!”
My adrenaline pumped through my blood stream as I saw their plan was to make a huge pile in the center of the line so I had no room to run. The nose tackle tried to tie up both the center and the guard so the two inside linebackers could meet me in the hole. Their defensive tackle on our right side pinched down to try to cause more disruption in the middle. This was a huge gamble on the first play for the defense. If we ran the option to the outside, they were vulnerable.
Two things went right at the same time. Magic made one of his Houdini moves that hid the ball from the defense. The second was our right tackle let their tackle loose and picked up the outside linebacker. This left Magic and Luke two-on-one with their cornerback. The receiver on that side slid over to cut off the pursuit from Eastside’s safety.
I met all three of their defensive players in the hole at the same time. You could hear the crack of pads over the moan of the crowd as they thought I’d been stopped. I found myself under a pile of bodies, and I could hear the Eastside players congratulate each other over a well-executed play. Then the crowd noise told me Magic and Luke were doing their thing. The crowd suddenly erupted and I knew one of them was running free. When I finally got out from under the pile, Luke was handing the ball to the official and we were now up 6–0. The extra point made it 7–0 in favor of the good guys.
On the ensuing kickoff, Eastside was able to get the ball out to their 32 yard line. They lined up in their four-wide-receiver set, and their big quarterback was in the shotgun as he looked over the field. On the snap of the ball, we jammed their receivers on their right side. You could see their quarterback wait for them to work themselves free. When he saw that wouldn’t happen, he did his checkdown and shifted to the left side of the field. He noticed right away that the slot receiver had come free and was open on a crossing pattern. The quarterback just released the ball when our safety took him off his feet. The safety’s pads came up under the quarterbacks off arm and buried in his ribs as he was slammed to the ground. The pass went off target and was incomplete.
At first, I thought their quarterback was done, because he just lay on the ground. The crowd went from being ecstatic to being quiet for fear he was hurt. Before the training staff could come out, he waved them off and one of the linemen helped him up.
You could see he wasn’t happy. He screamed at his linemen. I think Kevin saw the same thing, and I knew if there was blood in the water, Kevin would blitz to take advantage. On the next play, Eastside lined up in another four-wideout formation. This time at the snap of the ball, our defensive tackles ran a game where they crossed, which caused confusion with the offensive line’s blocking assignments. Their quarterback floated to the right to buy himself some time if we ran the same safety blitz. The cross allowed the tackle on the right side to break free, and Eastside’s quarterback suddenly had him in his face.