Kevin did a delayed blitz, and when their quarterback spun back to the middle neatly to avoid the tackle, he was met head-on with Kevin. Our All-State linebacker showed why he would receive that honor. Kevin put his helmet on the ball and made a perfect tackle that crushed their quarterback. I knew how hard Kevin could hit, and the California kid was not getting up from that.
They got lucky when one of their linemen landed on the fumbled ball. After a delay, they were able to get their star off the field. The next play they ran a dive up the middle and then punted the ball. They had a great kicker. He booted the ball over our kick returner and it rolled out of bounds inside our 15 yard line.
We came out and Magic called veer right again. It worked pretty well the first time, so why not. This time the nose tackle played it straight up, and it looked like they were in their base defense.
“Down. Set. Hut, HUT!”
I powered into the hole and Magic gave me the ball. The nose tackle slapped my thigh as he tried to bring me down. I ran through his arm tackle and met one of the inside linebackers head on. He was too high, so I lowered my shoulder and ran him over. He slowed my momentum enough so that the other inside linebacker and the outside linebacker both hit me to bring me down. After everyone got off me, the linebacker under me hopped up and gave me a playful smack on my helmet. We grinned at each other when the umpire ran up and slid in between us.
“Okay, okay, okay, we’re going to have a clean game tonight.”
We both were having great time. We were two gladiators who’d be clashing all night, and we just gave each other respect. I never felt more alive than when bodies slammed into each other. I could tell my opponent was a kindred spirit. We’d have fun as we found out who was the best.
“Any problems?” Magic asked as we huddled up.
“No, we’re just having fun.”
He just called the play.
“Student body left, on two.”
Student body left was a sweep. It was made famous by John McKay at USC in the mid ’60s. It was named ‘student body’ because of where the students were seated in the stadium. The play looked like they were running into the student section.
“Down. Set. Hut, HUT!”
Magic pitched the ball to Luke and I led the sweep along with a tackle. The sweep play wasn’t a great call against a fast team, and this was no exception. Their corner made a great play and dropped Luke three yards behind the line of scrimmage. We were now in a third and long. This was an obvious passing down and something we weren’t very good at doing. I wasn’t surprised when Coach sent in Bill at one of the receiver slots.
Magic got the play from the sidelines and when he came into the huddle, he was grinning.
“Okay Double D, let’s show them your arm. Student body left special on two.”
This was the same play, but I would get the ball and pass it. It was one of the new plays Coach Lambert had put into our playbook this week.
“Down. Set. Hut, HUT!”
I caught the pitch and everyone acted like it was a run. This caught Eastside off guard, because they’d dropped back into their zones. When they recognized it was a run, I heard their linebacker screaming.
“RUN, RUN, RUN!”
As a group, they hesitated and turned to pursue. Bill had disguised his speed and acted as if he was supposed to block the safety that now covered him. The safety pushed past him to support the run. We’d waited for this opening. He took off, now wide open. I stopped and planted my feet and threw as far as I could. Bill hadn’t slowed down. He was confident I could get him the ball. Our fans had never seen us attempt such a long pass. There was an audible gasp as they saw the high arcing spiral fly to Bill. I had overthrown him and I could see him put on an extra burst of speed. He dove to try to make the catch, and he once again made me look good. He came down with the ball and the back judge signaled a catch on their 30 yard line. The ball had traveled 50 yards through the air. The crowd was on their feet, and I think they were the loudest I’ve ever heard them. As I trotted up field, my new buddy ran with me.
“What the hell, man, that wasn’t on any of our scouting reports.”
“I thought you guys knew how to cover the pass,” I teased their linebacker.
“Keep it up, Chuckles, and I’ll have to put you down.”
I gave him a shove and we both laughed. By then I found Bill, ran over, and gave him a high five.
“Sorry man, I guess I got a little excited.”
“No worries. Next time I’ll run faster,” Bill assured me.
Magic called for the huddle. Over the next three plays, we were only able to gain 8 yards. Our kicker came in and nailed the field goal. We were now up 10–0. From there the unexpected happened. The game turned into a defensive struggle. We were able to move the ball up and down the field. When we got close to scoring, their defense would stiffen and stop us. We were able to get one more field goal. They got lucky right before halftime and on one of their little dink-pass plays our defender fell and it was off to the races. We went in at halftime with a 13–7 lead.
At halftime, we made some adjustments and came out ready to win this game. Eastside received the kickoff and made it out to the 20 yard line. Their star quarterback was back in the game. He made a tremendous difference. They marched right down the field and scored to take a 14–13 lead.
We needed an answer, and Magic got us all together on the sideline before we went out.
“Guys, this is a crucial series. Let’s focus and run our brand of football. Okay, no huddle, veer right on two.”
We waited for the head linesman to set the ball and we sprinted out. Eastside didn’t pay attention.
“Down. Set. Hut, HUT!”
Eastside sprinted to their positions when the ball was snapped. Magic slapped the ball into my midsection and I found their nose tackle standing in the hole. He was trying to figure out what to do when I hit him square in the gut and lifted him six inches off the ground. The hit made a tremendous clack as my pads delivered the impact. The crowd groaned as they saw the huge guy go flying. I stepped through the hole to see my new buddy running full tilt. I gathered myself and turned into his hit and there was another crash of pads. Eastside’s linebacker caught the brunt of the hit on his shoulder and he no longer had the grip to bring me down. I powered past him into the open. One of their speedy corners caught me around the waist and I dragged him along when two more defensive backs caught us and brought me down after a 32 yard gain.
I handed the ball to the back judge and looked back to see Eastside’s training staff rush out to take care of both players. I jogged up to their linebacker.
“You okay, man?”
“Yeah, it’s just a stinger. When I get some feeling back into my arm, I’ll be back to repay you for that one,” he promised. He looked over at their nose tackle. “I think you might have killed Glen, though.”
I was sure I had just knocked the air out him. Their staff didn’t look too concerned, and after a minute they helped him up. Our crowd gave each player a respectful applause as they made it to the sideline. We were able to get within field goal range, but our kicker missed the kick wide right.
Right before the end of the third quarter things got ugly. Their big quarterback proved he could throw more than just short passes. They ran a pretty hitch-and-go that our corner bit on and suddenly the score was 21–13.
The kickoff was short, so we were able to return it. Our returner made a nifty move to avoid a tackle but let the ball separate from his body. An opportunistic defender punched the ball loose and we turned the ball over on our 18 yard line. Two plays later it was 28–13 as the third quarter ended.