We’d already met, so I knew he was kidding me.
“Is he even smart enough to get into a Big 10 school?” I asked.
“Maybe Iowa,” the Indiana guy offered.
“David Dawson, how are you, Buddy?” said Jeff Delahey, the reporter I hated to love or was that loved to hate?
“Oh, shit,” the Nebraska recruiter said when he realized who I was.
“Jump the line and get your food. I need to talk to you,” Jeff told me.
It was amazing how a bunch of recruiters would let a kid go in front of them. I’d have to name them all on my next Top 10—or was it 11—list. I grabbed my brat and followed Jeff out of the tent.
“I need a quote and I can’t stay. They’re sending me to the Eastside versus Lakeview game. So, give me something if you win, and something if you lose.”
“Okay, if we lose ... ‘Bloomington was just the better team tonight. They’ve been dominating their competition all year. I think they’ll go far.’ If we win ... ‘We caught some breaks tonight against a tough Bloomington foe. I predict they’ll bounce back and make the playoffs,’” I said.
“Perfect. Now go give them a beatdown,” Jeff said, and ran for his car to get to the other game.
AS WE GOT READY, I replayed my conversation with my mom and dad in my head. Dad had reminded me that ‘if it is to be, it is up to me.’ How was I going to get Coach Hope to let us throw the ball? My only option was to call audibles if they were stacked up to defend the run.
We came out of the locker room to a standing-room-only crowd. Bloomington had brought a lot of fans, too. It looked like this was going to be a good year for them, and their fans didn’t want to miss a game. We were greeted on one side of the field with the orange and blue of the Lincoln fans, and on the other with the blue and gold of Bloomington. It was going to be loud tonight.
Tim and I went to the center of the field for the coin flip. Bloomington sent six players. I guess they needed more help making the call. They won the toss, so we took the ball. They would get it after halftime.
Ed and I lined up deep for the opening kickoff return. The ball was kicked deep, and I took it at the 2 yard line. The wedge formed in front of me and I ran towards it, looking for a crease. Ed had gone left to begin with, but reversed field and ran to me.
Bloomington saw the action and started yelling, “REVERSE! REVERSE!”
I stopped, turned so the Bloomington team couldn’t see the ball, and faked the handoff to Ed. I just stood there for a count of three, letting Ed speed around the right end. This part scared me. I had my back to the oncoming defenders and could hear the pads crack as the wedge engaged the lead defenders. Several Bloomington defenders had Ed cornered and took him down. I turned and headed up the left sideline. Tim was in front of me, and we only had their kicker to beat. The kicker made a great play to fight through Tim’s block, but Tim had slowed him up enough that when I kicked it into high gear I just sprinted past him. The crowd and many of the Bloomington defenders suddenly realized that I had the ball. We were up 7–0 with only twenty seconds gone in the game.
We kicked off to Bloomington and they were able to get it to their 38 yard line. My sole responsibility was defending their star receiver, Ted Garvey, who was six-two and 198 pounds. He was a senior who had committed to Missouri. He reminded me a lot of Bill, except he was a little taller. Before we took the field, Moose wanted to talk to me.
“Bloomington hasn’t trailed all year. My guess is they’re going to want to get it all back quickly. Remember that you have help deep, so I want you to play aggressively. Pop him good to let him know he’s going to have to work for it.”
“Yes, sir,” I said, and ran onto the field.
Ted’s eyes lit up when he saw me defending him. I was a linebacker, for all they knew. I figured no time like the present to start jawing with him.
“Ted, go easy on me. I don’t want to get embarrassed out here.”
“Dawson, I hate to say it, but that’s exactly what I plan on doing,” he said, as he raised his arm to let the quarterback know that he thought he could beat me.
On the snap, I gave Ted a two-hand shiver to the shoulder pads that stood him up. He grunted in surprise that I’d be playing him so tight. I was allowed to make contact for the first five yards from scrimmage. I popped him again, and then he broke free and tried to run by me. I flipped my hips and ran with him. I learned quickly that he wasn’t as fast as Bill, so I was able to keep close.
I heard, “BALL!”
It looked like a dying duck, and it was going to be a jump ball. Ted shoved me in the lower back and sent me flying. He caught the ball and was immediately leveled by Lou Davis, one of only three seniors on our team. There was a flag lying on the ground as I went to help Lou up.
“Good hit.”
“I don’t think he knew I was there,” Lou snickered.
I went over to Ted who was trying to catch his breath. I reached down and helped him up. Ted now knew he was in for a game. The back judge talked to the referee, and offensive pass interference was called, moving Bloomington back fifteen yards.
Bloomington ended up punting. The first quarter was back-and-forth. Coach Hope was insistent that we run the ball exclusively. At the beginning of the second quarter, Bloomington had the ball on their 14 yard line. Ted seemed to be back to his old self.
This time they lined their tight end up in front of Ted. I knew from the snap that it was going to be a screen. I was surprised when the tight end just brush-blocked me. I had a clear shot at Ted. I felt a tremendous impact and was buried by their tackle who had come down the line to block me. Ted followed his tight end. The tight end got a piece of Lou, allowing Ted just enough time to get free. We were now tied 7–7.
On the next series, we went three and out. Their big defensive line was killing our offensive line. If this continued, we were in trouble. When Bloomington got the ball back, they switched to power football. They steadily ran the ball down the field. We finally stopped them on our 18 yard line. They kicked a field goal, and we were down 10–7.
On the next series, we caught a break, which turned bad. Ed made a nifty move off tackle and broke free. I thought he was gone, but their cornerback got on his horse and ran him down. He was able to punch the ball free as he tackled Ed, and Bloomington recovered. That seemed to take the air out of us. Bloomington drove down the field and punched in a score as the half ended. We were down 17–7.
The coaches had a conference to decide what to do for the second half. When they were done, they came out and made some minor adjustments on defense. We had actually done pretty well until the last series. Then Coach Hope shocked me.
“We’re going to open it up in the second half. They seem to be in a cover two most of the time. They also see we’re committed to the run. When we get the ball back, we’ll run play-action passes until they back off.”
The second half found Bloomington marching down the field again. If we weren’t able to stop the run, this game was over. Ten plays later they were up 24–7.
They kicked off and Ed got the ball out to the 22 yard line. I got everyone in the huddle.
“We need to get back into this game. Wolf, the ball’s coming to you. Be careful of the safeties. I don’t want you getting hurt.”
I called the play, and we lined up in the ‘I’ formation with me under center.
“Down, Set ... HUT!”
On the snap, Bert led Jake into the hole, and I faked the handoff by putting the ball on my hip. Bloomington bit hard on the fake. Wolf had brush-blocked their defensive end and slipped into the middle of the field. I hit him in stride as the two safeties realized that he was running free. Wolf lowered his shoulders and the three of them met fifteen yards down the field.
All three of them were down. I ran to see if Wolf was hurt. He sat up, to my relief. I helped him up as the trainers for Bloomington ran out. Both of their safeties had had their bells rung and they were helped off the field. Coach pulled Wolf off to the sideline so the training staff could check him out. Mike replaced him at tight end.