Chapter Nineteen
Cash
The home opener,the ’Cat Tracks game, was as big of a deal for the fans as anything I’d ever seen.Compared to the home opener at my old school, it was like playing a state championship versus practice.Even though our opponents were a decent D-II school who’d won their division last season, the outcome of the game was a foregone conclusion.Not that we prepared for it that way or that the fans saw it that way.
On paper the home opener would be a blowout, yet the crowd was as fired up as if we were playing our cross-state rivals, the Golden Bears.In fact while we waited in the tunnel, we could hear the crowd chanting their favorite anti-Golden Bears chant.Having never experienced so much excitement for a game before, my adrenaline was through the roof.More than anything, I wished I were starting the game, but Coach Wiley had assured me I’d have my chance in the third quarter, so I had to content myself with that.
After we ran out onto the field, I noticed Bax and Finn’s attention zeroing in on a certain area of the student section.When I glanced over to where they were staring, I grinned.Standing in a row, waving their arms over their heads and cheering, were Saylor and her friends Chessly and Piper.The purple highlights in Piper’s hair made her easy to spot, but it was the hot tank top Saylor was wearing, with a massive Wildcat logo covering her gorgeous rack, that had all my attention.With her flowing mane of blonde hair and that hot shirt, she stood out in the crowd like a supermodel.
With my helmet on, I knew she couldn’t see my eyes, but I hoped she could sense my stare enough to figure out I’d spotted her.When she stopped jumping up and down for a second and looked in my direction, I grinned.Mission accomplished.
Then it was time to dial my entire focus onto the field, where for the first two quarters of the game, Patty and the first team tore it up.I swear they couldn’t make a bad play on either side of the ball if they tried.Patty connected with Danny Chambers on a skinny post Danny turned into a touchdown to start the party rolling.Then Bax and Finn held a team meeting at the quarterback in the backfield, stripping him of the ball and setting up an easy touchdown run for Tarvi, whose antics in the end zone cracked me up.That he didn’t earn an unsportsmanlike conduct flag for excessive celebration was a minor miracle.
In the second quarter, Callahan O’Reilly joined the fun, running a beautiful fake block on the outside linebacker, who bit on the run in the run-pass option, while Patty’s pass landed right in Callahan’s breadbasket as he streaked down the sideline.At halftime we were up 24-0 on the Husker State Blue Dogs, and everyone raced into the locker room on a high.
“Men, that was one fine half of football you played out there,” Coach Ellis began.“You executed the game plan exactly as we drew it up.”He took a second to stare down all of the starters.“Which was the expectation and what we want out of you during every quarter we play this season.”Turning his attention to the rest of us, he said, “Now it’s your turn to show us what you’ve got.We need to know beyond a doubt that the next man up can seamlessly fill his role.Go!’Cats!”
A chorus of, “Go!’Cats!Go!”followed his pep talk before we broke out into our respective groups—offense, defense, and special teams—for some last-minute adjustments from our position coaches for the second half.
When we ran back out onto the field, the crowd noise was at a considerably lower volume since so many fans had remained outside the stadium to enjoy the late summer weather while imbibing beverages at the tailgates.Between the late afternoon heat and our big first-half lead, I should have expected the drop-off, but I’d be lying if I said it didn’t it bug me.Feeling the rush of the crowd’s love as a starter was what every player lived for, and more than anything I wished my circumstances had turned out different.Then I glanced up to the student section where Saylor and her girls were, and my whole attitude shifted.
Both she and Chessly clanged cowbells as Piper saluted Bax with a cup.His chuckle beside me only confirmed my observation.
“Looks like we’re giving the girls a good show.Hope that means they’re not going to make us work too hard tonight.”His self-deprecating laughter said he expected Piper to make him work no matter what.
No wonder he wanted her.
“You got a hot date lined up?”I asked.
“The afterparty is at our place,” he said as if I should know better.
Since the Blue Dogs had won the toss at the beginning of the game—the only thing they’d won so far since we’d owned the line of scrimmage—Dalton kicked off to start the second half.Even though they allowed two first downs on the Blue Dogs’ opening drive, our second-team defense did their job and sent our opponents off the field empty-handed.Then it was my turn to run out to the huddle—finally.
Coach Wiley’s last name was certainly apt, wily strategist that he was.On our first play from scrimmage, he called Josh Mitchell’s number, giving him a chance to show off the deep routes he loved to run, and giving me a chance to show off my arm.We caught our opponents flat-footed, so when I dropped a dime on Mitchell streaking downfield forty yards on a post route, it was all over but the shouting.One thing about that play: it padded the hell out of both our stats as he raced into the end zone.
After that I spent the rest of the third quarter handing off or tossing short slants on RPOs.We still ended the quarter up 38-0, so I had no doubt the coaching staff was happy with our play.
LeSean started the fourth quarter at QB, and the chip on his shoulder was big enough to see from space.For the first time all game, the offense went three-and-out in his first series, and judging by Coach Wiley’s tone when LeSean came off the field, his patience for LeSean’s attitude was nonexistent.LeSean deliberately bumped my throwing shoulder when he blew past me on his way to the bench, which pissed Patty off.A few seconds later, Patty was sitting beside LeSean, and from the expressions on both their faces, they weren’t exchanging pleasantries.
Not my problem.
I’d been inviting LeSean to our impromptu practices since the first week after my arrival at Mountain State.It was his choice not to join us.It wasn’t my fault I’d come to the team with a better skill set than his.But his attitude wasn’t doing him any favors.On his next turn on the field, he coughed up the ball when he misread the defense and tried to run it, resulting in the Blue Dogs’ only touchdown of the day.When he threw his helmet onto the bench after he came off the field, Coach Wiley called me over.
“Put your helmet on, Donovan.You’re finishing out the game.”
I exchanged a quick look with Patty, who nodded at me to go out and do my job—which I did and then some.With about five minutes left in the game, the defense bit on the pass—I couldn’t blame them after I tore them up earlier—leaving a wide-open lane for me right up the middle.When I saw daylight between me and the end zone, I turned on the jets and nearly scorched the turf with my speed.The roar of the crowd when I crossed the goal line gave me a high I hadn’t experienced since winning the state championship in high school.After I flipped the ball to the ref, my teammates swarmed me, thumping me on the pads and on the top of my helmet with Mitchell running over to do the crazy hand jive we’d made up as a touchdown celebration.
When I returned to the sidelines, I overheard Coach Wiley say to Coach Ainsworth, “That satisfy your concerns about his knee?”
Ainsworth answered by pulling me next to him.“Fucking good work out there.”
As I started to say thanks, he smacked me on the ass, sending me over to the bench for a much-needed shot of electrolytes from one of the trainers.
The Blue Dogs’ longest drive of the game came on their next series.It didn’t end up in a score, but it did end my time on the field as they ran out the clock.We finished with a 45-7 win to open the season—something Coach Ellis let us celebrate in the locker room.After the coaches left us to shower and change, the team leaders reminded us that the celebration would be over in the morning when we came in to watch film—but for tonight, the party was at the Victorian on Jock Street: Bax, Finn, Callahan, and Danny’s house.
After we arrived home, my roommates and I devoured two full Pickle Barrel subs each before heading across the alley to the party.When we stepped into the back yard, the cornhole games were in full swing.Loud laughter and music filtered through the back door into the yard, and I headed inside.While I was all about celebrating our win with my teammates, I was even more interested in finding a certain hot blonde.
Though we’d left our place together, somehow Dally was already running the keg when I stepped into the kitchen.He poured a Solo cup full of beer and handed it to me.I’d just raised it to my lips when I felt a pair of eyes boring into my back.Turning toward the doorway leading to the dining room, I locked eyes with Saylor.
