“Go!’Cats!Go!”echoed off the walls of the locker room as we grabbed our helmets and headed toward the tunnel leading out onto the field.
After warm-ups, we returned to the locker room for last-minute position coaching and one more pep talk from Coach Ellis.Then came the moment I’d been preparing for since I played my first Pop Warner game when I was ten.Running out onto the turf to the sound of twenty thousand screaming fans for the season finale filled my chest with anticipation, pride, and a sense of rightness I’d never experienced anywhere but on a football field.
When I’d taken Coach Ellis up on his offer in the transfer portal, I’d truly thought MSC was the last stop in my football career.Something in the air gave me the sense I might have miscalculated my opportunities.
As always for a home game, we ran out behind the rodeo run-out, with the rodeo team carrying our flags as they galloped their horses onto the field through the gauntlet comprised of the marching band, cheerleaders, and the dance team.The school song rang in our ears as fireworks blasted from mortars attached to the top of the stadium, and a squadron of fighter jets from the nearby Air Force base flew overhead.I could just imagine what kind of spectacle we made for the fans—and the opposing team, whom it was intended to intimidate.
Somewhere in the mass of screaming fans, my parents were watching as I joined my teammates.It was a long trip for them from SoCal, and I’d be lying if I didn’t admit how excited I was for them to have the opportunity to see me start a game again.While I didn’t know where they were seated, I zeroed right in on Saylor and her buddies in their usual spot near the top of the student section.They were waving their hands like wild things.Then I looked closer and figured out they were clanging cowbells like it was their job.Watching their antics, I couldn’t stop grinning.
Always a good omen, we won the coin toss and elected to receive to start the second half.That meant I had time to watch how their offense worked and maybe help my teammates with what I noticed of the Golden Bears’ play.They managed one first down, but it was on their own forty and too early in the game for trying trick plays and catching us off-guard.After Mitchell fielded the punt, he surprised everyone by juking out of a tackle and sprinting up the sidelines.The only player between him and a return for a touchdown was the Bears punter, who managed to run Mitch out of bounds at their thirty, setting the offense up in excellent field position.
As the special teams coaches congratulated Mitch on his play, Patty hobbled up beside me.“Watch out for number fifty-six.The guy’s name is Thompson, and he was born in a bad mood.”
With a nod, I said, “Thanks for the heads-up.”Then I ran out to join my teammates in the huddle.
Exactly as Patty had warned, Thompson was on a mission, and based on some of the shit I heard him growling from across the line, the guy wasn’t above taking an opposing player out.
Fuck that.
I knew my tendencies, and I had no doubt the Golden Bears—Thompson specifically—had studied them extensively.But the coaches weren’t the only ones with late-season tricks up their sleeves.Instead of rolling to my right after Dally hiked the ball—something I did ninety percent of the time since I was right-handed—I executed a spin and curled to my left.The move caught their entire line off-guard.Ours too, if I’m being honest, but it also meant Danny Chambers, who was assigned to play decoy, was now my target.It had been a while since I’d pulled this in one of our impromptu practices way last spring, but like the stud he was, Danny adjusted his route.By the time the defense caught on, it was too late.
I dropped a dime in Danny’s hands as he sprinted for the end zone, and just like that, we were up 7-0 to start the game.
“Hot damn, Cash Money!That was a beaut!”Danny said as we slapped hands in the end zone.
Then I looked up into the student section to catch Saylor’s eye.When I saluted her, she smiled, and only then did I jog back over to the sidelines.
“That wasn’t the play we drew up, Donovan.”Coach Wiley’s tone was stern when he met me at the bench.“I’m adding it to the playbook.”The grin on his face let me relax.
“Sorry, Coach.Patty warned me about number 56, and when the guy started running his mouth behind the line, I decided to give him something else to think about rather than headhunting.”
He nodded.“Sometimes the game requires you to improvise.I’ll back you if Coach Ellis decides he wants to call your ass out in practice next week.”
Dalton added to the team heroics by sending the kickoff through the back of the opposite end zone, and the rout was on.Finn and Bax did their thing, disrupting the Bears’ QB to the point he threw an errant pass that hit Taco right in the numbers, giving the defense a chance to score too.After the first three series in the game, we were up 14-0.After that, their defense stiffened up, which slowed us down but didn’t stop us.By halftime we had them on the ropes, 24-0.
Of course, Coach Ellis wasn’t about to take his foot off the gas against our biggest cross-state rivals, so after a rousing pep talk at halftime, the starters returned to the field.This time, Tarvi Johnson got his turn to be a hero, running behind Callahan O’Reilly until the hole opened up enough for him to break free.Then it was a track meet to the end zone, with our speedy running back leading the way.
The Bears finally managed to open up their offense in their first series in the third quarter, but when they made it to the red zone, our defense broke their hearts, denying them any more yardage before blocking their kicker’s field goal attempt.
On our next series, the Bears’ defense got serious, which made me want to beat them even more.On third and long, I told Callahan to do his thing and I’d find him.He was about thirty yards up the field from the line of scrimmage when Thompson finally broke through our line.I saw him coming, knew he was going to drill me, and I intended to make him pay.At the last second I let the ball go and braced myself for the hit.Sure enough, he stuck me in the turf, knocking the wind right out of me, so I didn’t see when O’Reilly crossed into the end zone.But I heard it all the same when the crowd lost its collective mind, the roar echoing off the nearby mountains.
The guys gathered around me as I worked to catch my breath.When at last I raised my arm for someone to help me up, Dally all but flew me to my feet.Beside him Tarvi deadpanned, “He’s exhausted from being awesome,” his comment breaking the tension.I rolled my eyes and gave the crowd a weak thumbs-up before making my slow way to the sideline.The trainers insisted I go into the medical tent where they asked me a shit-ton of questions.After ascertaining I didn’t have a concussion or anything broken, they let me return to my teammates.
Of course, the first thing I did was dial in on Saylor, giving her a cocky grin intended to let her know I was all right.Even from a distance, I saw the worry in her expression turn to relief, and she clanged her cowbell high in the air, making me laugh.Then I had to turn away when that laughter caused me to wince.Having the wind knocked out of me was never a good time, and it took more than a minute to recover.
Following Callahan’s and my heroics, we were up 38-0.After that scare with me lying on the field for a minute till I could breathe again, I guess Coach Ellis thought we had enough of a cushion to play out the rest of the game with our second team.Incredibly, LeSean dropped the chip off his shoulder long enough to play some decent ball, managing to hit the timing perfectly on a handoff that allowed us to score one more time.The Golden Bears played their starters to the bitter end, but it didn’t matter.They only managed to score once on our second-team defense, and we walked out of the stadium conference champs.
The after-party was scheduled for the Victorian on Jock Street, yet the party truly started the second the final buzzer sounded through the stadium.Our linemen paraded the conference champs trophy and the state rivalry trophy around the stadium, while the band blared the school song, and the fans swarmed the field.
A TV camera and mic materialized in front of me as I was congratulating Callahan on his stellar play, so I slung my arm around him and dragged him into the impromptu post-game press conference.
“This is your first year playing with the Wildcats.Did you have any idea what a rivalry game this was with the Golden Bears?”the reporter asked.
“Wildcats fans are the best I’ve ever played for.These guys”—I tightened my arm across Callahan’s shoulders, pulling him more into the camera frame—“warned me it was going to be loud in the stadium and nasty on the field.Plus, our coaches made sure all of us new guys had a clue what to expect.”
“That was some pass you threw to this guy.”The reporter nodded to Callahan.
“Yeah, I didn’t see it, so you’re going to have to tell the folks about it.”I directed my attention to my teammate, forcing the reporter to include him in the story.
