Page 104 of Campus Heat

“Corner route,” I mumbled.

Cam grinned. “It’s about time.”

There was a snap. I rolled left, drawing the defense toward me, and Cam cut sharply toward the back corner of the end zone. The ball left my hands in a tight spiral, and Cam leaped. He caught it midair and landed with a touchdown. The stadium exploded as the scoreboard read 7-7.

Cam sprinted toward me and shouted, “That’s what I’m talking about.”

Lucas tackled us. “Finally!”

The second quarter turned into a full-blown battle. WestConn answered our score with another long drive. Their running back smashed through our defensive line again and again, inching them down the field until their quarterback could slip a quick pass into the end zone. Another touchdown, pushing the score to 14—7.

Our sideline groaned, but Cam clapped his hands in the huddle.

“You need to relax,” he said calmly. “All we gotta do is answer.”

I nodded supportively. “We need a deep route.”

“I like deep routes.” Lucas grinned.

We had the snap, and once again I dropped back. The pocket held just long enough. Lucas sprinted down the sideline, and the safety was trailing him by half a step. I launched the ball high into the night sky. Lucas stretched his arms and caught it at the thirty before tumbling hard into the turf. The crowd erupted.

“Let’s go!” Dylan shouted.

Two plays later, Dylan bulldozed straight through the defensive line and dove across the goal line. Touchdown! The score stood at 14—14. We were so close I could taste it.

The third quarter was absolutely brutal. The defense tightened on both sides. Malik crushed the WestConn quarterback with a massive sack that had the crowd roaring.

“That’s how we hit!” Malik bellowed as he got back on his feet.

But WestConn struck again a bit later. They had a long field goal drive that ended with them getting another touchdown. 21—14. The pressure was mounting.

I wiped the sweat from my forehead just as the fourth quarter began. We had one last chance, and we were going to make the best of it. Lucas hauled in a sharp crossing pass that broke open the defense. Cam fought through two tackles to get extra yards, and then Dylan powered through the middle for another bruising touchdown. The stadium shook with cheers as the score evened out again.

I took a moment to admire the scoreboard and the 21—21 that was glowing brightly. It was the first time in the season that we scored so high. It was the first time that we kept up with our opponents in such spectacular fashion. And the best part was that there were only two minutes left on the clock.

The guys huddled around me, and Cam leaned forward. “This is our last drive.”

Lucas cracked his neck. “Let’s finish this.”

I took a moment to look at each of them. We had spent the entire season working for this, but I had never seen them so determined. It felt good, and at that moment it didn’t matter if we won or lost. Coach was right. We had truly become a team I could be proud of, a team that was worth so much more than a score.

“Break,” I said, earning a few wicked grins.

The ball snapped, and there was a short pass to Cam, but he only made it five yards. In the next play, Dylan fought through the pile for seven more. We got our first down, but the clock kept ticking. Tension began building in the air. The crowd had gone dead quiet. It was the moment of truth. We would either make our coach proud, or we would lose everything we had worked so hard to build.

Lucas streaked down the sideline, and I launched the ball high over the safety. Lucas caught it at the twenty and the crowd exploded. My breath caught in my throat as I pulled my helmet off and just watched, hoping he would be able to pull it off.

“Go!” someone called from the sidelines.

There were thirty seconds left, and the ball was on the ten. Cam looked at me.

“You call it,” he said.

I pulled my helmet back on and grinned. “Let’s end this.”

There was a snap, and I faked a hand-off to Dylan. The defense bit hard, but Cam cut across the end zone. I fired the ball and Cam caught it clean. My heart thundered against the wall of my chest as he landed the touchdown. For a moment, the entire stadium froze. None of us were sure if we actually got the points or not. What if we were too busy to hear the final whistle? What if we had just run out of time?

Then the scoreboard lit up. Havenport 28, WestConn 21. My heart stopped beating, and I fell to one knee. We had done it. The final whistle blew, confirming our win, but I just stayed there, frozen in place. My eyes were still locked on the scoreboard, hoping it wouldn’t magically change. But it was true; we had done it. We had gotten our first ever win as a team. It was the best day of our entire season.