October 2029, Venomous Agendas High. The football team's offensive players are arrayed in the locker room, looking at video footage of the past game from this week's opponents. They do so prior to boarding the bus for their game against the Washington-Marion Charging Indians in Lake Charles. Pablo, the starting tight end as a sophomore, watches intently as the VAs are in a tight football spot, unlike in mathletics or quiz bowl. The TV screen is also next to a board full of Xs and Os for various plays.
"Going into this game, we sport a three-five record, and we have two games left to play. If we're lucky, we can get into the playoffs as a wildcard, but we must start winning games for even that to be a reality!" the football head coach warns his team.
"Pablo, the opposing strong safety can put you in a world of hurt, so be careful when tackling him on the rush. Be ready to close in on the offensive linemen if that happens" the offensive coordinator tells the tight end.
I don't need to be reminded of my role on the passing play: protect the wide receiver, or step in if he can't catch the pass, Pablo keeps to himself before the coach introduces the main points to watch out for from the Charging Indians' defense.
And, as per usual, while his teammates blast music on the bus to Lake Charles from their phones, several of them attempt to do what homework they can with the limited time they have on the bus to do these. And it's not always obvious with the volume of the music being blasted on the bus to do so.
By and large, the players take turns to blast the music, and the football players who actually blast the music have varied tastes. However, the coaches, irritated by the players blasting the music a little too loudly, start resenting the players as the bus enters the Lake Charles' city limits:
"Enough! Please have a little respect for those players who study or do homework on the road!" the head coach screams in the direction of the players who blast the music at the back.
"Don't we have the rest of the school year to study, after the season ends?" the player blasting the music, a defensive tackle, retorts.
"Yeah, we only have one week left to our season!" Finn, a defensive end, joins the chorus of arguments.
"Did you guys forget about the need for us to get good grades to get even the slightest shot at football scholarships?" Pablo counters, as he is about to finish one problem set.
"Pablo's right. Even one quarter can mean the difference between getting a scholarship and not!" the offensive coordinator retorts to Dayton, the defensive tackle blasting the music.
"Exactly! The odds of getting even a Division II scholarship are long, and even then you will need to play the best football of your lives for the rest of your high school careers!" the defensive coordinator adds to the comment on academics.
The defensive coordinator lays down the facts regarding the odds of getting a football scholarship, as per usual for when players disrupt their teammates' studies when riding the bus from and to games.
"Even if you were good enough as players to make it to college football, there remains the matter of being academically eligible to play, as well as get into college! This is where grades come in, guys!" the head coach screams after the defensive coordinator rattles off the stats.
By and large, NCAA course requirements overlap with TOPS ones, the head coach muses while he deals with the unruly players who blasted the music. Once that is done, and the VAs' bus is parked in Washington-Marion's parking lot:
"The Charging Indians may think that, because of our three-five record to their six-two one, we're weak, but we must exploit their overconfidence and win this game on the road!" Pablo tries to rouse his teammates before they get dressed to play the game.
"Yeah, getting an early lead is crucial to do so!" a wide receiver comments next to him.
Then comes the defensive tackle who last blasted the music in the bus. "Venomous! Agendas! Venomous! Agendas!" he blares as the team enters the visitors' dressing room to dress for the game.
The VAs make last-minute adjustments to their lineups going into the game, as they dress into their white-and-purple away uniforms. As visitors, the VAs enter the field first, with the home announcer introducing the teams.
"Welcome to tonight's football game at the Robert Lavergne Jr Memorial Stadium! The visitors, the Venomous Agendas!" W-M's home announcer yells in the PA system.
After the VAs' turn arrive, they see the Charging Indians making their grand entrance onto the field, with a trumpeter sounding the charge. The Charging Indians charge across the field, under the cheers of the crowd.
"Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the Charging Indians!"
The referee makes the coin toss at center field, which determines who starts the game on the offense. Heads, the Venomous Agendas start the game on the offense, tails, the Charging Indians do. And... heads.
"Assume shotgun formation!" the VAs' offensive coordinator blares, and the 11 starting players get into position for the first down, with the running back and Valter, the fullback being on each side of the quarterback.
The first three downs result in gains, but together, they don't amount to the required 10 yards for getting another first down. We're on fourth and six, that is, we are on our final down before the turnover on downs and we need to advance 6 yards to get a first down, and I can feel like the opponent is trying to force us to punt, since they probably think us punting is better than facing a blitz, Pablo starts thinking before the play is called. When the play is called, the VAs' quarterback realize what's happening and, threatened, he wastes no time passing the ball to the wide receiver on Pablo's side.
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As the ball flies in the air, Pablo tries his best to dodge the opposing defensive line. He narrowly manages to evade the opposing strong safety. And, feeling an opposing cornerback is closer to the ball than the free safety, makes a beeline for the cornerback on the strong side.
The tackle Pablo makes on the opposing cornerback gives the VAs' wide receiver a few seconds of respite. Even when the opposing free safety tries to intercept the wide receiver, Pablo screens the WR as the Charging Indians' FS charges towards the VAs' WR. Which leads Pablo to countercharge the FS. And the VAs' WR to get booed louder with every yard he carries the ball.
However, the opposing strong safety is back for revenge from behind. Even so, the wide receiver passes the ball to Pablo, feeling the pressure. And then Pablo clutches on to the ball as he edges closer to the goal line. The opposing SS forces him to trip, but this play makes the VAs gain nearly 40 yards.
Oh well, the early lead may take longer to materialize than I hoped, Pablo muses as the VAs start a new set of downs within field goal range of the Charging Indians' goal line.
On this new set of downs, the VAs take 3 downs to try scoring a touchdown with 12 yards left to go, but they fail all attempts, even losing some yardage on the third down. However, even with the lost yardage, the VAs' offensive coordinator still feels like the kick is the only way for them to score the first point. Or more specifically the first 3 points.
By halftime, however, the VAs are in the lead by just 3 points, and the head coach has all 45 VA players assembled in its dressing room.
"Remember that college scouts tend to go to playoff games more than they do regular season games. We might have had a good first two quarters, but we need to be consistent in the last two quarters if you are to harbor any hopes to play football in college!" the head coach harangues the VA players. "The Charging Indians will be hungry, and out to take back the lead in the third quarter!"
"Also, in football, as in the classroom, junior year is a critical year for those planning to go to college!" the defensive coordinator adds to this. "For those juniors here, you only have one and a half game left, so make it count!"
All season, the defensive coordinator kept telling us that we needed to earn certain grades and play well during junior year. As a tight end, I was made to do both offensive line and wide receiver jobs at times, Pablo muses while listening to the coaches' remarks for the second half of the game before taking the field again.
Speaking of the second half of the game, the VAs play their best football all season; however, the Charging Indians' defense is such that it's the VAs' turn to be trailing by four points. There's less than a minute to go, and, while the VAs forced the Charging Indians to eat a turnover on downs, they themselves are at risk of eating one of their own. Here they're on fourth and sixteen, meaning they lost 6 yards on the first 3 downs. We MUST score a touchdown here! Pablo has a painful reminder of what's at stake since the scoreboard is on his side.
The VAs' second-string quarterback feels like the risk must be taken for the VAs to stand a chance this late in the game. As soon as the down starts, he passes the ball to the wide receiver on the strong side. However, what makes this pass a Hail Mary is the high chance of interception.
Which makes Pablo lurch into action as he dashes towards where he believes he will be able to catch the ball. However, because the opposing starting SS is winded, the second-string strong safety is put in. And Pablo doesn't think much of running past that SS, who instead goes after the VAs' WR.
Yet, as he runs towards where he believes the ball will be, as soon as he closes in on that place, he leaps to catch it. Under the furious eyes of the opposing free safety. Feeling the free safety hot on his tail, as well as the cornerbacks, Pablo dashes for twenty yards. But by the time the free safety can catch up to him, he's already at the goal line. Too little, too late for the Charging Indians.
"Venomous Agendas touchdown!" the announcer shouts in the PA system.
The rest of the team comes out to celebrate their victory on the field after the customary conversion is scored right after Pablo scored the touchdown. Now that the VAs are 4-5, their playoff hopes are still alive.
"The good news is that we have the best post-pandemic season already. The bad news is that we still need to win one more game to make it to the playoffs" the head coach announces to the team. "If you still have energy left, please do what homework you can on the bus, and without blasting loud music on the way back home.
The defensive coordinator then turns to Pablo. Obviously, he played his best game all season, but Pablo could feel something is amiss. Especially when it's not the coach he deals with most.
"Pablo, it appears you played your best game of the season. However, while football has been a positive to you, I'm afraid you can't rely on football to play in college. Past tight ends I saw make it to college played every game like you did tonight, or better"
"What do you mean, I can't rely on football to play in college?" a confused Pablo asks the defensive coordinator. "It's not about grades, and I still have one season to step up my game!"
"If you still want to play football in college, your only hope would be walking on a Division II or play for a Division III school, and I generally don't recommend walking on a college team" The DC then turns to the best two VA defensive players, Dayton and Finn, who both blasted the music on the way to Lake Charles. "This also goes for you two!"
"Sorry, but the DC is right. The competition is very stiff to play football in college, and there's a lot of tight ends around the world" the offensive coordinator sermons him in turn.
Ouch. That's not going to work. There has to be another way to get to college; however, I should keep playing football even if I can't play it in college, the cold, hard truth hits Pablo like a ton of bricks, as it hits the defensive players who blasted the music to disturb the other players doing homework in the bus earlier tonight.
"No music for you two in the bus next week!" the DC sermons these two players before they all board the bus.
Upon returning home from that game, Pablo returns to tell his parents about what happened during that game. He starts telling them about how the VAs are still in the running for the football playoffs. However, the real kicker is the following:
"The coach told me that I can't rely on football to go to college! And I was playing the best football of my life! What else can I do, other than keeping my grades up and do well on the ACT next year?" Pablo is at a loss for what to do to find a new way forward.
"Honey, last year, you only picked football. You should get another activity, and preferably not another sport, for the rest of the year" Pablo's mother tells him about a possible course of action.
"Your older brother played long snapper and still managed to do FFA as well as get a B in AP Chemistry" Pablo's father reminds him. "You ought to consider an academic team; FFA gained Rule of Two status last year!"
I am not sure FFA (Future Farmers of America) is for me, or really, any of the academic teams. They all seemed too intellectually intense for me to take part in, especially mathletics, Pablo is reminded of what could prevent him from joining more activities. Like band and theater auditioning taking place twice a year. And yet, he knew FFA is open entry, like quiz bowl and debate, but people rarely joined any of these in the middle of a semester.
And yet, he can't help but think of what the wildcards are made of, should the VAs lose next week's game against South Beauregard. It is possible for a 4-6 team to be in the playoffs, but the 4-6 teams are the ones who need wildcards. And that carries some uncertainty.