Pete dropped back to pass, but at the last moment handed the ball over to Isaac for a Draw play.
Isaac spotted a gap up the middle and darted for it. Just as he squeezed through, someone kicked his shin and he tumbled to the ground. He was marked down after a gain of only a yard, and when he didn’t spot a flag for the trip, he threw the ball away in frustration.
His teammates helped him to his feet, reminding him not to worry about it. ‘This is bullshit,’ he said.
In the stands, his sentiment was shared by a fraction of the crowd.
‘It’s bullshit,’ Jackson grumbled.
‘Yeah … and the bullshit has only just begun,’ Tommy said.
Back on the field, the Titans tested the air again on 3rd down; they had to seeing as they still had over 20 yards to go for a first down. The Coyotes knew this and were all playing far back, not allowing many openings unless it was for something short.
The pressure closed in around Pete, the defence started to force their way around his O-Line’s blocks; he had to get the ball out.
Lonnie was the best target available, and whilst he caught the ball, he was soon swarmed by a pack of Coyotes. They didn’t take him to the ground immediately, but he wasn’t going anywhere even as he tried his best to force his way downfield yard by yard.
As the pack of Coyotes kept Lonnie standing, they pressed close. Fists and elbows rained down on his arms, side, and chest as he curled around the ball and protected it. Though the Coyotes didn’t seem to be aiming for the ball, just making it look like they were trying to force it out of his hands, while their real goal was inflicting as much pain and punishment onto Lonnie as they could before the officials blew the play dead … and those officials must’ve swallowed their whistles because they let the Coyotes maul Lonnie for a good while before another Titan crashed the party and brought the whole pack to the turf.
When the pile dispersed, Lonnie still had the ball in his battered arms. He was nowhere near the first down marker—the Titans would have to punt.
Nick’s punt spiralled the ball out of bounds at the Coyote’s 36-yard line, and the Titans had their first attempt at defence for the day.
Spider swept his tongue across his lips as he led his pack onto the field for the first time. His eyes fell upon Freddy positioned downfield, and he gleamed with hunger.
But the Coyotes would learn on their first play that Freddy wasn’t the same, timid boy from their last encounter. He wasn’t a weakness that they needed to hide.
Spider tugged his trusty TE close and grinned at the tank of a man. ‘Go deep, Terry,’ was all Spider said in the huddle.
Terry grunted in acknowledgement.
Of course, Terry’s deep route led him straight into the path of Freddy, as they were TRYING to throw it right at Freddy instead of away from him like they would any other defender.
Freddy charged fearlessly at the ball and launched into the air, knowing Terry was headed right for him, but he didn’t care. He tapped the ball aside with one hand and used the other arm to protect himself as best he could as Terry smashed right through him.
Lonnie rushed over and knocked Terry away from Freddy, before helping Freddy up. ‘Hey…you okay?’
Freddy nodded and flashed a grin. ‘I stopped him, right?’
Lonnie grinned back. ‘Yeah…you did.’
The Coyotes sulked back to their huddle, eyes glinting as they watched Freddy, annoyed with the outcome of their ploy.
That wasn’t the only dirty tactic the Coyotes used on offence, the Titans’ D-Line was neutralised thanks to the amount of holding the officials were letting the Coyotes get away with, and even the DBs had a hard time covering their men. Every Receiver would always give their opponent's facemask a good shove to build separation.
Even so, the Titans were relentless in their defensive pursuit, and whilst the Coyotes earned a first down during this drive, they never made it past half field, and soon had to punt the ball right back to the Titans.
‘Even with their cheating, this game looks like it’s going to be a slog,’ Jackson said. ‘Real gritty and low-scoring I bet.’
‘Gritty is one way of putting it,’ Tommy said.
For the punt return, Kenny signalled for a Fair Catch, but even so, a Coyotes player ran into him, bumping past him as they pulled out of the tackle a moment too late.
Kenny maintained possession of the ball, and glared at the official who looked the other way.
Perhaps due to frustration, or the Coyotes underhanded tactics, or most likely a mixture of the two, the Titans struggled to get anything going offensively, though defensively they were able to unload those frustrations on the Coyotes. Both teams went into quarter-time scoreless.
The Coyotes, despite all their dirty play and rule-breaking, were yet to be punished for any of it, however, since that first play, the Titans hadn’t been goaded into committing a penalty either.
‘I tell you, Jack, your teammates? They must’ve been monks in a past life or something, or maybe it’s something that coach of yours is putting in their water. All the bullshit is bad enough up here, I would’ve blown a gasket if I was playing.’
Jackson couldn’t help but smile. ‘That’s Coach Otsen for you. When he says something, you listen. I wouldn’t be surprised if he could get somebody to fly just by telling them they can.’ He looked down at the bench, where Coach Otsen was currently addressing the team as they rested between quarters.
‘You’re doing fine out there, don’t get too worked up about not scoring anything. They haven’t scored either. It’s a mental game now, it’s going to come down to who breaks first; who makes the first mistake. DON’T play their game, keep doing what you’re doing, and you’ll be alright. The longer you go without giving them the response they want, the more frustrated they’ll get, and they’ll mess up and do something so blatant the officials CAN’T ignore it. That’s when we’ll strike and make this game ours.’
‘Mm! I’m proud of you boys! You’re all showing MAXIMUM discipline!’ Coach Vasquez grinned at them.
‘Exactly. Remember, we’re starting this second quarter on defence. Keep up the shut-out. Don’t worry about anything else, just do what you do best and play some great goddamn football.’
The Titans charged onto the field, fired up by Coach Otsen’s words. And as they faced off with the Coyotes' offence, they continued to shut them down every step of the way, until the Coyotes were on 3rd down.
Spider catapulted the ball far downfield, attacking Kenny along the sideline. Kenny and Coyotes Receiver, number 14, jumped high into the air, bumping one another as they reached for the ball. Kenny rose that little bit higher and got his hand to the ball first, knocking it aside to the dismay of the crowd.
That dismay turned to elation when a yellow flag was thrown into the air and the official penalised Kenny for Defensive Pass Interference, awarding the Coyotes a new set of downs, and progressing them down the field to the spot where the foul occurred, despite Kenny’s complaints and arguments for why he was innocent.
Jackson couldn’t believe it. Anyone could’ve seen that was a clean break-up. Kenny barely even brushed the guy, and the ball was right there anyway. A bit of contact was fine if the ball was there. ‘Are you bl—’
‘THAT WAS A LOAD OF SHIT!’ Jackson almost fell out of his seat due to Tommy’s outburst. ‘WHY DON’T YOU JUST GIVE THEM THE TOUCHDOWN, UMP?!’
Tommy sat back down, face red with fury. ‘Sorry,’ he said to Jackson in a much quieter tone.
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Jackson was stunned, staring at Tommy dumbly. He knew he wasn’t the only person staring at Tommy, most of the crowd around them had turned their attention to the pair and were staring daggers at them.
With that, the momentum turned, and the Coyotes took advantage as the Titans were still reeling from the terrible call. They moved the ball downfield rapidly, and even when the Titans recovered and started to slow them down, another favourable call bailed the Coyotes out on 3rd down.
This time, it was Nick who copped a holding penalty, which, whilst only moving the ball 5 yards, automatically gave the Coyotes a fresh set of downs to work with.
The Coyotes were at the goal line now, and it was here that they handed things over to their RB who bulldozed ahead, leading with his helmet, and bashed his way into the end zone for the game’s first score.
‘What a crock of shit.’ Tommy threw his hands down, his complaints washed away by the waves of noise from the roaring crowd as the Coyotes celebrated the opening touchdown.
‘It’s okay,’ Jackson said, ‘they’re still going to lose. The game’s just getting started.’
Jackson wasn’t the only one with that mindset. After the kickoff return, which Kenny brought out to the 35-yard line, the Titans were determined to even up the score and win back the points the Coyotes had stolen.
To start the drive, Kenny grabbed a reception for 12 yards. When the Coyotes came to double him on the next play, Freddy showcased that he hadn’t only improved defensively but offensively as well when he caught a reception off a quick slant for 7 yards, making sure to slide down before any Coyote could lay into him with a big—and likely dirty—hit.
The Titans marched past the halfway mark and didn’t look like anything would be stopping them soon.
They kept to the air, and this time Pete looked Nick’s way, targetting him on a short Out route.
The ball was heavily contested in the air as both Nick and Tyreek jumped at it, and unfortunately for the Titans, it was knocked aside. However, that wasn’t the worst of it. When the players came down, Tyreek landed heavily on Nick’s leg.
Nick yelped with pain as his ankle rolled under Tyreek’s boot and he crumpled to the floor, clutching his leg.
Players from both sides surged to the area, pushing and shoving as a fight threatened to break out. The officials ran in, struggling to keep things under control or separate the boys.
Freddy squeezed through the crush of bodies and pulled Nick away from it, helping him back up. ‘Oh my god, are you okay?’
‘I’m fine.’ Air hissed through Nick’s gritted teeth as he gingerly put weight on his crushed foot. ‘Just need to walk it off. It was an accident.’
Freddy believed that’s what Nick believed, though he didn’t believe it was the truth. Either way he kept his mouth shut and helped Nick back to where the Titans huddle would be, and eventually the mass of players broke off and each team returned to their sides of the field.
Nick signalled to the sideline that he was okay and good to continue, still rolling his ankle around. ‘I’ll be alright,’ he assured his teammates. ‘Just twisted it for a second, it’ll be fine.’
‘You got this man, you’re a beast.’ Pete and Nick bumped fists, and the Titans took their positions.
Isaac got the call for the next play and ploughed ahead. As he burst through the gap he avoided a tangle of arms and legs, and dove ahead for a gain of five yards. Then, it was back to the passing game.
Pete didn’t want to target Nick, it’s not that he thought Nick was lying about being fine, but he just wanted to give Nick some rest for a few plays or maybe even the rest of the drive—it was at a time like this that Jackson regretted not being able to help the team, even if that only meant giving someone else the chance to sit on the bench and recover—but no one else was open. It was as if the Coyotes were intentionally leaving Nick open. Again the pressure closed in, and it was either throw the ball or take a sack.
Pete threw the ball.
Nick completed the catch in the open this time. He turned and ran, not quite at full speed, but he got about 14 yards downfield before he was tackled and brought down.
Tyreek was headed towards Nick just before Nick got brought down. He went to hurdle over the two players on the ground, but as he did so, he “accidentally” landed on Nick’s already bruised ankle.
‘ARGHH FUCK!’ Nick rolled away quickly, once again clutching his leg and trying to massage it.
‘Oops, sor—’
As Tyreek turned around he was floored by Kenny. A shoulder to the chest knocked all the air out of Tyreek’s lungs and he crashed to the ground, coughing loudly.
Edgar hammered Kenny from behind and sent Kenny sprawling as whistles shrieked and the officials hurried to stop things from escalating.
Though Coach Otsen would be damned if HE didn’t escalate the situation. ‘WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT!?!’ His headset shattered as he threw it to the ground, charging towards the head official like a raging bull, though thankfully, for the official, he stopped just short.
‘Please return to your team’s bench, Coach Otsen we’ve got things under control—’
‘Under control, my ass! Did you not see that? Or is your head so far up YOUR ass you can’t see anything but shit?! I SWEAR if you don’t start doing your job and PROTECTING these boys, I will make damn sure you never umpire another game. You won’t even be able to get a job at Pee Wee football. They’re trying to INJURE my players, and if you don’t do anything about it, fuck this game AND the varsity game, me and my players will walk. My biggest concern is those boys’ safety. I couldn’t give two shits about forfeiting if it means none of my players will get hurt.’
‘Do I hear crying? What’s all the fuss about?’ Coach Kelly sauntered towards Coach Otsen and the officials.
Coach Otsen spun towards him with all the ferocity of a hurricane. ‘Don’t even start with your bullshit, I won’t hear it. You’re a disgrace to the sport, and if YOU don’t start disciplining those animals on your team … boy you sure as hell won’t like it if I’M the one who has to do it.’
‘Are you threatening my kids, Coach Otsen? Am I hearing this right?’ He looked to the officials.
Coach Otsen stepped in front of his vision. ‘Don’t fucking test me. And trust me on this. When I threaten you, you’ll know.’
Coach Kelly swallowed the gum he was chewing.
‘Gentlemen, gentlemen, please.’ The head official stepped between them, sweat as thick as gravy coating his double chins, Adam’s apple bobbing like mad as he held a shaky hand out between the coaches. ‘Just go back to your benches, please. This’ll all be sorted out, we just, we’re gonna penalise the Coyotes, then let’s all calm down and have a good game of football, that’s what we’re all here for, ain’t it?’
Coach Otsen stomped away from the confrontation and back to his bench.
‘Penalise us? For what? An accident? They’re the ones starting a fight with my boys after the fact.’
‘Back to your bench, Coach Kelly.’ The head official turned away, wiping down his drenched forehead.
In the meantime, Coach Knight had carried Nick back to the bench, and along with the team doctor, was looking at his ankle. However, Nick wasn’t being the most cooperative patient. Blood was showing through his sock, but even so, he was still being stubborn.
‘I’ll just take your boot off to see if there’s swel—’
‘Don’t!’ Nick jerked his foot away. ‘Please don’t. I’m fine, I promise.’ Nick panted heavily, staring down at the doctor, avoiding Coach Knight’s stone-like gaze. ‘I just need to rest it a bit, but I’ll be fine. It’ll only get worse if we take my boot off, right? I can keep playing.’
‘If you’re hurt, you should sit out. It’s alright, Nick, your health is more important than a game,’ Coach Otsen said, standing over the doctor.
Nick looked up at him. It was like staring into the sun, but he didn’t back down or turn his eyes away. ‘… I said I’m fine.’
‘Then he’s fine. He’ll keep playing… as long as he really is fine. But if I see anything wrong with you, I’m pulling you from the game.’
Nick nodded, happy and surprised by the compromise.
After talking it over with the other officials, the head official addressed the teams and crowd. ‘After deliberation, the action carried out by number 37 of the Coyotes has been deemed as unnecessary roughness, outside the bounds of the game, and as a result, number 37 of the Coyotes will be ejected from the game.’
‘WHAT?!’ Tyreek had to be held back from charging the field and taking out his anger on the umpires. Instead, he thrashed his helmet against the bench and threw it down so hard it bounced into the first row of spectators who, along with the majority of the crowd, were busy showering the umpires with boos for their decision.
Play resumed with the Titans being awarded an additional 15 yards on top of what they gained from Nick’s reception.
Even so, the Titans had been drained of energy seemingly, and the Coyotes came out ferociously after the stoppage.
The Titans soon found themselves on fourth down, but they were well within field goal range.
As Nick was preparing to kick, trying to get in the right headspace and block everything out, he heard his name amidst the near-deafening chorus of boos.
He looked to the sideline and saw the coaches beckoning him over. He heard Coach Otsen’s distinct voice cut through the wave of noise.
‘NICK!’
He told his teammates to wait and rushed over to the sideline. ‘Yeah?’
‘Are you okay to kick?’
He didn’t have long to think so answered quickly, staring into Coach Otsen’s eyes, he said: ‘There’s only one way to find out.’
Coach Otsen closed his eyes. When he opened them, he slapped Nick on the shoulder. ‘Give it your all.’ He sent Nick back out to the others.
‘Everything okay?’ Pete asked.
‘All good. Let’s do this!’
‘¡A huevo!’
They snapped the ball and Pete caught it without issue, planting it upright on the turf, laces out. Nick stepped in, winced and wobbled, but swung his leg hard and slammed his boot into the ball.
It shanked off the side of his boot and sailed well wide of the goalposts. The crowd erupted in cheers and Nick almost fell to the ground under the weight of disappointment.
‘I’m sorry,’ he said.
The Titans got around him, patting him where they could. ‘It’s alright,’ they said, though internally, they all wondered if they were back down to ten players for the rest of the game.