It was clear Nick still needed some time to rest, though as the ball swapped over to be in the Coyotes’ possession, they weren’t about to give him any. So Coach Otsen was forced to call a timeout.

Nick stared at the ground as he shuffled to the bench. ‘I’m sorry,’ he said after sitting down. ‘Please let me keep playing.’

Coach Otsen fought to keep the smile off his face. He grabbed Nick’s shoulder. ‘You don’t have to push beyond your breaking point.’

Nick shook his head. ‘I know I can’t kick anymore, but I can still play, I can still help the team. I’ll block, play defence, I’ll do anything to help us win. Just, please let me play, Sir.’

‘I’m pulling you out if I think you’re making it worse. Get out there and play some defence. All of you. We’ve got a fucking game to win. I’ll be damned if we let these mutts beat us.’

The Titans rallied around Nick, surging back onto the field.

Nick shook his bad leg, and tested his ankle as he stood far back from his assigned Receiver.

Nearly every Coyote was staring at him like how a lion stares at an injured gazelle. Spider smirked and snapped the ball. He was targeting Nick the whole way.

Nick backpedalled, his man charging forward. The Receiver turned back for a curl. Nick lunged forward. The Receiver blew right by him—the curl had been a feint. Nick turned and gave chase, but he couldn’t reach his top speed no matter how hard he pushed.

Lonnie raced across, trying to cut off the Receiver, but Spider unfurled a bomb, launching the ball 50 yards deep that went over the head of even Lonnie. The Receiver only had to veer into the ball’s path and catch it in full stride before walking in for a touchdown.

The crowd howled again, and the Titans—Nick especially—took another hefty blow to their morale.

After the extra point was successful, Nick couldn’t face Coach Otsen as he slunk back to the bench. Who knows if the empathetic look he would’ve found would’ve been more damaging than the scolding he expected.

‘Just say the word and you can rest that ankle, Nick. It’s alright, no one will blame you, it’s my fault for not protecting you from these thugs.’

Nick punched the bench, then scrunched his fists up on top of his lap. He stomped his bad leg and stared into Coach Otsen’s eyes, on the verge of tears.

‘I can still play! I don’t care what I have to do, just keep me on the field. I didn’t… I didn’t train this hard just to be a burden.’

‘Y-You’re not a burden,’ Freddy said.

‘Freddy’s right. Let’s just focus on beating those putas.’

Coach Otsen put his arms around his boys, unable to keep the smile off his face this time. ‘Whatever happens today, I’m proud of you all, you’re true Titans.’

During the kickoff return, the Coyotes were penalised for unnecessary roughness when one of them intentionally sought out Nick and blindsided him. The officials were quick to step in and issue a warning to the offending player before things could escalate. So, when Kenny was brought down at the 33-yard line, another 15 yards were added onto the play, letting the Titans start their drive from near half field.

They wouldn’t have much time, so they were thankful for the extra yards. As Isaac burst across the halfway mark, eventually wrestled down by Trent, time stopped at the two-minute warning.

Without Tyreek things were easier for the Titans. The Coyotes played back, forcing the Titans into only short gains underneath the defence. Whether it was Kenny, Lonnie, Freddy, or even Isaac getting involved with the passing game, they could only grab a few yards at a time, and with only one timeout—which Coach Otsen was saving—the clock continued to tick down.

Pete, feeling a bit desperate, sank deep in the pocket. Kenny flew across the field, easily blowing past Tyreek’s replacement. He was going for it all. Pete spiralled the ball towards the endzone. Kenny ran under it, hand extended, but the ball dropped just out of reach of his fingertips even as he lunged out for it.

Kenny punched the ground before hurrying back to the huddle. ‘Sorry, man. I couldn’t get there.’

‘Nah, that’s my bad, amigo. I overthrew you, we’ll get the next one.’

Kenny and Pete bumped fists and the huddle broke away.

Pete dropped back again, eyes on Kenny as he raced towards the middle of the field on another deep route. Pete was so honed in on Kenny, and with the route needing so much time to develop, he never saw the LOLB break through the O-Line.

Pete felt was sideswiped by a semi-trailer, but miraculously, he held onto the ball. A timeout was called after the sack, and the Coyote who laid the hit was quickly shoved off Pete before multiple helping hands pulled Pete back onto his feet.

‘You fuckers are gonna die today,’ the Coyote said before spitting on the ground.

Pete saw that it was the tatted-up asshole who had been ejected in their first meeting. ‘Doesn’t that super senior have a prison sentence to serve or something?’ Pete’s ribs still felt a little tender as he took his spot on the bench.

‘We don’t have a lot of time left,’ Coach Otsen said, ‘but that’s alright. Use the sideline, it’s our friend now, and don’t worry about getting all the yards in one go, we’re in fourth down territory here.

Nick mumbled an apology; without his leg, the Titans didn’t have much choice about whether to go for it on fourth down or not.

‘The comeback starts here,’ Coach Otsen said. ‘A touchdown now is as good as a gut punch. Snatch back the momentum before halftime and give them something to feel shit about.’

‘C’mon Titans!’ Jackson and Tommy cheered as the teams lined up after the timeout. Right now, Jackson didn’t care about the dirty looks they got from the Coyotes fans surrounding them.

Kenny was the target once again, and this time he and Pete connected for an 11-yard gain on an Out route that stopped the clock, but failed to earn a first down due to the earlier sack.

There were only ten seconds left in the first half. Even with a new set of downs, the Titans would only get one or two more chances.

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Kenny was doubled on fourth down, unable to fight through Edgar’s clawing hands with another body hemming him in. Pete’s eyes snapped to Lonnie, there wasn’t time, he just had to throw. He heaved the ball high.

Lonnie stretched up, getting his hands on the ball at the peak of his jump, but he was bumped forward in midair. Trent was all over Lonnie, and when the pair hit the turf, Lonnie was a yard shy of the first down marker—Coyotes’ ball.

The Coyotes were too far from the endzone to try anything, especially with how deep the Titans set up their defence. So the Coyotes knelt for the final play, and went into halftime with a 14–0 lead over their rivals.

In the Titans’ locker room, a doctor was examining Nick’s ankle, whilst Coach Knight, Vasquez, and Carson watched on.

Nick winced from the doctor's prodding. His ankle was red, sore, and swollen. ‘Fortunately. It doesn’t look like a break. I suggest some rest to let it heal. And some ice would do more than a little good,’ the doctor said.

Nick nodded, and Coach Vasquez hurried to get an ice pack.

‘If it were up to me, I’d pull you from the game… though, unless another accident happens—’

Coach Knight and Carson exchanged a look.

‘—you won’t do further damage. But this won’t heal if you don’t rest it.’

‘As soon as the game’s over I won’t even stand on it, let alone run around. Promise.’

‘Best of luck to you, young man.’ The doctor took his leave as Coach Vasquez applied the icepack to Nick’s ankle with “maximum coverage”.

Coach Carson pulled up a chair in front of Nick. ‘Nick. I’m changing your role on defence. I need you to play a deep zone. I know you’re hurting on that leg, so I won’t ask much of you, I just need you to make sure nothing gets over the top. I don’t care if you have to play 20 yards off the line, just keep everything in front of you. Don’t worry about anything underneath, your team will cover that for you. That’s what teammates do—cover for each other. Got it?’

‘I understand, Coach.’

‘Atta boy.’

Elsewhere, Coach Otsen stood over a table in the officials’ break room. ‘I know I need to get my kids to be a little less reactionary, but you need to stop penalising them for standing up for themselves, and get the ones who are initiating it. The Coyotes are the ones trying to INJURE my kids, and if you allow them to keep doing that, it should be bloody criminal.’

‘Coach Otsen, we understand how you feel, but we’re just doing our best to keep the game fair and honest. Both sides are very hostile and aggressive, it’s up to the coaches to keep their players under control and disciplined.’

Coach Otsen’s glare could’ve melted the ice caps. ‘Then you’d best have a chat with Coach Kelly, and remind him to keep his … players under control.’

The air was so tense, the officials couldn’t breathe until Coach Otsen left the room.

Coach Otsen stormed into the locker room. ‘Sit down and shut up. We need to play better in the second half, plain and simple. I don’t want to hear any excuses, you can’t let them get in your head, and drag you down to their level, we’ll never beat them that way. Rise above. You’re better than them and they know it, that’s why they have to resort to this dirty shit, it’s the only chance they have. Just play YOUR football, and we’ll beat them.’ He turned to Nick. ‘You give up another touchdown and I’m pulling you from the game.’

‘I won’t. I promise.’

Coach Otsen grunted and looked around. ‘The hell are you sitting around for? Get out there and kick some ass!’

The Coyotes started the second half with the ball and to open their drive, they tested Nick again. But they couldn’t get over the top of him. Spider’s pass fell harmlessly to the turf.

However, Nick was giving up a lot of space to the inside, and the Coyotes exploited this for easy yards, moving swiftly downfield. Before the Titans could recover, and shift over their zone, the Coyotes were already in field goal range.

But the switch from Man to Zone made things harder as the Titans clogged up the air space with more bodies. They stretched themselves to the limits to cover for Nick, and in the end, stopped the Coyotes before they could break through for another touchdown.

The Coyotes did still come away with a field goal, pushing their lead out to 17–0. Then it was the Titans' turn on offence again.

Though they were practically down a player, the Titans didn’t give up. Nick was brought closer to the OL, almost acting as an extra Linemen as he was used for blocking only.

Because of this, the middle of the field was more clogged, making it harder to run the ball up the gut. It was hard for Lonnie to operate in his preferred area too. Also, with the Titans down a Receiver, it meant the Coyotes were free to put more attention on Kenny. He had a constant double-team now, and at some points, it even felt like he was being triple-teamed.

Freddy had grown as a player, that was true, but not enough to carry the brunt of the offence. As the rest of the team struggled with their new formation, and the schemes the Coyotes had to defend it, the Titans failed to get anything going and quickly handed the ball right back to the Coyotes.

When it came time to punt, there was a bit of confusion amongst the Titans. Nick was their Kicker AND Punter, but now that he was out of commission, they were unsure of what to do.

Coach Otsen, regrettably, had to call a timeout. ‘I’m sorry, this one’s on me,’ he said after the team gathered around him. ‘I was too preoccupied with other things, I forgot to address this during the break. He looked around at the players, searching through them. ‘Clayton, you’re punting.’

Clayton, one of the more rotund Linemen, stared dumbly at Coach Otsen. ‘Me? I’ve never done that before.’

‘It’s easy—just boot the fucking thing as hard as you can. As long as it goes forward, I don’t care about how long or how straight.’

Clayton didn’t look too convinced, worry and doubt were stricken all over his pudgy face, but he nodded meekly.

‘Just don’t drop the ball,’ Coach Otsen added before sending the team back onto the field.

Clayton looked mighty nervous standing behind the line. He kept wiping his hands on his pants, but the sweat wouldn’t go away.

‘H-Hut?’ he said.

He bobbled the catch, but didn’t drop it, pointed himself downfield, then slammed the ball onto his huge boot with a resounding THUMP.

It careened into the stands. Laughter and jeers came from the crowd. The punt certainly had power, but the accuracy could use some work. It at least went 10 yards downfield before the sideline umpire ruled it had gone out.

‘Just what they need,’ Tommy muttered. ‘It’s bad enough having an injured player out there on defence and offence, but now they’re without a Kicker or Punter. An already hard game just became even harder.’

The Titans weren’t about to feel sorry for themselves, nor were they going to roll over and die just because the Coyotes had a favourable starting position for their drive.

The new Zone defence was frustrating the Coyotes. Nick had shut down deep passes along one sideline, Lonnie was still patrolling the middle, ready to swoop in on anything, and Freddy covered the other sideline. These three took away the Coyotes’ favourite plays and Spider’s speciality—the deep ball.

Then, if the Coyotes tried anything underneath, Isaac, Pete, and Kenny were ready to pounce on everything. They moved as a cohesive unit, and if the Coyotes did complete any short pass, the three swarmed the Receiver and brought them down quickly.

The five Linemen had more than enough stopping power to keep the Coyotes’ run game in check as well, and their swatting hands even brought another obstacle to short, shallow passes if Spider wasn’t careful.

The game entered another lull period, where it was a battle of two stout, seemingly impenetrable defences for the majority of the third quarter after the opening drive.

Neither team was able to score until the last drive of the quarter. The Titans—unfortunately—were not the team that scored.

A myriad of unfortunate events resulted in the Coyotes finally breaking the stalemate.

First, the Coyotes didn’t have to go far to get into scoring range thanks to another short punt from Clayton. Second, the Titans Zone—whilst exceptional at covering the deep threats—did still give up the occasional play to something underneath. And finally, the Linemen tired enough before the end of the quarter to give up a run of over 20 yards, which wasn’t helped by the fact that Pete was also flagged for a late hit when he shoved the RB out of bounds at the end of the run.

Despite Pete and Coach Otsen’s—and the few Titans’ supporters—claims that the call was bullshit, the officials were deaf to the arguments.

However, the Titans—perhaps reinvigorated by the horrible call—were able to crack down again, and the Coyotes didn’t move an inch further down the field after that play. They still were able to finish off the third quarter with another successful field goal, and in doing so, went into the final term with a 20–0 lead.

A comeback looked unlikely.