Deshaun retreated to the bench, not saying a word to anyone. When he took his seat, Ty approached.
‘Are you fucking serious? Are you trying to make us lose?’
Still, Deshaun didn’t say anything, not even meeting the younger boy’s gaze.
‘Hey! I’m fucking talking to you. Who the fuck do you think they are?’ Ty panted heavily. He’d seen that look before, though he’d never seen it on a teammate’s face, not even last week.
‘You’re not allowed to give up, you piece of shit. You hear me!? If you quit because of those two losers, you’ll never be allowed to step foot onto MY field again.’
‘Samuels! Get out there and return the kick,’ Coach Hoang shouted.
Ty backed off, still staring Deshaun down for a while longer before he turned away and ran onto the field.
Jay opened one eye. His legs were stretched out, one crossed over the other, his feet resting on his helmet. He looked over at Deshaun. ‘So the defence is lost too? Hmm… nah. Not yet. You guys can still win it.’
Deshaun remained silent, holding his helmet in his hands, one finger tapping against it repeatedly.
Ty wasn’t about to let this game get any further away from him. He couldn’t just roll over and die. He had to do something. If simply shutting down one of the Receivers wasn’t enough, then he’d have to change the game any chance he got.
He prepared himself, digging his cleats into the turf, and getting himself set as he stood under the drop of the ball.
When he caught it, he again shot straight through the middle of the field with speed that surprised the Vikings trying to close around him. He burst through their lines, untouched, and only the nervous-looking Kicker stood before him and the endzone.
The Kicker backed away, fear in their eyes as they tried to line Ty up. Ty sped past the centre of the field.
Ty swerved left, and then right. The Kicker dove in his path, and Ty leapt over them, his feet clipping them in the air and having to readjust himself.
He stumbled at the landing, almost falling, but kept himself moving forward. But that stumble was all the other Vikings needed to be able to catch up to him and bring him down.
Ty had managed to make it into Vikings territory, and when he had finally been tripped up, he had been 37 yards away from the endzone.
He slammed the ball against the turf and pushed himself up, snarling as he stomped off to the bench. He had been SO close. He almost had a touchdown, almost had their redemption.
At least he had set up the offence for success now. They were already on the edge of field goal range, but from here, he hoped they could get a touchdown to keep the game tied.
With the offence back out there, it was time for the Dons to try out their new emergency strategy. JJ took the field with them right away, lining up just in front of Cameron. Benny’s jaw was set tight as he took his position on the edge of the line, and Cole kept his arms and legs loose as he stood in front of Isiah, who was laughing and grinning like a hyena about to swarm in for the kill.
Jay sighed, taking his position as he stared out at the defence before him and the rest of his teammates. He silently thanked Ty for getting them this close to start with, and then he snapped the ball.
First up, they tried another run to the outside, this time with JJ leading the way. Only, it was a fake! Jay held onto the ball. He whirled around, and looked down the field.
Benny—who had initially stayed in to block and sell the run even further, had then disengaged from his man and started running downfield.
Jay found him, and the two linked up for a pass of 12 yards. New life could be breathed into this offence after all.
Next, they stuck with the passing game, and this time Jay was able to find Cole, getting the ball out just before Mike crushed him in another sack.
Cole had sped across the width of the field, using his speed to get further and further away from Isiah until he made the catch and turned upfield right by the sideline, where Isiah was able to catch him and shove him out of bounds only after a gain of 9 yards.
After that, they were able to gain a first down by powering through the middle with a run. JJ was able to hold Mike off for a moment, the two stuck in a stalemate for a second, and then after Cameron added his strength to the push, they bulldozed ahead for another 4 yards.
That was when the offence dried up, however. Now that they were drawing closer and closer to the goal line, and with the usable field shortening, the defence no longer had to worry about stretching themselves thin.
They could press up fearlessly and once again, the Dons struggled to get anything further. By the time it came to fourth down, they still needed maybe 2 and a half yards to earn another first down, and were nearly 5 yards away from the endzone.
‘What’s the call, Coach?’ Coach Norman looked at Coach Long. ‘Are we going for it, or taking the points?’
Coach Long didn’t think about it for long. ‘Kick the field goal.’
While Coach Norman himself was leaning more on the side of letting the offence have one last crack at scoring a touchdown, he relented to the Head Coach without argument and the kicking team was sent out onto the field as the offence returned to the bench, disappointed, but with hope reignited.
‘Damn! We were so close. If I just had that catch.’ Benny smacked his hands together, frowning. ‘Sorry guys.’
‘Nah, you guys did great,’ JJ said. ‘We’ll get them next time.’
‘Yeah. We’ll see how we go next time we’re out there.’ Jay once again set his helmet on the ground to use as a footrest, though this time he kept his eyes on the field as he leaned back against the bench with his hands behind his head.
Marshall seemed to be running with a mission in mind during his next return, but even so, the Dons did a good job of corralling him, and kept him to ONLY, a 30-yard return.
Looking at the clock, the Vikings would only have time for one more drive before the first half came to a close.
‘Alright, defence, listen up,’ Coach Hoang rallied them. We’re switching to a heavy zone now. I don’t want any more long bombs through the air. Let them beat us on the ground if they can, but I trust in our strength up front to be able to stop them.’ He looked at JJ. Then he turned his gaze upon Deshaun. ‘I know we’ve struggled a bit so far, but that’s okay. Banks, you’ll be dropping back into a deep zone. Don’t worry about following your opponent's every move, just make sure he can’t get over the top of you.’
Deshaun looked away, his fingers drummed against his helmet but he kept his mouth shut.
‘Samuels. You’ll be back to your original assignment. You stick with number 13 and you don’t let him go anywhere. I need you to not let him get a single catch.’
‘Easy.’ Ty grinned.
‘Don’t get cocky, just do your job. Let’s make a stand and go into the half with all the momentum!’
‘Woo! Come on, ¡hermanos! Let’s bounce back.’ JJ clapped his hands together as he led the group back out onto the field.
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With the Dons putting some points on the board again, the crowd was reinvigorated, and with this upcoming, final stand of the first half, they had come alive again, chanting and cheering for their hometown heroes.
The Vikings didn’t look to be cracking under the pressure, they appeared as composed as before, and Marshall’s confidence had only skyrocketed. He grinned when Ty came up to him again.
‘I warned you not to let that other nigga guard me. Look what happened.’
‘And now what? You’re back to begging for scraps now that I’m here again. Look around. You’re alone out here.’
Marshall looked around. He and Ty were the only ones on this side of the field.
‘Don’t worry about anyone else, it’s just you and me. And you’re not making one more catch for the rest of the game.’
Marshall shot an icy scowl at Ty and the two sunk into their stances.
Across the other side of the field, Deshaun lined up further away from Isiah, leaving more space between them, and he also was facing the QB instead of looking at Isiah.
‘Hahah. Man, I can’t believe they didn’t fuckin’ bench you. You’re like a beaten bitch who keeps on crawlin’ back for more.’
Deshaun didn’t even look at him.
The ball was snapped, and surprisingly, the first play was a run. It was a draw to be exact, but as Nathan dropped back to throw, he instead handed it off to the RB who rushed ahead and followed Mike’s broad back.
Mike charged through the Dons’ defensive line, and soon came head-to-head with JJ. The two slammed into each other forcefully, and while Mike began to drive JJ back, the RB went to dart by.
Right as the RB was going past, JJ lunged at him with one arm and latched onto him. He almost wrestled the ball free, but the RB adjusted his grip and held on tight as he was brought to the ground.
It was still a gain of 6 yards for the Vikings, but it ate up valuable time.
The Vikings hurried to the line, and the ball was quickly snapped again.
Isiah saw Deshaun backing way off, and so he whipped around into a short curl instead. Nathan was just about to let the ball go when he saw another Dons defender drifting in front of Isiah, so at the last second he was able to readjust his aim and send the ball soaring over both Isiah and the defender’s heads.
The crowd cheered loudly as the Vikings were quickly brought to third down and the clock was stopped. If the Dons could just get one more stop, then their offence would have a chance at a rapid, last-second counter attack.
‘You fucking pussy. You need help to guard me, huh?’ Isiah barked at Deshaun.
Deshaun ignored him and instead went over to congratulate the teammate who had helped him out. ‘Good stuff, man. That was all you.’
A vein throbbed along Isiah’s forehead.
The third play was another pass, though as Nathan looked Isiah’s way, he was struggling to find an opening in the zone. JJ had the middle of the field on lockdown, so there as no luck there, which left Marshall.
Marshall pushed through Ty’s stiff press, shoving aside his hands and getting right up into the smaller boy’s chest.
He shoved Ty off a bit and then shook inside. Ty stuck with him, and even when Marshall spun to the outside, Ty was right there, glued to his hip.
Marshall called for the ball anyway as he ran towards the sideline, a hand raised in the air.
Nathan tossed the ball high. With how close together the two were, neither Marshall or Ty could really get a good jump. Ty swiped at the ball with a long arm, but it just went past his fingertips.
“Too high! He can’t catch it.”
Marshall stretched upwards, dropping one arm down, reaching out with just one hand, and once again, his long fingers managed to stick to the ball and drag it down into his palm to secure the catch, even as Ty dragged him down to the turf.
It was a gain of 11 yards, and the Vikings took a timeout.
‘So much for me not getting another catch,’ Marshall said. ‘You sure like to talk big for such a li’l nigga that can’t back shit up.’
‘A lucky catch. That’s all it was.’
‘Yeah, keep telling yourself that.’
Ty returned to his huddle, grinding his teeth. That was two flukes now.
The next play, Marshall was targeted again. This time, he ran ahead ten yards before giving a little shimmy and then cutting diagonally across the field, heading towards the goal post at the back of the endzone.
Again, Ty was right with him, and this time the pass was just low enough for him to bat the ball out of the air before Marshall could reel it in.
‘What did I tell you? You’re just fucking lucky. Sit the fuck down.’
Marshall gave Ty a shove but backed off and hurried to his huddle.
The next pass was a screen to the RB as the Vikings hoped to catch the Dons off guard, but they were all over it. They swarmed to the ball as soon as the RB caught it and overwhelmed him, dragging him down for a loss of yards, and the Vikings had to use another timeout.
During the huddle, Coach Hoang signalled Deshaun to switch things up and ignore his zone so he could instead blitz the QB. It was the perfect opportunity to reveal this trick.
After the timeout, Nathan dropped back for another pass, needing to pick up a lot of yards quickly to continue the Vikings’ drive.
While the front of his protection was incredibly sturdy and secure as always, he’d dropped back deep and was wide open from the sides. And with his eyes on Ty and Marshall, he never even saw Deshaun coming.
Deshaun slammed into Nathan like he had been shot out of a cannon. Nathan crumbled under the hit, his head flying back as Deshaun speared him into the ground. The ball came loose, and there was a frantic scramble for it.
Mike’s massive frame was the first to fall onto the loose fumble, and there was no shoving him off of it, so the Vikings did recover, but they’d be having to punt anyway.
Most of the defence rallied behind Deshaun, slapping him on the back or the helmet as they cheered for him.
As he led them towards the bench, Deshaun smiled slightly. ‘Shut up, you idiots … let’s just play like that in the second half, alright?’
They laughed and cheered again.
There wasn’t enough time for the Dons to drive all the way down the field, so they instead decided to run out what little remained of the clock.
Both teams headed into their respective locker rooms for the major break, with the score being 17–21 in favour of the Vikings.
In the rooms, Coach Long stepped aside and spoke with a doctor before addressing the team.
‘Sorry, Coach. It’s definitely a concussion. He won’t be returning to this game, and we’ll have to monitor how he recovers during the week, but I wouldn’t expect him to be ready to play the next game either.’
‘Thanks, Doc. You just look after him and make sure he’s alright for now. I’ll have a chat with his parents and let them know too.’
After that, Coach Long made his way to the centre of the locker room. ‘Listen up, boys. Chris won’t be able to return today, but that’s alright. We did good just before the end of the half, that’s what we need to focus on right now. We need to keep that feeling, keep that fire, and play with it going into the second half.’
‘We may be hurting but we gotta keep giving it our all, for our hermanos caídos,’ JJ said.
‘He’s right. Just keep playing your hearts out, and make your teammates proud. Come on, bring it in now.’
Everyone gathered around Coach Long’s raised fist.
‘For Chris, on three. One, two, three—’
‘FOR CHRIS!’ It was the loudest roar that Ty had ever heard from their team-wide battlecry. He could feel the energy of his teammates pumping through him.
JJ led the charge out of the locker room and back out onto the field. They were hit with loud, passionate cheers, like a tsunami of noise.
Ty stepped onto the field again, heart pumping strongly. “No matter what, we’ll win this game. Even if I have to drag us across the finish line by myself!”
When the Vikings emerged, they were met with muted cheers from their few fans and families, and even some boos amongst the quiet applause.
They, of course, would start the second half with the ball after the opening kickoff. As Marshall stepped onto the field, he glared around at all the fans.
“Who the fuck are they to boo ME? This is all cause of that little fucking RUNT. Just cause you stop me once… just cause you’re returning the kicks now too? You think you can fucking stop me? ME?!”
He took the field for the kickoff, fists clenched tightly. His earlier promise to Ty was fresh in his mind. Two touchdowns for every one the Dons scored. He was still three away from that goal.
That needed to change.
When he caught the ball, he scanned the field, patiently sauntering forward before he cut to the outside of the field, slipping past an over-ambitious tackler. He aimed for the gap left behind by the defender he had just passed.
He raced through the gap and broke away down the sideline, sprinting past more desperate pursuers as they struggled to get free from blocks and lay a hand on him.
Soon enough, it was down to the Kicker alone to stop him, or at least slow him down enough so reinforcements could catch up.
Marshall was right on the edge of the sideline. One false step and he’d be out of bounds. The Kicker didn’t have to tackle him, he just had to knock him out of bounds. Marshall knew that better than anyone, of course.
When the Kicker lunged for him, Marshall suddenly stopped and cut further in-field off a single, powerful step. The Kicker flew right by him, and then there was nothing in front of him, no one to stop him from running right into the endzone for a touchdown.
The second half started with a bang and a statement. The gap between the two teams widened further. Marshall still had two more touchdowns left to get.
The Vikings and their handful of fans roared as their bench erupted in cheers at the amazing touchdown.
But on the other side, the hearts of the Dons plummeted.