I don’t think anyone in the stadium felt that it was over. Clemson marched down the field, and I jumped up again. By now, my section knew that when I did that, something good was about to happen. I’d spotted their go-to receiver running a post over the middle, and there was no underneath coverage. He was essentially one-on-one. The quarterback also saw it and threw the ball. I looked over at Wolf when the receiver dragged the defender into the end zone. Clemson tried for two, but the conversion failed.
After the kickoff, the Clemson defense stiffened and forced Louisville to punt. They were making a nice drive down the field when I jumped up again, this time not to point out something good.
“Throw it away!” I yelled.
The Clemson quarterback was hit as he threw the pass. This was how you lost big games in the last few minutes. Somehow, he hit his receiver, who was crossing the field. The defensive back must have thought the play was over or gotten caught up in the traffic because the receiver cut upfield and his teammates blocked for him. Clemson went for and made the two-point conversion to make it a six-point game at 42–36.
Louisville would now have to score a touchdown and make the extra point to win. They had a little over three minutes, plenty of time to get it done. The whole stadium held its breath as they methodically drove down the field. They were in the red zone on Clemson’s 14 yard line. On third down, the Clemson defense sent a blitz. I watched as the Louisville quarterback did his version of Captain Chaos and somehow escaped the Tiger defenders’ grasp. He was fifteen yards behind the defenders when I jumped up again.
“He’s open!”
Louisville’s quarterback threw a rocket into the end zone. The defender knew he was beaten and ran the receiver over. I fully expected that pass interference would be called, but it wasn’t. Sometimes, it’s good to be the home team.
Everyone was now on their feet because this was it. Fourth down inside the twenty with the game on the line. As a quarterback, you relish these moments. If the Louisville quarterback could find a way to will his team to victory in Death Valley, he would be the hero. And he would put his team in a great spot as far as getting to the National Championship Playoffs.
I took a moment to take it all in. Someday, this could be me. Brook saw my look and squeezed my arm.
“You love this, don’t you?”
I nodded and turned my attention back to the field.
The Louisville quarterback set up in the pocket and got his feet under him. I saw a receiver flare out in the shallow flat and could see that was his only option. He made the throw so his receiver was running at full speed when he caught it. It was a race to see if Clemson could keep him out of the end zone. I groaned when I saw the receiver try to dance around the defender and go right out of bounds, two yards short of the first-down marker.
“God help me, if you ever do that, I will kill you,” I said to Wolf.
“I don’t think he knew where he was at,” Wolf said to defend him.
I just shook my head in frustration. Coach Mason pounded into our heads to be aware of where we were on the field. If the kid had simply put his shoulder down, he would, at the very least, have gotten the first down. There was a good chance he might have scored. As it was, Clemson survived to win 42–36.
◊◊◊
“What does everyone want to do?” Mr. Tams asked us.
“We’re going to a party,” Tim announced.
By the look on Tim and Wolf’s faces, I would bet that two cute coeds would somehow show up at this party. I was of two minds. Mr. Happy wanted to go to the party and send Brook back to the hotel. The big brain had accepted that we were in a relationship, and that was probably a terrible idea. I’d also learned that you had to ask and not make decisions on your own.
“What do you think?” I asked Brook.
“Well, I am a little tired.”
I hoped that was code for what I thought it meant.
“I don’t think so. You kept your father and me up half the night with you two being tired,” my mom weighed in.
“I thought it was just us,” Wolf said, letting a small smile touch his eyes.
He was so dead to me.
“What are you talking about?” Tim’s mom asked.
“David and Brook were rowdy last night, bouncing on the bed,” Tim said to try to play it off.
“Really,” was her response as her eyebrows disappeared into her bangs.
“Nice, dumbass,” I hissed at Tim.
My mom smacked me on the back of the head.
“I’m up for a party,” Brook said to change the subject.
“And you old folks need to go off and do whatever it is you do,” I suggested.
I got smacked again. What the hell?! I was glad I was amusing.
◊◊◊
Terry had invited us to a party that the football team was having in the athletic dorm. It looked like all the recruits were going, so we walked to the dorm together. We got into a lively discussion about the last play for Louisville. Everyone seemed happy the receiver had skipped out of bounds, but the consensus was he would relive it in his mind the rest of his life.
