Late in the third quarter, Mt. Vernon broke a long run to add to their lead, 20–7. Coach Mason decided that we needed to mix it up on the next drive. He’d seen something and called a play that took a long time to develop. Basically, it was Roc going five yards up and then cutting across the field underneath the coverage. If they were in man-to-man, it gave him plenty of time to outrun his defender. Roc’s long strides made him sneaky-fast because he didn’t need near as many steps to cover the same amount of ground.
On the snap, I stood tall in the pocket and surveyed the field. Mt. Vernon was doing all they could to get to me, but my line was holding. The clock in my head was screaming to throw the ball, but I had to hang onto it long enough for Roc to cross the field. Most of my passes were out of my hands in one to two seconds—this one I would have to hold for over five.
We had run all the other receivers into the center of the field. I acted like I couldn’t find anyone open. Mt. Vernon’s defensive ends finally came free, and instead of running out of the pocket, I stepped forward. It bought me enough time to throw the ball to Roc, who had begun his run upfield. It was an easy pitch and catch for the score. I wasn’t happy shortly after when Derek missed the extra point wide right. We needed a touchdown to catch up, now that the score was 20–13.
We got the ball back with only nine minutes left in the game. There was still plenty of time, which allowed us to mix runs and passes. I’d tried to handle the ball on the runs as much as possible because it gave us a numbers advantage. Mt. Vernon figured it out and sent a linebacker to spy on me. We found ourselves inside their 20 with only five minutes to go. We scored on the run-pass option play when the cornerback tried to jump a pass to Wolf. I pump-faked and tossed an easy throw to Phil, who’d entered the game to give Roc a breather. Now the game was tied at 20–all.
We forced a three-and-out and got the ball back on our 25 yard line with less than two minutes to play. Coach Mason called the long drag play for Roc again. This time, Mt. Vernon also blitzed one of their linebackers. Instead of having the luxury of standing in the pocket, I was soon running for my life. I rolled towards where Roc would end up and drew the defense to me. I faked tucking the ball, causing Roc’s defender to step towards me, so I pitched the ball end-over-end above the defensive back’s head. Roc gathered it in and sprinted upfield. Because I’d run towards the play, their defense was pulled that way as well. This time, Roc didn’t make it to the end zone. He was forced out of bounds on their 38 yard line.
Coach Hope decided that we needed to run the ball and get close enough that Derek could kick a game-winning field goal. Mt. Vernon called time-outs to stop the clock, but we were able to get a first down. With twenty seconds to go, Coach Mason directed me to run the ball to the center of the field so that Derek would have an easier kick. We were currently on the right hash mark. I took the snap and got to the center of the field, and I expect Mt. Vernon thought I would just go to one knee. Instead, I cut upfield. If I’d not done that, we would be at the extreme limit of Derek’s range. The extra five yards I gained should make it a surer kick.
Coach Hope let the clock go down to eight seconds. That would give us two chances to get the field goal off if needed. You could see the Mt. Vernon fans were resigned to their fate. All Derek had to do was kick the ball through the uprights. The snap was good, and the holder put the ball down like he’d done a thousand times over the summer and during the season. Derek hooked it. Mt. Vernon took possession at the spot of the kick, but their Hail Mary pass fell incomplete while the clock ran out. We went into overtime.
In overtime, we would each get a chance to score from the 25 yard line. They had a coin toss to determine who got the ball first. We won and decided to play defense. This way, we would know what we had to do to win the game.
We were all confident that we were winning the game. We had the momentum and the superior team. You could tell that Mt. Vernon was completely gassed. They’d given it their all and had faded in the fourth quarter.
We held them and forced them to kick a field goal. Their kicker drilled it to make the score 23–20.
Coach Mason wanted us to run the ball. We ran the motion play, and on first down, I handed the ball to Ty, who gained three yards. On second down, I gave it to Jake, who was dropped for a three-yard loss. Coach Hope called a time-out.
“We need to get a first down. I want to win this game now,” Coach Hope said.
