I looked them all in the eyes to make sure they understood. When they nodded back, I called the next play. Coach Mason was big on having me react to what I saw on the field. Most high school quarterbacks would have been given a progression, and that would have been it. He was teaching me how to read defenses and use what they were doing against them. Our receivers understood that they better not fall asleep on any play because you never knew when the ball might be coming to you.
If you watch a lot of football, you will see times when you scratch your head as to why a quarterback misses an obviously open receiver. Coach Mason showed me how to scan the field quickly without losing focus. What I’d seen was the cornerback that defended Roc cheated over when we ran the option. We, of course, had a pass play we could run off the same look. We hadn’t used it yet this year, so I figured we would dust that one off.
“Option right, pass on two.”
Roc was smiling as he trotted out to his position.
“Blue! Set! Hut, Hut!” I barked.
The play unfolded the same as before. This time, when I stepped up to run inside, I glanced over, and Waterloo’s cornerback was running to where I would pitch to Ty. I side-armed the ball to Roc so it would go around the cornerback. He had one of those ‘ruh-roh, Scooby-Doo’ moments.
The linebacker who was supposed to stop me did his job: he followed the play and took off in pursuit. What he didn’t realize was I was right behind him. The safety had a good angle and was about to take Roc down when Roc twisted and tossed the ball over the linebacker’s head. He about snapped his spine as he tried to arch his back to get the football. He looked like Duke when we played keep-away. I gathered it in and ran for daylight.
I was sure I was gone, but their other safety dove and grabbed my foot to trip me up at the 5 yard line. That made me mad at myself that I hadn’t run harder. I felt like no one should ever catch me from behind.
We ran Ty up the middle on them three times before he was able to punch it in. I think Waterloo thought we would pass for two. Instead, we gave it to Ty again, and he didn’t make it. Coach Stevens said if we scored on at least half of them, it was worth trying for two. I knew we wouldn’t get all of them, so we were happy to have a 6–0 lead.
On the next series, Waterloo recovered the onside kick, drove down and scored to make it 7–6. That was the risk we took when we gave them a shorter field. Coach Stevens seemed to be the ultimate optimist. He told us that if they scored, it just meant we got the ball back. He was confident they couldn’t keep pace with us.
Our possession tested Coach Hope’s resolve to go on fourth down. Waterloo had kicked the ball through the end zone to give it to us on our twenty. On the first play, we’d run a play-action pass where I faked the handoff to Ty as he ran up the middle again. My back was to the line, and I didn’t know that their defensive end had beaten his block and was right on me. When I turned around, all I could do was cover up as he sacked me.
On the next two plays, we didn’t gain any yardage as both Phil and Wolf dropped passes. That was something I hadn’t seen happen back-to-back since our first game this year. It was now fourth and seventeen on our 13 yard line. If ever Coach Hope planned to punt, it was now. I looked over, and he indicated I should run the play.
Waterloo wasn’t sure what to do at first. It was in moments of indecision that Coach Mason wanted us to strike. We had a four-receiver set in to spread them out. My key was the outside linebacker. The play called for Wolf to drag over the middle while Phil ran a post to clear out behind him.
If the linebacker covered Wolf, then I would throw over the top to Phil. If not, I would wait until Wolf ran behind the other linebackers and toss him the ball. It took a bit longer to come open, but we would have them outnumbered on that side of the field where Ed and Roc were supposed to run deep.
The Waterloo linebacker stepped back to help with Phil, so I pumped the ball as if I planned to force it into coverage. The corner, safety, and linebacker bit hard. I pulled the ball back and saw my blocking was about to fail. I waited as long as I could and lofted the ball to Wolf so only he could get it. He turned upfield and gained enough for the first down.
That was the turning point in the game. Our superior talent, size, and strength began to show. Waterloo had no quit in them and gave us a game. If they’d had just a bit more depth, they might have gotten us. The final score was 31–17.
It felt good to get that one out of the way.
◊◊◊ Thursday November 10
I woke up in a contemplative mood. The expressions on the Waterloo players’ faces as the clock ticked down must have gotten to me. I had at most three more games of high school football. It was hard to imagine that it might finally be over.
