I utilized our short passing game and moved us right down the field. When we got close to the goal line, they became more aggressive. On third and five at the 8 yard line, they decided to blitz me. In the past, I would have done my Captain Chaos routine and made something happen. I didn’t, because I respected Beverly’s defense too much. They would be expecting that and send a linebacker to cut me off and force me into an uncomfortable situation. They hoped I would make a mistake.
Instead, I found Ty, my hot receiver, and hit him with an easy pass as he flared out. He found a little running room and pushed his way over the goal line for our first score. I hit Don on a short down-and-in to take an 8–0 lead.
By halftime, we were up 31–17. We hadn’t tossed the ball around because we didn’t need to. Coach Hope had us gather around.
“We get the ball first in the second half. I want to take them out of the game so that by the fourth quarter, there’s no doubt who’ll win. I want to run our trick play right out of the gate.”
We all smiled at that. Beverly was about to get run off the field.
They kicked the kickoff through the end zone, so we began on our 20 yard line.
“Okay, let’s do this,” I told my guys in the huddle.
“Down! Set! Hut, Hut!”
On the snap, I ran the option left, with Ty spaced out for the toss if they closed on me. Beverly had been mixing it up in terms of whether or not they’d try to force the football out of my hands on a given play. Ty was one of the most dangerous runners in high school, which was why they didn’t try that every time. This time, the defensive end closed to force me to pitch it to Ty. Instead, I jumped up and sent a floater to Wolf, who gathered it in.
Wolf is a big boy, and if you got him into the secondary, it was a mismatch. He was also faster than he looked, so he was a nightmare for linebackers to cover. Beverly wanted to gang-tackle him if they could. He took two steps upfield and drew the defense to him, and then he turned and tossed the ball back to me.
This was what they’d been expecting all game, and they had it well defended. That was when I lateraled the ball to Bryan Callahan, our offensive guard. It was one thing to keep track of all the skill players and defend them, but completely different when you added linemen to the mix. Bryan hadn’t been accounted for, and he sprinted up the field. As you would guess, they ran him down, but only after we’d gained twenty-three yards.
Up to this point, we’d taken our time as we methodically took them apart. Now, we sprinted to the ball and lined up. The first half was like a boxing match where you pound the body in the early rounds; now it was time to go for the knockout when your opponent was tired. Unless you regularly played at the pace we were about to, you would tire out quickly.
We picked up another twenty-eight yards over the next six plays. Beverly’s linemen looked like they’d been running wind sprints; they were bent over or had their hands were on their hips. I would have to thank Cassidy later for the help she’d been to get us in shape to dole out this kind of punishment.
It was time to end this.
I pumped my fist in the air three times to call the play. I was sending Roc and Phil on fly patterns on the outside while Wolf and Don would cross over the middle. Johan snapped me the ball, and the pocket held up. It appeared that Beverly wouldn’t be able to mount much of a pass rush with their linemen winded. I waited for something to open, but their secondary had my guys covered well. I knew I didn’t have forever, so I rolled out to the right.
Beverly must have been worried that I would run because they hesitated a moment. It was all Phil needed to get a little separation. I launched one of those pretty, high-arcing teardrop passes. It was good I had because the safety quickly recovered and double-teamed Phil. The ball dropped right in front of him, and he was able to gather it in as he stumbled into the end zone. Score!
By the end of the third quarter, we’d scored three more times to put the game out of reach at 55–17. Coach Hope pulled most of the starters at that point to give the younger guys some playoff experience. Beverly followed suit, and that was how the game ended.
After the game, I was pulled in to talk to the press. Jeff about ruined my day when he reminded me that I only had potentially two more high school football games left in my career at Lincoln High.
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Chapter 46 – Your Dad Runs a Golf Course Sunday November 13
I woke to the sound of kittens mewing. I rolled over and saw Precious was awake but ignoring them. All moms did that, I was sure. I got up and put on my running clothes. On the way out, Precious and I both checked, and the kittens seemed to be okay.
