My eyes got big when he cuffed me in the back of the head.
“I’m no longer a coach, so I’m allowed,” Coach Mason told Coach Hope.
“In that case, do one for me,” Coach Hope said.
I danced back to avoid the second attempt. I was glad the two of them thought it was funny. Well, I guess it was.
“Their defensive backs have had to practice against Damion all year, and it’s become one of their defensive strengths. I think Roc might be a little faster than he is, so I thought I would try sending him long,” I said, and Coach Mason nodded agreement with my assessment.
“Where they’re weak defensively is at linebacker. We can gain yardage by using Wolf at tight end. I also changed Ty’s hot route so that instead of flaring out, he slips between the linemen and takes up station in the short middle. He’s another one who I think will catch them by surprise with his speed. Add his skill in the open field, and we can do some damage.”
“What’s your plan to start the game?” he asked.
“Run the ball with the option to pass. If Wolf or Don can act like they’re blocking, they might be able to slip their linebacker when they come up for run support.”
“Keep an eye out for their safety,” Coach Mason advised. “Are you going to run any of the laterals?”
“I hadn’t planned on it,” I admitted.
“Good. You don’t need it,” he said and then turned to Coach Hope. “He has this. I would just turn him loose out there and enjoy the game.”
“I might keep an eye on him.”
He was the coach, after all. I wasn’t about to argue with him when he’d let me do the game plan for this one.
Coach Mason waved at a man I hadn’t noticed. He pushed a wheelchair over and took Coach Mason from the area we were using as a locker room.
“Is he okay?” I asked.
“Yeah. He’s just weak, and they don’t want him walking up and down stairs or anything. I arranged for him to be in the press box to watch the game. Coach Mason wants to be involved but not involved, if that makes sense.”
It did, actually. I hoped I’d do him proud today.
◊◊◊
We walked out to warm up as the crowd from the previous game began to filter out, and the fans for this game took their place. All the State Championship games were televised across the state, but it looked like all the local fans had decided to come out to watch us in person.
The High School Athletic Association classified schools by size. We were in the next-to-largest size classification and were on the cusp of moving down a level. Wesleyan would have been considered a class lower, except they were a private school. To make things fair, they applied a multiplier to private schools. This was done because they didn’t have attendance boundaries and could attract students from anywhere.
Wesleyan had taken full advantage and had obtained several transfers. The two kids that had been recruited by Washington and later told they couldn’t play had gone there, along with Mike and Damion. Teddy Wesleyan had wanted to build the football program and hired Coach Ryan. When I considered moving from Lincoln, Teddy assured me they would upgrade the talent. It seemed he was determined because they were playing for their first State Championship. In fact, it was the first time they’d made the playoffs.
Looking over at their sidelines, I spotted my ex-best friend, Alan Douglas. He saw me and flipped me off. He shouldn’t have done that. Alan knew how I got when I got mad. At the moment, I wanted to do nasty things to him. I would just have to do them on the football field. I stopped and took a couple of deep breaths.
The other person I owed payback to was Mike Herndon. Were it not for me, he would have been the boy who was top dog in our class at Lincoln High. Mike had been just that all through grade and middle school. Freshman year, I’d blossomed, and as far as he was concerned, I’d taken his spot. Mike had hidden his feelings until last year when he’d gone after the girl I was dating and took advantage of her at a party. Personally, I considered what he’d done to her to be rape, pure and simple. The girl hadn’t wanted to pursue it, though, so there were no negative repercussions for Mike, other than unmasking himself to me and making me an enemy.
Then he went after Jim’s girlfriend. That had ended with Mike being kicked off the team and me getting a concussion when one of our coaches had stopped me from beating the stuffing out of Mike. One of the things I loved about football was you were able to get a little rough, as long as you did it within the rules. I planned to give Mike a touch of something extra to express my displeasure with him. Jim had sent me a text and asked that I also give Mike a hit from him. What are friends for?
◊◊◊
Before we left the locker room, Coach Hope had a few words for us.
“What does ‘team’ mean? It’s not the guy who has the most sacks. Nor is it the guy with the most rushing yardage or receiving yardage. It’s not about stats. Winners are the TEAMS that are the smartest, toughest, best conditioned, that execute each and every play.
