On the first play, he dropped back. It was supposed to be a drag route over the middle to the tight end, who was wide open for a six-yard gain. Instead, Matt pumped once and threw to Bill, who was double-covered. It wasn’t even a fifty-fifty ball. It would have been intercepted nine times out of ten, but Bill worked his magic and ripped the ball out of the defender’s hands for a fifteen-yard gain.
Coach Thomas stopped Matt’s hero play by running the ball, with Big Cat and Chuy featured. The drive ended up being a nine-play, eighty-seven-yard series to make the score 24–21.
Then fortune shined on the Trojans. ASU turned the ball over on their own thirty-six-yard line.
This time, Coach Thomas went for the kill, which he should do when there was a rapid-change situation in USC’s favor. He sent Bill on a post route, and David was shaking his head when ASU somehow lost their top target.
Thankfully, Matt saw him streaking through their secondary and hit Bill with a perfect pass.
It started to look like USC was back in control of the game. That was until their next possession, when they went three-and-out. Their punter was supposed to kick the ball out of bounds somewhere inside the ASU twenty. The ball
had other ideas as it sailed down the middle of the field to the waiting arms of the ASU return man.
USC’s kick defense had set up their coverage to cover the out-of-bounds and was caught flat-footed. The ASU
return team set up a wall of defenders toward the other sideline. Ninety-two yards later, they were up 31–28.
That took the life out of the Trojans. The fourth quarter was a bunch of nothing until 1:23 was left when ASU
scored again.
Down 38–28, David was glad to see that Coach Merritt decided not to give up and just run out the clock. It was an opportunity for USC to practice their two-minute offense.
Matt took charge and began moving them down the field with accurate passes.
David envied him because this was one part of the game he especially loved. Now was the time for Matt to be selfish and just let it rip. It took a special breed of quarterback to be successful when the defense knows you have to throw the ball. More times than not, it ends badly with an interception.
Matt got them across midfield with under a minute to go. From there, he could reach the end zone with his arm, so Coach Thomas sent everyone deep. Bill ran underneath the ASU defenders a yard deep in the end zone. Matt threw it on a rope. The ball would have ripped through the receiver’s hands if it had been Amari. Bill snatched the ball out of the air and dove for the end zone.
There was a huge pile, but the back judge signaled a touchdown.
As far as moral victories go, this was about as good as it got. But David believed that losing sucked. The final was 38–35. This was a game they should have never lost, and this one hurt. Instead of being 5–3 and only having to win one of their last four games to go to a bowl, they were 4–4.
The remaining schedule was at Oregon State, Cal at home, and then it got dicey: away at UCLA and then home
against Notre Dame, who was crushing people. If they lost next week, they could very well lose the rest.
◊◊◊
After the game, Phil thanked his dad for allowing his and Roc’s parents to sit in their box seats. They met with Bryant Franzese, USC’s recruiting coordinator, and the rest of the recruits and their families. In front of the stadium, two buses pulled up.
Bryant regaled them with tales of USC lore until Phil saw his brother and several football players follow him to the buses.
“Hello, everyone,” David said with a big smile as he approached.
“This is David A. Dawson,” Bryant said, which everyone already knew, based on the chuckles when David rolled his eyes.
“Okay, fair warning. I plan to take your sons to a Hollywood party tonight, where they will meet TV and movie stars at Zak Verwood’s estate. It’s a pool party, so I hope everyone brought their swimsuits. If not, Zak will have something for you to wear,” David said.
“Will there be alcohol?” Mrs. Pearson asked.
“I was told Kool-Aid and cookies,” David joked and then got serious. “This will be a typical Hollywood party. If you follow me in the tabloids, you’ll know I went to one of these, and there was skinny-dipping. I personally don’t drink often, but I might have a cocktail tonight. If you don’t want me corrupting your sons, feel free to tell them they can’t come.”
Mr. Pearson broke out laughing because Roc and his mom had locked eyes.
“I trust David to bring our son back in one piece,” Mr.
Pearson announced to everyone. “We’ve known him since
Roc and David played Little League together. I trust Roc will survive seeing some naked people.”
There was some nervous laughter. Phil’s mom didn’t look happy.
“Hey, I survived spring break with him,” Phil reminded her.
“Okay. Everybody, load up on the first bus. If any parents want to talk to me, I’ll get on last,” David announced.
In the end, all the recruits got on the bus. Bill told Phil and Roc to sit up front with him and David. Once David got on, the bus pulled out into traffic.
The bus held a mix of recruits, their hosts, and all the freshman football players.
David stood up and got everyone’s attention.
“Tonight is a chance to let your hair down … responsibly.
So that means I will not have to babysit any of you, and you will only have a few drinks. Is that clear?”
“Yes, sir,” the USC football players all said.
“I need to hear that from all of you.”
“Yes, sir,” came from everyone.
“Now, we’ll pick up a sorority with the other bus, the Alpha Mus. I would say they are the hottest girls at USC,”
David said.
“He’s right about that,” Chuy called out.
“There will also be models, people you see on TV and in the movies, and porn stars …”
The bus erupted. Phil noted that even Bill looked surprised at the ‘porn star’ announcement. While they calmed down enough for David to continue, he grabbed a duffle bag and opened it.
“I’m not sending any of you home with an STI,” David said as he started to pull out strips or condoms and hand them out.
“Is he serious?” Roc asked.
“As a heart attack,” Bill said with a big smile.
“Someone is going to lose their ‘V’ card,” Phil teased his friend Roc.
“Fuck you, Dawson.”
“I normally say, ‘Thank you, Dawson,’” Bill quipped.
“This is going to be epic,” Phil decided.
◊◊◊
When the buses pulled up to Alpha Mu, David found Crystal.
“You might want to hand these out,” he suggested as he handed her his duffle.
She looked inside and barked out a laugh.
“Let me see,” Taylor asked.
Crystal showed her, and Taylor’s eyes got big.
“You didn’t tell them about the porn stars,” David guessed.
Taylor looked like a carp out of water. “Po … po … po …”
“Porn stars,” Crystal said to help her friend.
Taylor squealed like a six-year-old whose parents had given her a pony.
“I’ll let you deal with that,” David said as his chin motioned toward Taylor.
“Thanks,” Crystal grumped and then called out,
“Everyone on the bus.”
◊◊◊
It took them nearly two hours to get to the gated community where Zak lived. Phil noted that the security guard had to call someone to let the buses in. They pulled into a circle drive. As they stopped, the front door opened, and Phil recognized Zak with another movie star, Bec Carson.