Bo Harrington slammed his hand on the desk to get everyone to shut up.
“Do you all remember why you switched offenses? Because this young man ran circles around your starting defense with scout-team players. You need five key players: a center that can get the ball back in the shotgun, a left tackle, and three guys that can actually catch a pass. If you find us that, we can at least be competitive.”
Everyone was quiet for a minute. Then Coach Lambert took charge. By 4:00 that afternoon, the coaching staff had put together an offense and defense. They would have a limited number of plays, but it looked workable. It was decided that we would use the JV special teams because we didn’t have time to work on those for kickoffs and punts.
We got some good news from the legal front. It turned out that the girl in question was with her boyfriend at the party. She’d passed out and Magic had moved her to a bedroom to sleep it off. The DA had dropped all the drinking charges. He didn’t have the resources nor the will to prosecute all those cases. The desire to prosecute went down once the rape aspect was cleared up. He was also up for reelection and didn’t want to be known as the guy that ended our football season. Coach Lambert was a different matter: he wouldn’t allow them to play. He would let them dress in street clothes and participate in the Senior Night festivities. A decision on next week’s game was up in the air.
Bo took me aside late in the afternoon.
“Watch yourself tonight. If they knock you out, this game is over.”
“That’s true of every game, but I’ll be careful.”
“I hate to put any more pressure on you, but you have to win tonight. Not just to get into the playoffs, but to make both Coach Lambert and Coach Engels viable candidates for jobs. If it looks like they lost control of this team, they may not even be back here. You have to win.”
“Great. Any ideas?”
“Keep your head on a swivel. One of your strengths is your running. If in doubt, tuck it and run. Finally, take shots downfield. You need big plays to offset your weaknesses. Other than that, don’t get killed.”
“Let’s hope that last one doesn’t happen.”
AT 4:30, OUR NEW TEAM was in shorts and t-shirts, learning the offense. Most of the replacements were juniors who were on the scout team. There were a couple of exceptions. One was a behemoth of a left tackle. He was six-five, 250-pound freshman, Wolf Tams. Seeing him, I had dreams of Jim and Wolf anchoring the offensive line next year.
After seeing Wolf block in shorts, I was pissed he hadn’t been given a shot at varsity. He was agile and had good hands. I could see him playing tight end at the next level. The basketball coach was excited that they thought they’d found a power forward.
The other player was a little five-two, 135-pound freshman tailback named Ed Pine. He was lightning quick with moves that made me wonder how anyone could touch him. The problem was that I needed someone to help pick up blitzes, and he didn’t have the size. I talked to Coach Engels, and we decided to use two fullbacks or a fullback and a tight end. We moved Ed to a slot receiver where we could utilize his speed.
The problem with running around in shorts and t-shirts was that everyone looked good. I guess we would see how good we were when the game started.
I had a few minutes before the game, so I sent a text to Kendal to meet me. She was busy at the hospitality tent, so I went to her. When I walked in, I suddenly had a microphone and camera shoved in my face. The press was in a frenzy about the arrests, and the local TV stations wanted sound bites for their early news. I heard one of the producers say begin a countdown.
“We are live in 3, 2,” he said a silent ‘one.’
“Kim Bowman with Channel 3 News. We are live with David Dawson, Lincoln High’s quarterback. David, do you have any comment on the arrest of most of your starting players for tonight’s game?”
I smiled into the camera as Tracy had trained me.
“It’s unfortunate that a little fun had such consequences.” Tracy taught me to answer the question but then turn it to my central message. “The coaching staff has been challenged to come up with a plan to deal with our situation. What you’re going to see tonight is an outmanned team rise to the occasion. Coach Lambert and Coach Engels have me convinced that we will come away with a win tonight.”
The cameraman switched back to Kim who stood with her mouth open. She shook her head and turned to the camera.
“No one can say that David lacks confidence. I think we are in for something special tonight.”
"We’re out!” said the cameraman.
“Do you really think you have a chance?” Kim asked.
“Kim, I have faith in our coaching staff. I also know our players. Kevin Goode and I will not lie down. We will find a way to win this game.”
A big guy in Alabama gear, who I could only assume was a recruiter, stepped forward out of the crowd.
“Son, I love your attitude. Win or lose tonight, you’ll go far with an outlook like that. After watching you play two weeks ago and listening to you tonight, I’m a huge fan.”
He reached out and shook my hand. Kendal swooped in before I ‘bumped’ into any more recruiters or reporters. We stepped outside the tent and headed around back where we could be alone.
“Mayor Doxsee has just cancelled on us for the Senior Night presentation.”
“Coach Lambert can handle it. They’re his players. What did you get the seniors?”
“We got the players plaques with their football picture on it. For the moms, we have flowers. For the parents and siblings, we have t-shirts that say ‘Senior Pride’ and their son’s number on the back. They’ve been picking those up before the game. We got sponsors to pick up the tab on all this stuff.”
“Good job. Be sure to tell your team how happy I am. I’ve got to get ready.”
Kendal surprised me when she gave me a hug and a kiss on the cheek. The glint in her eye made me nervous.
“Go get ’em.”
KEVIN AND I CHANGED our normal pregame routines to walk around and talk to nervous players. By the time we walked out of the locker room, everyone was ready. We ran out onto the field to a packed house. Even the temporary bleachers in the north end zone were packed. The marching band found a bunch of cowbells, so they were adding to the noise.
I took in the scene and realized that for many of my teammates, this could be their last home game. I got a little emotional thinking about all the good times we’d had on this field. I couldn’t imagine this being my last game at home. There was a special energy that was created when your fans were behind you. We would need them tonight if we hoped to win.
I scanned the stands to find my family and friends. I broke out laughing when I saw Alan and the gang all wearing Double D t-shirts, and they had them stuffed to look like they had huge boobs. I pointed at them, and they started chanting, ‘Double D, Double D!’ This got the crowd going, so I pumped my fist in time with their chant. The place was rocking.
Before the national anthem, they recognized the seniors. It was subdued seeing all but Kevin in street clothes. I’m sure they all wanted at least one playoff game at home so they could play one more time in front of our fans.
The visiting team won the toss and elected to take the ball. The JV team lined up to kick off and boomed it out of the end zone. The visitors had the ball at the 20 yard line. The first play was a simple trap play that turned into disaster: Kevin slipped and fell, and that was all the back needed to rumble 80 yards for the score. The life was sucked out of the crowd until we saw the flag.
Our opponent was a .500 team because they made a lot of mistakes. They’d lined up in an illegal formation that just cost them a score. The ball was moved back five yards, and we repeated first down. The next two plays found them flagged for delay of game and one for them being offside. They were now on their 5 yard line. The next three plays worked them back to the original line of scrimmage at the 20 yard line. The defense had held and forced a punt.