◊◊◊
I’d gone home and swapped the Demon for my Jeep. There was no way I would leave the Demon in the student parking lot when opposing fans were around. I could imagine it being keyed and having to get it repainted. That wasn’t happening to my baby.
Hmmm … another circles of trust issue. This was the drill for neutral territory that could quickly turn hostile. I smiled at the thought that I actually was applying strategies I’d been learning. There might be hope for me yet.
I strolled into the new hospitality building situated under the end-zone bleachers. It was three times bigger than the tent they’d used last year. The place was packed with reporters and recruiters. Jeff’s cameraman ambushed me and had me put on a mic. He then put his camera in my face, which alerted everyone that I was there.
I was swarmed with reporters and was about to just leave when Jeff let out a piercing whistle.
“Back off! Let the boy eat. Once he’s done, he’ll take time to answer your questions,” he barked.
Mrs. Sullivan pushed through the crowd and grabbed my arm.
“We have a table for you,” she said as she guided me to it.
I found an irritated Chuck.
“Next time, you might want me to be with you,” he suggested.
“Point taken. I just needed to clear my head,” I explained.
Jeff sat down with me, and I smiled when Brook and Zoe found us. Brook gave me a kiss about the time Mr. and Mrs. Sullivan brought me my food. It was a nice steak with steamed broccoli and a salad. I pointed to my mic to let everyone know that we had to behave ourselves.
Brook and I smiled when Phil showed up with Jill. I sure hoped that she was with him because of him and not the access he gave her.
“I wanted to thank you for talking to Don and Cassidy about double-dating with us,” Phil said.
This weekend would be their first double date. I thought Brook was a genius for finding this solution to our privacy problems and then making it work.
We chatted while I ate. When I was done, Jeff signaled, and the press came over to our table. Brook nudged me so that I’d notice that Jill had pulled Phil behind me so they’d be in any photos taken. I didn’t take it as anything wrong; she was just excited. If it helped my brother date the hottest freshman, then I was willing to do my part.
◊◊◊
During the week, Unity’s starting tailback had provided us with some material to get us fired up. Tony Mack hadn’t played in last year’s blowout that we won 41–0. Jeff showed me an article from their hometown paper.
Question: What do you think your chances are of beating Lincoln this week?
Tony: We’re going to beat Lincoln at their home. We’re going to beat them at their house. Wherever we play, we’re going to beat them.
Question: You sound confident.
Tony: Get your popcorn ready ’cause I’m gonna put on a show. Lincoln is too white-bread; they don’t know how to work. Unity is blue-collar. When this game is over, they’ll never want to schedule us again.
Jeff asked for my reaction.
“They have a heck of a punter. I predict you’ll see him a lot this week,” I said with a smile.
◊◊◊
It was finally time for the game. Unity sent out all their team captains for the coin flip; Coach Hope only sent me. I smiled when Tony strutted out. I felt like we were getting ready for a prize fight with the looks he was throwing my way.
“Lighten up, Francis,” the referee said.
I chuckled because Tami’s mom used to say that to Jeff, Alan, and me when one of us had a meltdown or acted like a spaz. It was an old movie quote from a comedy called Stripes.
I decided to push him a bit and pointed to the cheerleaders. They were all eating popcorn, looking enthralled. Tony’s face flushed. I guess he was just learning that if you tell a reporter something, it might be found by your opposition. Then it was their turn to give me a hard time.
“Hi, I’m Bill, Unity’s punter. I hear you think I’m a heck of a player,” one guy said to introduce himself.
“This isn’t going to be a problem, is it?” the referee asked.
“Nope. Just boys having some fun,” I said.
“We’re good,” Tony agreed.
We won the coin flip and deferred to the second half. Derek Hofmann boomed a kick through the end zone, so Unity had to take the ball at their 20 yard line.
Seating for fans had almost doubled from last year, and there weren’t many empty seats. Our fans got on their feet and began chanting, “Our House!”
Cassidy had spent extra time with our defensive backs and linebackers to work on causing turnovers. Coach Hope was a firm believer that winning the turnover battle was key to winning games. On the fifth play of the opening drive, something good happened.
On the first four plays, Unity ran the ball and picked up three to four yards a down. Last week, they’d gained seven yards per carry. The difference was our linebackers were flying to the ball and making good tackles. Tim wasn’t happy, because he felt no offense should ever gain any yards.
On the fifth play, they ran play-action, faking the run, and threw a pass over the middle to their tight end. He took two strides, and I tackled him from behind and punched at his elbow. What Cassidy taught us was precisely like when you hit your funny bone. You get tremendous pain in your elbow, and your fingers tingle. When that happens, your last consideration is hanging onto a football.
As I cracked him in the elbow, the ball came free. Ed Pine rushed forward from his safety position and landed on the ball. Our defense ran off the field, the offense trotted on, and we huddled up.
“Option right,” Ty supplied.
“You heard the man. Option right on two,” I said.
We lined up with me under center and Bert and Ty behind me. We’d recovered the ball on their 39 yard line.
“Blue. Set. Hut, HUT!”
On the snap, I checked the inside and saw the linebackers expected the run, so I pulled the ball away from Bert. I ran down the line and found the defensive end was being blocked by Milo, so I kept the ball and cut upfield. Unity’s defense was known to be smart and fast, and they swarmed to the ball. When I crossed the line of scrimmage, they came for me with a vengeance. Just as I was about to be creamed, I tossed the ball to Ty.
When we played it back on Monday, Coach Mason about lost his shit when he saw I didn’t even look for Ty. We’d run some form of that play for the last two years. I had a good feel as to where he would be. It was a thing of beauty. As I was going down, Ty caught the ball and was off like a shot. I, on the other hand, was tackled by about half their defense. From the bottom of the pile, I could hear the noise of the crowd and knew something very good had happened.
We scored on every series in the first half. We also got to see Unity’s punter a lot. By halftime, we were up 35–0. I made sure that Wolf and Ty were featured for all the scouts who were in the stands. Tim and Yuri played like men possessed on defense.
The starters were pulled for the second half. Trent focused on running the ball and didn’t make any mistakes. We ended up winning 42–17.
◊◊◊
After the game, we had to hustle to get to the airport. We had our first official visit at Oklahoma. For this trip, the university was paying for everything, so our moms were joining us.
We caught a quick flight to St. Louis and then to Will Rogers Airport, which was about thirty miles from the University of Oklahoma campus. It was late when we finally got to our hotel. Tomorrow would be a big day. I was about to fall asleep when my phone rang. It was Tami.
“Hey,” I answered.
“I had to tell you first. Alan enrolled at Wesleyan.”
Well, crud.
◊◊◊
Chapter 10 – Seeing Red Saturday September 17