Coach Rector lost his shit. Coach Hope was right there with him.
“I think we need to do that again,” I said.
“RSP, Baby! Repeat Successful Plays!” Coach Mason called out.
“Blue!”
This time, the nose tackle slanted to the right side, so Wolf had to help block him. I was shocked when Bert met the linebacker head-on and knocked him down. What had gotten into him? Was he going to block this year?
Jake did his thing and picked up twelve yards.
“Antakov, Foresee … get in there,” Coach Rector ordered.
“That’s not good,” I told Coach Mason.
“Run the counter,” he said under his breath. “RSP!”
I called the play on one.
“Blue!” … was all I got out before the whole defensive line jumped offsides.
“What do you go on? Tell me! What do you go on?” Coach Rector ranted. “The ball! You don’t let the quarterback get free plays!”
We stepped right back to the line.
“Line up! Line up!” screamed Coach Hope.
The defense was used to huddling up. They sprinted to the line, and I waited until they were in position. If it had been a game, I would have taken advantage of the chaos.
“Blue! Set. Hut.”
They put Yuri and Tim in at the two middle-linebacker slots. Tim read the lead block by Wolf and stepped into the hole. Yuri sprinted over to help clean up in case Jake slipped through.
Jake made a jab-step to the hole and then exploded between the guard and tackle on the other side of the center. The safety dove at his legs, and Jake gave him a little juke and was gone.
“Let’s run the power I counter quarterback run/pass play,” Coach Mason called. “RSP, Men!”
“Blue. Set. Hut, HUT!”
This time Yuri stayed home and met Jake in the hole.
“Sheeeit!” Bryan Callahan yelled to get everyone’s attention that I had the ball.
On every play, the quarterback runs a fake in an attempt to confuse the defense. Most times, the defense just ignores it because the quarterback never has the ball. With my size, I could almost hide the ball on my hip. I tucked it like I planned to run. That pulled the outside linebacker, corner, and safety to me. It was an easy pitch-and-catch to Roc, who jogged into the end zone.
“Power I play-action tight end fly,” Coach Mason called.
I came up under center and let my right foot sit back, then looked over at Roc and nodded to him. Tim couldn’t help himself as he held up his fist. Yuri hustled up to the line on the left-hand side of me.
“Blue. Set. Hut, HUT!”
I faked to Jake, and he swerved off to help block Yuri. Wolf slipped through the line and popped Tim like he planned to block him. The safety had cheated out to Roc’s side, so when Wolf stepped past Tim and began to run full-out, the middle of the field was open. I took a little off it to make sure it was a catchable ball. The safety sprinted back, but Wolf gave him a straight-arm to fend him off for the score.
“JV offense! Dawson, you remain at quarterback,” Coach Hope ordered.
I smiled when I saw my half brother come onto the field. He was playing a wideout.
“It seems they want to get some success under their belts,” Coach Mason observed.
“Coach, this is my brother Phil. He and I have practiced daily together against players better than we have at corner. Let me help him make varsity,” I suggested.
“Are you sure?” he asked.
“Yeah. Phil can play with them. Let’s run the fade until they can stop it,” I suggested.
Phil lined up across from Nick Rake, our junior cornerback. I could tell they were in man-press by how he lined up and how the safety was inside the hash marks. On the snap, I knew my protection wasn’t going to be there. But fortunately, the fade was a timing route, and I was able to pass the ball before they could get to me. Phil caught it for a fifteen yard gain.
Coach Mason moved me into the shotgun, so I had more time, and Phil and I hooked up for three straight completions. On the next play, I saw the safety had moved outside the hash marks. I gave Phil a hand signal. He ran the same route, and I pump-faked the pass, causing the safety to break on the ball. Phil dug in and sprinted straight up the field. I hit him with a pretty pass for the score.
Coach Rector flipped me off, to Coach Mason’s amusement.
I was glad when Coach Hope called it. The JV team was talking an awful lot of smack, and it wouldn’t be long before Tim or Yuri took someone’s head off. I was afraid it might be mine.
◊◊◊
When we were done, Cassidy came sauntering out onto the field. You could hear the collective groan.
“Miss me?” she asked with a big smile.
“No,” was their one-word answer.
She gave them an evil look.
“What did David say earlier? Let’s get this party started!” Cassidy said and then proceeded to show us we weren’t in as good shape as we thought we were.
Cassidy had learned how the Marine Corps turned young boys into men. She created what she called sixty minutes of hell as an exercise routine to get athletes at Lincoln High in shape. There were a couple of levels to her program. We were getting to the top level because even I was sucking air. I’d pushed myself all summer to be in shape for baseball and now football. Wearing pads and doing this routine was nuts.
“Cassidy!” her dad barked when he saw players dry-heaving on the sideline.
“Daddy, David hasn’t thrown up yet,” Cassidy complained.
“Well, shit,” I said, and I poked my finger down my throat.
It didn’t take much to get me started. That seemed to satisfy Cassidy. I found Tim and Wolf standing on each side of me.
“Thanks, man, I thought she was going to kill us,” Wolf said.
◊◊◊
I was wiped out when I got home. All I wanted to do was play with my boys and then get to bed early. As I walked in the back door, Duke greeted me, and I heard crying babies in the kitchen.
“Thank God!” Peggy said when she saw me. “Take yours and get him to settle down. He set Little David off.”
“Hey,” I said in the deepest voice I could.
For some reason, that seemed to almost always get his attention. He looked up at me with those big blue eyes and thought about crying again, so I pulled him to my chest and rocked him. Little David was still howling.
“Want to trade?” I asked.
“Please,” Peggy almost begged.
We did the awkward baby exchange, and I lifted Little David’s shirt and blew a raspberry on his tummy. His eyes blinked in shock.
“Who’s my good boy? You are.”
I gave him a little bounce, and he settled down into my chest. I think he was asleep in an instant. By this time, Coby was snoozing too.
“They missed their naps,” she said with a weary expression.
“I’m guessing someone else missed their nap,” I said. “I’ll put them into their playpen and cook dinner.”
She gave me a kiss and then helped me get them sorted out. I expect if Duke could have gotten in with them, he would have. He got as close as he could and lay down.
I opened the refrigerator and found that there was goat marinating in an olive oil, garlic, and herb mixture. I fired up the grill so it would be hot when Dad got home. He could grill the goat better than I could. I decided I wanted potatoes au gratin. There was also lettuce from the farm, so I could make wilted lettuce to go with it.
Mom came in as I was putting the potatoes in the oven.
“The boys are asleep in the living room. They didn’t get their naps today.”
“Where’s Peggy?”
“Upstairs sleeping. She looked worn out.”
“I’m sure she is. She had to handle them on her own for the past few weeks,” Mom explained.