He was rolling around in pain and I was holding my leg and arm. There were flags everywhere. I popped up before the trainers could reach me and force me out of the game. The Trinity trainers were joined by their coach. He wasn’t happy when the referee hit them with a fifteen yard unsportsmanlike-conduct penalty. I heard the official tell their coach that if there were more plays like this, they’d be losing players.
Once their player was helped off the field, Coach Diamond signaled in a new play. Actually, it was the same play, but this time Mike would be lined up on the backside by himself. Wolf, Bill and Jeff were on the strong side. Trinity had lined up in a zone the previous play. If they didn’t adjust, we would outnumber them when Mike went in motion.
“Down, Set ... Hut, HUT!”
Trinity tried to compensate for our unbalanced formation, so I handed the ball to Bert. He picked up eight yards and would have broken through if he’d been a little faster. We quickly lined up again, which caused Trinity to try to figure out what to do with our new formation.
“Down, Set ...”
Tim hiked the ball on second sound. This caught Trinity flat-footed. This time I handed the ball to Mike. Wolf and Jim had created a wall to slow down the backside pursuit, which allowed Mike to break containment. One of the worst things that can happen to a defense is when the defensive end and or outside linebacker doesn’t ‘contain’ the play by turning the runner inside. Once Mike was past them, he showed flashes of his brother Luke in his run. He was patient, letting Jeff and Bill get on their guys. He then made his move and would have scored but for a great play by their safety.
We now had first and ten on Trinity’s 18 yard line. I noticed their all-everything defensive end was back in the game. We lined up in the same formation, but they were now cheating to our strong side.
“Down, Set ... Hut!”
I faked the handoff to Bert and watched as their defensive end peeled off and sprinted to our strength, leaving the backside open. I didn’t even bother to fake to Mike as I ran around the weak side. I was five yards up the field before their safety got on his horse and tried to track me down. I did a hard jab-step to slow myself down and let him run past me. I then high-stepped into the end zone to take a 6–0 lead. We added the extra point, and I got ready to play defense.
Trinity Catholic had a nice return and started on their 32 yard line. They played power football, so I wasn’t surprised when they ran a dive right at me to start their series. I met the fullback in the hole, and we were trying to wreak havoc on each other. The sound of our collision could be heard throughout the stadium over the crowd noise. The tailback had to dance in the hole because there was no hole. Tim scraped off me to drop him in the backfield for a two yard loss.
Their fullback got up a little slowly. Trinity ran the same play, and this time I hit the fullback with both hands on his right shoulder to push him left. I barely slowed down and found the quarterback handing off to their tailback. I wrapped them both up and dropped them for a five yard loss.
Moose pulled me out so we could play our nickel package since it was third and seventeen. Coach Diamond pulled me aside to talk.
“When we get the ball back, we’re going to take a shot downfield to try and get a quick score.”
I watched as they picked up ten yards. They punted, and we had the ball back on our 26 yard line.
The play was designed for Bill to run a post. On the snap, he was jammed, so I turned to find Wolf. That was when I was slammed to the turf. I had assumed that, with both Bert and Jim on my backside, they could handle their defensive end. I was lucky to land on the ball. Bert ran over and helped me up.
“Dude, what’s the rule if he gets past you?” I asked.
“To yell ‘Red’”
“What else?” I asked.
“To tackle him,” he said with his head down.
“Okay, let’s not let that happen again. That frickin’ hurt.”
The next play I rolled away from their defensive end, but he had me on the run. This guy was good. I found Jeff to pick up seven yards. On the next play, I was again running for my life. I just threw it away and slowed up. I was ready as he ran me over. I had a grin on my face when he picked up another fifteen yard penalty, but, sadly, no ejection.
The best way to negate speed is to run right at it. We ran the read option to his side this time. I also wanted a little payback. I kept it, and he was just getting loose from Jim when I buried my shoulder pads into his ribs, putting him on his butt. I stumbled, and the linebacker caught me after a four yard gain.
We ran the same play. This time he was ready for me. We were both at full speed when we collided. Nobody won that one, and we both got up a little shaky. Coach Diamond called the same play. This time I handed off to Bert, and he picked up four yards, forcing us to punt.
On defense, Tim and I were flying all over the field. By the end of the first half, Trinity had a negative 32 yards rushing and only 56 yards in total offense. We weren’t doing much better, with their defensive end in the backfield about half of the time. The first half ended with us up 7–0.
At halftime, Coach Diamond drew up some new plays to help block their defensive end. For the run plays, we’d pull either the backside guard or the center to help Jim. The determination was based on who was uncovered. For the pass plays, we decided to bring in a backup lineman and have him play fullback because Bert wasn’t getting the job done. I’d been sacked four times.
When the second half started, Trinity had made some adjustments as well. On their first running play, I found the backside tackle entering the hole with the fullback, to double-team me. They hadn’t practiced blocking together, so I was able to use my speed and quickness to do a swim move and split them. Their tailback went ballistic when I dumped him on his butt for another loss.
Trinity’s next play was better because they both tackled me. Bad plan, though, because that comes with a ten yard holding penalty! They tried running wide towards Tim, and he made a nice form tackle, limiting them to a one yard gain. I was pulled again for the nickel package. Their quarterback threw the ball away when Wolf had him in his sights. I was glad to see he didn’t bury the kid like they would have me.
Their punter got off a great punt. It seemed to roll forever and ended up at our 9 yard line. I huddled them up.
“Okay. Let’s move the ball. We’re going to ‘go,’ on me. So, hustle to the line. Read option left on one.”
I had just told them we were going no-huddle this series.
“Down, Set ... Hut!”
On the snap, Tim pulled down the line. I faked to Bert and Jake and kept the ball. Jim was handling their defensive end, so Tim turned the corner and picked up a linebacker. I stutter-stepped, freezing the safety, and then cut hard for the sideline, pulling him with me. Jake had slipped up behind me, and when he saw me make my move, he went to where the safety had been. I pitched him the ball, and he was gone. We were now up 14–0.
The next series Trinity found a receiver wide open. I would have to see the game film later, but we must have blown the coverage. They now had a little zip in their step and were only down one TD.
When we got the ball back, we wanted to score quickly. Their defensive line came alive and manhandled our line. I was running for my life on every play. We picked up two first downs, but I’d been hit on each play. I had nothing to complain about because they were all legitimate.
Games like this come down to one or two plays. The next play was what decided it.
I lined them up.
“Bingo! Bingo! ... 32! 32!” I called an audible.