Coach Long led the way for the Dons. He held the door open for the boys and smiled as each of them walked through. 'Don't look down. It's a close game, but we knew this would be tough. You're doing great.'
The faces that passed him were determined and frustrated, but none had given up. Hope still illuminated every grim expression.
He let them get settled before speaking again. 'I let us down right at the end. If I managed the clock better, we could've done something on that last drive, and at least figured out the adjustments the defence made. We'll figure that out, then go right back on the attack after the break. I can't ask for anything more from the offence.'
Benny, Cole, and Stephen all exchanged fist bumps, then thanked Jay for his passes. Jay kept his eyes closed and stayed silent, but his lips curled into a smirk.
As Coach Norman echoed the praises to the offence, Coach Long turned to the defence. 'We always knew it was going to be tough to stop them. I know I'm asking a lot of you, but we have to crack down harder. The second drive was good, but we need to be great. We can't win a shootout, that's not our style, even with the offence playing this well.'
The defenders mumbled amongst themselves as the ground held their focus. The Linemen looked like they'd gone twelve rounds with the opposition, but no one had come out of the first half cleanly. Bella chewed her lip as she looked them over.
'I'm happy you got the ball out of their Running Back's hands, but we can't let them get away with passing it so much. The more they pass, the better for us. Remember that,' Coach Long said.
Coach Hoang moved close to Ty, eyes on Coach Long. 'I'm not sure about that. What about you, Samuels? Are the Bears more dangerous running, or passing the ball?'
Ty clicked his tongue. 'What kind of retarded question is that? Of course, they're more dangerous when they're rushing. I can't do shit then.'
'You didn't look like you were "doing shit" even when they were passing. It was your man who scored, wasn't it?'
Ty stood, glaring down at him. He opened his mouth to speak, but Coach Hoang cut him off.
'That's better, Samuels. Have you forgotten how they humiliated you last time? Get fucking angry! Use that, and channel it on them. Stop number fourteen. Can you do that? I thought you were supposed to be the best in the nation … not some nobody who can't even make it to State.'
Coach Hoang moved away, letting Ty's anger boil in silence. Bella watched Ty, her hands clutched in front of her heart. Luke's words had reached her ears, too. She believed in Ty; she knew he could stop them. He HAD to.
JJ stood, calling the team together. He looked like shit. Like he'd spent the last half hour wrestling a bear and losing. He felt worse, but he still wore a smile. 'Gather up, hermanos. We're halfway there, but the job ain't even half done. We can't lose. Not yet; never again. Let's win.'
He raised a hand. His fellow seniors stood nearest, their fists pressed against his. Deshaun counted down. 'Three, two, one—'
'Win!'
As they emerged from their locker room, Coach Long and Norman were still trying to piece together the Bears' new defence, but they were at a roadblock. They just didn't have enough info.
Coach Norman stated it looked like they were more spread out across the middle of the field, to which Coach Long suggested maybe they were focusing more on stopping passes, and Chris's running could work better.
After the touchback to start the second half, the Dons had their chance to test out the Bears' defence right away. The Bears came out in much the same formation, with Denzel still sitting on the bench.
They started with a handoff, but even getting around the edge was hard for Chris, and the defence still scrambled down and swarmed the ball afterwards. The run only gained 1 yard.
They went to the air next, and the middle was indeed covered more completely. The new MLB wasn't pulled out of position as easily, and passed Receivers over to the next Zone defender much more cleanly. Even standard length Outs were covered, and the D-Line was blitzing better too.
With less time to work with, Jay had to dump the ball and throw it away, sending it out of bounds well over Stephen's head.
Without even a minute passing, the Dons were already in danger of giving the ball away. Coach Norman and Long were studying the defence thoroughly.
They went for another Draw, which had already worked for them in a similar position, but this time it was smothered. The D-Line was more disciplined in its blitz, and the rest of the defence more observant. Chris only gained 3 yards before he was tackled.
The Dons had been stuffed, and it was already time to punt.
Coach Long and Norman hadn't got much of a look at the Bears' new defence before the half. Three plays weren't much better, but it'd have to do. They needed to figure out the chinks in this new coat of armour before the next drive if they were going to keep up.
For the punt—the first of the game for either side—Sleepy was back to return it for the Bears. He actually moved to catch this one, however, he still called for a fair catch even with room enough where other returners would've made an attempt.
The Bears' offence took over, looking to continue their dominance. They started with another Denzel run. He was still mad, still looking to hurt the Dons with bruising, belligerent runs. He bashed his way forward for 6 yards before JJ stopped him with help.
Coby hadn't lost a step, and the Bears hadn't forgotten about their passing during the break either. After Denzel's opening run, they went straight for a pass and John hit Coby on a quick Slant.
The initial cut was so sudden and unexpected, it froze Ty for half a second, which was more than enough for Coby to secure the catch and stretch out for the first down as Ty wrapped him up.
The Bears' looked to have picked up right where they left off. They bulldozed through the Dons, looking unstoppable, both through the air and the ground as they neared the end-zone.
They dropped back for another pass, this one coming after Play-Action. John looked Coby's way. Ty watched closely. He still hadn't figured out Coby's tell, but he'd adjusted to Coby's flow and rhythm.
A Curl froze Ty again. He leaned forward, eyes flicking towards John, but the ball wasn't in the air. Ty pushed back just as Coby whirled and sprinted by. Ty turned and chased, keeping up, then catching up.
Coby reached up for the ball. Ty didn't turn his head. He took a leap of faith and swatted at the air, his hand blocking the path to Coby's hands. The ball bounced off the back of Ty's hand and to the ground.
Coby's eyes opened wide as he stumbled and fell over. Ty stood, dusting himself off. He didn't taunt; he didn't celebrate. That pass should've been a pick. He could've intercepted it if he wasn't on the back foot. If he knew Coby's tell, he would've.
Coby returned to the huddle, frowning. John apologised for the poor throw, blaming himself for the incompletion. But neither offensive player had done anything wrong. Sometimes the defence is just better.
'Looks like you're figured out,' Denzel said, not looking at Coby. 'Time to stop fuckin' around with passes and just give me the ball.'
'He hasn't figured out shit. He just got lucky,' Coby said. 'We can still pass. They'll shut you down if they don't have to worry about passes.'
'NOBODY shuts me down.'
'Sierra Canyon did.'
Denzel grabbed the front of Coby's jersey and pulled him close. Derrick, Zee, Connor, and Mack closed in around him. Before they sent him back to the bench with a concussion "from his fall", John spoke up and erased the tension.
'Coach said we run!' he blurted.
Denzel grinned. He shoved Coby back. 'You heard, Coach.' He turned away from the huddle and took his position. The rest of the team quietly followed.
Coby sighed. 'So boring.' He dragged his feet on his way to Ty.
The battered Dons could barely withstand Denzel's rejuvenated assault. He dragged the Bears to the goal-line, back to his usual dominating ways. There he started bashing down the door of the end-zone.
With their backs against the wall, the Dons received a second wind. They were already losing, and they couldn't let the game slip further away. It was JJ, of course, who led the resistance and rebellion against King Denzel.
Denzel and the Bears were only 6 yards out from their goal, and so Denzel tried to smash through the front door.
JJ was there to greet him, and the two slammed into one another. Things had been going too smoothly for Denzel. He'd beaten JJ too many times, and his focus slipped for a moment. That was all it took for JJ to spear him through the gut and lift him off the ground.
It was a bone rattling tackle, one that shook the field under everyone's feet. Denzel held onto the ball, but he hadn't gained a single yard. He shoved JJ off and bolted to his feet, huffing loudly. Some swore they saw steam plume from his nose.
The Bears tried the same thing the next play, but Denzel wasn't the only one fired up by JJ's play, the rest of the Dons were too. They followed their captain's example, and shut-out Denzel, keeping their wall strong.
As Denzel tried to burst through, they clung to him from both sides and held him up. JJ speared into him once again. Denzel's eyes went wide with fury before he'd hit the ground.
This time, Denzel had gained a yard—only a single yard—before JJ took him down.
He was slower to rise. His body shook with rage, his eyes dark, clouded by his anger. He glared at the Dons. Their resilient rebellion didn't waver, but now they'd feel the full force of The King.
Even on third down, Denzel still demanded the ball. For the third time, he charged down the Dons' throat. Hands swiped at him again, but he smashed through them. JJ met him head on, the brave hero. Denzel lowered his shoulder and rammed through him.
If it wasn't for Zayden backing JJ up, Denzel would've crashed right through to the end-zone. And if it wasn't for JJ still clinging to Denzel's legs, Zayden would've been run over as well. Denzel landed less than a yard short of the end-zone.
The Dons had stopped him. It was fourth down … but the Bears' offence wasn't going anywhere. They were going for it on fourth down.
They were the epitome of stubborn. For the fourth time in a row, the Bears gave Denzel the ball and sent him charging up the middle of the field.
For the fourth time, JJ stood in his path. Denzel snarled and roared as he dug his cleats in and powered through, bowling JJ over and running over him into the end-zone.
Even with Zayden right behind JJ, Denzel was unstoppable. He carried Zayden off his feet and into the end-zone.
After the touchdown, the extra point was successful, and Ty could only watch as the Bears extended their lead out to 23–14.
No matter what they did, it'd take the Dons two scores—with one of those being a touchdown—to at least level the game. The lead was growing, but it wasn't out of reach yet.
Chris marched onto the field for the kickoff, ready to put his stamp on the game alongside his Receiver teammates.
The Bears booted the ball into the end-zone, but Chris caught it and ran it out, nonetheless. His blockers held strong, beating back the first wave of Bears, and Chris darted around the second set with a shimmy inside then a cut out.
Another Bear came his way, Chris hunkered down, ready to barge through them, then when the tackler did the same, Chris popped up and leapt right over him. He landed, skirting along the sideline, and stayed in bounds.
There was just one more Bear standing between him and a touchdown—the kicker. Another hurdle wouldn't work, nor a stiff-arm this close to the boundary. Cutting inside would be hard, and even if he got around him that way, it might slow himself down too much so that the Bears behind catch back up. So he faked inside.
The Kicker didn't buy it and carefully shepherded Chris, then knocked him out of bounds at the Bears' 47-yard line, just after he'd crossed half field.
Chris was called off the field as the Dons' offence took over. Each boy that passed him slapped him on the head or the shoulder and praised him for the great return.
Chris got back to the bench and coaches, and apologised for not taking the return all the way.
They laughed it off and told him not to worry; they were thankful for the short field, but they had confidence their new plans would earn them a touchdown, anyway.
Since the Dons' last offensive drive, Coach Long and Norman had been working together to figure out the puzzle that was the Bears' new defence, and by now, they had a pretty good idea of what it was.
With the first play of this new drive, their suspicions were confirmed. The reason the Bears were so good at covering the middle of the field and other mid-length throws from that 8-12 yard range, was because one of their Safeties was sinking to join the LBs, leaving only one high Safety over the middle; leaving the sidelines open deep.
It was Stephen's time to shine. While Benny stormed down the middle of the field, distracting that one high Safety, Stephen ran a Corner route and got open 15 yards downfield.
Jay lobbed the ball over the Bear trailing Stephen, and the catch was made just before Stephen ran out of bounds. He dragged his feet, securing the catch, and the Dons were already that much closer to the end-zone.
The embers of hope flickered stronger. The Dons weren't out of it yet, their offence could still keep up. If the defence stepped up and stopped the Bears, the Dons could retake the lead almost at will.
That's how the offence and coaches felt, but that was getting a little ahead of themselves. They hadn't scored yet, and there were still a few things to figure out about this new-look defence.
Namely, if Chris had been unleashed with this shift in focus. Unfortunately, the answer was still no. Even without Denzel out there, and with more of a focus on covering mid-length throws, the Bears' run defence was still formidable. The Dons learned this when their run only gained 2 yards.
Next was another pass. Whilst Stephen was a bit more freed up, his man began shading him to the inside. Heavily favouring the boundary and cutting it off, left little room for Stephen to work with unless he wanted to run through the crowded middle.
Cole and Benny were much better covered as well, unless they attacked the opposite sideline, but even that was predictable and coverable. The D-Line was still pressuring better, and Jay had to throw the ball away.
The Dons faced third down, but they didn't panic. They were already in field goal range. Though it would've been a long one, it was makeable. Still, a field goal wasn't on their mind.
Along with the gaps over the top of this defence, there were also gaps underneath. Normally, such passes wouldn't get far; a screen was a whole different beast.
Chris might not've had any luck rushing, but he could still run and be elusive if they got him in open space. The screen did exactly that with the added benefit of blockers in front of him.
It was like another kick return, and he dodged through the chaotic scramble, slicing into the red zone before he was tackled.
While running wasn't the best for gaining yards, it could still control the Dons' field position, and manipulate the defence in small ways.
They ran away from Stephen's side on the next play, opening the field for him, giving him the fat side to work with.
Whilst they only gained a yard to do so, that wasn't their goal. Now they were right in range for Stephen's Fade, and with plenty of space to operate, Jay had the green light to lob it over.
The Bears were still disrespecting Stephen. In the red zone, so close to the end-zone, was when the giant became truly dangerous. Here, he was almost unguardable one-on-one, and the Bears paid the price trying to do so.
That same Fade to the back corner earned Stephen his second receiving touchdown and Jay's third passing touchdown.
The cheers weren't as loud as they should've been, but the Dons were thrilled. The scales were tipping back, shrinking the lead … but the Bears were calm. They still held the lead, and they still believed in their offence.
If the game turned into a shootout, so be it. They already had the lead, and their offence was more unstoppable than the Dons'.
The extra point was successful, and now the Bears' lead was less than a field goal at 23–21.
Denzel felt nothing but vindication at the Dons' score. He wasn't the issue with the defence, of course he wasn't. The rest of the Bears' defence was just that weak that no matter what they did, they struggled to stop their opponents.
Ty was relieved. The offence was doing their job for once. For once, it wasn't on them to step up if the Dons were going to win. Now it fell strictly on the defence's shoulders. They needed to do better.
As the teams prepared for the kickoff, Coach Hoang came to Ty. 'You probably understand this already—you're a smart kid—but maybe you haven't fully acknowledged it. This game is on YOU.'
"Every game is," Ty thought, but held his tongue.
'No one else, just you. The Bears don't pass enough to develop other Receivers, Banks and the other Backs are fine. It looks like we're struggling with the run again, but that's only because the rest of the defence has to worry about a pass, right in the back of their mind. It distracts them, makes them slow to react. But you can change that. If you can shut down their passing, I know JJ is too strong, carrying too much, to let it all end here. He can't let his family die.'
Ty turned to JJ. His fists were clenched so tightly that Ty thought the gloves might burst.
'Samuels—Tyrese—look at me.'
Ty turned back to Coach Hoang. His eyes were more serious and hard than Ty had ever seen them.
'Stop playing like any other "good" Cornerback, and start playing like Tyrese fucking Samuels. That QB isn't shit, he's a fucking nobody who doesn't even control his offence. Yet he doesn't fear you. Are you seriously okay with a kid who cowers before his Running Back throwing the ball at you?!'
'Fuck no!' Ty rose from his seat so fast he almost knocked the whole bench over.
'Then get out there and make them fear you.'
The kickoff resulted in a touchback. The Dons wouldn't test Coby again, so they booted it deep, and Coby was still content to let it go for a touchback.
Ty stalked onto the field, separate from the rest of the defence, which was led by JJ.
Even though the Californian sun had been baking the field for hours, and it was still high in the sky, Coby felt cold when he stood across from Ty now. Ty's dark eyes were different too, staring through him.
It was probably nothing. He was probably just daydreaming again. It didn't concern him, anyway; the opening play was another run.
Denzel took the ball and charged ahead. Of course, JJ was there to stop him, but JJ looked smaller, and when he stood before Denzel, Denzel seemed at least a head larger than he had been at the start of the game.
He knocked JJ aside, and almost did the same to Zayden, though was stopped just a yard short of another first down.
JJ got up, but he did so more slowly than before. Others were slower to offer him a hand. He wasn't the only one getting worn down by Denzel and the rest of the Bears—the entire defence was.
With only 1 yard left to pick up, and still being on second down, the Bears were comfortable enough to test the air again.
Ty was silent as he and Coby lined up again. He was too focused for shit-talking, and any taunts would've washed over him like commands to a cat. Coby stayed quiet, too.
He was still cold, but maybe it was just a weird day. Winter was almost upon them. Climate change was a thing. He tried to find any excuse for the anomaly so he could push it out of mind.
John took the snap, and Coby burst ahead. Ty backed off, eyes locked on Coby. They reached the breakpoint, and Coby skipped a step, drifting forward. Ty saw it. He found the missing piece.
Coby was a disciplined, well-trained Receiver. His mechanics, whilst not perfect, were incredibly consistent. If you watched him release and start a route, nine out of ten times they'd look identical … except for one tiny detail.
See, he had a unique style, especially for his cuts and how he prepared for them. He used his hips a lot, twisting them so much he was almost side on before his cut. From this position, he could still go in all directions.
However, it held a small tell. One that Ty fixated on as Coby shifted into this position before him now. Every past route flitted through Ty's mind and overlapped with one another. All the Coby's, from all the routes, were almost perfectly in sync, except for his lead leg.
It would either twist inward and plant hard, or his toes would point slightly outwards, and it'd barely touch the ground. If he was inward, it meant he was cutting inside, no matter which way he shimmied or faked. And if it was outward, he was going out.
A straight foot, pointing dead on at Ty, meant Coby was going vertical. Right then, Coby's foot was pointing out ever so slightly.
Coby shifted inside; Ty moved with him, as if strings connected them. Then Coby burst outside; Ty was with him the whole way.
Coby looked back. His heart almost stopped. His teammates were so far away. The field was so large, and the crowd was gone, replaced with darkness.
The ball floated towards them, so small, twinkling like a star. He twisted around, hands out. It was so strange; no matter how close the ball came, it didn't grow larger. It was almost in his grasp.
Then a massive, dark shape blocked that little star from his view. A hand like a black hole appeared before him. It was stealing his light, stealing his star, stealing his ball! He never got the ball as it was. Some greedy fuck calling himself a king always hoarded it like a dragon with gold. He wasn't about to let anyone else take the one ball meant for him.
He reached into that black hole, fearless. It was so cold, but he grabbed onto it—an arm. He yanked, pulling it back. He saw the star, its light fading. But the black hole was still there, and it was inescapable.
It sucked the star right in. The light vanished. Everything was dark, and Coby fell. He fell for what felt like an age. He crashed as hard as an asteroid, and the light returned. The shitty field returned, along with the light, the noise, and the crowd.
He was on the ground, staring into the face of the devil. Tyrese Samuels grinned back at him, then stood, ball in his grasp, raised above his head.
He stared down at Coby, stars swimming in the abyssal depths of his eyes. Coby shuddered.
Tyrese said: 'King Denzel? King Coby? Don't make me fucking laugh. You're playing pretend … but who cares? Be the king of Warren, I don't give a fuck. But know this—every single football field, no matter where the fuck it is, as soon as I step foot on it, I am KING. Everyone else is just a pawn in my game.'