Ty's feet pounded down the pavement. His breath came heavy and frequent. Reaching the curb outside of his house, he stopped, hunching over. He quickly rose back up, hands on his head, still panting.
He'd been training hard since the Dons' victory over Warren. He had to. The morning after that victory, he'd caught himself relaxing. But he couldn't relax; now wasn't the time for it. The job wasn't finished. Only when the National championship was his could he relax.
He'd been training on his own, but the Dons themselves were yet to have a team practice. It had only been a few days, but he was already growing itchy, hungry. He needed more.
His thirst for revenge had been sated, but that left his hunger for dominance and notoriety free to overwhelm all.
Finally, training day arrived. The school day was all that stood between Ty and football. The day rushed by in a blur. He couldn't recall anything, but he wasn't worried; it'd all come back to him when it was time for exams.
Before practice got underway, Coach Long gathered the team together. 'We've got a couple of things to get through before we begin today.'
The boys watched and listened expectantly. Ty shifted, bouncing on his toes.
Coach Long continued: 'First, congratulations on becoming Regional champions. This is a monumental accomplishment and I can't express how proud I am of all you boys. Give yourselves a round of applause and a pat on the back.'
'You've earned this, hermanos,' JJ said. 'Enjoy it.'
'JJ's right,' Coach Long said. 'And so, to make this accomplishment a bit more concrete for you all, we've got something for you.'
Coach Norman stepped forward with a duffle bag. Coach Long reached into it and pulled forth a trophy. A small, bronze football that'd easily fit in one's palm rested atop a black pedestal. At the base was a gold plaque, engraved with:
2022 CIF Southern Regional Champions: Dominguez Dons
Coach Long handed it the trophy to JJ. 'Not only do you deserve this, but you earned it. Cherish it and the memories it represents always.'
JJ took it. His voice wavered as he said: 'Thanks, Coach.'
The coaches all moved around, handing out identical trophies to the entire team. Ty took his from Coach Hoang, rubbing his thumb over the engraving. It was light.
'The first of many, right, Samuels?'
'Exactly,' Ty said.
'That's not all,' Coach Long said. 'There's one more thing to give you, and this has to do with our next challenge.'
Ty perked up, the trophy in his hand forgotten.
'We know who we're facing next week,' Coach Long announced.
The team held their breath. Ty clenched his trophy tighter.
'We'll be up against the Mater Dei Monarchs.'
The team sighed, exhaling as a collective. Only Ty's and Zayden's were sighs of disappointment.
'That's not all. We've got the tournament brackets. Based on seeding, we'll only face Sierra Canyon if we both make it to the final.'
Again, the coaches had a handout for each player. This time it was a laminated sheet of paper with the bracket on it. Sierra Canyon was on the opposite end compared to the Dons. Mater Dei, then two more matches with opponents that were still to be determined, stood between the Dons and Sierra Canyon.
'You look disappointed, Samuels,' Coach Hoang said as he handed over the sheet to Ty. 'You should be happy.'
'Happy? How can I be happy about having to wait so long before I face real competition again?'
'I thought I'd taught you not to overlook your current opponent. I guess you haven't done enough burpees, huh?'
'I'm not overlooking anything. I'm ready for the next challenge.'
'Good! You better be. But that challenge isn't Sierra Canyon, they're about'—Coach Hoang looked at the brackets—'three challenges away. Understand this, Samuels. Each team you're about to face are Regional champions in their own right. They earned their way to this tournament as much as we did. Everyone of them will be on the level of Warren or greater.'
'We're stronger than Warren, and they were our worst matchup.'
'Were they?' Coach Hoang raised a brow. 'I don't think we'll face such a weak defence in this tournament. Nor will we go against a team where their two best players are perfectly matched up against our two best players.'
Ty's brow furrowed. Thinking of it like that, Coach Hoang was right. But still. 'It's different. Their number one went up against our number two.'
'So if one team we face along the path has a Running Back as their best player, we're screwed?'
Ty laughed. 'Fuck no. JJ will crush them. If he crushed Denzel, he can crush anyone.'
'I wouldn't be so sure. Sierra Canyon are a different beast. They're different from everything you've ever faced. Be thankful you have another month to prepare for them—IF we make it that far—we'll need it.'
Coach Hoang left Ty to stew over his words. Ty stewed all of practice. The focus was on physicality. Coach Long implored that the entire team had to step it up. They were at the next level now, so that meant their speed, explosiveness, power, and agility all had to go up to the next level as well.
They pushed weighted dummy racks up and down the field. They dragged coaches and other players behind them as they sprinted along the field—the players and coaches always pulling against them. Coach Long even had the players jumping up and down the length of the field like frogs. They played tug-of-war, offence versus defence. Of course, the defence won thanks to JJ.
Overall, not much "football" was played during the session, and before Ty knew it, Coach Long was calling an end to the physical practice. Then it was time for film study.
The boys relished the break, flooding into the AV room and thudding into their seats. The projector flicked on, and Coach Long addressed the room.
'First, we'll look at their defence,' he said. He clicked play.
The Monarchs' defence was fast, that was clear. They swarmed so rapidly it looked like they had twelve or thirteen players on the field rather than eleven.
They were balanced too, shutting down both passes and runs with ease. They looked indomitable. Ty—even whilst paying half attention—knew the game would be a slog that came down to which defence crumbled first.
'They're fast, as I'm sure you all see,' Coach Long said, 'but they're tough, too. Anything short underneath, they close it down faster than you can blink.'
Many times, as soon as a Receiver or RB caught a pass underneath in the flat, they turned right into the waiting arms of a defender. Outside runs were cut off too; multiple defenders rounded the edge as the RB did.
'They're fast enough to shut down anything over the top, too.'
The DBs were like lightning. Even if they looked beat, they could recover and chase down their Receiver before disrupting the catch. Then, if they actually WERE beaten, the Safeties were a twin pair of jets who flew across the field and swatted everything out of the sky.
'They'll be a tough egg to crack,' Coach Long said.
'But we know you can do it,' Coach Norman finished.
Coach Hoang took centre stage. 'Unfortunately, their defence is only the second biggest concern we have. The main reason this team is not only undefeated, but had an average margin of victory of twenty plus, is their offence.'
As the footage flipped over, showing off the Monarchs' offence, Ty edged forward in his seat. Fortunately, he saw a lot more footage of passes than he did runs.
'Coach Hoang's right,' Coach Long said. 'The biggest burden during this game will be on our defence, specifically our pass defence.'
Ty's eyes lit up. Coach Hoang frowned. He found the youngest faces amongst the group of players. Both Ty and Zayden, the only freshman on the team, they were the ones who controlled the Dons' destiny.
'Their style … I can only call it all-or-nothing,' said Coach Long. 'They like that saying: "go big or go home",' he added with a chuckle.
'And they usually go big,' Coach Hoang said. 'They're strong, but they're not unbeatable. We know what the keys to their strength are. First up, it's their strong, nearly impenetrable Offensive Line.'
The footage changed again, now having more of a closeup on the Monarchs' O-Line. Nothing broke through the wall they formed. The QB had all day inside the pocket and was never pressured.
'This wall is not without its flaws. Fortunately for us, it's not very mobile. They struggle to get out and block for the run. Defensively, we must punish that. We need to smother EVERY run, and hopefully our game against Warren prepared us for that. If we wanna win, we gotta force them to beat us with their arm strength … which brings me to their next key.'
The film transitioned again, now displaying what the QB did with all the time his O-Line bought him. He certainly didn't waste it; his arm was a rocket.
'Their Quarterback has quite the arm on him, right?' Coach Long asked rhetorically.
'Keep in mind that the end-zone is almost always within reach when their offence is on the field and the ball is in their QB's hands,' Coach Hoang said.
Ty was amazed. He could throw it damn near 70 yards. That arm was NFL ready, even then it would've been in the upper levels.
'Blazing away isn't all he can do,' Coach Hoang said. 'He can squeeze it into tight gaps, too.'
Threading the needle was easy when the speed of your passes created gaps that didn't exist for other QBs. The footage showed as much.
'However, here he's inconsistent,' Coach Hoang continued. 'Sometimes he tries to force it into a window that's too small even for him, and other times he can just misfire, and the power is too much for him to control. So, whilst he throws a lot of touchdowns, he throws a lot of picks too.'
'What is he, Jameis Winston before his eye surgery?' Stephen whispered. Ty overheard, even if it was only meant for Deshaun.
'Or after his eye surgery,' Deshaun responded. 'That motherfucker still throws like both teams are wearing the same uniform.' The boys snickered, but went silent when Coach Hoang looked at them.
'Last, and certainly not least, is their star player, Nate Langford,' Coach Hoang said.
Ty's heart-rate doubled. The film changed once more, now showing a WR blowing by his defenders and racing down the sideline. He ran as if hellhounds were chasing after his soul.
'He's a young sophomore, but really, he's nothing more than an upstart in his first year. Reminds me of some people,' Coach Hoang.
A few heads turned to Ty, smiles on their faces as chuckles spread through the room.
Coach Hoang stared down Ty as he spoke. 'There's a lot of interesting information on this guy, actually. Jamaican born, it's his first year in the States. He broke the school's record for the one-hundred metre sprint in his first meet … but he supposedly quit the track team immediately after. Ever since he's focused on football.'
The clips were all almost identical. Every time he blew right by his defender and once he had, he was unstoppable. Nobody could catch him, and it was an easy touchdown. No matter how much space someone gave him, the result was the same.
'He's fast, obviously,' Coach Hoang said, eyes still locked on Ty. 'Probably the fastest high-schooler playing football. All of his touchdowns are twenty plus yards.'
'All-or-nothing,' Coach Long muttered, shaking his head.
'A sprint down the sideline isn't all he can do,' Coach Hoang said. 'Be warned, they like to pull out a Jet Sweep with him, and despite the team's poor run blocking, he's so fast he doesn't need it. Watch out for that during the game. If he moves in motion before the snap, you can count on it being the Jet Sweep.'
"So what? He's fast, is that it?" Ty thought.
Coach Hoang smiled. As if he could read Ty's thoughts, he said: 'He's fast, yes, but he's a one-trick pony. That's it. Take away his speed, the threat of his deep ball, and there isn't anything else to him. He's elusive, but only because of his speed. Don't give him space. Don't let him get to top speed, or else it's over.'
The film ended. Coach Hoang was still looking at Ty.
Slowly, everyone got out of their seats and received their copy of the film. Ty left the hall with his copy, a frown on his face. This challenge wasn't a puzzle, it was a drag race.
"It's fine. He's slow in my eyes. Such a simple Receiver can't beat me."
He made his way to the bike rack by the practice field. He was almost there when he was stopped by someone he'd almost forgotten.
Ricky popped up from thin air, like an imp appearing from a puff of smoke, just to torment Ty. It'd been a while since they'd talked, and Ty's life had been blissful during that break.
But Ricky's first words were less annoying than Ty expected. 'Congrats on beating the Bears.' Unfortunately, such pleasantness didn't last long. 'Though, maybe I should thank JJ for solo-carrying you and the rest of the team.'
'I'm not gonna deal with your shit today, brat. Move.'
'Wait wait wait! Don't ya wanna hear what ya new overall is?'
Ty stared at him, blank-faced. 'No.'
'Tch. Whatever. Serves ya right, ya haven't even cracked eighty yet.'
Ty's eye twitched. He shoved Ricky aside, walking towards his bike.
'Ah shit shit shit. Wait! C'mon. I really came to tell you about your next opponent!'
'I already know who it is.'
'Yeah, but I bet you haven't seen this. I've got some exclusive footage for ya. Trust me, ya gonna want to see this. It'll make ya REALLY wanna beat this douche. He's almost as big of a douche as YOU … almost.'
Ty ignored the final comments. Ricky had reeled him in. He set his bike back into the rack, then turned to the brat. Ricky held his phone aloft, shaking it at Ty like he was enticing a dog.
'Just show me the fucking video. Fast.'
'Yeah yeah, I got it right here. Geez. What crawls up ya ass every morning?'
Ricky pulled up the video; it was a short clip from TikTok. Ty glared at Ricky.
'Just watch,' he urged, then started the video.
There was Nate, grinning at the camera. 'Yo, yo, yo! It's ya boy Bullet Train coming at ya with another banger highlight. You know it, mon. Today I'm here with … what's your name?'
The camera panned across to an older boy with long cornrows, a thin, well-groomed beard stretching along his jawline, and a thin moustache. His eyes were tired. 'I'm Jaylen Vines.'
'Tell the good people where ya play at,' Nate said.
'I play for USC. I'm a sophomore DB.'
Nate leaned into frame. 'He's just a backup, but that's still dee one, baby.'
'Let's get this shit over with,' Jaylen grumbled. 'I need to shut yo ass up and humble this nigga.'
'No no no. You got it all wrong, mon. I'm the one embarrassing you today.' Nate flashed his pearly whites.
The video cut to the two lined up against one another. They were still jawing at one another until someone yelled "set hut!".
Nate burst by him in just a few steps, even as Jaylen clawed at his shirt and tried to drag him back. Nate sped away, torching him. There was no catching him.
The few onlookers and recorders burst into laughter and started hollering as they raced after the two. They captured a brief closeup of Jaylen's face, full of embarrassment. He shoved the camera away, storming off.
The camera rushed up to Nate, who was laughing loudest of all. 'AHAHAHAH! Did you see that idiot stumbling over his own feet? I keep telling ya, ain't NOBODY can catch the Bullet Train, Nate Langford!'
The video faded to black as Nate skipped off down the field, still laughing his head off. Ty shuddered and laughed. His hands curled into fists. Ricky grinned at the reaction. The video had done its job perfectly.
'I'm definitely gonna crush that guy. And it's gonna feel SO good.'