Junior Year Box Set

“I want your lead foot to step just outside of the defender’s shoulder pads. You should be in a position so you end up on his outside shoulder. Then with your outside forearm, you push his arm towards his body. This will keep his arm down. With your inside arm, you reach over his shoulder as if you’re swimming. Then when your arm comes down, put your elbow in his back. Make sure you clear your hips, and you’ll be past him,” Coach Mason explained.

“Bill used this move to get by me all the time. Here, I’ll show you,” I said.

I did it at half speed so they could see what I would do, and then did it at full speed. The advantage this had was it both held the defender’s arm so he couldn’t grab you, and it pushed him behind you. It also allowed you to get by the defender cleanly. When Bill did it to me, it gave him enough separation that even with my speed, I couldn’t catch up quickly.

Next, we practiced tap dancing to make sure the receivers each got a foot down before going out of bounds. He had the receivers do down-and-outs, and when they got within five yards of the sideline, I would throw the ball. We timed it so the ball would get there just as they approached the sideline. They had to tap their foot down to make sure they were in bounds when they caught the ball.

We spent three-quarters of practice working on those two basic moves. Coach Mason called the number one offense and defense together to practice pass plays. Coach Diamond gave us the play in the huddle, we came to the line of scrimmage, and I took a moment to see what defense they were in.

“Down,” I called, and Coach Mason blew his whistle to stop the play.

“Wolf,” he called out to get his attention, “what defense are they in?”

“Uh, this is our base defense,” Wolf said.

“What are you supposed to do on this play?”

“I’m supposed to do a down-and-up, and David will throw me the ball when I clear the cornerback and before the safety can cover me,” Wolf explained.

“If David’s flushed from the pocket, what are you supposed to do?”

“Uh, go long?” Wolf guessed.

“Is this defense a zone or man-to-man?” Coach Mason asked.

“Zone.”

“Where are the holes in this zone?”

“I’m not sure,” Wolf said.

“Do you know Ed’s responsibilities?”

Wolf looked at Ed in the slot next to him and shook his head.

“I’m not picking on Wolf to be mean to him,” Coach Mason said as he turned his attention to everyone. “We have the coaching software that explains each play, and one of your coaches talks about everyone’s responsibilities. Only two of you have been using it regularly. One is David. Can you guess who the other one is?” Coach Mason asked.

We all looked around, and I smiled when I figured out who it was: Yuri. He was scared that as a sophomore, he’d been put in charge of making the defensive calls. He looked a bit chagrined when Coach Mason confirmed it.

“Coach Douglas has loaded King High School’s offense and defense into your software. Coach Diamond has selected ten offensive plays, and I spent the day explaining what each position should do against their different defenses. I want you to log in tonight and spend at least a half hour learning what your responsibility is for each play.

“King has you on pure talent at almost every position. They’ve been ranked nationally all year long. They’re used to using their physical skill to dominate their opponents. You have two things they don’t. You have heart. David and the coaches have told me how you’ve worked as a unit during the offseason. King hasn’t played anyone with the heart of a champion. We all know that you will not back down from them. They may beat you on a play, but you’ll brush yourself off and come back at them.

“Something else I’ve seen is that you have brains you use for something besides keeping your ears apart. I’ve worked with the skill players, and they’ve all shown the desire to learn and get better. I know you can outthink King because they haven’t had to think on the football field. They react and attack. If I were their coach, I’d be happy with that because of their superior athletic skills. We have to think if we’re going to overcome them.

“I watched your game against Springfield last year. They should have beaten you, but you showed your heart. This year you played Bloomington, and they should have beaten you, but you outthought them. Against King, you’ll have to use both of your assets to win,” Coach Mason said.

◊◊◊

After practice, Brook was waiting for me, seated on the hood of my Jeep.

“I have something fun for us to do,” she said with a big smile.

She wouldn’t tell me what we were doing, but she did give me turn-by-turn directions. It turned out we drove to her house. When we got there, she handed me a duffle bag.

“Go get changed,” she ordered.