Senior Year Box Set

We got the ball back with only 3:46 left in the game. It was time for me to earn my keep and win this game. Looking at the skill players, I could see everyone was fresh because of Coach Mason’s plan.

“After a first down, Coach Mason is going to show the orange card. We aren’t swapping out. Hustle to the line, and let’s catch them flat-footed,” I said.

We were at our own 20 yard line. I paused to take in the moment. Everyone was confident that we were going to score; you could just hear our fans’ belief. They were used to winning. I could tell that all our players had a bit of swagger that comes with success. I looked across the line, and Washington looked tired and worried.

All I had to do was execute the plays Coach Mason sent in. On the first play, I hit Wolf on a skinny slant over the middle to pick up ten yards and the first down. Coach Mason held up the orange card, and Washington’s defense huddled up.

We milled around until the referee signaled we were ‘live.’ We rushed to the line. Washington saw us and sprinted to get lined up. As soon as we were set, Johan snapped me the ball. I handed off to Ty, and we ran a simple dive that netted us eighteen yards. We were now almost at midfield, with 3:11 showing on the clock.

I drove us down the field with our short passing game. When we reached their 16 yard line, I hit Roc in the back of the end zone to give us a 34–32 lead with 1:38 left. You always worry that you’ll leave your opponent too much time on the clock. 1:38 could be an eternity if you ran your two-minute drill correctly.

Derek lined up to kick the extra point. Trent, the holder, bobbled the snap. He put the ball down, and Derek had his kick blocked. I watched in horror as a Washington defender knew enough to pick up the ball and run it all the way to the other end zone for a two-point conversion. We were suddenly tied, 34–34.

We kicked off to Washington. Coach Rector guessed that they would try to run the clock out and play for overtime. Coach Hope decided to use his time-outs to possibly get them to punt with a little time left on the clock.

On the first two downs, we stopped them for no gain, and they only ran twenty seconds off the clock. All we had to do was stop them one more time, and they would be forced to punt. If they got the first down, it would send the game into overtime.

They lined up in their power ‘I’ and handed off to their tailback. Everything bunched up in the center of the field. I watched as he cut hard outside and turned upfield. I was on the far side of the field and took off running. The last thing we needed was for them to score a touchdown. Two of our guys missed him, and now it was a footrace.

At the 5 yard line, I dove for the running back and began to take him down. He hadn’t seen me coming, or he might have tucked the ball better. I punched it free and watched it bounce off his knee and go out the back of the end zone.

The whole officiating staff ran to the end zone to confer. I made sure I was close enough to listen.

“We need to figure out three things,” the referee told his charges. “Did he score; if not, was it a fumble; and finally, if it was, did it go out of the end zone?”

“He didn’t score. He was tackled at the 1 yard line and fumbled the ball through the end zone,” the back judge said firmly.

“Carl, you’re killing me. I have to go to work tomorrow,” the referee said.

“Sorry, but them’s the facts,” the back judge assured him.

I started bouncing up and down. That meant it was our ball on the 20 yard line.

The referee signaled a touchback and that it was our ball. That got both boos and cheers from the crowd, depending on who they supported.

With less than a minute left, I drove us down the field. We had one time-out, and Coach Hope wanted to save it in case we needed to kick a field goal. I hit Ty on an outlet pass, and he got us down to their 22 yard line with 12 seconds left.

I got off two passes that fell incomplete, and with 3 seconds left, Derek came in to redeem himself. Coach Diamond used a time-out to ice him and make him think about it, but when Derek finally was able to kick the ball, he booted it right down the center for the score.

I think we all recognized that we shouldn’t have won this game. I couldn’t imagine how Washington felt when they thought they’d won the game, only to have us come back and score again. We took our time and made sure we told Washington what a good game they’d played.

Coach Diamond found me before he took his team to the locker room.

“I thought we had you,” he said, hugging me.

“I was sure he was going to score,” I said, referring to the run at the end where his player fumbled.

“Me too. I plan to use that as a reminder to never give up on a play. I don’t think many players would have caught him,” he said and then smiled. “Good luck. You deserve to get back to State. I know how hard you work, and I can’t wait until you graduate.”

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