Senior Year Box Set

“Like I said, I don’t think the issue is physical. I worry you might be buying into the narrative that Lakeview will be an easy win and that you can mentally take some time off from the game. If I were being honest with you, you’ve been phoning it in this week. We wanted to sit down with you and see what we can do to help you regain your focus,” Coach Mason said.

I looked at both men, and they seemed to have my best interest at heart.

“I had a fellow recruit’s father attack me over the weekend. You know how Cassidy trains me,” I said to Coach Hope.

“I do.”

Coach Mason looked confused.

“Cassidy has taught me to not hold back when my safety or the safety of others is in question. The man who attacked me was no joke. If he’d won the fight, I would have been seriously hurt. I reacted as I’d been trained and put him down hard. My final blow could have killed him.”

“In the grand scheme of things, football doesn’t seem quite as important, does it?” Coach Mason asked.

“No, I guess not,” I admitted.

“Do you want us to play Trent this week?” Coach Hope asked.

That caught my full attention. Both coaches saw it, too.

“I think David can get it together for the game. I’m right about that, aren’t I?” Coach Mason asked.

“Yes, sir.”

“Good. Go home and get your head on straight. We need you focused,” Coach Mason said.

As I headed home, I was thankful they’d talked to me about it. I didn’t realize I’d not been giving my all in practice until they pointed it out. I appreciated that they had approached me like this instead of yelling at me.

◊◊◊

Chapter 12 – Screw Everything Else

Friday September 23

This game could be summed up in the first play. I’d lined up in the shotgun and noticed that Lakeview had pulled their safeties forward into the box to stop the run. Coach Mason had called a quick trap play up the middle, which was now doomed to fail. I scrambled to change the play.

“Orange! ORANGE!” I screamed, holding up both hands to indicate a change in the play.

Johan snapped the ball high and to the right of me. Caught completely off guard, I was lucky to even touch the ball. It bounced up as I turned to track it down. I collided with Ty, and we went down in a heap. Our offensive line wasn’t ready for the premature snap, and Lakeview’s defenders rushed to recover the fumble. My dojo training kicked in, and I popped up and launched myself at the rolling ball. I got a hand on it, then was buried in defenders. I used my ‘Hulk’ strength to rip the ball out of one of their linebackers’ grasp. We ended up losing thirteen yards on the play but avoided the fumble.

That set the tone for the rest of the game. Coaches Mason and Hope’s prediction that I, and, by extension, the team, had lost focus was especially apparent in the younger guys. Roc, Phil, and Yuri had all been benched. If it hadn’t been for Ty’s running, we would have been entirely out of this game.

At halftime, the score was tied at 0–0. There was a reason Lakeview hadn’t won a game to this point. In the third quarter, Ty broke a long run to put us up 6–0. Roc committed a personal foul after the score to push the extra point back 15 yards. Derek Hofmann, our kicker, punched it wide right. That missed extra point allowed Lakeview a chance to climb back into the game.

At the beginning of the fourth quarter, we were driving the ball. Ty was gaining three to four yards a play, so we had abandoned the passing game. Coach Mason saw the same thing that I did: they were ripe for us to use our play-action passing game. He called a quick slant for Wolf.

“Blue! Set! Hut, HUT!”

On the snap, Lakeview ran a run blitz. I faked the handoff to Ty, and he was met in the hole by half their team. Wolf gave a halfhearted attempt to block one of their linebackers and then sprinted up the field. Their safeties had moved forward to support the run, so Wolf was behind them when I threw the pass. The ball slipped through his hands and bounced off his helmet back towards the line of scrimmage. One of their safeties turned around, and the ball fell into his hands. They now had a first down on our 42 yard line.

On the ensuing play, they ran a simple dive play, something we’d been stopping for little or no gain all day. Tim must have assumed it would be routine as he closed in to make the tackle. I didn’t see exactly what happened, because their center snuck out and blocked me, but the next thing I knew, their tailback was running free. I got on my horse, ran him down, and tackled him at the goal line, but they ruled it a touchdown. After the extra point, we were trailing 7–6.

We traded possessions with not much happening for either team. With a little over four minutes left in the game, we got the ball back. Coach Hope got in my face before I ran out.

“Focus! Get them to focus! If I see one more pass dropped or someone jumps offside, you will wish you were never born come Monday. Do I make myself clear?!”

“Yes, sir,” I said and ran out to the huddle.