Chapter 20
The day of a game was always terrible for Lucky. He looked forward to playing so much that it seemed like time moved at a slower pace than normal. It all started the night before. He was already so pumped up for the game and from the bonfire sleep was elusive. All he did was toss and turn for hours, wishing sleep would come.
School was even worse as classes seemed to drag on forever. Lucky was a good student and usually paid attention in class, but on game days found it impossible to concentrate. This day was even worse.
Like many of his teammates, his mind was focused entirely on the game and he heard only about half the stuff the teachers or other students said.
After lunch, there was another pep rally, this time in the gym. The whole school crammed inside. When the band started playing and everybody hollered, it got loud enough to hurt your ears. Even the little ones got excited about the game, starting the wave. It took several tries to get it right but eventually everybody in the packed gym joined in.
The students made signs urging the Panthers to do creative things to the Bulldogs. One of the seventh graders took top honors, urging the Panthers to “castrate the Bulldogs”. It was very impressive artwork with a Panther holding a Bulldog high in the air with a knife in his hands, ready to go to work on the frightened canine. The student flashed the sign several times before mistakenly showing it when the middle-school principal looked in his direction. The principal wasn’t amused and confiscated the sign, telling the student that type of display was not school policy.
After the pep rally ended and everybody left, Cole went home for a couple of hours then retreated to the quiet of his office. His attention was totally on the game. He was ready to go and knew his players were also. Cole just hoped they weren’t too fired up for the game. It was a little strange to him. So many times he worried about getting the players ready to play. Other times, he hoped they weren’t too ready.
He would never tell his players, of course, but knew they were walking into a difficult situation. He had seen a lot of good Hodgen teams over the years and never really seen a bad one. But this was as good of a Hodgen team as he had seen.
It really bothered Cole that Hodgen’s program seemed to improve every year while Petros’ program was going the other direction. Cole thought it was just a phase, but sometimes wondered if it had something to do with his coaching. He knew the talent wasn’t there, but there were times before when the talent was not that great before and the Panthers had good teams.
Cole knew the game wouldn’t be a fancy finesse-type game, not in this rivalry and not against Hodgen. The Bulldogs were big, strong, physical and loved to pound on opponents, much like Cole liked to play, only Hodgen had bigger, stronger, faster and more talented players.
He knew his players would hit back with everything they had. But for one of the few times while coaching at Petros, Cole knew his team’s chances of winning were slim. For the Panthers to win, they had to play perfect and probably get some help from the Bulldogs. A Petros win would be the biggest upset in his career, the odds were stacked so high against his team.
But Cole knew in high school football anything could happen. A turnover or two, a key penalty, injuries and there might be a surprise.
His players really believed this was going to be the year to break the streak. None of the coaches talked about Petros losing so many games in a row to Hodgen, but the players knew and wanted it to end. They could care less that Hodgen was undefeated and ranked so high, or they were playing a bigger school.
They had played Hodgen since elementary school and weren’t scared. Riding the wave of emotion had blinded the reality for his team, but that was fine with Cole.
He had watched enough film of Hodgen to know the Bulldogs inside and out. Hodgen seldom tried fooling an opponent, preferring to pound away until the other team broke.
His peace and quiet came to an end as the players and other coaches started arriving to get ready for the short trip. All the coaches started taping ankles and getting the players ready.
As Cole watched his boys come into the dressing room and get their stuff together, he felt such pride for these guys. They could lose every game and he would feel good about them. He would have wished they did better, of course, but it wouldn’t keep him from feeling good about them.
Nobody forced them to play football. They could be off working, cruising around town trying to pick up girls or at home being a couch potato. But his players gave all that up to try and bring glory to themselves, to their team, school and town.
The players dressed and filed on to the bus, only needing to add their shoulder pads and helmets after arriving at Hodgen to be ready to play. The two buses filed out of the parking lot, conversation at a minimum. Some of the players wore headsets and listened to music, but many just sat, staring out the windows, looking at all the signs of support.
This was the shortest trip of the season. When they got to Hodgen, they started seeing signs, many urging the Bulldogs to win while others pointed out what would happen to the Panthers.
The stadium was one of the nicer ones in this part of the state. There were huge stands on both sides of the field, a large two-story press box and a field nicer than the fairways at the Hodgen Country Club. As the buses pulled into the parking lot, the players looked out the windows and saw the bleachers on both sides already filling up. Huge lines stretched from the ticket booths on both sides.
All the people on Petros’ side started cheering and hollering as the buses came to a stop behind the home bleachers. Both dressing rooms were under the Hodgen bleachers, not the best place to dress and take the field in a rivalry like this. Some of the Hodgen kids started hollering at the Panthers, who ignored it for the most part.
Cars were parked everywhere there was a place close to the stadium. Traffic was backed up onto the highway, everybody trying to find a place to park and wishing they left home earlier.
The players and coaches sat their equipment down in the dressing room and went out on the field to walk around and take in the field. Another loud roar came from the Petros side while the Hodgen side let out a chorus of “boo’s”.
It had been another blistering day. But while the Panthers walked around the field, a breeze came in from the north, cool enough to almost make Cole shiver.
He was so used to the heat and didn’t expect any change in the weather. But it sure felt like a cold front moving in. Some clouds were forming to the northwest. They didn’t look all that hazardous but seemed to be coming toward the stadium.
After the players walked around the field, they jogged back into the locker room. The backs, receivers and kickers soon came back out on the field. Most of the players had played here before, but not in a game of this magnitude. The seniors had been on a team that played here two years ago, but hadn’t gotten much playing time.
As the players left the dressing room to take the field, they were pelted with all kinds of objects. Lucky was hit in the head with a full can of smokeless tobacco. It bounced off his helmet and landed to his side. He wanted to pick it up and throw it back into the stands, but knew that would be dumb. Lucky started to step on the can to flatten it but Murray asked for it since his father liked to dip the stuff and it would save them several dollars.
As the players jogged down the narrow walkway leading out onto the field, Cole and Stub walked around on the field, monitoring the players.
“What do you think?” asked Stub.
“I’m afraid we have our work cut out,” Cole answered, soft enough no players heard him.
Down at the other end of the field, Hodgen’s players were jogging out on to the field, creating a loud roar from the home side and a few boos courtesy of Petros. Cole wished his side wouldn’t act like that. He expected it from other schools, especially Hodgen, but wished his fans showed a little more respect. It might rub off on Hodgen, he thought, then dismissed that idea as ridiculous.
The Bulldogs were dressed in their solid blue uniforms with blue helmets and white Bulldog logos on each side, white numbers on the shirts along with short white socks and black shoes.
They looked impressive coming out on the field with the solid color of the uniforms making them look even bigger.
“I’d really like to beat these guys,” Stub remarked.
“So would I,” Cole agreed.
Both coaches knew this game could make or break the season.
Chapter 21
School was even worse as classes seemed to drag on forever. Lucky was a good student and usually paid attention in class, but on game days found it impossible to concentrate. This day was even worse.
Like many of his teammates, his mind was focused entirely on the game and he heard only about half the stuff the teachers or other students said.
After lunch, there was another pep rally, this time in the gym. The whole school crammed inside. When the band started playing and everybody hollered, it got loud enough to hurt your ears. Even the little ones got excited about the game, starting the wave. It took several tries to get it right but eventually everybody in the packed gym joined in.
The students made signs urging the Panthers to do creative things to the Bulldogs. One of the seventh graders took top honors, urging the Panthers to “castrate the Bulldogs”. It was very impressive artwork with a Panther holding a Bulldog high in the air with a knife in his hands, ready to go to work on the frightened canine. The student flashed the sign several times before mistakenly showing it when the middle-school principal looked in his direction. The principal wasn’t amused and confiscated the sign, telling the student that type of display was not school policy.
After the pep rally ended and everybody left, Cole went home for a couple of hours then retreated to the quiet of his office. His attention was totally on the game. He was ready to go and knew his players were also. Cole just hoped they weren’t too fired up for the game. It was a little strange to him. So many times he worried about getting the players ready to play. Other times, he hoped they weren’t too ready.
He would never tell his players, of course, but knew they were walking into a difficult situation. He had seen a lot of good Hodgen teams over the years and never really seen a bad one. But this was as good of a Hodgen team as he had seen.
It really bothered Cole that Hodgen’s program seemed to improve every year while Petros’ program was going the other direction. Cole thought it was just a phase, but sometimes wondered if it had something to do with his coaching. He knew the talent wasn’t there, but there were times before when the talent was not that great before and the Panthers had good teams.
Cole knew the game wouldn’t be a fancy finesse-type game, not in this rivalry and not against Hodgen. The Bulldogs were big, strong, physical and loved to pound on opponents, much like Cole liked to play, only Hodgen had bigger, stronger, faster and more talented players.
He knew his players would hit back with everything they had. But for one of the few times while coaching at Petros, Cole knew his team’s chances of winning were slim. For the Panthers to win, they had to play perfect and probably get some help from the Bulldogs. A Petros win would be the biggest upset in his career, the odds were stacked so high against his team.
But Cole knew in high school football anything could happen. A turnover or two, a key penalty, injuries and there might be a surprise.
His players really believed this was going to be the year to break the streak. None of the coaches talked about Petros losing so many games in a row to Hodgen, but the players knew and wanted it to end. They could care less that Hodgen was undefeated and ranked so high, or they were playing a bigger school.
They had played Hodgen since elementary school and weren’t scared. Riding the wave of emotion had blinded the reality for his team, but that was fine with Cole.
He had watched enough film of Hodgen to know the Bulldogs inside and out. Hodgen seldom tried fooling an opponent, preferring to pound away until the other team broke.
His peace and quiet came to an end as the players and other coaches started arriving to get ready for the short trip. All the coaches started taping ankles and getting the players ready.
As Cole watched his boys come into the dressing room and get their stuff together, he felt such pride for these guys. They could lose every game and he would feel good about them. He would have wished they did better, of course, but it wouldn’t keep him from feeling good about them.
Nobody forced them to play football. They could be off working, cruising around town trying to pick up girls or at home being a couch potato. But his players gave all that up to try and bring glory to themselves, to their team, school and town.
The players dressed and filed on to the bus, only needing to add their shoulder pads and helmets after arriving at Hodgen to be ready to play. The two buses filed out of the parking lot, conversation at a minimum. Some of the players wore headsets and listened to music, but many just sat, staring out the windows, looking at all the signs of support.
This was the shortest trip of the season. When they got to Hodgen, they started seeing signs, many urging the Bulldogs to win while others pointed out what would happen to the Panthers.
The stadium was one of the nicer ones in this part of the state. There were huge stands on both sides of the field, a large two-story press box and a field nicer than the fairways at the Hodgen Country Club. As the buses pulled into the parking lot, the players looked out the windows and saw the bleachers on both sides already filling up. Huge lines stretched from the ticket booths on both sides.
All the people on Petros’ side started cheering and hollering as the buses came to a stop behind the home bleachers. Both dressing rooms were under the Hodgen bleachers, not the best place to dress and take the field in a rivalry like this. Some of the Hodgen kids started hollering at the Panthers, who ignored it for the most part.
Cars were parked everywhere there was a place close to the stadium. Traffic was backed up onto the highway, everybody trying to find a place to park and wishing they left home earlier.
The players and coaches sat their equipment down in the dressing room and went out on the field to walk around and take in the field. Another loud roar came from the Petros side while the Hodgen side let out a chorus of “boo’s”.
It had been another blistering day. But while the Panthers walked around the field, a breeze came in from the north, cool enough to almost make Cole shiver.
He was so used to the heat and didn’t expect any change in the weather. But it sure felt like a cold front moving in. Some clouds were forming to the northwest. They didn’t look all that hazardous but seemed to be coming toward the stadium.
After the players walked around the field, they jogged back into the locker room. The backs, receivers and kickers soon came back out on the field. Most of the players had played here before, but not in a game of this magnitude. The seniors had been on a team that played here two years ago, but hadn’t gotten much playing time.
As the players left the dressing room to take the field, they were pelted with all kinds of objects. Lucky was hit in the head with a full can of smokeless tobacco. It bounced off his helmet and landed to his side. He wanted to pick it up and throw it back into the stands, but knew that would be dumb. Lucky started to step on the can to flatten it but Murray asked for it since his father liked to dip the stuff and it would save them several dollars.
As the players jogged down the narrow walkway leading out onto the field, Cole and Stub walked around on the field, monitoring the players.
“What do you think?” asked Stub.
“I’m afraid we have our work cut out,” Cole answered, soft enough no players heard him.
Down at the other end of the field, Hodgen’s players were jogging out on to the field, creating a loud roar from the home side and a few boos courtesy of Petros. Cole wished his side wouldn’t act like that. He expected it from other schools, especially Hodgen, but wished his fans showed a little more respect. It might rub off on Hodgen, he thought, then dismissed that idea as ridiculous.
The Bulldogs were dressed in their solid blue uniforms with blue helmets and white Bulldog logos on each side, white numbers on the shirts along with short white socks and black shoes.
They looked impressive coming out on the field with the solid color of the uniforms making them look even bigger.
“I’d really like to beat these guys,” Stub remarked.
“So would I,” Cole agreed.
Both coaches knew this game could make or break the season.
posted by Craig Hall at 4:46 AM
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