Chapter 22
As the Panthers returned to the field, their fans tried to generate some enthusiasm, but it was half-hearted.
Lucky felt rather calm. He wasn’t nervous even though he was going to play quarterback in a varsity game for the first time against his team’s biggest rival.
Cole pulled his son aside before they left the locker room, waiting until everybody else left. He put his arm around Lucky and looked him in the eyes.
“Don’t try to win this game on every play,” Cole suggested. “Be patient and read your keys. You’ve got a lot of help out there so use it. Don’t try to win this by yourself. If it’s not there, don’t force it. Show what you’re made of and be a leader.”
D.J., Happy and Andy waited outside for Lucky. They started jogging across the field.
“Boy, we’re in trouble now,” Happy stated.
“We might as well go to the house,” D.J. added.
“I guess Hodgen won’t need to use the starters anymore,” Andy declared.
“Thanks for all the support,” Lucky responded.
Both teams made it back out on the field and loosened up quickly before taking the field for the second-half kickoff.
D.J. and Skip went back to return the kickoff. They were wasting their time, though, as the ball sailed into the end zone again, forcing the Panthers to start at their own 20.
Cole sent Andy in at flanker and relayed the play to Lucky, a bootleg with the option of running or passing.
Andy was the only receiver going out, faking a post, then going toward the flag.
“New meat,” hollered the Bulldogs’ strongside linebacker. “Let’s send him to the hospital like we did the other guy.”
“Yeah, they can be roommates,” said the other linebacker. “That’s their coach’s boy. That’ll just make it sweeter.”
Lucky smiled back at them. He had no desire to get in a mouthing contest, especially when he had done nothing to prove himself yet. Lucky preferred letting his play speak instead.
He took the snap cleanly, turned and placed the ball in D.J.’s belly. Lucky then pulled the ball out and hid it while rolling out. The Bulldogs had loaded up the defense on the line with only one player more than five yards off the line.
Andy started off slow, wanting to make the defensive backs think he was going to block the safety. He waited until he cut back outside to speed up, his long stride lengthening the distance between him and the safety.
As Lucky got to the corner, he had room to run but saw Andy open. Lucky let go with the pass, a perfect spiral that arced through the air. It wasn’t a perfect pass, just far enough behind that Andy had to slow down. He grabbed the ball with his big hands and tucked it away, just like the coaches showed him.
The safety recovered quickly and finally forced Andy out of bounds, but not until he reached Hodgen’s side of the fifty.
The momentum had changed in one play, giving the Panthers a spark they lacked in the first half. All the players and fans were up and cheering, yelling louder than they had all game.
Cole sent in an option on the next play. Lucky saw the linebacker coming after D.J. so he faked a handoff to the running back, then continued down the line. The Bulldogs were able to run Gary down from behind on the options so the play never worked. But Lucky was quicker and able to cut up the field when the defensive end decided to go after Skip.
Lucky picked up eight yards before getting tripped up, nearly breaking it for big yardage.
The Panthers definitely had Hodgen’s attention now as the Bulldogs hollered at each other.
Lucky ran an option the other way, read the defense and handed off to Skip this time. He hit the hole and gained five yards before the Bulldogs brought him down.
Cole noticed Hodgen’s defense still wasn’t respecting the pass so he decided to try and make the Bulldogs pay.
Lucky faked the dive to Skip, took two steps along the line and angled back. Andy took off straight down the field. Lucky rolled out, getting plenty of time from the line. Just as Andy got past the cornerback, Lucky threw the ball without breaking stride, leading his receiver just enough that Andy never had to slow down.
The pass was perfect, right between the cornerback and safety. The safety knew this was trouble and tried to break up the pass instead of playing it safe. He missed the ball by inches and Andy hauled it in, going full speed. The cornerback was still behind Andy and losing ground with every stride. The cornerback continued to chase him, but knew it was a lost cause, along with everybody else.
As he crossed into the end zone, Andy turned around, not sure what to do. This was his first time to score, after all, so he promptly spiked the ball with gusto, followed by a dance obviously not choreographed by professionals.
Everybody watched in disbelief as three officials tossed yellow flags at him. He was still celebrating when the first flag landed at his feet, followed by the other two.
Judging from the flags and the reactions of his teammates, Andy knew something was amiss.
D.J. was the first player to greet him.
“You can’t do that,” he advised.
“Score a touchdown?” Andy asked.
“No, you can do that. You can’t spike the ball. Or do that silly dance.”
“They do it on television.”
“Yeah, but that’s the pros. You can’t do that in high school.”
“Oh, sorry,” Andy stated. “Will that cause them to cancel the touchdown?”
Several teammates were around now, listening to Andy and trying not to laugh.
“No, the score will still count,” D.J. responded. “But Jeremy will probably have to kick from fifteen yards farther out.”
Andy jogged slowly to the sidelines, wishing he could melt into the ground. His teammates were all congratulating him, but the coaches would probably chew him up and spit him out for the penalty.
Cole was standing at midfield, with his hands on his hips, obviously not thrilled.
As he got closer, Andy saw a little smile on his coach’s face.
“Did they tell you that you can’t do that?” he asked.
Andy nodded, expecting his coach to tear into him for that mistake.
“Okay, nice play,” Cole added, patted him on the shoulder then walked away. “I should’ve told you that we can do that.”
Andy turned around to watch the extra long, extra point.
Jeremy kicked it through the uprights, preventing Andy from getting an ulcer.
The Bulldogs’ lead was cut to 21-7. All the Panthers were celebrating the score. There was still a big hill to climb, but no longer a mountain.
Cole caught Jeremy and gave his instructions. He wanted Jeremy to kick a deep-onside kick, a high, short kick that should keep Hodgen from returning it.
The kick was done just as Cole hoped. The ball sailed high in the air, finally coming down at the 23. One of the backs caught the ball and only picked up two yards before getting pounded by a pair of Panthers.
Petros’ side urged on the defense. The players did also, encouraging each other and waving their arms to keep the crowd pumped.
Hodgen tried two running plays, picking up only three yards. On third down, the fullback took the ball on a trap up the middle. There was a small hole, but Garrett fought off a block, grabbed the fullback down low, stopping him in his tracks right before Derwin arrived. Derwin had delivered many highlight-quality hits in his days at Petros, but this was one of his best.
He caught the fullback at the right time, delivering a hit so hard the fullback just melted. The fullback would have swallowed his mouthpiece if it wasn’t attached to his facemask. He was slow getting up as the Panthers celebrated the hit.
“Did you hear him grunt?” Derwin asked Skip as they walked back to the huddle, the pride evident in his voice. Skip nodded, glad Derwin was on his team.
After the punt, Petros took over on its own 32. The Bulldogs changed their defensive alignment, dropping the secondary back into a more traditional defense to guard against the pass.
Cole knew the Bulldogs were in trouble if they stayed in the previous defense. He also knew Hodgen would have trouble stopping the run in this defense. It was time to make the Bulldogs pay.
The Panthers started off with a power play to the right. Skip followed D.J. off the right tackle. There wasn’t much of a hole but he followed behind his blockers and picked up four yards.
On second down, D.J. took the handoff on a crossbuck, found a good hole and gained another five yards.
Cole continued to monitor Hodgen’s defense, as he knew Lucky was. Even on third and short, the defense was set back off the line in a 4-3 with the secondary playing deep.
Lucky noticed Hodgen overplaying the right side of the ball, expecting a carry by Skip in that direction. That was the play his father had sent in, but Lucky made his first audible at the line, simply switching the play to the other direction.
D.J. did not have a huge hole but scooted through a small gap for two yards and a first down.
Both defensive tackles started edging further outside the guards, trying to help with the outside runs, leaving only the middle linebacker to cover the middle of the field.
In the huddle, Lucky pulled Danny Wall, a junior center, off to the side.
“We got the middle open,” Lucky pointed out. “Can you handle the middle linebacker?”
“I’ve been killing him all night,” Danny responded.
“Okay, we’re gonna sneak it,” Lucky instructed his teammates. “Danny, you knock the middle linebacker on his can and we’ll have a big play.”
It wasn’t the play Cole sent in. But that was how he wanted the quarterbacks to play, taking advantage of what the defense was giving.
The guards let the defensive tackles go, sealing off the outside linebackers. Danny fired off the line, hitting the linebacker right in the chin, making him look like a boxer who had taken one too many blows.
Lucky followed behind Danny, veered to the right and found some running room. He picked up eleven yards and another first down before the free safety tackled him.
A dive to D.J. was good for several yards on first down. The same play to the other side added four more yards, setting up third and three.
Lucky ran another option to the left, cut inside the end, ran over a safety and easily picked up the first down.
On the two previous plays, Cole saw the defensive backs moving closer to the line. He wanted them back where they were so Cole decided a pass was in order.
Lucky was surprised by the call, as were his teammates. But he knew his father saw something and expected it to work. He bobbled the snap for just an instant, but recovered quick enough to fake the ball to Skip on a power play, roll out and look for Andy running the same route he scored on earlier.
It wasn’t the best time to run a play-action pass, Lucky quickly decided after seeing Hodgen blitzing just about everybody. The line picked up many of the defenders, but there were more Bulldogs than blockers. As soon as Lucky turned back to the line, he saw a cornerback bearing down on him. Lucky faked to the inside, then took off to the outside, picking up just enough time with the fake to get outside.
The cornerback and three other Bulldogs were after him with more on the way. Lucky was now going full-speed. He couldn’t get the corner turned as Hodgen’s players had him trapped.
Lucky knew he should throw the ball away, but thought he could still make a play of it. Lucky was almost out of bounds when he suddenly threw on the brakes, spun around and took off back across the field.
“No!” Cole hollered, expecting this to result in a bad play. He wanted Lucky to take the small loss and try and get it back the next play, not risk a really big loss that would be hard to overcome.
Lucky ran through one tackle, retreated farther back while sprinting back across the field. He had a swarm chasing him, but his blockers were now able to help, delivering some blindside blocks that left the Bulldogs getting knocked senseless.
As he neared the other sideline, a large gap suddenly opened, thanks to the blocks and because most of the Bulldogs were now chasing him from behind. Lucky juked one defensive back, making him trip over his feet and was in the open as he cut back across the field to avoid two defensive backs coming at him.
Lucky saw both Hodgen players get knocked to the ground. He had some escorts running along beside him and none of the Bulldogs were around. He could have walked into the end zone but Lucky never slowed down until the official raised his arms for the touchdown.
As he and his teammates celebrated the touchdown, Lucky saw three Bulldogs laid out on the ground thanks to the blocks. Two others were on their knees, trying to get up and figure out what happened.
The other side of the field was deathly quiet, like a crowd at a funeral. They appeared to be in shock, looking at each other like this could not happen. Nobody should be able to play with their Bulldogs like this, especially Petros.
Cole was left speechless over the play. He knew Lucky was going to be good, but never expected his son to step in this quick and make such a positive contribution. The touchdown run was one of the best ones Cole had seen from any of his players and it came from a sophomore playing his first game on offense.
The Panthers had to wait several minutes to try the PAT until all the injured Hodgen players were removed from the field. None of them appeared to be serious, but they were all shaken up pretty good.
The field was finally cleared of battered bodies and Jeremy hammered home the kick, leaving Petros trailing only 21-14.
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Gary was some two miles across town in an examination room at the hospital. He had just returned to the room after getting x-rays on his shoulder. As he waited to see the doctor, a nurse had brought him a radio tuned to the game. Gary was so excited after Lucky’s touchdown he jumped up and down, ignoring the pain for the moment, hugged his parents and tried to give the nurses a high five.
They happened to be Hodgen graduates and weren’t pleased their alma mater was barely winning and declined the high five.
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There was only a little less than two minutes left in the third quarter and the Bulldogs appeared to be reeling. But Hodgen was not through, or without plenty of weapons.
Petros definitely had Hodgen’s attention and the Bulldogs decided to take off the gloves. The expected rout had turned around and was now a dogfight.
During the kickoff, the Bulldogs were flagged for holding and forced to start from their own 15.
The game was already physical, as evident by players on both teams getting shaken up. But the hitting was turned up a notch as players from both teams launched themselves against their opponent with no regard for their own body. They just wanted to inflict blows to the opponent, knowing some would come back against them. But they were young and would recover. They would be bruised and hurt, but over time would be okay.
The intensity picked up and the cracking of the pads echoed into the stands.
Players from both sides were shaken up and left for a few plays to clear out the cobwebs. There were hits on practically every play that left the onlookers wondering how the players could take the abuse.
Hodgen slowly started down the field, pounding at the Panthers with their bruising fullback. He stood six-foot-two, weighed 235 pounds, most of it muscle formed from hauling hay and working on a farm with his father whenever he wasn’t in school, or playing football.
His name was Virgil Sims, a junior who started most of the previous year as a sophomore. He was bigger than all the Petros players and pounded away for three or four yards a pop. He was giving out a beating, using his elbows and knees as weapons. Virgil wasn’t a threat to break a long one, but was almost impossible to stop. Virgil had recovered from the crushing blow from Derwin on the previous drive and was paying back the defense.
The Bulldogs mixed in a couple of passes and sweeps to keep the defense honest but this drive belonged to Virgil. It was a 15-play drive that ate up the final two minutes of the third quarter and the first six minutes of the fourth. The Panthers toughened up once the drive reached inside the 10 but the Bulldogs wouldn’t be stopped, finally scoring on a three-yard run on fourth down.
It was an option play, the first time the Bulldogs had shown it all year, and it worked to perfection. The halfback took the pitch and sped into the end zone.
The PAT was good again, giving Hodgen a 28-14 lead with only half a quarter remaining.
Cole knew it would be hard to come back now, but didn’t share that with his team.
“Okay, it’s our time now,” he told the players before they took the field. His guys were down a little after the score and needed encouragement. “Hodgen thinks the game’s over. Let’s show them what we’re made of again.”
The kickoff sailed into the end zone again, leaving the Panthers starting at their own 20.
As Lucky broke the huddle, he looked over at the Hodgen sideline and saw him for the first time tonight. He was standing next to the head coach, wearing the number 11 on his jersey. His name was Mace Crosby, a thorn in Lucky’s side since he took up sports.
Mace was the one player Lucky could never overcome. Lucky had never beaten him in any sport. Mace was easily the best athlete Lucky had played against. It looked like Mace was now at least 6-4 and Lucky knew he would already be starting at half the schools in Oklahoma, probably even Petros.
He was the most talented player Lucky had competed against, a great quarterback who could throw and run. In basketball, Mace scored at will, shooting from the outside, posting up low or driving to the basket. And in baseball, he already had professional scouts attending his games, salivating at his fastball and a curve that was almost impossible to hit.
Mace stared at Lucky, looking at him with contempt.
Lucky decided to ignore him and get his thoughts back on the game.
The Panthers started their own drive, picking up good chunks of yardage against a defense lined up to prevent the pass and the big play. Petros slowly drove down the field against what could almost be considered a prevent defense.
Skip and D.J. picked up good yardage each play, but couldn’t break the big one the Panthers needed. It was taking too much time, Cole knew, but with the way the Bulldogs were aligned on defense, the Panthers couldn’t get a big play by throwing the ball and were having a lot of success running.
With Petros at Hodgen’s 10, the Bulldogs finally tightened up their defense. The first run was stuffed, but Petros knew what to expect.
There were less than two minutes remaining as Petros called its first time out. The players went to the sidelines to talk with the coaches. Cole thought back to watching the boys play catch the week before. He remembered how Lucky’s lob passes to Andy couldn’t be defended and decided to give it a try. It wasn’t in the playbook, but that didn’t bother the Panthers.
“Okay, this is what we’re gonna do,” Cole yelled, having to holler so his players could hear him above the band, “Lucky, you and Andy were throwing a lob pass last week. Can you can do it in a game?”
Lucky and Andy looked at each other, smiled and nodded.
“Nobody’s stopped it yet,” Andy stated.
“Okay, let’s try it then,” Cole said. “Go with Black Ray and use a three-step drop and lob the ball into the corner.”
Black Roy was a formation with the Panthers lining up in their usual split-back with a flanker to the right. The Panthers took the field and lined up. Lucky looked out at Andy prior to calling the signals and saw he had a six-foot-four inch receiver lined up against a cornerback who stood less than five-foot-nine. Hodgen’s cornerback was the Bulldogs’ best defensive back, but it still should be a mismatch.
Lucky saw the cornerback wasn’t going to have any help, manning up solely on his own. He called out the signals, took the snap and dropped back quickly. Lucky planted his foot and lobbed a pass to the corner of the end zone. Andy had taken a few steps straight down the field, faked toward the middle, then angled to the corner.
The cornerback had excellent coverage, running with the receiver.
The pass was a little high, high enough the only one who could get it was Andy. He soared high in the air, leaving the cornerback well below, grabbed the ball and fell to the ground with the ball cuddled safely away.
This time, Andy jumped to his feet and sprinted over to an official to hand him the ball. It set off another wild celebration as the Panthers had closed to within one touchdown.
Jeremy added the PAT, cutting the lead to 28-21.
Petros’ crowd was going insane. The loud roar made it hard for the coaches and players to communicate.
With less than two minutes left, there was no way Petros would get the ball back if the Panthers kicked it long. They had to go with an onside kick and hope to recover.
Across the field, Hodgen’s coaches were screaming at their players, throwing their hats and communication gear on the ground and looking rather ridiculous. The safe lead had dissipated and they knew how dangerous this was.
The Panthers huddled around their coaches. The noise level was incredible as some two thousand people from Petros screamed at the tops of their lungs while jumping up and down on the metal stands. It was so loud a jet could be coming in to land and nobody would know.
“We’re gonna go with the onside,” Cole screamed at the top of his lungs. “Guys, we gotta get that ball. I don’t care what it takes. You want to win?”
The players screamed back in response.
“Then get the ball!”
The Panthers went out on the field and lined up in an onside formation. Jeremy tee’d the ball up on the right hashmark with most of his teammates lined up to his left. Cole tried to remember the last time one of his teams tried an onside kick, but couldn’t remember. He just knew it didn’t work.
Petros worked on this virtually every day in practice. Most kickers struggled with this kind of kick, but Jeremy was one of the best Cole had ever had, usually getting off a good kick with the necessary big bounce.
After the officials gave him the go-ahead, Jeremy slowly jogged forward, his eyes focusing on the spot he hoped to hit.
With everybody standing, screaming and jumping up and down, he finally planted his foot and kicked the ball, exactly where he hoped. The ball took a small bounce, then a big bounce that soared high above the players, giving the Panthers time to advance down the field.
The wave of Petros players arrived just as the ball began its descent. As one of the Bulldogs tried to grab the ball, there was a huge collision as two Panthers crashed into him, causing the ball to squirt away. A huge mass of players dived into the pile trying to get their hands on the elusive pigskin.
The officials had to pull players away, trying to determine who had possession. The play happened right in front of Petros’ bench but Cole had no idea who recovered the ball.
The officials finally got to the bottom of the pile. There were only a couple of players from each team trying to fight for the ball.
From beneath the pile, Derwin rolled away, raising the football high enough everybody could see. It took several seconds for the officials to see him as they were still looking into the pile, but Skip finally got an official’s attention. The official looked away from the pile and saw Derwin, still on his knees with the ball held out to the official.
The official consulted with the others and the referee finally signaled it was Petros’ ball, setting off another wild celebration on the Panthers’ side. Hodgen’s side grew deathly quiet, fearing the impossible might actually happen. Some said the bad place would freeze over before Petros won a game in this rivalry. If that was true, the temperature was starting to drop.
The Panthers sprinted out on the field. The ball was just on Hodgen’s side of midfield. Petros still had two timeouts and plenty of time.
Petros had to throw now, no matter what defense the Bulldogs were in. Petros came out in its version of the spread offense with two wideouts to one side, one split out as a flanker on the other side along with a tight end and a running back in the backfield.
Andy and Harry were both on the right. Skip was the flanker on the left while Murray Perdue was the tight end. Derwin was at running back since he was the best blocker.
The Panthers had not practiced this formation much, only spending a few minutes on it at the end of practice. They hadn’t used it in a game since Gary didn’t have a strong enough arm.
Petros huddled before the play since the clock wouldn’t start until the ball was snapped. Lucky ducked into the huddle, looking around at all the eyes staring back at him.
“We got two timeouts,” he stated. Lucky took a knee and continued looking into his teammates’ eyes through the gaps in their facemasks. “When you catch the ball, pick up as many yards as possible then get out of bounds to stop the clock. Run all your routes past the first-down marker since that will also cause the clock to stop. Guys, give me some time and we’ll go score.”
Lucky relayed the call to his teammates. The Panthers broke the huddle, looking as fresh as they were during the first quarter. Hodgen’s players were showing the effects of the long, physical game. The Bulldogs hadn’t been in a close game and didn’t expect this one to be close. Since the two previous games were blowouts, Hodgen’s starters hadn’t played an entire game and were worn out.
The Bulldogs lined up in a prevent defense, willing to give up the short pass but nothing long. Lucky called an audible, hoping to hit Skip on a quick out. He took the snap, dropped back, waited for Skip to make his cut and fired the pass.
Skip caught the pass just two steps from the sidelines and tight-roped the sidelines for a few more yards before going out-of-bounds.
The play worked so well the Panthers decided to use it again, getting the same results. But the Bulldogs still wouldn’t bring the secondary up. That was fine with Lucky. He would be glad to continue moving down the field, getting five or ten yards a pop, picking up first downs and stopping the clock.
Petros ran the same play again, picking up another good gain before Skip stepped on the chalk to stop the clock.
Hodgen’s fans didn’t like this strategy. The players weren’t real fond of it either and questioned their coaches. The coaches must have paid attention as the defense came out in a different alignment, using tighter coverages on the receiver.
As soon as Lucky saw this, he audibled, wanting to take advantage of whatever Hodgen gave them.
The Bulldogs blitzed and one of the linebackers broke free, but Derwin picked him up, hitting him so hard the linebacker was knocked to the ground, allowing Lucky plenty of time.
The two outside receivers ran crossing patterns with Andy cutting toward the post and Harry running toward the flag. The play confused the defense and Lucky fired a pass to Andy between two defenders, picking up another good gain before he was brought down.
Lucky rushed the team up to the line and snapped the ball right after the official gave his okay. He had already called the play and only let a few seconds click off the clock before the ball was snapped.
Hodgen expected another pass and was completely crossed up when Lucky dropped back and gave the ball to Derwin on a draw.
It was a hole big enough Stub would later say he could have scored on the play. There was some doubt as to that claim, but the hole was plenty big enough for Derwin to run through.
He would have scored, but tripped over Garrett’s foot at the five and stumbled ahead, coming down at the one.
As soon as it was obvious Derwin didn’t score, Cole and the other coaches hollered at Lucky to call time.
Lucky obliged, getting a timeout to stop the clock. The offense jogged to the sidelines to the cheers of their fans. Hodgen’s players staggered over to their coaches, their fans still appearing to be in shock.
Cole told his players to go back to the usual offense and run an option to the right. The players sprinted back to the huddle, not going to the line since Hodgen’s players hadn’t returned to the field and Lucky didn’t want the Bulldogs to see what offense the Panthers would use.
The Bulldogs finally made it back on the field and lined up. Petros broke the huddle and ran up to the line. The Panthers went on a quick count. Lucky faked the dive to D.J., pulled the ball out and had to pitch quickly as the Bulldogs’ defensive end crashed.
Lucky led Skip too much and the ball sailed past him, just barely out of his reach. The ball hit the ground and bounced away, each bounce taking the Panthers farther away from the end zone. Lucky was flat on his back with the end on top of him. He lay prone on the turf, watching helplessly as the ball bounced away.
Skip finally ran the ball down back at the twelve. He picked it up but couldn’t get turned around before getting hit from behind.
The Panthers had to call their final timeout to stop the clock, now showing less than a minute.
Lucky felt terrible about the pitch as the players again went to the sidelines.
“Sorry about that,” Lucky said. “That was my fault.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Skip responded. “We need to think about scoring right now, not about what happened on the last play.”
Cole opened his notebook and started drawing out a formation and a play. He got halfway through then put the pad away.
“Come out in the spread,” he said, giving up on the play. “Skip, you and Andy switch sides. Andy, you’ll be the flanker so you need to line up off the ball. Run that little lob play to Andy. Listen, we don’t have any more timeouts so we’ve gotta throw the ball into the end zone or throw it away. We can’t have any sacks or short passes.”
The offense ran back on the field and lined up. Hodgen was in man coverage with a corner playing close to Andy, almost crossing the line of scrimmage. A safety had to cover Murray so the cornerback didn’t have any help.
Lucky almost smiled after seeing the coverage. He took the snap, dropped back and lobbed the ball to the corner of the end zone.
This cornerback was a little taller than the other, but still gave up four inches and was helpless. Knowing he was in trouble, the cornerback grabbed, held and pretty much mauled Andy. Not that it mattered. Andy reached the end zone and leaped high in the air, even with the cornerback draped all over him.
The pass was nearly perfect, coming down in Andy’s hands in the corner of the end zone. The official waited to make sure Andy held on, then raised his arms. Andy fought free and sprinted over to the official to hand him the ball.
The players were so busy celebrating that the coaches had trouble getting their attention to get them prepared for the extra point.
Cole had to make a decision quickly, either kick the extra point to tie the score and go into overtime or try to win the game in regulation by going for two.
The momentum was on his side and Cole wanted to go for the two and the win, but also liked his chances of winning in overtime as the Bulldogs were so tired.
“Kick it,” he announced.
The players hurried out on the field and lined up for the extra point. The snap was perfect, as was the hold. The kick appeared to be fine also. During the break between plays, Hodgen’s coach sent in his tallest player, Lucky’s old rival, Mace Crosby, who was instructed to block the kick.
Standing six-four and with a 35-inch vertical leap, Mace was the Bulldogs’ best bet. He lined up five yards behind the line and waited for the ball to be snapped. When the ball moved, he sprinted toward the line, jumping straight up between the kicker and the goal posts.
Mace went high above the players in front of him and soared over the line, still at the top of his jump. There was the thud of the kick, followed by another thud of the ball meeting body, sending the ball backwards.
Petros’ side went silent as it watched the ball get blocked and fall to the ground. Now it was Hodgen’s turn to celebrate. The Panthers stood on the field in disbelief, not believing this happened. They were so sure the game was going into overtime and now it looked to be over.
The Bulldogs managed to have enough energy to celebrate, and also taunt some of the Panthers as they went to the sidelines.
Cole was crushed but couldn’t show it to the players. There were still 40 seconds left and while the Panthers’ chances were slim, stranger things had happened.
The players were milling about as the coaches tried to rally them.
“This game isn’t over,” Cole shouted. “Forget what just happened. We’re gonna go with another onside kick. After we recover the ball, we’ll still have time to score and win the game.”
Some of the enthusiasm returned as the Panthers jogged out on the field for the onside kick. Petros’ fans also started showing some life again. It had been so many years since the Panthers beat Hodgen and while it looked like they would have to wait another year, they hoped for a miracle.
It was rare for a team to recover one onside kick when an opponent expected it. To recover two was almost unheard of.
The officials told Jeremy to go ahead. He looked around one more time. Only three players were on his right, the rest all staggered together on the left.
This kick might not have been as perfect as the earlier one, but it was still a good one. The ball bounced high again, coming down just as the two walls of players collided in a violent collision. The football fell amongst the mass of humanity, bouncing off several hands.
It was another wild scramble with the players scratching and fighting for the ball. At first, the ball was held by one of the Bulldogs, but Derwin was also at the bottom of the pile and wrestled it away. After he got control, it was over. They would have to kill him to get the ball away from him.
As the pile unscrambled, the officials saw Derwin had the ball and pointed toward the end of the field Petros was going.
The Panthers had reason to celebrate again, knowing they had another chance to win, just as their coach predicted. But they had to move at least thirty yards to get into position to try a field goal. There were 38 seconds remaining and Petros had no timeouts.
The Panthers sprinted to the line in the spread offense. Lucky took a deep drop, looking for somebody to break free. He hadn’t expected it, but the Bulldogs were coming with a full-scale blitz.
He realized this while dropping back. Usually, he would look for a short pass but that wouldn’t work in this situation because if the pass was complete and the receiver didn’t get out of bounds or pick up a first down, the clock might run out before the Panthers got off another play.
Sensing the pressure from his backside, Lucky sprinted to the right, narrowly avoiding a defensive end. Lucky was out of the pocket and running at full speed with several Bulldogs on his heels.
The receivers realized their quarterback was in trouble and broke off their route to come back toward him. Harry broke open near the sidelines and Lucky spotted him. He had to slow down enough to get the pass off, letting the defenders catch up with him.
As the ball left his hand, two Bulldogs plowed into him, but it was too late. The pass was on the way, slicing through the air toward Harry before the defensive backs arrived.
Harry grabbed the pass and stepped out of bounds to stop the clock. It was only good for 12 yards and the Panthers used up eight seconds. There were 30 seconds left and the Panthers were on Hodgen’s 37.
Since the clock was stopped, the Panthers huddled. Cole sent in a different play, a planned roll out in case the Bulldogs blitzed again.
Lucky hoped to hit Harry on a fly pattern, but doubted Hodgen would let any receivers get behind so he would probably have to hit Skip on a short post or throw to Andy on an out route.
Hodgen dropped eight players back in coverage this time, rushing only three defenders. Lucky rolled to his right and had plenty of time. But with so many defensive backs, nobody was open and the receivers altered their routes again. Skip angled back toward the quarterback.
Lucky fired a pass across his body. The ball hit Skip right in the numbers but his momentum carried him back toward the original line and past the first-down marker. Several Bulldogs descended on him. Skip tried to escape the defenders but was trapped and tackled.
He was three yards short of the first-down marker and the clock was ticking away. The Bulldogs moved in slow motion as they got off Skip. For Petros it seemed like the clock was in fast forward as the seconds flew by.
Seeing Hodgen’s players weren’t in any hurry, the officials finally stopped the clock with twelve seconds left. But the clock would only stop long enough for everybody to get unpiled and for the ball to be spotted.
The Panthers hurried to line up and get another play off before the clock ran out. After getting the ball set, the officials started the clock and now the Panthers would be lucky to get another play off.
Petros’ players scrambled to line up as the fans and players on the sidelines screamed for them to hurry. Finally, everybody was lined up and Lucky called for the ball, getting the snap with only two seconds left. Lucky had told everybody to go long, hoping for a miracle or a penalty.
He retreated back, looking for a receiver. The Bulldogs were in a prevent defense and had the end zone well covered. There wasn’t anything else he could do so Lucky fired a pass to the right part of the end zone where Harry and Andy were trying to break free.
The pass sailed high in the air. All eyes in the stadium watched it cut through the night. There were at least six players waiting on the ball, four wearing all blue.
Andy jumped as high as possible, trying to just touch the ball. He thought his fingers were going to touch the ball, but it sailed just over his outstretched hand, past all the other players and never hit the ground until reaching the grass beyond the end zone.
Lucky fell to his knees, not believing it was over. He was so confident the Panthers were going to come back and it was hard to believe the game was over and Hodgen had bragging rights for another year.
As Hodgen’s players celebrated, the Panthers walked away, just wanting to get off this field and into the locker room.
It was a game with a hollow ending for everybody. Petros felt terrible again with the loss, of course, and was not the least bit satisfied with playing its biggest rival so close.
Hodgen’s contingent didn’t feel much better. They expected a rout which they could hold over Petros’ head for another year. They certainly never expected a 28-27 win in a game the Bulldogs could have easily lost.
Cole crossed the field and congratulated the coaches and several of the Hodgen players. He watched to make sure none of the players decided to see what an opponents looked like after receiving a fist to the face, then guided the players to the locker room, also wanting to get out of here as quick as possible.
They were greeted again with a barrage of insults as the Panthers entered the locker room by a bunch of brave band members who would never say “peep” if they weren’t protected by a fence and a lot of other fans.
It was such a sense of disappointment in the locker room, the feeling almost like somebody died.
The win was right there, ready to be grabbed. But once again the Panthers came up short, another loss that dropped Petros to 0-3 on the season.
Cole waited for everybody to get a drink and have a seat. Everybody looked so devastated and it made their coach feel even worse.
“Remember what this feels like,” Cole advised. “Boys, I’m sick and tired of coming up on the short end of the scoreboard, just like you are. I was pleased with a lot of things out there tonight but we didn’t get the win.
“I don’t care for any moral victories. There aren’t any in football or in life. You either win or lose. It’s that simple. We haven’t met three of our goals now. It’s time to start getting some of those goals. We’ll wipe the slate clean. The way I see it, we’re now zero and zero just like every other team in the district.”
Gary and his father stood in the doorway to the locker room. Gary had his arm in a sling, still wearing his jersey and a baseball hat with the P on the front.
Cole saw him and walked over to greet him.
“You gonna live?” Cole asked.
“Looks that way,” Gary responded.
“They didn’t get to amputate anything?”
Gary smiled for the first time, a hollow grin that showed the pain of the loss weighed just as heavy on him.
“No, just a slight separation,” Gary answered. “The doctor says I’ll be fine in a couple of weeks.”
“That’s good,” his coach remarked, trying to smile. “We could sure use you.”
But not at quarterback, Cole thought, but didn’t say.
Chapter 23
Lucky felt rather calm. He wasn’t nervous even though he was going to play quarterback in a varsity game for the first time against his team’s biggest rival.
Cole pulled his son aside before they left the locker room, waiting until everybody else left. He put his arm around Lucky and looked him in the eyes.
“Don’t try to win this game on every play,” Cole suggested. “Be patient and read your keys. You’ve got a lot of help out there so use it. Don’t try to win this by yourself. If it’s not there, don’t force it. Show what you’re made of and be a leader.”
D.J., Happy and Andy waited outside for Lucky. They started jogging across the field.
“Boy, we’re in trouble now,” Happy stated.
“We might as well go to the house,” D.J. added.
“I guess Hodgen won’t need to use the starters anymore,” Andy declared.
“Thanks for all the support,” Lucky responded.
Both teams made it back out on the field and loosened up quickly before taking the field for the second-half kickoff.
D.J. and Skip went back to return the kickoff. They were wasting their time, though, as the ball sailed into the end zone again, forcing the Panthers to start at their own 20.
Cole sent Andy in at flanker and relayed the play to Lucky, a bootleg with the option of running or passing.
Andy was the only receiver going out, faking a post, then going toward the flag.
“New meat,” hollered the Bulldogs’ strongside linebacker. “Let’s send him to the hospital like we did the other guy.”
“Yeah, they can be roommates,” said the other linebacker. “That’s their coach’s boy. That’ll just make it sweeter.”
Lucky smiled back at them. He had no desire to get in a mouthing contest, especially when he had done nothing to prove himself yet. Lucky preferred letting his play speak instead.
He took the snap cleanly, turned and placed the ball in D.J.’s belly. Lucky then pulled the ball out and hid it while rolling out. The Bulldogs had loaded up the defense on the line with only one player more than five yards off the line.
Andy started off slow, wanting to make the defensive backs think he was going to block the safety. He waited until he cut back outside to speed up, his long stride lengthening the distance between him and the safety.
As Lucky got to the corner, he had room to run but saw Andy open. Lucky let go with the pass, a perfect spiral that arced through the air. It wasn’t a perfect pass, just far enough behind that Andy had to slow down. He grabbed the ball with his big hands and tucked it away, just like the coaches showed him.
The safety recovered quickly and finally forced Andy out of bounds, but not until he reached Hodgen’s side of the fifty.
The momentum had changed in one play, giving the Panthers a spark they lacked in the first half. All the players and fans were up and cheering, yelling louder than they had all game.
Cole sent in an option on the next play. Lucky saw the linebacker coming after D.J. so he faked a handoff to the running back, then continued down the line. The Bulldogs were able to run Gary down from behind on the options so the play never worked. But Lucky was quicker and able to cut up the field when the defensive end decided to go after Skip.
Lucky picked up eight yards before getting tripped up, nearly breaking it for big yardage.
The Panthers definitely had Hodgen’s attention now as the Bulldogs hollered at each other.
Lucky ran an option the other way, read the defense and handed off to Skip this time. He hit the hole and gained five yards before the Bulldogs brought him down.
Cole noticed Hodgen’s defense still wasn’t respecting the pass so he decided to try and make the Bulldogs pay.
Lucky faked the dive to Skip, took two steps along the line and angled back. Andy took off straight down the field. Lucky rolled out, getting plenty of time from the line. Just as Andy got past the cornerback, Lucky threw the ball without breaking stride, leading his receiver just enough that Andy never had to slow down.
The pass was perfect, right between the cornerback and safety. The safety knew this was trouble and tried to break up the pass instead of playing it safe. He missed the ball by inches and Andy hauled it in, going full speed. The cornerback was still behind Andy and losing ground with every stride. The cornerback continued to chase him, but knew it was a lost cause, along with everybody else.
As he crossed into the end zone, Andy turned around, not sure what to do. This was his first time to score, after all, so he promptly spiked the ball with gusto, followed by a dance obviously not choreographed by professionals.
Everybody watched in disbelief as three officials tossed yellow flags at him. He was still celebrating when the first flag landed at his feet, followed by the other two.
Judging from the flags and the reactions of his teammates, Andy knew something was amiss.
D.J. was the first player to greet him.
“You can’t do that,” he advised.
“Score a touchdown?” Andy asked.
“No, you can do that. You can’t spike the ball. Or do that silly dance.”
“They do it on television.”
“Yeah, but that’s the pros. You can’t do that in high school.”
“Oh, sorry,” Andy stated. “Will that cause them to cancel the touchdown?”
Several teammates were around now, listening to Andy and trying not to laugh.
“No, the score will still count,” D.J. responded. “But Jeremy will probably have to kick from fifteen yards farther out.”
Andy jogged slowly to the sidelines, wishing he could melt into the ground. His teammates were all congratulating him, but the coaches would probably chew him up and spit him out for the penalty.
Cole was standing at midfield, with his hands on his hips, obviously not thrilled.
As he got closer, Andy saw a little smile on his coach’s face.
“Did they tell you that you can’t do that?” he asked.
Andy nodded, expecting his coach to tear into him for that mistake.
“Okay, nice play,” Cole added, patted him on the shoulder then walked away. “I should’ve told you that we can do that.”
Andy turned around to watch the extra long, extra point.
Jeremy kicked it through the uprights, preventing Andy from getting an ulcer.
The Bulldogs’ lead was cut to 21-7. All the Panthers were celebrating the score. There was still a big hill to climb, but no longer a mountain.
Cole caught Jeremy and gave his instructions. He wanted Jeremy to kick a deep-onside kick, a high, short kick that should keep Hodgen from returning it.
The kick was done just as Cole hoped. The ball sailed high in the air, finally coming down at the 23. One of the backs caught the ball and only picked up two yards before getting pounded by a pair of Panthers.
Petros’ side urged on the defense. The players did also, encouraging each other and waving their arms to keep the crowd pumped.
Hodgen tried two running plays, picking up only three yards. On third down, the fullback took the ball on a trap up the middle. There was a small hole, but Garrett fought off a block, grabbed the fullback down low, stopping him in his tracks right before Derwin arrived. Derwin had delivered many highlight-quality hits in his days at Petros, but this was one of his best.
He caught the fullback at the right time, delivering a hit so hard the fullback just melted. The fullback would have swallowed his mouthpiece if it wasn’t attached to his facemask. He was slow getting up as the Panthers celebrated the hit.
“Did you hear him grunt?” Derwin asked Skip as they walked back to the huddle, the pride evident in his voice. Skip nodded, glad Derwin was on his team.
After the punt, Petros took over on its own 32. The Bulldogs changed their defensive alignment, dropping the secondary back into a more traditional defense to guard against the pass.
Cole knew the Bulldogs were in trouble if they stayed in the previous defense. He also knew Hodgen would have trouble stopping the run in this defense. It was time to make the Bulldogs pay.
The Panthers started off with a power play to the right. Skip followed D.J. off the right tackle. There wasn’t much of a hole but he followed behind his blockers and picked up four yards.
On second down, D.J. took the handoff on a crossbuck, found a good hole and gained another five yards.
Cole continued to monitor Hodgen’s defense, as he knew Lucky was. Even on third and short, the defense was set back off the line in a 4-3 with the secondary playing deep.
Lucky noticed Hodgen overplaying the right side of the ball, expecting a carry by Skip in that direction. That was the play his father had sent in, but Lucky made his first audible at the line, simply switching the play to the other direction.
D.J. did not have a huge hole but scooted through a small gap for two yards and a first down.
Both defensive tackles started edging further outside the guards, trying to help with the outside runs, leaving only the middle linebacker to cover the middle of the field.
In the huddle, Lucky pulled Danny Wall, a junior center, off to the side.
“We got the middle open,” Lucky pointed out. “Can you handle the middle linebacker?”
“I’ve been killing him all night,” Danny responded.
“Okay, we’re gonna sneak it,” Lucky instructed his teammates. “Danny, you knock the middle linebacker on his can and we’ll have a big play.”
It wasn’t the play Cole sent in. But that was how he wanted the quarterbacks to play, taking advantage of what the defense was giving.
The guards let the defensive tackles go, sealing off the outside linebackers. Danny fired off the line, hitting the linebacker right in the chin, making him look like a boxer who had taken one too many blows.
Lucky followed behind Danny, veered to the right and found some running room. He picked up eleven yards and another first down before the free safety tackled him.
A dive to D.J. was good for several yards on first down. The same play to the other side added four more yards, setting up third and three.
Lucky ran another option to the left, cut inside the end, ran over a safety and easily picked up the first down.
On the two previous plays, Cole saw the defensive backs moving closer to the line. He wanted them back where they were so Cole decided a pass was in order.
Lucky was surprised by the call, as were his teammates. But he knew his father saw something and expected it to work. He bobbled the snap for just an instant, but recovered quick enough to fake the ball to Skip on a power play, roll out and look for Andy running the same route he scored on earlier.
It wasn’t the best time to run a play-action pass, Lucky quickly decided after seeing Hodgen blitzing just about everybody. The line picked up many of the defenders, but there were more Bulldogs than blockers. As soon as Lucky turned back to the line, he saw a cornerback bearing down on him. Lucky faked to the inside, then took off to the outside, picking up just enough time with the fake to get outside.
The cornerback and three other Bulldogs were after him with more on the way. Lucky was now going full-speed. He couldn’t get the corner turned as Hodgen’s players had him trapped.
Lucky knew he should throw the ball away, but thought he could still make a play of it. Lucky was almost out of bounds when he suddenly threw on the brakes, spun around and took off back across the field.
“No!” Cole hollered, expecting this to result in a bad play. He wanted Lucky to take the small loss and try and get it back the next play, not risk a really big loss that would be hard to overcome.
Lucky ran through one tackle, retreated farther back while sprinting back across the field. He had a swarm chasing him, but his blockers were now able to help, delivering some blindside blocks that left the Bulldogs getting knocked senseless.
As he neared the other sideline, a large gap suddenly opened, thanks to the blocks and because most of the Bulldogs were now chasing him from behind. Lucky juked one defensive back, making him trip over his feet and was in the open as he cut back across the field to avoid two defensive backs coming at him.
Lucky saw both Hodgen players get knocked to the ground. He had some escorts running along beside him and none of the Bulldogs were around. He could have walked into the end zone but Lucky never slowed down until the official raised his arms for the touchdown.
As he and his teammates celebrated the touchdown, Lucky saw three Bulldogs laid out on the ground thanks to the blocks. Two others were on their knees, trying to get up and figure out what happened.
The other side of the field was deathly quiet, like a crowd at a funeral. They appeared to be in shock, looking at each other like this could not happen. Nobody should be able to play with their Bulldogs like this, especially Petros.
Cole was left speechless over the play. He knew Lucky was going to be good, but never expected his son to step in this quick and make such a positive contribution. The touchdown run was one of the best ones Cole had seen from any of his players and it came from a sophomore playing his first game on offense.
The Panthers had to wait several minutes to try the PAT until all the injured Hodgen players were removed from the field. None of them appeared to be serious, but they were all shaken up pretty good.
The field was finally cleared of battered bodies and Jeremy hammered home the kick, leaving Petros trailing only 21-14.
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Gary was some two miles across town in an examination room at the hospital. He had just returned to the room after getting x-rays on his shoulder. As he waited to see the doctor, a nurse had brought him a radio tuned to the game. Gary was so excited after Lucky’s touchdown he jumped up and down, ignoring the pain for the moment, hugged his parents and tried to give the nurses a high five.
They happened to be Hodgen graduates and weren’t pleased their alma mater was barely winning and declined the high five.
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There was only a little less than two minutes left in the third quarter and the Bulldogs appeared to be reeling. But Hodgen was not through, or without plenty of weapons.
Petros definitely had Hodgen’s attention and the Bulldogs decided to take off the gloves. The expected rout had turned around and was now a dogfight.
During the kickoff, the Bulldogs were flagged for holding and forced to start from their own 15.
The game was already physical, as evident by players on both teams getting shaken up. But the hitting was turned up a notch as players from both teams launched themselves against their opponent with no regard for their own body. They just wanted to inflict blows to the opponent, knowing some would come back against them. But they were young and would recover. They would be bruised and hurt, but over time would be okay.
The intensity picked up and the cracking of the pads echoed into the stands.
Players from both sides were shaken up and left for a few plays to clear out the cobwebs. There were hits on practically every play that left the onlookers wondering how the players could take the abuse.
Hodgen slowly started down the field, pounding at the Panthers with their bruising fullback. He stood six-foot-two, weighed 235 pounds, most of it muscle formed from hauling hay and working on a farm with his father whenever he wasn’t in school, or playing football.
His name was Virgil Sims, a junior who started most of the previous year as a sophomore. He was bigger than all the Petros players and pounded away for three or four yards a pop. He was giving out a beating, using his elbows and knees as weapons. Virgil wasn’t a threat to break a long one, but was almost impossible to stop. Virgil had recovered from the crushing blow from Derwin on the previous drive and was paying back the defense.
The Bulldogs mixed in a couple of passes and sweeps to keep the defense honest but this drive belonged to Virgil. It was a 15-play drive that ate up the final two minutes of the third quarter and the first six minutes of the fourth. The Panthers toughened up once the drive reached inside the 10 but the Bulldogs wouldn’t be stopped, finally scoring on a three-yard run on fourth down.
It was an option play, the first time the Bulldogs had shown it all year, and it worked to perfection. The halfback took the pitch and sped into the end zone.
The PAT was good again, giving Hodgen a 28-14 lead with only half a quarter remaining.
Cole knew it would be hard to come back now, but didn’t share that with his team.
“Okay, it’s our time now,” he told the players before they took the field. His guys were down a little after the score and needed encouragement. “Hodgen thinks the game’s over. Let’s show them what we’re made of again.”
The kickoff sailed into the end zone again, leaving the Panthers starting at their own 20.
As Lucky broke the huddle, he looked over at the Hodgen sideline and saw him for the first time tonight. He was standing next to the head coach, wearing the number 11 on his jersey. His name was Mace Crosby, a thorn in Lucky’s side since he took up sports.
Mace was the one player Lucky could never overcome. Lucky had never beaten him in any sport. Mace was easily the best athlete Lucky had played against. It looked like Mace was now at least 6-4 and Lucky knew he would already be starting at half the schools in Oklahoma, probably even Petros.
He was the most talented player Lucky had competed against, a great quarterback who could throw and run. In basketball, Mace scored at will, shooting from the outside, posting up low or driving to the basket. And in baseball, he already had professional scouts attending his games, salivating at his fastball and a curve that was almost impossible to hit.
Mace stared at Lucky, looking at him with contempt.
Lucky decided to ignore him and get his thoughts back on the game.
The Panthers started their own drive, picking up good chunks of yardage against a defense lined up to prevent the pass and the big play. Petros slowly drove down the field against what could almost be considered a prevent defense.
Skip and D.J. picked up good yardage each play, but couldn’t break the big one the Panthers needed. It was taking too much time, Cole knew, but with the way the Bulldogs were aligned on defense, the Panthers couldn’t get a big play by throwing the ball and were having a lot of success running.
With Petros at Hodgen’s 10, the Bulldogs finally tightened up their defense. The first run was stuffed, but Petros knew what to expect.
There were less than two minutes remaining as Petros called its first time out. The players went to the sidelines to talk with the coaches. Cole thought back to watching the boys play catch the week before. He remembered how Lucky’s lob passes to Andy couldn’t be defended and decided to give it a try. It wasn’t in the playbook, but that didn’t bother the Panthers.
“Okay, this is what we’re gonna do,” Cole yelled, having to holler so his players could hear him above the band, “Lucky, you and Andy were throwing a lob pass last week. Can you can do it in a game?”
Lucky and Andy looked at each other, smiled and nodded.
“Nobody’s stopped it yet,” Andy stated.
“Okay, let’s try it then,” Cole said. “Go with Black Ray and use a three-step drop and lob the ball into the corner.”
Black Roy was a formation with the Panthers lining up in their usual split-back with a flanker to the right. The Panthers took the field and lined up. Lucky looked out at Andy prior to calling the signals and saw he had a six-foot-four inch receiver lined up against a cornerback who stood less than five-foot-nine. Hodgen’s cornerback was the Bulldogs’ best defensive back, but it still should be a mismatch.
Lucky saw the cornerback wasn’t going to have any help, manning up solely on his own. He called out the signals, took the snap and dropped back quickly. Lucky planted his foot and lobbed a pass to the corner of the end zone. Andy had taken a few steps straight down the field, faked toward the middle, then angled to the corner.
The cornerback had excellent coverage, running with the receiver.
The pass was a little high, high enough the only one who could get it was Andy. He soared high in the air, leaving the cornerback well below, grabbed the ball and fell to the ground with the ball cuddled safely away.
This time, Andy jumped to his feet and sprinted over to an official to hand him the ball. It set off another wild celebration as the Panthers had closed to within one touchdown.
Jeremy added the PAT, cutting the lead to 28-21.
Petros’ crowd was going insane. The loud roar made it hard for the coaches and players to communicate.
With less than two minutes left, there was no way Petros would get the ball back if the Panthers kicked it long. They had to go with an onside kick and hope to recover.
Across the field, Hodgen’s coaches were screaming at their players, throwing their hats and communication gear on the ground and looking rather ridiculous. The safe lead had dissipated and they knew how dangerous this was.
The Panthers huddled around their coaches. The noise level was incredible as some two thousand people from Petros screamed at the tops of their lungs while jumping up and down on the metal stands. It was so loud a jet could be coming in to land and nobody would know.
“We’re gonna go with the onside,” Cole screamed at the top of his lungs. “Guys, we gotta get that ball. I don’t care what it takes. You want to win?”
The players screamed back in response.
“Then get the ball!”
The Panthers went out on the field and lined up in an onside formation. Jeremy tee’d the ball up on the right hashmark with most of his teammates lined up to his left. Cole tried to remember the last time one of his teams tried an onside kick, but couldn’t remember. He just knew it didn’t work.
Petros worked on this virtually every day in practice. Most kickers struggled with this kind of kick, but Jeremy was one of the best Cole had ever had, usually getting off a good kick with the necessary big bounce.
After the officials gave him the go-ahead, Jeremy slowly jogged forward, his eyes focusing on the spot he hoped to hit.
With everybody standing, screaming and jumping up and down, he finally planted his foot and kicked the ball, exactly where he hoped. The ball took a small bounce, then a big bounce that soared high above the players, giving the Panthers time to advance down the field.
The wave of Petros players arrived just as the ball began its descent. As one of the Bulldogs tried to grab the ball, there was a huge collision as two Panthers crashed into him, causing the ball to squirt away. A huge mass of players dived into the pile trying to get their hands on the elusive pigskin.
The officials had to pull players away, trying to determine who had possession. The play happened right in front of Petros’ bench but Cole had no idea who recovered the ball.
The officials finally got to the bottom of the pile. There were only a couple of players from each team trying to fight for the ball.
From beneath the pile, Derwin rolled away, raising the football high enough everybody could see. It took several seconds for the officials to see him as they were still looking into the pile, but Skip finally got an official’s attention. The official looked away from the pile and saw Derwin, still on his knees with the ball held out to the official.
The official consulted with the others and the referee finally signaled it was Petros’ ball, setting off another wild celebration on the Panthers’ side. Hodgen’s side grew deathly quiet, fearing the impossible might actually happen. Some said the bad place would freeze over before Petros won a game in this rivalry. If that was true, the temperature was starting to drop.
The Panthers sprinted out on the field. The ball was just on Hodgen’s side of midfield. Petros still had two timeouts and plenty of time.
Petros had to throw now, no matter what defense the Bulldogs were in. Petros came out in its version of the spread offense with two wideouts to one side, one split out as a flanker on the other side along with a tight end and a running back in the backfield.
Andy and Harry were both on the right. Skip was the flanker on the left while Murray Perdue was the tight end. Derwin was at running back since he was the best blocker.
The Panthers had not practiced this formation much, only spending a few minutes on it at the end of practice. They hadn’t used it in a game since Gary didn’t have a strong enough arm.
Petros huddled before the play since the clock wouldn’t start until the ball was snapped. Lucky ducked into the huddle, looking around at all the eyes staring back at him.
“We got two timeouts,” he stated. Lucky took a knee and continued looking into his teammates’ eyes through the gaps in their facemasks. “When you catch the ball, pick up as many yards as possible then get out of bounds to stop the clock. Run all your routes past the first-down marker since that will also cause the clock to stop. Guys, give me some time and we’ll go score.”
Lucky relayed the call to his teammates. The Panthers broke the huddle, looking as fresh as they were during the first quarter. Hodgen’s players were showing the effects of the long, physical game. The Bulldogs hadn’t been in a close game and didn’t expect this one to be close. Since the two previous games were blowouts, Hodgen’s starters hadn’t played an entire game and were worn out.
The Bulldogs lined up in a prevent defense, willing to give up the short pass but nothing long. Lucky called an audible, hoping to hit Skip on a quick out. He took the snap, dropped back, waited for Skip to make his cut and fired the pass.
Skip caught the pass just two steps from the sidelines and tight-roped the sidelines for a few more yards before going out-of-bounds.
The play worked so well the Panthers decided to use it again, getting the same results. But the Bulldogs still wouldn’t bring the secondary up. That was fine with Lucky. He would be glad to continue moving down the field, getting five or ten yards a pop, picking up first downs and stopping the clock.
Petros ran the same play again, picking up another good gain before Skip stepped on the chalk to stop the clock.
Hodgen’s fans didn’t like this strategy. The players weren’t real fond of it either and questioned their coaches. The coaches must have paid attention as the defense came out in a different alignment, using tighter coverages on the receiver.
As soon as Lucky saw this, he audibled, wanting to take advantage of whatever Hodgen gave them.
The Bulldogs blitzed and one of the linebackers broke free, but Derwin picked him up, hitting him so hard the linebacker was knocked to the ground, allowing Lucky plenty of time.
The two outside receivers ran crossing patterns with Andy cutting toward the post and Harry running toward the flag. The play confused the defense and Lucky fired a pass to Andy between two defenders, picking up another good gain before he was brought down.
Lucky rushed the team up to the line and snapped the ball right after the official gave his okay. He had already called the play and only let a few seconds click off the clock before the ball was snapped.
Hodgen expected another pass and was completely crossed up when Lucky dropped back and gave the ball to Derwin on a draw.
It was a hole big enough Stub would later say he could have scored on the play. There was some doubt as to that claim, but the hole was plenty big enough for Derwin to run through.
He would have scored, but tripped over Garrett’s foot at the five and stumbled ahead, coming down at the one.
As soon as it was obvious Derwin didn’t score, Cole and the other coaches hollered at Lucky to call time.
Lucky obliged, getting a timeout to stop the clock. The offense jogged to the sidelines to the cheers of their fans. Hodgen’s players staggered over to their coaches, their fans still appearing to be in shock.
Cole told his players to go back to the usual offense and run an option to the right. The players sprinted back to the huddle, not going to the line since Hodgen’s players hadn’t returned to the field and Lucky didn’t want the Bulldogs to see what offense the Panthers would use.
The Bulldogs finally made it back on the field and lined up. Petros broke the huddle and ran up to the line. The Panthers went on a quick count. Lucky faked the dive to D.J., pulled the ball out and had to pitch quickly as the Bulldogs’ defensive end crashed.
Lucky led Skip too much and the ball sailed past him, just barely out of his reach. The ball hit the ground and bounced away, each bounce taking the Panthers farther away from the end zone. Lucky was flat on his back with the end on top of him. He lay prone on the turf, watching helplessly as the ball bounced away.
Skip finally ran the ball down back at the twelve. He picked it up but couldn’t get turned around before getting hit from behind.
The Panthers had to call their final timeout to stop the clock, now showing less than a minute.
Lucky felt terrible about the pitch as the players again went to the sidelines.
“Sorry about that,” Lucky said. “That was my fault.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Skip responded. “We need to think about scoring right now, not about what happened on the last play.”
Cole opened his notebook and started drawing out a formation and a play. He got halfway through then put the pad away.
“Come out in the spread,” he said, giving up on the play. “Skip, you and Andy switch sides. Andy, you’ll be the flanker so you need to line up off the ball. Run that little lob play to Andy. Listen, we don’t have any more timeouts so we’ve gotta throw the ball into the end zone or throw it away. We can’t have any sacks or short passes.”
The offense ran back on the field and lined up. Hodgen was in man coverage with a corner playing close to Andy, almost crossing the line of scrimmage. A safety had to cover Murray so the cornerback didn’t have any help.
Lucky almost smiled after seeing the coverage. He took the snap, dropped back and lobbed the ball to the corner of the end zone.
This cornerback was a little taller than the other, but still gave up four inches and was helpless. Knowing he was in trouble, the cornerback grabbed, held and pretty much mauled Andy. Not that it mattered. Andy reached the end zone and leaped high in the air, even with the cornerback draped all over him.
The pass was nearly perfect, coming down in Andy’s hands in the corner of the end zone. The official waited to make sure Andy held on, then raised his arms. Andy fought free and sprinted over to the official to hand him the ball.
The players were so busy celebrating that the coaches had trouble getting their attention to get them prepared for the extra point.
Cole had to make a decision quickly, either kick the extra point to tie the score and go into overtime or try to win the game in regulation by going for two.
The momentum was on his side and Cole wanted to go for the two and the win, but also liked his chances of winning in overtime as the Bulldogs were so tired.
“Kick it,” he announced.
The players hurried out on the field and lined up for the extra point. The snap was perfect, as was the hold. The kick appeared to be fine also. During the break between plays, Hodgen’s coach sent in his tallest player, Lucky’s old rival, Mace Crosby, who was instructed to block the kick.
Standing six-four and with a 35-inch vertical leap, Mace was the Bulldogs’ best bet. He lined up five yards behind the line and waited for the ball to be snapped. When the ball moved, he sprinted toward the line, jumping straight up between the kicker and the goal posts.
Mace went high above the players in front of him and soared over the line, still at the top of his jump. There was the thud of the kick, followed by another thud of the ball meeting body, sending the ball backwards.
Petros’ side went silent as it watched the ball get blocked and fall to the ground. Now it was Hodgen’s turn to celebrate. The Panthers stood on the field in disbelief, not believing this happened. They were so sure the game was going into overtime and now it looked to be over.
The Bulldogs managed to have enough energy to celebrate, and also taunt some of the Panthers as they went to the sidelines.
Cole was crushed but couldn’t show it to the players. There were still 40 seconds left and while the Panthers’ chances were slim, stranger things had happened.
The players were milling about as the coaches tried to rally them.
“This game isn’t over,” Cole shouted. “Forget what just happened. We’re gonna go with another onside kick. After we recover the ball, we’ll still have time to score and win the game.”
Some of the enthusiasm returned as the Panthers jogged out on the field for the onside kick. Petros’ fans also started showing some life again. It had been so many years since the Panthers beat Hodgen and while it looked like they would have to wait another year, they hoped for a miracle.
It was rare for a team to recover one onside kick when an opponent expected it. To recover two was almost unheard of.
The officials told Jeremy to go ahead. He looked around one more time. Only three players were on his right, the rest all staggered together on the left.
This kick might not have been as perfect as the earlier one, but it was still a good one. The ball bounced high again, coming down just as the two walls of players collided in a violent collision. The football fell amongst the mass of humanity, bouncing off several hands.
It was another wild scramble with the players scratching and fighting for the ball. At first, the ball was held by one of the Bulldogs, but Derwin was also at the bottom of the pile and wrestled it away. After he got control, it was over. They would have to kill him to get the ball away from him.
As the pile unscrambled, the officials saw Derwin had the ball and pointed toward the end of the field Petros was going.
The Panthers had reason to celebrate again, knowing they had another chance to win, just as their coach predicted. But they had to move at least thirty yards to get into position to try a field goal. There were 38 seconds remaining and Petros had no timeouts.
The Panthers sprinted to the line in the spread offense. Lucky took a deep drop, looking for somebody to break free. He hadn’t expected it, but the Bulldogs were coming with a full-scale blitz.
He realized this while dropping back. Usually, he would look for a short pass but that wouldn’t work in this situation because if the pass was complete and the receiver didn’t get out of bounds or pick up a first down, the clock might run out before the Panthers got off another play.
Sensing the pressure from his backside, Lucky sprinted to the right, narrowly avoiding a defensive end. Lucky was out of the pocket and running at full speed with several Bulldogs on his heels.
The receivers realized their quarterback was in trouble and broke off their route to come back toward him. Harry broke open near the sidelines and Lucky spotted him. He had to slow down enough to get the pass off, letting the defenders catch up with him.
As the ball left his hand, two Bulldogs plowed into him, but it was too late. The pass was on the way, slicing through the air toward Harry before the defensive backs arrived.
Harry grabbed the pass and stepped out of bounds to stop the clock. It was only good for 12 yards and the Panthers used up eight seconds. There were 30 seconds left and the Panthers were on Hodgen’s 37.
Since the clock was stopped, the Panthers huddled. Cole sent in a different play, a planned roll out in case the Bulldogs blitzed again.
Lucky hoped to hit Harry on a fly pattern, but doubted Hodgen would let any receivers get behind so he would probably have to hit Skip on a short post or throw to Andy on an out route.
Hodgen dropped eight players back in coverage this time, rushing only three defenders. Lucky rolled to his right and had plenty of time. But with so many defensive backs, nobody was open and the receivers altered their routes again. Skip angled back toward the quarterback.
Lucky fired a pass across his body. The ball hit Skip right in the numbers but his momentum carried him back toward the original line and past the first-down marker. Several Bulldogs descended on him. Skip tried to escape the defenders but was trapped and tackled.
He was three yards short of the first-down marker and the clock was ticking away. The Bulldogs moved in slow motion as they got off Skip. For Petros it seemed like the clock was in fast forward as the seconds flew by.
Seeing Hodgen’s players weren’t in any hurry, the officials finally stopped the clock with twelve seconds left. But the clock would only stop long enough for everybody to get unpiled and for the ball to be spotted.
The Panthers hurried to line up and get another play off before the clock ran out. After getting the ball set, the officials started the clock and now the Panthers would be lucky to get another play off.
Petros’ players scrambled to line up as the fans and players on the sidelines screamed for them to hurry. Finally, everybody was lined up and Lucky called for the ball, getting the snap with only two seconds left. Lucky had told everybody to go long, hoping for a miracle or a penalty.
He retreated back, looking for a receiver. The Bulldogs were in a prevent defense and had the end zone well covered. There wasn’t anything else he could do so Lucky fired a pass to the right part of the end zone where Harry and Andy were trying to break free.
The pass sailed high in the air. All eyes in the stadium watched it cut through the night. There were at least six players waiting on the ball, four wearing all blue.
Andy jumped as high as possible, trying to just touch the ball. He thought his fingers were going to touch the ball, but it sailed just over his outstretched hand, past all the other players and never hit the ground until reaching the grass beyond the end zone.
Lucky fell to his knees, not believing it was over. He was so confident the Panthers were going to come back and it was hard to believe the game was over and Hodgen had bragging rights for another year.
As Hodgen’s players celebrated, the Panthers walked away, just wanting to get off this field and into the locker room.
It was a game with a hollow ending for everybody. Petros felt terrible again with the loss, of course, and was not the least bit satisfied with playing its biggest rival so close.
Hodgen’s contingent didn’t feel much better. They expected a rout which they could hold over Petros’ head for another year. They certainly never expected a 28-27 win in a game the Bulldogs could have easily lost.
Cole crossed the field and congratulated the coaches and several of the Hodgen players. He watched to make sure none of the players decided to see what an opponents looked like after receiving a fist to the face, then guided the players to the locker room, also wanting to get out of here as quick as possible.
They were greeted again with a barrage of insults as the Panthers entered the locker room by a bunch of brave band members who would never say “peep” if they weren’t protected by a fence and a lot of other fans.
It was such a sense of disappointment in the locker room, the feeling almost like somebody died.
The win was right there, ready to be grabbed. But once again the Panthers came up short, another loss that dropped Petros to 0-3 on the season.
Cole waited for everybody to get a drink and have a seat. Everybody looked so devastated and it made their coach feel even worse.
“Remember what this feels like,” Cole advised. “Boys, I’m sick and tired of coming up on the short end of the scoreboard, just like you are. I was pleased with a lot of things out there tonight but we didn’t get the win.
“I don’t care for any moral victories. There aren’t any in football or in life. You either win or lose. It’s that simple. We haven’t met three of our goals now. It’s time to start getting some of those goals. We’ll wipe the slate clean. The way I see it, we’re now zero and zero just like every other team in the district.”
Gary and his father stood in the doorway to the locker room. Gary had his arm in a sling, still wearing his jersey and a baseball hat with the P on the front.
Cole saw him and walked over to greet him.
“You gonna live?” Cole asked.
“Looks that way,” Gary responded.
“They didn’t get to amputate anything?”
Gary smiled for the first time, a hollow grin that showed the pain of the loss weighed just as heavy on him.
“No, just a slight separation,” Gary answered. “The doctor says I’ll be fine in a couple of weeks.”
“That’s good,” his coach remarked, trying to smile. “We could sure use you.”
But not at quarterback, Cole thought, but didn’t say.
posted by Craig Hall at 3:58 AM
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