Chapter 33

Lucky had admired Joe Johnson from Cedar Lake for years, and felt it was an honor to finally compete against him. Johnson was a stud, an excellent athlete, a tough competitor who gave his best effort every time.

The Panthers and Lucky were just glad there was only one Joe Johnson on Cedar Lake’s team. If there were more like him, the game would be difficult.

But Johnson just didn’t have much help, especially after all the injuries, a fact Lucky and the other Panthers also knew.

After the difficult schedule Petros faced, it would be easy for a letdown. But the coaches were not really concerned. Petros’ practices got better throughout the week and Cole knew by how the guys responded they were not thinking about any team other than Cedar Lake.

He also knew that after finally climbing back to the .500 mark, Petros was ready to get above that for the first time and keep the momentum going.

A huge crowd gathered at the old stadium early Friday, even though it was overcast, cool and a good chance of rain. The parking lot in front of the gym was filling quickly and a line of cars was moving toward the school from every direction. The neighbors who lived nearby walked toward the stadium, not wanting to deal with the usual traffic jam after the game.

A few cars were already parked on the bluff overlooking the field, a favorite parking place for young boys and girls when there wasn’t a game going on.

All through the warm-ups, Lucky watched Johnson, admiring the way he moved, the fluid motion of his passing. He looked huge, standing well above his teammates. Johnson wore number eleven, just like he did in the other sports.

Johnson and his teammates wore white shirts with green numbers, along with green pants and helmets, short white socks and black shoes. There were two green stripes on his helmet with white Viking emblems on both sides.

The Panthers were in their usual home uniforms with blacks pants and shirts with white helmets.

The grass on the field was still hanging on to its green, but just barely. It was cut low, almost the length of the grass on a golf fairway. There was fresh chalk on the lines and the big “P” in the middle of the field was freshly painted black.

Lucky had casually glanced into the stands a few times already and as the captains walked to the center of the field, did so again. This time, he spotted her, sitting in the student section, just beside the band. Lucky wanted to wave at her, but knew that would look silly. He thought she was looking at him, but couldn’t be sure.

He could tell Toni had not been to many games or she would have sat somewhere else. She was too close to the band and would pay for it later because Petros’ band might not be the greatest, but made up for it with volume.

The captains were meeting in the center of the field, on the black “P” for the coin toss. Johnson was one of the three captains for Cedar Lake. Gary, Derwin and Kenneth were Petros’ captains.

Cedar Lake won the coin toss and elected to defer to the second half. Petros took the ball. After one final meeting, the teams took the field for the kickoff.

The kick was a long high one that came down to Skip just inside the 10. He found a seam and sprinted upfield, reaching the 37 before getting knocked down.

As the Panthers broke their huddle and came to the line, Lucky was surprised to see how small the opponents were. This was easily the smallest team Petros had faced, almost as small as some of the junior high teams he played against the year before.

He knew the Panthers would have a size advantage, but not this much of one. Lucky also knew his teammates had a big advantage in speed and quickness.

Before he reached under the center, Lucky looked across the line and saw Johnson lining up at free safety. He expected his opponent to be busy all night, a prediction that came true on the first play as D.J. burst through a huge hole, broke away from a linebacker and was in the secondary before Johnson came from the other side to make the tackle.

Petros pretty much did what it wanted, mixing up the plays and driving down the field. Johnson was making many of the tackles, a bad sign for Cedar Lake as it meant the Panthers’ backs were getting into the secondary.

Lucky capped off the drive, keeping it on an option from the 7, dragging a pair of Vikings with him the last couple of yards. He was drilled at the goal-line and knew it was Johnson without even looking around as Lucky knew the Viking standout was the only one who hit like that.

The game was less than three minutes old and Lucky had already fulfilled his promise to Toni about scoring a touchdown for her. As he jogged off the field, Lucky looked up in the stands and saw her standing along with the other students, smiling and clapping.

Jeremy missed the extra point, leaving the Panthers with a 6-0 lead.

He made up for it on the kickoff, pinning the returner deep. Cedar Lake’s player only reached the 16 before getting swarmed over.

The Vikings came out in a shotgun, no surprise to the Panthers. They had one running back in the backfield with Johnson, along with wideouts spread all over the field, hoping to stretch the defense out.

Petros was ready for this, going with a dime defense featuring six defensive backs. Derwin was the only player lined up at linebacker with the responsibility of shadowing Johnson wherever the quarterback went.

The Panthers knew Johnson had a better arm than anybody they had faced. He could throw a dart, the ball zinging down the field like a bullet, never losing speed or height until reaching its target.

His receivers were decent, but slow enough the Panthers’ defensive backs could cover pretty tight. Cedar Lake’s line had been pretty porous, so Ichabod expected his group to pressure Johnson all over the field, forcing him to throw on the run and get sacked frequently.

On the first play, Johnson took the snap and fired a quick pass to his favorite receiver running a hook route. The receiver caught the pass, good for five yards.

The Panthers’ defense huddled up.

“Man, he’s got an arm,” Skip stated.

“I’d hate to catch one of his passes in the cold,” added Harry.

“You guys shut up,” said Derwin, angrily. “You’re giving up too much room. We’re gonna get him if you guys don’t let him throw so quick.”

The Vikings tried a draw on second down, the only problems being the line did not block anybody and the back was small, slow and barely got back to the line before getting splattered.

Derwin’s prediction came true on third down as the secondary played tighter, not letting Johnson get rid of the ball so quick. He felt the pressure coming and tried to scramble, throwing the ball away at the last second before Derwin crashed into him, the first of many encounters between the two.

On fourth down, the punter was forced to punt quickly as the Panthers came hard. It was a poor punt, only reaching midfield before bouncing to a stop, giving the Panthers excellent field position.

Cole sent in a play-action pass, designed to go to Andy on a flag route. Lucky faked the crossbuck, paused and rolled out. Andy was open, but Johnson realized what was happening and closed quickly.

Lucky fired the pass, putting a little extra on it, trying to get the ball to his receiver before Johnson arrived. The pass was perfect, a tight spiral that led Andy perfectly. Everything was perfect, except Johnson turned on the speed, dove at the last second and knocked the ball away.

It was simply a great play and the legend of Joe Johnson just grew.

The Panthers huddled, still trying to believe what they had just seen.

“How’d he do that?” asked Skip, shaking his head.

All the players were amazed, knowing they had just witnessed greatness.

Lucky saw Johnson looking at him and nodded, acknowledging that he got him this time.

“We might want to throw away from him,” suggested D.J.

D.J. got the call on a dive straight ahead, spun away from a linebacker and gained seven yards before Johnson came out of the secondary like a missile and just crushed him. It was third-and-three. A crossbuck to Skip picked up five yards.

Lucky added four more on a keeper. In the huddle, Lucky patted all the linemen on the huddle.

“You guys are doing great,” he stated. “Keep it up.”

It was true, the line was playing the best it had all year, dominating the Vikings and opening big holes. The backs were beneficiaries, finding lots of room to run through.

The Vikings’ defenders knew what was happening, but could do little to stop the onslaught. The Panthers mixed in runs and an occasional pass to keep the defense honest.

Skip finished this drive with a nine-yard run, going untouched into the end zone.

Since the Panthers missed the first PAT, Cole kept the offense on the field to go for two. Lucky faked the crossbuck to D.J., rolled out and lobbed a pass to Anthony Hart, who was wide open in the corner of the end zone and easily caught the pass.

The two-point conversion put Petros ahead, 14-0.

After a good return, the Vikings took over on their 32. Johnson went back in the shotgun again, this time with no running backs. Petros saw this and automatically changed the defensive call to a blitz, knowing Cedar Lake did not have enough blockers to account for every defender coming.

The snap was low and Johnson dropped it. He quickly recovered it, but by the time Johnson stood up, the Panthers were coming hard. He scrambled to his right, finding only a small hole, but the quarterback took off through it, breaking one tackle then turning on the speed after getting into the opening.

It was hard to believe a player that size could move that well but Johnson looked like a sprinter. He burst into the secondary, cut back across the field and was in the open.

It wasn’t like the Panthers chasing him did not have speed as the pursuers were D.J., Skip, Lucky and Gary. But Johnson never let anybody get close, never slowing until crossing into the end zone, finally giving the Vikings’ side something to cheer about.

The run left everybody on Petros’ side shaking their heads while watching Johnson calmly hand the ball to the official and head to the sideline.

“I’d have to say that’s a pretty special player,” Stub commented.

“Thanks for your opinion,” Ichabod muttered, steaming that his defense allowed a touchdown.

“If every college in the country doesn’t go after him, they’re a bunch of idiots,” Stub added.

Cole knew Ichabod was not in a good mood and walked down to the sideline to him.

“Come on,” Cole complained. “Just cause the guy is a sprinter and one of the better players in the state and just made an awesome play, that’s no excuse to give up a score like that.”

Ichabod was still upset, started to defend his defense then realized Cole was just teasing him.

The kick was good and suddenly, there was a game again as Petros led only, 14-7.

Kenneth took the kickoff and began his ascent up the field, weaving in and out of traffic. He almost broke free, finally getting brought down by the final defender.

The Panthers took over on their 43. Cole sent Happy in to pound away at the Vikings out of the wishbone with two tight ends. He got the call on first down and plowed ahead. As he reached the linebacker, Happy surprised everybody by not trying to run over the linebacker, instead cutting back to the middle of the field.

He appeared to have plenty of running room when a blur appeared from the secondary, coming from nowhere and hitting Happy with enough force to knock him back several yards. It was Johnson again, delivering a hit that was usually not seen in a high school game.

Johnson’s teammates were congratulating him as Happy climbed up, shook his head and staggered to his feet.

“Yeah!” he hollered, a roar that could be heard through the stadium. The celebration came to a crashing halt, all the Vikings looking at Happy like was a crazed person.

Happy staggered over to Johnson. Lucky was afraid Happy was going to hit him, but he offered his hand and Johnson gave him a high-five. Happy shuffled back to the huddle as everybody looked on, wondering about the Petros player’s mental state.

“You okay?” Lucky asked, seeing that Happy’s cut on his nose had opened again, the blood flowing freely.

“Yep, I’m cool,” he answered. “Gimme the ball again. This time I’m gonna knock somebody on their rear.”

“You sure?”

“Yep,” Harry responded, wiping away a little blood with the back of his hand.

The officials had not noticed the blood yet, which was good for Happy because he would be sent to the sidelines as soon as they saw it.

“That boy has a high threshold for pain,” Stub commented.

“That had to leave a mark,” Ichabod added.

“Look at him,” Stub remarked. “He’s bleeding like a stuck pig.”

“How much does a ‘stuck pig’ bleed?” Cole asked.

Stub ignored the question and turned his attention back to the field.

Lucky did as Happy asked, running the same play to the other side. Happy blew through the line again and after passing the linebacker, started looking for Johnson, who was again coming at full speed, hoping to deliver a knockout blow. Happy spotted the safety and headed right for him, lowering his helmet and rushing ahead.

It looked like two rams hitting heads, only they could not back up and come back for more. The force of the blow buckled both players’ knees and they dropped to the ground.

Johnson’s helmet was twisted so far to the side his face was not visible. He stayed down on his knees and slowly righted his helmet. The force of the blow shattered the facemask on Happy’s helmet, something Cole had seldom seen.

Both players were a little woozy as they rose to their feet, assisted by teammates.

Happy did not celebrate this time, just grabbed hold of Skip’s arm and slowly walked back to the huddle, shaking his head to try and clear it.

The referee noticed the helmet and blood and sent Happy to the sideline. He looked like the town drunk walking to the sideline, staggering this way and that.

The coaches came out to meet him and help him to the sidelines.

“Now that’s not something you see every day,” Stub said, admiring the broken helmet.

Cole had always been fond of Happy. Not just because he was Lucky’s best friend, but because of his personality. His admiration had just grown considerably.

“You okay?” he asked, helping Happy walk to the bench.

“Huh?” Happy asked.

Cole looked closer and saw Happy’s eyes appeared to be glazed over.

“Who’re you?” Happy added.

Cole decided this was a little more than he could handle and looked around for Doc Hardy, who was already heading in their direction.

“I was kidding, Coach,” Happy stated. “I gotcha!”

Cole was thought by many to be too serious, seldom smiling or showing any evidence humor was part of his personality. But as a smile formed on his face, his hand covered it and tried to rub it away.

Back on the field, D.J. took a dive and flew into the secondary, juked a cornerback and picked up 20 yards before Johnson made another tackle.

Skip ran a sweep to the other side, followed behind a crushing block by Freddy Farmer, stiff-armed a cornerback and was off, getting a good block by D.J. on Johnson to break free.

He continued to sprint into the end zone, even though nobody was within twenty yards of him. The score, along with Jeremy’s extra point, again gave the Panthers a 14-point lead, still in the first quarter.

Petros’ offense was clicking, just as Cole hoped, showing the talent and breakaway ability he expected to see. It was an offense that was more potent than Petros had been blessed with in years. Along with a good defense that was getting better, Cole was really starting to feel good about his team.

The Panthers’ defense played with more control this time, keeping Johnson under control on the first play when he ran a quarterback draw that was stopped for a short gain, then forcing two incompletions as the first quarter ended.

A long punt by Johnson left the Panthers taking over on their own 31. Cole wanted to work on the passing game some, but was not yet comfortable with the lead.

“Okay, let’s go get another one,” Lucky directed his teammates in the huddle. “We can’t have a letdown. Let’s keep pounding them.”

The Panthers sprinted to the line after Lucky’s little speech, ready to do just as the quarterback requested.

It was a simple offense Petros ran, one that relied more on execution than anything else. If the line put a helmet on the correct defensive player and the backs made the correct read, the play usually worked.

The backs took turns picking up good yardage on almost every play. Lucky kept it on a couple of plays, also enjoying success.

It was a slow, time-consuming drive, the kind Cole loved to see. He could see the energy just getting drained out of the opponents as the defense was kept on the field for 13 plays and almost seven minutes.

Lucky hit Andy on the lob to cover the final 15 yards on a second-and-short. The pass was not great, but Andy made a great adjustment and outjumped the defender to grab the pass.

Jeremy’s PAT was good, giving the Panthers a 28-7 lead, still not enough for Petros to be comfortable with, knowing how talented Cedar Lake’s quarterback was.

Ichabod gathered the defense together before taking the field.

“Our offense is playing good,” he stated. “I want you guys to play as well as the offense. Continue to be aggressive but play under control. It’s time to send a message to everybody that we’re back and they better get ready!”

It was a lot of emotion coming from Ichabod, especially in a game Petros seemed to have under control. Ichabod sent in a blitz on first down. Lucky edged toward the line and as the ball was snapped, sprinted through a gap between the right guard and tackle.

Johnson had just received the snap and looked up to see Lucky bearing down on him. Johnson tried to scramble away but Lucky dove and wrapped the Vikings’ quarterback’s legs up until additional help arrived.

It was the start of a terrible pounding for Johnson, who was hit so often it appeared like there was a target on his chest.

Johnson was sacked on all three plays of the series, giving Ichabod plenty of reason to be happy. After the stop, as the defense came to the sideline, he rushed out to meet his players and showed his excitement, hugging his guys and giving high-5’s.

There were still a couple of minutes left before halftime. Cole told Lucky to spread out the offense and run the 2-minute drill.

The Panthers worked on this almost every day in practice and were starting to look better as everybody was getting accustomed.

Cedar Lake’s defensive backs were in a prevent defense so Lucky just threw short routes to the sidelines. The backs and receivers caught the passes, picked up as many yards as possible, then got out of bounds to stop the clock.

The Vikings started edging up on the receivers and Lucky tried to make them pay. Operating out of the shotgun, he took the snap, faked an inside handoff to D.J., faked a quick pass to draw the secondary up even closer, saw that Skip was open on a fly route and let loose.

It was a pass that Johnson would have even been proud of. Lucky led Skip almost perfect, hitting him downfield almost forty yards as the Panther running back only had to veer slightly to his right to catch the pass.

He never slowed down until reaching the end zone, well ahead of any of the Vikings.

The Panthers celebrated briefly as the touchdown and ensuing extra point gave them a 35-7 lead just before halftime.

With the big lead, Cole played it close to the vest in the second half, emptying the bench quickly and letting all the reserves get plenty of playing time. The Vikings added one touchdown early in the fourth quarter on another long run by Johnson, but other than that play, Petros’ defense did not allow Cedar Lake’s starters to move the ball.

As the final buzzer sounded, Lucky started across the field to congratulate his teammates and the Vikings. He was shaking hands with one of his opponents when somebody tapped him on the shoulder.

Lucky turned around to see Johnson standing there, holding out his hand.

“Great game,” Johnson said, shaking Lucky’s hand. “I hope you guys win out and beat Summerfield.”

“Thanks,” Lucky responded. “I really enjoyed playing against you.”

Johnson smiled, patted Lucky on the shoulder and headed off, leaving Lucky feeling better than even the win made him feel.

Lucky and the rest of the Panthers slowly made their way to the locker room, wanting to savor this for as long as possible. Cole waited for everybody to get settled before speaking. He really had little to say following the game, just wanted to let the players know how good they had played, but his attention had already turned to the next game.

“Boys, we’re right where we need to be,” he proclaimed. “We’re over five hundred on the season at four and three. And we’re still undefeated in our district. Enjoy this tonight because we’ve got a big one next week.”

It would be Big Cedar and the return of Tatum Sloan, one of Cole’s favorite players and a coach who had his team playing great.

As was the custom after every home game, the players showered, dressed and visited with whoever was waiting for them outside. Family members were usually there, along with friends and girlfriends.

There was a large group waiting outside the locker room. As Lucky walked outside, his plans were to walk home since he did not expect anybody to be waiting for him. While moving through the crowd, he had just about escaped the mass of humanity when somebody called his name.

Lucky could not find the person for several seconds, then saw her.

Toni was standing outside the others, by herself, waving and smiling at him.

Lucky smiled and waved back. He walked over to where she stood. She looked really nice, wearing a black Petros jacket with white sleeves and a pair of new jeans. Her hair was back in a ponytail and she let somebody paint little Panthers on both cheeks. The glasses were gone, replaced by contact lenses.

“Congratulations,” she said, still smiling. “You guys are pretty good.”

“Thanks,” Lucky answered, now wishing he had showered instead of just changing clothes. He had not played in the second half and was not sweaty, but knew there was a chance of a little body odor. “That was as good as we’ve played. Did you have fun?”

“Yes. I don’t know a whole lot about football. Elizabeth tried to explain what was going on but she just got me more confused.”

“I’m glad you came.”

“So am I. This is the first game I’ve been to in a long time. And you scored a touchdown just like you promised.”

“I’m a man of his word,” Lucky pointed out, smiling. “Our games usually aren’t this easy.”

“Well, at least it was tonight. I’ve got to go help my dad close the store but I’m glad I got to see you play. I’ll see you tomorrow night.”

“That sounds like a winner. Thanks for coming.”

She waved and smiled while walking away. Lucky stood and watched her get in her car and drive off, then started walking home, feeling like he was on a cloud.

Chapter 34