Chapter 38
Lucky’s wrist was stiff and sore, but he did not know how bad it was until taking the first snap on practice Monday. They had taken x-rays and found no broken bones.
But when the ball hit his hand, jolts of pain erupted through his wrist, bad enough he dropped the ball and shook his hand, grimacing. Lucky nearly bent over, the pain was that bad.
Cole saw it happen and knew this was not a good sign. It was going to be hard enough beating Summerfield with everybody healthy. If Lucky could not play, it would almost be impossible. Cole sent Lucky in to get his wrist wrapped and told Gary to go in at quarterback.
All weekend and throughout the day, Cole’s attention had been centered on the mighty Summerfield Spiders. The Spiders were undefeated, ranked fourth in the state, a team so powerful none of the teams in the district came within two touchdowns of them.
A look at the statistics left Cole shaking his head. The Spiders averaged 51 points per game, giving up only seven.
Cole had watched film of every Summerfield game, most of them more than once. It usually left him shaking his head. The Spiders were as explosive on offense as any team Cole had seen in Class 2A in many years. They could beat you running, passing, or a combination of the two that left all of the opponents beaten to a pulp.
High-school teams just did not see this kind of offense much in the smaller classes, especially one that was ran so close to perfection. The Spiders were a good running team, but preferred to beat the opponents in the air, throwing the ball close to fifty times a game.
Their quarterback was a good one, the receivers were great and caught anything thrown to them. Their one running back was versatile enough to be a threat either running or catching the ball.
Cole had used the spread offense some this year with some success, but nothing compared to the way Summerfield ran the offense, mixing in short and long passes, some runs and draws by the quarterback.
While the offense was excellent, the defense was just as good, completely shutting down everybody they faced, always getting the ball back to the offense quickly, usually in good field position.
Cole searched long and hard for weaknesses but found none. The only area that did not impress him was the special teams. But the Spiders were not weak in those areas, just not as good as they were on offense and defense.
This was a team many thought could challenge for the state championship, but Cole knew there were at least two or three teams better than the Spiders. Two of those teams would even have a chance in winning state in Class 3A, especially Anson.
Cole relished the challenge of trying to beat the Spiders, remembering the humiliation from the year before. Plus, he actually liked it when his team was expected to lose. Since they were supposed to lose, Cole could go for broke.
It would make Cole feel better if Lucky could play, and play well. He expected his son to play somehow, but had no idea how effective Lucky would be.
The boys were all keyed up for this game, an extra bounce in their step. They knew nobody expected them to win. In fact, the only people who thought they could win were the players and the coaches and they were determined to prove everybody else wrong.
Petros had a great week of practice. All the players worked extra hard, determined to bring the district championship back to its old resting place.
Cole never said a bad word about an opponent, not to his players or coaches. That was especially true when it came to talking to anybody from a newspaper or a television station.
He knew most of the coaches followed that line of thinking, not wanting to give an opponent extra motivation.
That made it so surprising when Ichabod dropped the sport’s section of the Oklahoma City newspaper on his desk, the headline highlighted in yellow, along with some of the paragraphs in the story.
Mabry expects blowout for Spiders read the headline on a story that stretched across the top of the prep page.
Cole read the story from the beginning.
Summerfield coach Alan Mabry has turned a dreadful program into one of the best in Class 2A in just four years.
The Spiders have gone from going winless and then feeling good about a three-win season to a team now ranked fourth in the state and undefeated going into Friday’s district showdown with Petros, a team that has seen its rule of the district slip away.
No team in the state has seen such a reversal, going from the outhouse to the penthouse. Some observers believe the Spiders have a shot to reach the finals this year, a far cry from the way things used to be in this small town tucked deep in southeastern Oklahoma.
While the state finals are down the road, there is little doubt this team has the talent, and especially the coaching, to get it done.
The Spiders feature a stingy defense and an offense averaging over 50 points a game, the top scoring offense in the state.
On Friday, the Spiders will make the short drive up Highway 59 to meet Petros. While Summerfield is unbeaten and has smashed all the district opponents, Petros is 6-3 and although the Panthers are undefeated in the district, they have struggled at times.
“I expect Petros will be ready Friday,” said Mabry, easily the most popular person in Summerfield. “But we’ll be ready, too. I guarantee it. You know, I respect Petros and their coach for what they have done over the years but like they said it the old westerns, ‘there’s a new sheriff in town.’ We’re the new sheriff.
“Times change and some programs don’t change with the times and eventually struggle, which I believe has been the case with Petros. They still try and do the same things that were successful ten years ago and that just doesn’t cut it when you’re playing teams with modern offenses and defenses.”
Mabry added that nobody has slowed down his offense yet and doesn’t believe Petros has the horses to do it this week.
“If we don’t score fifty, well, I will be very disappointed,” said Mabry. “So will our players.”
The Spiders use a wide-open offense, throwing the ball all over the field, led by quarterback Shane Penny, who has thrown for almost 3,000 yards. Running back Ty Williams runs for almost 150 yards a game, giving the Spiders the kind of attack most teams dream about.
“I have not seen a defense slow us down,” said Mabry, who could probably get any coaching job in the state if his team continues to perform. “Judging from the film I have seen of Petros, I don’t believe they have the speed or ability to change that.
“We expect to win on Friday, just like we have the last nine weeks. We all know about Petros’ tradition, but I’ve never seen tradition make a tackle or pick up a big first down. Their current players haven't won the big games like they have in the past.”
While Mabry would not predict a score, he did say Petros shouldn’t be anything more than a speed bump.
“Let’s face it, our guys are really good,” he said. “This is a talented, well-coached group of young men who have worked hard and deserve success.
“In my opinion, Petros is nothing more than an average team. They will be stepping up in class Friday and will not like it.”
Cole was stunned. He had never read anything so egotistical in his entire life. That went against every thing most coaches believed in. He wanted to win badly before, but now his jaw was locked in place and Ichabod knew his boss was not happy.
“Put this on the bulletin board so everybody can see it,” Cole ordered, handing the paper back to Ichabod.
Cole only read half the story before getting disgusted. As far as he was concerned, Mabry had just made the biggest mistake of his career. Cole also knew how to work the media and picked up the phone to call an old friend from the Tulsa newspaper.
Lucky had no idea playing varsity football would be so hard on his body. It had been a long year and hopefully there was still a lot of football to be played. The Panthers were going into the 10th week of the season and his chin had a big gash in it, his left wrist was swollen and hurt, and his ribs still had not totally recovered from the beating administered by two teammates.
It bothered him more not getting to practice. They were playing the biggest game of this season and for several years and he could not practice to get ready.
For Lucky, not being able to practice was bad, but knowing he probably would not start because of missing practice made it even worse.
As the week went by, his wrist did start to feel better. He got as close to the action as possible to listen to the planning and did all the conditioning, just did not take any snaps to avoid any more damage to his wrist.
Toward the end of Wednesday’s practice, Lucky was standing off by himself when Lloyd approached him.
“Does it hurt to catch the ball?” his brother asked, spinning a football off the end of his index finger.
“I don’t know,” answered Lucky. “Do you mean a pass?”
“Naw, like from the shotgun.”
“I could probably catch it with my right hand.”
Lloyd called a player over to act as the center. He told Lucky to get back like he was in the shotgun and asked the center to snap the ball back.
Lucky discovered that it did not hurt at all to catch the ball like this, especially if he caught the pass with his good hand.
Lloyd left his younger brother behind and went to talk to his father.
Cole tried not to show it, but was in an especially good mood this day. He had gotten up early, kind of like a little kid getting ready to go on a trip, and rushed out to get the Tulsa newspaper.
He turned to the sports and found it, right at the top of Page 4.
Showdown awaits Summerfield, read the headline.
Summerfield has had its way with its district opponents the last couple of years. Judging from comments coach Alan Mabry made to the media this week, that should continue in Friday’s game at Petros.
The two dominant teams in the district will meet with a district championship on the line. The Spiders are the defending champions and favored to win the game while Petros has ruled the district except for the last couple of years.
There is good reason for Summerfield to be favored against Petros as the Spiders have a potent offense and are undefeated while Petros has lost three games.
But the Panthers are also undefeated in district play, with the three losses coming in non-district play against excellent competition. Summerfield went with an easy schedule in non-district play as the Panthers stepped up at least one class in all three losses. Plus, Petros has its own set of weapons.
While the Panthers have not been overpowering and have won several close games, they have gotten better each week and found a way to win. Petros has also been in close games, as evidenced by the dramatic comeback against Big Cedar two weeks ago, so the Panthers will not be shaken if the game is close.
As to how Summerfield will react if the game is close late, that has yet to be seen.
But memories of the Spiders’ collapse in the playoffs last year in a game they should have won, leads some to avoid giving Summerfield the district championship until it is won on the field.
The story continued on in the same manner, just like Cole hoped to see. He could care less if it offended Summerfield. If it did, that was beyond his control. But if it boosted the confidence of his players, which was the main reason for the story, then that would be great.
Plus, getting Alan Mabry a bit hot under the collar would not disappoint Cole. His ego was writing checks his brain could not cash, Cole thought, remembering the quote from some movie he saw years ago.
When he arrived at school, Cole saw several players reading the story in the Tulsa newspaper and passing it around. They smiled and enjoyed this story, a far cry from the reaction to the story Mabry planted in the Oklahoma City paper.
Cole had not hyped any particular player in the story, which was his custom, but got his entire team some good publicity. His plan seemed to have worked. Cole particularly enjoyed the way the story ended, with one of his few quotes.
“We try to do the right things here at Petros,” Lester said. “Our players, students and fans show class in every way. I am so proud of these kids. We don’t have to run up the score or talk trash to feel good about them. They are just winners.”
The comment about running up the score and talking trash was a little dig at Summerfield, of course. He knew it and expected other people would know that also.
If it rankled a few people in Summerfield, so be it. If they can’t stand the heat, they need to get their rumps out of the kitchen because the temperature was going to be raised considerably over the next few days.
Any doubts the players had were vanishing quickly. While Cole hoped to heat up the Spiders, the outside temperature was going the opposite way. Temperatures had been dropping all week. There had been two cold fronts move through from the northwest, leaving behind rain and much cooler temperatures.
The grass on the field had gone dormant and the green was gone for another year. But Cole made sure the roots had plenty of moisture by watering the field Tuesday and Wednesday. He made sure there was plenty of water on the field, not wanting it to dry up before Friday’s game.
A suspicious person might wonder if there was some reason behind the extra watering. It was almost like the coach did this to favor a running team, like Petros, over a team that would rather pass, like Summerfield.
Lloyd got a lot of enjoyment out of watching his father through the week. He knew what was going on with the field, of course, and that his father had some influence on the story in the Tulsa paper. When one of his father’s teams was an underdog, this was when they were usually at their best.
He was thinking of this while watching some more film of Summerfield. It was film he had seen before, but with some time to kill and no women who interested him, Lloyd really had nothing better to do.
Something had bothered him through every film he watched on Summerfield. There was something there he could not put his finger on.
On the television, Summerfield was on offense, flying down the field like usual. Lloyd moved forward in his seat, seeing something he should have noticed a long time ago.
Lloyd could not believe what he saw. He rewound the tape for several plays and watched each one, seeing the same thing on every one. The smile disappeared. Now, his chin was almost hanging down to his chest.
They had been looking for some small advantage and Lloyd believed he found it. He was so stunned words would not come out for several minutes.
He figured knowing if Summerfield would run or pass before a play started would be a big benefit, of course.
“Hey Dad, could you come here for a minute?” Lloyd hollered, his words echoing through the house.
Chapter 39
But when the ball hit his hand, jolts of pain erupted through his wrist, bad enough he dropped the ball and shook his hand, grimacing. Lucky nearly bent over, the pain was that bad.
Cole saw it happen and knew this was not a good sign. It was going to be hard enough beating Summerfield with everybody healthy. If Lucky could not play, it would almost be impossible. Cole sent Lucky in to get his wrist wrapped and told Gary to go in at quarterback.
All weekend and throughout the day, Cole’s attention had been centered on the mighty Summerfield Spiders. The Spiders were undefeated, ranked fourth in the state, a team so powerful none of the teams in the district came within two touchdowns of them.
A look at the statistics left Cole shaking his head. The Spiders averaged 51 points per game, giving up only seven.
Cole had watched film of every Summerfield game, most of them more than once. It usually left him shaking his head. The Spiders were as explosive on offense as any team Cole had seen in Class 2A in many years. They could beat you running, passing, or a combination of the two that left all of the opponents beaten to a pulp.
High-school teams just did not see this kind of offense much in the smaller classes, especially one that was ran so close to perfection. The Spiders were a good running team, but preferred to beat the opponents in the air, throwing the ball close to fifty times a game.
Their quarterback was a good one, the receivers were great and caught anything thrown to them. Their one running back was versatile enough to be a threat either running or catching the ball.
Cole had used the spread offense some this year with some success, but nothing compared to the way Summerfield ran the offense, mixing in short and long passes, some runs and draws by the quarterback.
While the offense was excellent, the defense was just as good, completely shutting down everybody they faced, always getting the ball back to the offense quickly, usually in good field position.
Cole searched long and hard for weaknesses but found none. The only area that did not impress him was the special teams. But the Spiders were not weak in those areas, just not as good as they were on offense and defense.
This was a team many thought could challenge for the state championship, but Cole knew there were at least two or three teams better than the Spiders. Two of those teams would even have a chance in winning state in Class 3A, especially Anson.
Cole relished the challenge of trying to beat the Spiders, remembering the humiliation from the year before. Plus, he actually liked it when his team was expected to lose. Since they were supposed to lose, Cole could go for broke.
It would make Cole feel better if Lucky could play, and play well. He expected his son to play somehow, but had no idea how effective Lucky would be.
The boys were all keyed up for this game, an extra bounce in their step. They knew nobody expected them to win. In fact, the only people who thought they could win were the players and the coaches and they were determined to prove everybody else wrong.
Petros had a great week of practice. All the players worked extra hard, determined to bring the district championship back to its old resting place.
Cole never said a bad word about an opponent, not to his players or coaches. That was especially true when it came to talking to anybody from a newspaper or a television station.
He knew most of the coaches followed that line of thinking, not wanting to give an opponent extra motivation.
That made it so surprising when Ichabod dropped the sport’s section of the Oklahoma City newspaper on his desk, the headline highlighted in yellow, along with some of the paragraphs in the story.
Mabry expects blowout for Spiders read the headline on a story that stretched across the top of the prep page.
Cole read the story from the beginning.
Summerfield coach Alan Mabry has turned a dreadful program into one of the best in Class 2A in just four years.
The Spiders have gone from going winless and then feeling good about a three-win season to a team now ranked fourth in the state and undefeated going into Friday’s district showdown with Petros, a team that has seen its rule of the district slip away.
No team in the state has seen such a reversal, going from the outhouse to the penthouse. Some observers believe the Spiders have a shot to reach the finals this year, a far cry from the way things used to be in this small town tucked deep in southeastern Oklahoma.
While the state finals are down the road, there is little doubt this team has the talent, and especially the coaching, to get it done.
The Spiders feature a stingy defense and an offense averaging over 50 points a game, the top scoring offense in the state.
On Friday, the Spiders will make the short drive up Highway 59 to meet Petros. While Summerfield is unbeaten and has smashed all the district opponents, Petros is 6-3 and although the Panthers are undefeated in the district, they have struggled at times.
“I expect Petros will be ready Friday,” said Mabry, easily the most popular person in Summerfield. “But we’ll be ready, too. I guarantee it. You know, I respect Petros and their coach for what they have done over the years but like they said it the old westerns, ‘there’s a new sheriff in town.’ We’re the new sheriff.
“Times change and some programs don’t change with the times and eventually struggle, which I believe has been the case with Petros. They still try and do the same things that were successful ten years ago and that just doesn’t cut it when you’re playing teams with modern offenses and defenses.”
Mabry added that nobody has slowed down his offense yet and doesn’t believe Petros has the horses to do it this week.
“If we don’t score fifty, well, I will be very disappointed,” said Mabry. “So will our players.”
The Spiders use a wide-open offense, throwing the ball all over the field, led by quarterback Shane Penny, who has thrown for almost 3,000 yards. Running back Ty Williams runs for almost 150 yards a game, giving the Spiders the kind of attack most teams dream about.
“I have not seen a defense slow us down,” said Mabry, who could probably get any coaching job in the state if his team continues to perform. “Judging from the film I have seen of Petros, I don’t believe they have the speed or ability to change that.
“We expect to win on Friday, just like we have the last nine weeks. We all know about Petros’ tradition, but I’ve never seen tradition make a tackle or pick up a big first down. Their current players haven't won the big games like they have in the past.”
While Mabry would not predict a score, he did say Petros shouldn’t be anything more than a speed bump.
“Let’s face it, our guys are really good,” he said. “This is a talented, well-coached group of young men who have worked hard and deserve success.
“In my opinion, Petros is nothing more than an average team. They will be stepping up in class Friday and will not like it.”
Cole was stunned. He had never read anything so egotistical in his entire life. That went against every thing most coaches believed in. He wanted to win badly before, but now his jaw was locked in place and Ichabod knew his boss was not happy.
“Put this on the bulletin board so everybody can see it,” Cole ordered, handing the paper back to Ichabod.
Cole only read half the story before getting disgusted. As far as he was concerned, Mabry had just made the biggest mistake of his career. Cole also knew how to work the media and picked up the phone to call an old friend from the Tulsa newspaper.
Lucky had no idea playing varsity football would be so hard on his body. It had been a long year and hopefully there was still a lot of football to be played. The Panthers were going into the 10th week of the season and his chin had a big gash in it, his left wrist was swollen and hurt, and his ribs still had not totally recovered from the beating administered by two teammates.
It bothered him more not getting to practice. They were playing the biggest game of this season and for several years and he could not practice to get ready.
For Lucky, not being able to practice was bad, but knowing he probably would not start because of missing practice made it even worse.
As the week went by, his wrist did start to feel better. He got as close to the action as possible to listen to the planning and did all the conditioning, just did not take any snaps to avoid any more damage to his wrist.
Toward the end of Wednesday’s practice, Lucky was standing off by himself when Lloyd approached him.
“Does it hurt to catch the ball?” his brother asked, spinning a football off the end of his index finger.
“I don’t know,” answered Lucky. “Do you mean a pass?”
“Naw, like from the shotgun.”
“I could probably catch it with my right hand.”
Lloyd called a player over to act as the center. He told Lucky to get back like he was in the shotgun and asked the center to snap the ball back.
Lucky discovered that it did not hurt at all to catch the ball like this, especially if he caught the pass with his good hand.
Lloyd left his younger brother behind and went to talk to his father.
Cole tried not to show it, but was in an especially good mood this day. He had gotten up early, kind of like a little kid getting ready to go on a trip, and rushed out to get the Tulsa newspaper.
He turned to the sports and found it, right at the top of Page 4.
Showdown awaits Summerfield, read the headline.
Summerfield has had its way with its district opponents the last couple of years. Judging from comments coach Alan Mabry made to the media this week, that should continue in Friday’s game at Petros.
The two dominant teams in the district will meet with a district championship on the line. The Spiders are the defending champions and favored to win the game while Petros has ruled the district except for the last couple of years.
There is good reason for Summerfield to be favored against Petros as the Spiders have a potent offense and are undefeated while Petros has lost three games.
But the Panthers are also undefeated in district play, with the three losses coming in non-district play against excellent competition. Summerfield went with an easy schedule in non-district play as the Panthers stepped up at least one class in all three losses. Plus, Petros has its own set of weapons.
While the Panthers have not been overpowering and have won several close games, they have gotten better each week and found a way to win. Petros has also been in close games, as evidenced by the dramatic comeback against Big Cedar two weeks ago, so the Panthers will not be shaken if the game is close.
As to how Summerfield will react if the game is close late, that has yet to be seen.
But memories of the Spiders’ collapse in the playoffs last year in a game they should have won, leads some to avoid giving Summerfield the district championship until it is won on the field.
The story continued on in the same manner, just like Cole hoped to see. He could care less if it offended Summerfield. If it did, that was beyond his control. But if it boosted the confidence of his players, which was the main reason for the story, then that would be great.
Plus, getting Alan Mabry a bit hot under the collar would not disappoint Cole. His ego was writing checks his brain could not cash, Cole thought, remembering the quote from some movie he saw years ago.
When he arrived at school, Cole saw several players reading the story in the Tulsa newspaper and passing it around. They smiled and enjoyed this story, a far cry from the reaction to the story Mabry planted in the Oklahoma City paper.
Cole had not hyped any particular player in the story, which was his custom, but got his entire team some good publicity. His plan seemed to have worked. Cole particularly enjoyed the way the story ended, with one of his few quotes.
“We try to do the right things here at Petros,” Lester said. “Our players, students and fans show class in every way. I am so proud of these kids. We don’t have to run up the score or talk trash to feel good about them. They are just winners.”
The comment about running up the score and talking trash was a little dig at Summerfield, of course. He knew it and expected other people would know that also.
If it rankled a few people in Summerfield, so be it. If they can’t stand the heat, they need to get their rumps out of the kitchen because the temperature was going to be raised considerably over the next few days.
Any doubts the players had were vanishing quickly. While Cole hoped to heat up the Spiders, the outside temperature was going the opposite way. Temperatures had been dropping all week. There had been two cold fronts move through from the northwest, leaving behind rain and much cooler temperatures.
The grass on the field had gone dormant and the green was gone for another year. But Cole made sure the roots had plenty of moisture by watering the field Tuesday and Wednesday. He made sure there was plenty of water on the field, not wanting it to dry up before Friday’s game.
A suspicious person might wonder if there was some reason behind the extra watering. It was almost like the coach did this to favor a running team, like Petros, over a team that would rather pass, like Summerfield.
Lloyd got a lot of enjoyment out of watching his father through the week. He knew what was going on with the field, of course, and that his father had some influence on the story in the Tulsa paper. When one of his father’s teams was an underdog, this was when they were usually at their best.
He was thinking of this while watching some more film of Summerfield. It was film he had seen before, but with some time to kill and no women who interested him, Lloyd really had nothing better to do.
Something had bothered him through every film he watched on Summerfield. There was something there he could not put his finger on.
On the television, Summerfield was on offense, flying down the field like usual. Lloyd moved forward in his seat, seeing something he should have noticed a long time ago.
Lloyd could not believe what he saw. He rewound the tape for several plays and watched each one, seeing the same thing on every one. The smile disappeared. Now, his chin was almost hanging down to his chest.
They had been looking for some small advantage and Lloyd believed he found it. He was so stunned words would not come out for several minutes.
He figured knowing if Summerfield would run or pass before a play started would be a big benefit, of course.
“Hey Dad, could you come here for a minute?” Lloyd hollered, his words echoing through the house.
posted by Craig Hall at 4:56 AM
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