Chapter 58
The team revved up a bit after Cole’s speech, at least rid themselves of some of the nervousness. This time, Cole made sure Anson had taken the field and had finished with the festivities that so impressed his players.
Petros slowly made its way out of the locker room and down the long ramp leading to the field. The fans and band were not allowed on the field so only the cheerleaders were waiting to run on the field with the players.
With the school song blasting loudly, the Panthers sprinted out on to the field, everybody looking around at the stadium, even seeing themselves on the huge video screen at the west end of the field. Several of the players pointed at the screen, making sure all their teammates noticed it also.
Derwin and Gary were sent to the middle of the field for the coin toss. The wind was blowing hard out of the north and swirling inside the stadium. It would not really make any difference so Cole did not care which end of the field his team took.
He told his players to defer until the second half if they won the coin toss. Derwin called “heads” and that was how it landed so Gary followed his coach’s instructions.
Anson’s captains decided to take the ball so Derwin told the officials Petros would kick from the west end.
The noise was building, as was the excitement as Cole met with his players before the kicking team took the field.
“Go knock some heads,” he instructed. “They’re not used to getting pounded so let’s show them what it feels like to get hit by a Panther.”
As Jeremy lined up for the kick, Cole noticed Waymon Hayes was back to receive the kickoff, the first time he had seen that.
He started hollering at Jeremy to kick the ball away from Hayes, but it did no good. It was too loud and Jeremy never heard his coach.
Not that it mattered. Jeremy hit the kick perfect, sending the ball high in the air as everybody in the stadium stood, ready for the game to start. Hayes could only stand just inside the end zone and watch the ball soar over his head and into the end zone.
It was a touchback and the perfect way for Petros to start the game.
The Rams broke the huddle and quickly lined up in an I-formation with two tight ends and a flanker spread to the right.
The quarterback barked the signals, took the snap and spun around to hand off to Hayes right up the gut. Derwin blew past the guard, avoided the fullback and threw his whole body into the tailback. He had never hit anybody better or harder.
The force of the blow forced both players to stand straight up. Derwin tried wrapping his arms around Hayes but could not hold on to the massive legs.
Hayes regained his senses, spun away from Derwin and took off around the left end. Harry was coming full speed and dove, trying to knock the legs out from under the Anson running back. It barely bothered Hayes, who ran right through the tackle and was slowed for only an instant.
Two other Panthers hit him with everything they had, but it did not matter. Hayes ran through the tackles, got his legs moving like pistons and sprinted into the secondary.
From that point, it was over. Hayes burst through the secondary like a bullet and made everybody else look like they were standing still. Hayes never slowed down until finishing off his 80-yard run that hit the Petros players like a hard punch in the stomach.
“Holy cow,” exclaimed Cole.
“I think we’re in deep doo-doo,” Stub remarked.
The Petros players were left shaking their heads and looking to the sideline for directions.
Derwin slowly jogged over to the sideline, blood gushing from a nose that looked to be broken in several places.
“I can hardly breathe,” he muttered, pulling off his helmet. The front of his white jersey was already turning a crimson color. Two teammates helped him to the bench as Doc Hardy ran to where he was seated. The doctor grabbed a towel and tried to wipe away the blood to determine the extent of the injury. The blood was flowing so hard, however, that once it was wiped away a new flow would spout out before the doctor could see the damage.
There was no doubt the nose was broken, though, crumpled up like somebody hit him in the face with a brick. The nose was already swelling, as were both eyes, already almost closed.
Cole walked over to look at Derwin, who was squirming around, the pain almost too much to bear. When he found out that playing more was out of the question, Cole knew Derwin would hurt even more.
“We’re going to need to take him inside,” the doctor advised.
Two trainers from Oklahoma State were quickly on the scene, trying to help. The towel holding his nose quickly turned red from the blood. As he walked down the sideline, he left behind a trail of blood.
He stopped and turned back to the coaches.
“I’ll be back,” he promised, sounding like the Terminator.
Cole nodded, although doubting that would happen.
This was not a good start, Cole knew. The game was only one play old and Anson scored on an eighty-yard run and his best defensive player had his nose splattered all over his face.
“At least it won’t hurt his looks,” Stub stated.
“It can’t help, though,” Lloyd added.
The kick on the extra point was perfect, giving Anson an early lead of 7-0.
Most of the fans had not even had a chance to take a seat yet and already a touchdown was scored. The Petros fans were in disbelief, finding it hard to believe anybody could take a hit like that and then go the distance to score, leaving all the Petros defenders standing around wondering what happened.
Lucky had never seen a high school player run like that. The only other players he had seen run like that were college and pro players.
“Boy, he can run,” said Happy, who stood beside Lucky.
“I don’t know how he could still be standing after that hit,” Lucky stated admiringly. “Derwin splattered him and he didn’t even act like it fazed him. I guess you’ll get a chance to pop him now.”
“Yeah, I bet he’ll be scared to death.”
The two teams lined up for the kickoff. The official signaled for the kicker to go ahead and he did, sending a short, high kick that came down on the 23. Skip was waiting for the ball, took two steps then was plastered by one of Anson’s defensive backs.
He could barely hang on to the ball until he hit the ground.
Petros’ offense took the field. Cole knew the offense needed to hold on to the ball for a while, to let the Panthers’ defense recoup after the long run. He sent the Panthers out in their regular offense with D.J. and Skip at running back, two tight ends and Harry at flanker.
Cole knew his team was a little shaken so he decided to keep it simple. He sent in a simple dive play to D.J., hoping to get off to a good start on offense.
He didn’t get it.
Gary had trouble with the snap, tried to force the ball into D.J.’s stomach and it didn’t work. Anson sent a linebacker blitzing right in that hole and arrived just as Gary was having trouble with the handoff.
The ball popped straight up, hit the ground and bounced right into the hands of one of the Anson defensive tackles. He fell to the ground, covering up the ball to give his team great field position.
A loud groan came from the Petros side as the official signaled the ball belonged to Anson. The Rams took over on the Petros 24-yard line.
Anson’s offense sprinted back on to the field. With everybody expecting the ball to go to Hayes, the Rams tried to catch Petros off guard, calling a trap play to the fullback.
The Panthers filled the lanes and forced the fullback to try and veer outside. He could not make it back to the line before Happy broke through and brought him down.
Ichabod knew from watching film that on second and long, Anson either went with a sweep or ran the option. The play would usually go to the wide side and Ichabod decided to roll the dice.
It was a sweep to the wide side, just like Ichabod expected. He had Gary blitz from his position and it looked like the gamble worked.
Gary had Hayes in his sights and forced him back into the inside. Happy was bearing down on the Anson running back, hoping history did not repeat itself. It was a hit that made Derwin’s play look insignificant, one that made all the television replays that night.
Happy hit with everything he had, even wrapped up Hayes. But Hayes quickly recovered, threw Happy aside like he was a wet rag and took off.
Skip grabbed an ankle and was dragged for several yards before Hayes broke loose. Several Panthers were close to him but could not get any closer as they watched the Anson standout break loose and sprint toward the end zone.
Cole had no answer to stopping this onslaught. The only thing that could be done was score more points than Anson, but staring at a 14-0 deficit did not make him feel like his chances were good.
Petros had run only one play on offense and was already trailing by two touchdowns to a team you never wanted to fall behind against.
He felt the confidence of his players dropping quickly. Sure, the Panthers had been through some tough times, but never in a situation like this. They were already shaken even before the game started and to see Anson roar ahead did not make the Panthers feel better.
The offense had to move the ball this time and keep it away from Anson. Cole decided the best defense for the Panthers was a good offense, one where they held the ball for a long drive. Now he just had to decide how to get that done.
Cole almost sent in a trick play, but considered that a sign of weakness. Plus, after Kenneth could only return the kick to the 25, field position was not great and Petros could not allow Anson a short field again.
It might not even matter whether it was a short or long field, but Cole was determined not to make any mistake that made it easier for the Rams.
The Petros offense jogged back on to the field. Cole wanted to keep things simple until everybody calmed down so he sent in another dive, only this time to Skip.
Petros’ line was much smaller than its counterparts, but that does not always determine who wins or loses on the line. If done correctly with the right fundamentals, a smaller man can block a larger man, and that was the case on this play.
The Panthers’ line blocked the right player and Skip looked up to see a large hole in front of him. It closed quickly, but not before he picked up almost seven yards. Cole sent in the same play and once again, it worked.
Skip hit the hole quickly and picked up four yards before the Rams responded. It was a first down for the Panthers, their first of the game. It also kept the ball away from Anson a little longer.
D.J. got the call on the next play. The hole was clogged with bodies, so he bounced outside, appeared to have running room but was quickly run down by the great speed of the defense. He did pick up three yards, however, so the play was not a total waste.
Cole could see the confidence rising slightly. This was how he hoped the offense would look the whole game. He watched as Gary took the snap, faked a handoff to Skip, as the defense was geared up for him this time, then kept the ball and ran through another big hole.
The run was good for six yards, setting up third and short. Cole sent Happy in so the Panthers lined up in the wishbone.
Gary faked the dive to Happy, pivoted around and handed off to Skip on a crossbuck. There wasn’t much of a hole, just big enough for him to slide through for a gain of two yards and another first down.
Cole saw the defense moving closer to the ball, not the least bit worried about a pass. Now was the perfect time for a play-action pass, and if Lucky was playing, he would not have hesitated for a second.
But with Gary in, rusty after having not played for so long, Cole decided not to try anything fancy at this time. Plus, the Panthers were moving the ball.
Petros tried the option for the first time but Anson’s great team speed just ate the play up, tackling Skip for a small loss as soon after he received the pitch.
“It’s gonna be hard to get outside,” said Lloyd, an understatement as far as his father was concerned.
Lucky was dying to get in the game, hating to stand on the sidelines and not contribute. He was still sore, but wished his father would give him the chance. He also could see the way Anson’s defense was playing and knew a pass would work.
Cole decided to gamble, facing second and long. He knew it was not likely to work, but if nothing else, it might convince the defense to scoot back a little bit. Gary faked a handoff to D.J., then Skip on the belly.
He paused for a second, selling the run, then slowly rolled out. Harry was the flanker on that side. He faked a block on the safety and cut back on a flag route. Anson’s defense recovered quickly, but Harry still had a couple of steps on the defensive back.
Gary threw a bullet into the gusting winds, a pass so hard the wind did not even bother it. It also was so hard the Anson defender could not recover. Harry grabbed the pass going full speed and was off.
Against most teams, he probably would have scored. Against Anson, however, he was caught after gaining 11 more yards.
Skip found good running room on another dive play, nearly breaking it for big yardage but settling for a gain of seven. D.J. followed with a blast that was good for five more yards and the Panthers’ offense seemed to be on a roll.
The drive continued, eating up yardage and time. But once Petros reached the Anson 20, the Rams’ defense stiffened. They were not used to teams moving the ball against them, and certainly not used to other teams scoring on them.
The holes were closed up and the backs found no running room. After two runs gained nothing, Cole called another pass. Anson’s defense blitzed, sending more defenders than there were blockers.
Gary did not read it quick enough and failed to hit his hot target, Andy, on a slant. Two Rams came in from his blind side and hit him, knocking the Petros quarterback down before he got rid of the ball. It was a loss of nine, leaving the Panthers facing fourth and 20.
They would have to reach the Anson nine to pick up a first down and keep the drive alive. Cole expected another blitz and kept both running backs in to block. Gary faked a handoff to D.J., which fooled nobody, and rolled out.
He felt the pressure this time and knew there wasn’t much time. Andy was split out far to the side, covered by two defenders. He fought through the defensive backs trying to jam him at the line and used his long strides to open a small gap.
Andy looked back, hoping to see the ball in the air. Gary was just releasing the pass as a linebacker crashed in to him, forcing the ball to flutter to the ground.
The drive had ended, but did use up some clock and keep Anson’s offense off the field. Now there were only a little over three minutes left in the quarter. The offense had partially done its job, just failed to score. Now it was time for the defense to step it up.
Petros’ defense knew what was coming, as did everybody in the stadium. The Panthers keyed on Hayes, willing to risk a pass play. They crowded the line and edged closer.
Anson’s quarterback took the snap and pitched back to Hayes. Stewart Andrews was the defensive end on that side. He read the play and did just as the coaches instructed him. Stewart ran straight up the field, cutting off Hayes from getting outside and forcing the runner back inside. Ronnie Jones fought off his block and was waiting.
He grabbed Hayes and refused to let go until help arrived. Murray and Skip followed, blasting Hayes with hits that would take a normal player to the ground. Stewart also joined in and the four players actually brought Hayes down. The Petros side let out a wild cheer, finally realizing Hayes could be tackled.
Anson came back with an option to the other side. Sam Roberts crashed so quick the quarterback was unable to pitch back to Hayes. It was two straight plays with a loss and Petros was starting to get fired up.
But the Panthers needed another big play to stop the onslaught. All the Panthers expected a draw to Hayes and maintained their spots. Anson’s quarterback dropped straight back, looking for an open receiver.
Gary had Hayes covered, who was the first option, so the quarterback had to try and find somebody else open. The Panthers’ coverage was good so the quarterback tried to scramble. He got through the wave of linemen, only to find Happy waiting for him.
Happy caught him flush, straightening up the quarterback then driving him backward to the ground. It was a perfect form tackle, one that would have been a good one for an instructional video.
The Panthers mobbed Happy, who was so keyed up it was doubtful he even realized what happened.
Petros had actually stopped the mighty Rams and would get the ball back, probably in good field position.
Cole decided to go after the punt, sending ten players to try for the block. Skip’s fingers almost grazed the ball as he dove for the block. But despite the pressure, the punt was still a good one.
Kenneth had to retreat backward, waiting for the punt to come down. He hated to do it but was forced to call a fair catch, knowing the Rams had two players bearing down on him and likely to take his head off if he didn’t raise his arm before catching the punt.
The Panthers took over on their own 43, the first good field position of the game.
A dive to D.J. netted five yards, followed by a crossbuck to Skip, good for another three. Facing third and two, Gary saw the middle of the defense open as he came to the line and kept the ball himself on a quarterback sneak, easily picking up the first down.
With the clock counting down until the end of the quarter, Skip took a dive handoff for six yards. Gary ran the same play, only keeping this time instead of handing off. He picked up four yards and appeared to have a first down.
The officials measured and the Panthers were short by less than two inches. As Petros broke the huddle, the buzzer sounded, ending the first quarter. The two teams went to the sidelines to get some drinks and advice.
Cole sent in Happy on the short-yardage play, planning to let him rumble ahead for the first down.
The Petros side was getting back in the game, realizing a 14-0 deficit was not impossible to overcome. After all, aside from the two quick touchdowns in the first minute, Petros had played its opponent even.
Gary led the offense back on the field. The Panthers went straight to the line, waiting for the official to let them play. He took the snap and handed off to Happy, who barged forward for a couple of yards and another first down.
Cole kept the same lineup in for first down, again calling for a handoff to Happy. There really wasn’t much of a hole, but that did not keep him from making his own. He plowed forward, looking for somebody to hit, not a hole.
He hit one lineman, powered through then ran into a linebacker. Happy was brought down, but not before delivering a hit that left the linebacker shaking his head. It was good for four yards, another good play on first down.
Cole sent in the same play to the other side. This time it did not work, Anson’s defense swarmed Happy in the backfield before he picked up any speed. Now the Panthers faced third and six, not the kind of situation they wanted to be in.
Gary got the call from the sideline and relayed it to his teammates. Happy had gone to the sideline, replaced by Andy. The Panthers were going into the shotgun for the first time, putting receivers all over the field.
Seth was the only running back in the backfield with Gary. The Petros quarterback took the snap and dropped back, waiting for the pressure to come. As soon as the linemen got close, he lobbed a pass over their heads to Seth, waiting behind a wall of blockers.
He was wide open and had nothing but blockers and a lot of grass between him and the goal-line. But he only forgot one thing before taking off, and that was catching the ball before running.
The ball bounced off his fingers and to the ground. He was already two yards down the field by this time, looking back and wondering why the football was not in his hands.
He threw his hands up in dismay, knowing the drop kept Petros from a big gain. Now the Panthers would have to punt, giving Hayes the ball again.
Seth walked slowly toward the sideline, wishing for some place to hide. He was expecting a lecture but his teammates and coaches surrounded him, patting him on his shoulder pads and telling him to forget it.
He was glad for the support but it did not keep him from feeling terrible. Seth was grateful for the opportunity to play in a situation like this, but wished he could hide on the sidelines if another mistake like this was going to happen.
Cole made sure the entire punting team knew Hayes was back for the punt. He grabbed Jeremy before the kicker jogged on to the field.
“Kick the ball outta bounds,” Cole instructed.
“Will do,” replied Jeremy.
The Rams were setting up for the return and did not punt any pressure on the kick. Jeremy took his time and just murdered the kick, one of his better punts of the year. The football sailed long and high, easily clearing Hayes and sailing out of bounds at the Anson 32.
His teammates were impressed and made sure they let Jeremy know as he ran off the field. The fans rose also, making sure Jeremy knew his efforts were appreciated.
The Rams tried to trick Petros on first down, faking a handoff to Hayes, then the quarterback waited patiently before unleashing a long pass.
Skip read the play perfectly, making sure none of the receivers got behind him. The Anson wide receiver flew past D.J. and appeared to be open, but Skip came out of nowhere and dove at the last second, knocking the ball away.
It was a great play, one that even Anson’s coaches applauded.
The Rams decided to quit messing around and handed off to Hayes right up the middle on second down. The Panthers penetrated into the backfield and three of the players were holding on for dear life. Gary saw the opportunity he had been waiting for and sprinted in from the secondary at full speed, lowered his head and tried to remove Hayes’ head from his body.
The crashing of the collision reverberated off the stands, the crack loud enough it was heard in the press box. Unfortunately for Petros, Gary’s plan did not work. All it did was knock the Anson running back free.
He retreated two steps, took another big hit from D.J., spun around and headed outside. Stewart Andrews was caught out of position and dove for Hayes’ legs, trying to keep him from getting outside.
Hayes ran through the attempted tackle and got to the corner. Seeing this caused anguish for the Petros coaches, knowing this was not good.
They could see what was developing, knew what was fixing to happen but were powerless to stop it.
Two of the Panthers had the angle on Hayes, not that it did any good. He actually seemed to slow down to let the Petros players get close, like it would raise the hopes of his teammates and fans, then turned on the afterburners, leaving all the players far behind.
“There’s no way to stop him,” Lloyd stated.
“He’s probably the best dang high school football player I’ve ever seen,” Stub complimented.
Cole tried to not pay attention to what everybody was saying. He was watching his players on the field, knowing how bad this hurt to advance this far and then get manhandled.
But there wasn’t anything that could be done. Cole couldn’t put on the pads, he was too old by now, not that it would do any good. They just didn’t make running backs like this when he played.
There were fast backs then, and big backs, of course, but not the combination Hayes possessed. He was big, strong, fast and smart. Plus, as he had shown several times, Hayes could take a hit and keep going.
The players jogged to the end of the field, the Petros players looking to the sideline for directions on how to stop this stud. None of the coaches could answer the question, not really sure there was an answer.
There were teams in college ball that could stop him, but certainly not in a Class 2A state championship game. There was only one way for Hayes to get stopped and that was to knock him out of the game. And after seeing him survive hits that would put a normal player on the bench for the rest of the game, Cole knew that was easier said than done.
He watched the kick split the uprights, watched the replay on the huge video screen and wondered what to do.
His players were dragging badly now, looking like they were beat and the second quarter wasn’t even half over.
Cole and the other coaches tried to boost the players but quickly saw it was not doing any good. The players just looked and acted like they wished this would get over with, the same way Cole always felt when he made the mistake of riding a roller coaster.
He just wished the ride would end, just as his players felt now.
His team had not quit all year and Cole doubted they would here either, although they certainly looked like they wanted to give it up.
Cole looked down the sideline and saw Lucky looking back at him, pleading to go into the game without saying a word.
He contemplated it for a second, but doubted it would really help things and only increase the chances of Lucky getting hurt worse.
Cole looked away, still feeling his son’s eyes bearing down on him.
Lucky was not the begging type, but wanted to do something to convince his father he could play. This hurt much more than the ribs, seeing his teammates getting hammered. And Lucky had not seen anything that made him think things would change, knowing the only way this would keep from being embarrassing was the kindness of the Anson coach, if he called off the dogs.
Cole sent the return team back on the field.
“We should get pretty good at this before the night is over,” Stub mentioned.
“What’s that?” Cole asked.
“Returning kicks.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Cause it looks like we’re gonna get a lotta practice,” Stub added, walking off before he heard Cole’s response.
Cole didn’t really have a response, mainly because he knew what Stub said was true.
He turned his attention back on the field. The kick was short again, coming down on the 22. Kenneth caught the ball, started up the field, weaving in and out of traffic and reached the 36 before getting his legs cut out from under him.
Petros’ offense took the field again. The fans still had enough enthusiasm to make some noise, but it was not as high on the decibel meter as before.
The offense lined up on the ball, waiting for the umpire to let them proceed. Finally, everybody was ready. Gary took the snap, spun around and put the ball in D.J.’s belly. He left it there for as long as possible before pulling it out. He stood still for a second, trying to sell the fake even more.
Finally, he started jogging in the opposite direction. Andy was cutting across the field, followed closely by one of the safeties. It was too close to throw the ball and Andy was the only receiver out on a route. So Gary pulled the ball in, held on tight and took off.
He had the corner for just a second before the pursuit caught up with him. What looked like the beginning of a good play turned out to be nothing but a bust. Anson’s defense was just too quick. Gary was brought down, still a yard behind the line of scrimmage.
Seeing this was painful to Cole, knowing if Lucky was in the game, he would have gotten around the corner and probably picked up good yardage.
Cole called another trick play, knowing Anson would not be ready for this. It was the first time the Panthers ran the play in years. Gary took the snap, pitched back to Skip running to his right and then took off in the other direction.
Skip got outside, waited for the defense to come to him, then fired a pass back across the field. Gary was wide open and caught the ball on the run.
He had plenty of room and took advantage of it, running down the field as fast as possible. It took several seconds for the Rams to realize what happened. Gary had a good lead but it did not last long.
Anson had four players in the secondary faster than anybody on Petros’ roster. Two of them were still on that side of the field. They quickly recovered and chased after Gary.
Gary had decent speed but looked like some wild African animal getting chased down by a cheetah. They caught him and brought him down at Anson’s 32.
The Panthers huddled quickly and Cole sent in the play. Gary would fake a handoff to Skip and roll out on a bootleg with the option of running or passing. The play worked fine until he faked the handoff and found a defensive end bearing down on him.
Gary panicked and threw the ball in the general area where Harry should be. That is, if the defensive backs had allowed him to get off the line. They didn’t, keeping him pinned up.
Nobody from Petros was even close to the pass, only the Anson free safety. He left his feet to dive for the ball, grabbing it only inches before it fell to the ground.
The official pointed toward the end zone Petros was defending, letting everybody know it was Anson’s ball.
“We can’t block, tackle or hold on to the dang ball,” Stub mumbled, while walking past Cole. “That animal out there’s probably gonna go eighty yards on us again.”
Actually, it was eighty-three yards and he did it on the second play. The first play was a trap to the fullback that went nowhere. Anson followed with a power play off the tackle next with Hayes taking the ball, hitting the hole quickly and running through an attempted arm tackle by Happy, nearly pulling his arm out of socket in the process.
Hayes looked like a jet taking off. He was through the line and past the secondary before the Panthers got rid of the blockers. By that time, he was off to the races.
The players and coaches watched in disbelief, getting very tired of this. They were convinced and did not need to see this anymore. They now knew Hayes was the best player in the state and did not need any more convincing. He just needed to turn into a mere mortal and stop this Superman act.
The kick was good again, giving Anson a 28-0 lead midway through the quarter. If Cole thought his players were dragging earlier, they had advanced to a new level.
This had stopped being fun for them, they just wanted it to end. They did not know how to stop this guy, especially with their best defensive player in the locker room getting his splattered nose put back together.
The kick was short again, this time taken by Skip. He flew up the middle and reached the 38 before getting chased down.
“See, we’re getting better every time,” Stub pointed out.
“You’re really starting to get on my nerves with your comments,” Ichabod responded.
Stub started to fire back with a smart remark, then caught himself.
“Sorry,” he added. “I’m just frustrated like everybody else.”
The Panthers started another drive, slowly moving down the field. But again, they had success until getting close to the end zone. Then, the Rams stiffened and the drive ended, this time as Petros could not convert on fourth-and-three as Skip was hit in the backfield, not even able to get back to the line.
Ichabod was tired of messing around. He wanted to force Anson to try something different and decided to send all eleven players. It was an act of desperation, but he wanted to somehow stop Hayes, if possible.
The Panthers came with everything and actually got to Hayes before he got started. It took around five players, but they again proved Hayes could be tackled.
Anson’s coach was no dummy, of course, you did not win as many state championships as he had and not pick up a few things. He knew if Petros was sending that many players on a blitz, a pass should be available.
He called the play, hoping his quarterback had time to get rid of the ball. He did, barely, and flung a pass out to his flanker, who appeared to be open when the pass was thrown.
But Skip read the play from his safety position and got there just as the ball did. The flanker bobbled the ball for just a second. Skip only had to put his hands out and the ball came to rest in his paws.
He took off, looking for a path to the end zone. The Petros side exploded, finally seeing something good happen to their team.
Skip had a lane to the end zone, but saw several Anson players chasing after him. He made it to the three before getting knocked out of bounds.
The Panthers’ offense finally showed a little life as they sprinted on to the field. The players congratulated Skip as they huddled, glad to be that close to the end zone.
On first down, Gary handed off to Skip, who followed the blocks of Happy and D.J. The going was tough and crowded and he only picked up a yard before getting pushed back.
Happy picked up another yard on second down, blasting into the heart of the defense. It was now third and goal from the two. Gary faked the dive to Happy, the handed back to D.J. who was angling across from behind on a crossbuck.
He had no hole and tried to get outside. The Rams were waiting for him so he cut back inside, finding only a small gap and squirting through, nearly reaching the end zone before getting thrown back.
It was now fourth-and-goal from the one. The fans on both sides stood and cheered, hoping for a score or a stop. Only a little less than two minutes were left before halftime. Cole sent in a play, one that should be able to pick up one yard. It was a quarterback sneak, the easiest play in the playbook.
The Rams had two huge tackles in the gap between Petros’ center and the guards along with two linebackers stacked in behind them. They expected the sneak also, knowing that was the best way to pick up the yard.
Gary went with a quick snap, hoping to catch the Rams by surprise. If it did, it was hard to tell. The Rams’ two tackles blasted into Danny Wall, Petros’ center, and clogged up the hole. The linebackers saw what was developing and also came forward.
As he took the snap, Gary lowered his head and tried to barge forward, but found no place to move. Danny was stood up and getting pushed into the backfield and it moved the Petros quarterback in that direction.
Gary looked desperately for any slight gap to go through but found nothing. Other Rams came pouring through like water in a hole in a dam and he was mobbed, not even getting back to the line of scrimmage.
The Panthers were left pounding the fake grass, knowing they had missed a great opportunity. Cole even showed some emotion for the one of the few times, removing his hat and rubbing his head. He came close to tossing his hat before deciding that would look stupid. How could the coaches expect the players to maintain their composure if the head coach acted like a baby and threw his hat on the ground?
Anson quickly came to the line, wanting to get started again, not satisfied with a four-touchdown lead. Petros again lined up with all eleven players in the box, ready to come hard.
The Rams played it fairly conservatively, handing off to Hayes straight ahead. There wasn’t really a hole, but he made his own. Hayes hit the line already going full speed. Ronnie Jones was waiting for him, but was soon watching from his back as Hayes ran him over like the Panthers’ defensive tackle wasn’t even there.
Happy blasted into Hayes, but bounced off those huge legs. Skip grabbed hold of Hayes and was dragged several yards before getting shaken off. D.J. was the last hope. He blasted into Hayes, only slowing him for a second before getting shaken off like he was a rag doll.
The Panthers watched helplessly as Hayes left everybody in his wake on a 99-yard touchdown run, easily the most impressive one of the night.
Cole stood bent over, shaking his head, wondering how anybody could be that talented.
“Can anybody tackle him?” Cole asked, mainly to himself.
“I can,” said a voice behind him.
He turned to see who volunteered and saw it was his youngest son.
“We might have to see,” Cole responded.
“Good.”
The kick was good again, as the kicker had gotten a lot of practice over the year and in this game at kicking extra points, just as Petros was getting a lot of practice returning kicks.
Anson led 35-0 with just over a minute remaining in the first half.
Skip returned the kick to the Petros 39, again giving his team good field position. Cole knew he should just sit on the ball and play it conservatively, but felt that would not sent a good message to his team.
So he had the Panthers go for the long ball, hoping for some lucky break. On first down, Gary unleashed a long pass to Andy, who used his height to get above the defenders and pull it down on Anson’s 33.
The Panthers hurried to the line and waited for the okay from the official. As soon as they could, Gary called for the ball and received it. This time, nobody was open and Andy was blanketed so heavily that he did not dare throw the ball in his direction.
Gary should have just thrown the ball away, but was sacked by the right defensive end, still waiting for a receiver to break free. Cole called time and brought his team over to the sideline.
“Boys, we’re gonna have to give him more time,” Cole pleaded. “It’s really hard to throw the ball while sitting on your rear. Gary, you’re gonna have to feel the pressure and get rid of it if nobody is open. We can’t take the losses.”
It was second and sixteen as the Panthers came back out on the field. They lined up in the shotgun again, receivers scattered all over the field. Gary took the snap and fired a pass to Kenneth, who was cutting back toward the line. He got behind a wall of blockers on the screen and started running down the field.
He picked up 12 yards, giving Petros a third down with four yards to go for the first.
Gary had his team line up quickly, seeing the precious time slip away. He called the play at the line, planning to go to Andy on a slant.
He took the snap and stepped back a couple of paces, then threw the ball to his lone receiver on the left. It looked like a perfect pass, but the Anson defensive end on that side raised his arm and batted the ball away.
It was now fourth-and-four, still plenty of time.
Cole sent in a play he would later regret. With as hard as the Rams’ line was rushing, there should be a huge gap up in the middle. He just did not expect two linebackers to be coming in that area.
It was a quarterback draw. Gary took three steps back, waited for a second then took off up the field. He quickly realized this wasn’t going to work when two linebackers showed up in front of him, snorting like wild hogs.
The first linebacker hit him high, twisting him in one direction. The other came low, twisting in the other direction. Something had to give and it did, Gary’s left leg under the pressure.
Several of his teammates said they heard the snap. Gary certainly did, as did the two Anson players, who jumped off of the Petros quarterback and started waving for help even before the official blew the play dead.
Gary was sprawled out on the ground, his body going one way, his left leg turned in a direction it should not go.
Cole was the first coach on the field and quickly realized Gary’s leg was broken. As expected, Gary was in quite a bit of pain and his coach tried comforting him.
“My leg feels funny,” Gary moaned.
“You’ll be okay,” Cole assured him, kneeling down beside him.
“How bad is it?” Gary asked, trying to rise and look.
Cole held him down, not wanting Gary to see this. Most people did not respond well when they saw their leg twisted in a wrong direction. The Anson coaches also joined the huddle, realizing the severity of the danger.
Doc Hardy was already making his way to the locker room and had to run from the end zone, out of breath by the time he hit the 20 and puffing heavily by the time he reached Gary.
The trainers from OSU were also nearby, already signaling for additional help. The ambulance came out of one end zone and drove down the field, stopping beside where Gary was laid out.
His parents had left their seats and came out to where their son was, trying to offer comfort. Cole was worried Gary’s mother would get ill when she looked at the leg, but she was a trooper. It was the father who almost got sick.
The medical people carefully put an air cast on the leg to keep it stationary. Stub had to keep telling his players to get back. They also wanted to comfort their fallen teammate, but were getting in the way. Once the leg was set in the cast, they removed his helmet, jersey and shoulder pads.
He was lifted on to the stretcher and taken into the ambulance. His mother got in with him while the father left to retrieve his truck and follow the ambulance to the Stillwater hospital, less than a mile from the stadium. All the people on both sides stood and clapped as he left the field.
It took several more minutes before everything and everyone could get off the field and play could resume.
Cole saw Anson breaking the huddle and realized he had not sent in a replacement for Gary.
“We need to get somebody in for Gary,” he told Ichabod.
“We got eleven out there,” Ichabod replied.
“Who took his place?”
“Look,” Ichabod responded, pointing at the secondary.
Cole saw number fifteen stationed at the rover position and it took a second for him to realize his son was in the game.
“Did you send him in?” Cole asked.
“Nope, and neither did Stub,” Ichabod answered. “I guess he figured that was the only way he would get to play.”
“Send somebody in for him. We can’t have players checking in on their own.”
“Too late,” Stub advised. “We’ll need to do it after this play.”
They looked back out on the field. Anson’s quarterback was taking the snap and handed off to Hayes on a blast play up the middle. There was a small hole and he sprinted through it, looking like it might be another big gain.
But as he ran past a diving Happy, Hayes was hit by a freight train wearing the number 15 on his white jersey.
He had taken and survived some big hits in the game, but this one topped them all. Hayes was stopped in his tracks and just collapsed to the ground.
For Lucky, it did not seem like that great of a hit. It did not hurt him at all, but it looked like Hayes' guts were all shaken.
It took a second for everybody to realize what happened. The Anson fans and players were stunned, never having seen their stud go down like this. They looked at each other, seeking confirmation that it was Hayes who had been crumpled to the ground and was now having trouble getting to his feet.
The Panthers went wild after they realized what happened, celebrating like they had not all game. Lucky hated to see this with Hayes staggering to get back to the huddle, but was also a little excited.
His teammates mobbed him and the people in the stands grabbed each other, exchanged high fives and jumped up and down.
The buzzer sounded to end the first half. Cole jogged after Lucky, catching him before he got past the end zone and grabbing his son by the shoulder pads.
“Great hit,” he stated. “But you should not have checked in without one of the coaches telling you to go in.”
“Sorry,” Lucky responded, the signs of excitement leaving his face. “I was tired of seeing him run up and down the field on us.”
“I know you were. But you’ve got to let the coaches decide who plays and who doesn’t.”
“Okay, who’s gonna play the second half?”
“You feel up to it?”
Lucky’s smile returned.
“They’d have to put me in a body cast to keep me off the field.”
“I guess you’ll be playing,” his father advised. “But don’t try and do too much.”
Lucky was so excited, he reached out and hugged his father, something which did not happen too often, especially when others could see.
They made their way up the ramp and to the dressing room, where the whole room was excited, talking about the hit. It was impossible to tell this was a group of boys trailing 35-0 in a state championship game.
It was almost like David fell Goliath again. Cole did not think it was that big, but probably pretty close. He doubted anybody had ever popped Hayes like that before and just like everybody else, you get hit like that, it hurts.
Cole walked over to where the other coaches were sitting.
“I don’t know about you guys, but I feel like we should go all out this half,” he mentioned. “We shouldn’t play conservative or try and keep the score from getting out of hand. I want to play like we’re going to try and win the game.
“We’re gonna attack on defense and throw the ball every down on offense if that’s what it takes. I don’t know if we can come back and win this game, but we’re sure gonna try. You guys okay with that?”
“I wouldn’t want to play any other way,” Stub agreed.
“I’d rather play hard and get beat by seventy points than play conservative to keep the score reasonable,” Ichabod added.
“Heck yeah,” Lloyd added. “Let’s get after them and stop playing like a bunch of sissies.”
The other coaches looked at Lloyd, not really appreciating the “sissies” comment.
Cole left, shaking his head, a way his oldest son usually left him feeling. He got something to drink and stood before his team, waiting for them to get quiet before talking to them.
“Boys, you know and I know what the scoreboard says,” Cole said. “We kinda got our behinds handed to us on a plate the first half. We didn’t play like we should have and Superman over there is trying to set a new state record for yards rushing.
“But all that doesn’t matter a hill of beans. As far as I’m concerned, we’ll play this second half like the score’s tied. I want us to win this half. Whether it is by one point or 36 points. I’d kinda prefer that it was by 36 points because then we’d win the game. But let’s show them what Petros Panther football is all about.”
Cole waited a second, getting a drink. His mouth was starting to foam and he did not want to look like a dog with rabies.
“Let’s hit them with everything we got. We’re not gonna hold anything back this half. We’re gonna run every play we can think of, anything we can do to score points. We’re also gonna have to stop them on defense but I really don’t think their tailback’s gonna run in the second half like he did in the first half.
“We’ve been playing a long time, boys. We only have one half left in this year. Some of you guys won’t ever strap on the pads again. Let’s make this half one for the ages. Let them talk about this in the years to come, how the Panthers came from so far behind in the second half of the state championship game. We can do it, guys. Hit like you’ve never hit before. Block those guys like they’ve never been blocked and let’s take it to them.”
Chapter 59
Petros slowly made its way out of the locker room and down the long ramp leading to the field. The fans and band were not allowed on the field so only the cheerleaders were waiting to run on the field with the players.
With the school song blasting loudly, the Panthers sprinted out on to the field, everybody looking around at the stadium, even seeing themselves on the huge video screen at the west end of the field. Several of the players pointed at the screen, making sure all their teammates noticed it also.
Derwin and Gary were sent to the middle of the field for the coin toss. The wind was blowing hard out of the north and swirling inside the stadium. It would not really make any difference so Cole did not care which end of the field his team took.
He told his players to defer until the second half if they won the coin toss. Derwin called “heads” and that was how it landed so Gary followed his coach’s instructions.
Anson’s captains decided to take the ball so Derwin told the officials Petros would kick from the west end.
The noise was building, as was the excitement as Cole met with his players before the kicking team took the field.
“Go knock some heads,” he instructed. “They’re not used to getting pounded so let’s show them what it feels like to get hit by a Panther.”
As Jeremy lined up for the kick, Cole noticed Waymon Hayes was back to receive the kickoff, the first time he had seen that.
He started hollering at Jeremy to kick the ball away from Hayes, but it did no good. It was too loud and Jeremy never heard his coach.
Not that it mattered. Jeremy hit the kick perfect, sending the ball high in the air as everybody in the stadium stood, ready for the game to start. Hayes could only stand just inside the end zone and watch the ball soar over his head and into the end zone.
It was a touchback and the perfect way for Petros to start the game.
The Rams broke the huddle and quickly lined up in an I-formation with two tight ends and a flanker spread to the right.
The quarterback barked the signals, took the snap and spun around to hand off to Hayes right up the gut. Derwin blew past the guard, avoided the fullback and threw his whole body into the tailback. He had never hit anybody better or harder.
The force of the blow forced both players to stand straight up. Derwin tried wrapping his arms around Hayes but could not hold on to the massive legs.
Hayes regained his senses, spun away from Derwin and took off around the left end. Harry was coming full speed and dove, trying to knock the legs out from under the Anson running back. It barely bothered Hayes, who ran right through the tackle and was slowed for only an instant.
Two other Panthers hit him with everything they had, but it did not matter. Hayes ran through the tackles, got his legs moving like pistons and sprinted into the secondary.
From that point, it was over. Hayes burst through the secondary like a bullet and made everybody else look like they were standing still. Hayes never slowed down until finishing off his 80-yard run that hit the Petros players like a hard punch in the stomach.
“Holy cow,” exclaimed Cole.
“I think we’re in deep doo-doo,” Stub remarked.
The Petros players were left shaking their heads and looking to the sideline for directions.
Derwin slowly jogged over to the sideline, blood gushing from a nose that looked to be broken in several places.
“I can hardly breathe,” he muttered, pulling off his helmet. The front of his white jersey was already turning a crimson color. Two teammates helped him to the bench as Doc Hardy ran to where he was seated. The doctor grabbed a towel and tried to wipe away the blood to determine the extent of the injury. The blood was flowing so hard, however, that once it was wiped away a new flow would spout out before the doctor could see the damage.
There was no doubt the nose was broken, though, crumpled up like somebody hit him in the face with a brick. The nose was already swelling, as were both eyes, already almost closed.
Cole walked over to look at Derwin, who was squirming around, the pain almost too much to bear. When he found out that playing more was out of the question, Cole knew Derwin would hurt even more.
“We’re going to need to take him inside,” the doctor advised.
Two trainers from Oklahoma State were quickly on the scene, trying to help. The towel holding his nose quickly turned red from the blood. As he walked down the sideline, he left behind a trail of blood.
He stopped and turned back to the coaches.
“I’ll be back,” he promised, sounding like the Terminator.
Cole nodded, although doubting that would happen.
This was not a good start, Cole knew. The game was only one play old and Anson scored on an eighty-yard run and his best defensive player had his nose splattered all over his face.
“At least it won’t hurt his looks,” Stub stated.
“It can’t help, though,” Lloyd added.
The kick on the extra point was perfect, giving Anson an early lead of 7-0.
Most of the fans had not even had a chance to take a seat yet and already a touchdown was scored. The Petros fans were in disbelief, finding it hard to believe anybody could take a hit like that and then go the distance to score, leaving all the Petros defenders standing around wondering what happened.
Lucky had never seen a high school player run like that. The only other players he had seen run like that were college and pro players.
“Boy, he can run,” said Happy, who stood beside Lucky.
“I don’t know how he could still be standing after that hit,” Lucky stated admiringly. “Derwin splattered him and he didn’t even act like it fazed him. I guess you’ll get a chance to pop him now.”
“Yeah, I bet he’ll be scared to death.”
The two teams lined up for the kickoff. The official signaled for the kicker to go ahead and he did, sending a short, high kick that came down on the 23. Skip was waiting for the ball, took two steps then was plastered by one of Anson’s defensive backs.
He could barely hang on to the ball until he hit the ground.
Petros’ offense took the field. Cole knew the offense needed to hold on to the ball for a while, to let the Panthers’ defense recoup after the long run. He sent the Panthers out in their regular offense with D.J. and Skip at running back, two tight ends and Harry at flanker.
Cole knew his team was a little shaken so he decided to keep it simple. He sent in a simple dive play to D.J., hoping to get off to a good start on offense.
He didn’t get it.
Gary had trouble with the snap, tried to force the ball into D.J.’s stomach and it didn’t work. Anson sent a linebacker blitzing right in that hole and arrived just as Gary was having trouble with the handoff.
The ball popped straight up, hit the ground and bounced right into the hands of one of the Anson defensive tackles. He fell to the ground, covering up the ball to give his team great field position.
A loud groan came from the Petros side as the official signaled the ball belonged to Anson. The Rams took over on the Petros 24-yard line.
Anson’s offense sprinted back on to the field. With everybody expecting the ball to go to Hayes, the Rams tried to catch Petros off guard, calling a trap play to the fullback.
The Panthers filled the lanes and forced the fullback to try and veer outside. He could not make it back to the line before Happy broke through and brought him down.
Ichabod knew from watching film that on second and long, Anson either went with a sweep or ran the option. The play would usually go to the wide side and Ichabod decided to roll the dice.
It was a sweep to the wide side, just like Ichabod expected. He had Gary blitz from his position and it looked like the gamble worked.
Gary had Hayes in his sights and forced him back into the inside. Happy was bearing down on the Anson running back, hoping history did not repeat itself. It was a hit that made Derwin’s play look insignificant, one that made all the television replays that night.
Happy hit with everything he had, even wrapped up Hayes. But Hayes quickly recovered, threw Happy aside like he was a wet rag and took off.
Skip grabbed an ankle and was dragged for several yards before Hayes broke loose. Several Panthers were close to him but could not get any closer as they watched the Anson standout break loose and sprint toward the end zone.
Cole had no answer to stopping this onslaught. The only thing that could be done was score more points than Anson, but staring at a 14-0 deficit did not make him feel like his chances were good.
Petros had run only one play on offense and was already trailing by two touchdowns to a team you never wanted to fall behind against.
He felt the confidence of his players dropping quickly. Sure, the Panthers had been through some tough times, but never in a situation like this. They were already shaken even before the game started and to see Anson roar ahead did not make the Panthers feel better.
The offense had to move the ball this time and keep it away from Anson. Cole decided the best defense for the Panthers was a good offense, one where they held the ball for a long drive. Now he just had to decide how to get that done.
Cole almost sent in a trick play, but considered that a sign of weakness. Plus, after Kenneth could only return the kick to the 25, field position was not great and Petros could not allow Anson a short field again.
It might not even matter whether it was a short or long field, but Cole was determined not to make any mistake that made it easier for the Rams.
The Petros offense jogged back on to the field. Cole wanted to keep things simple until everybody calmed down so he sent in another dive, only this time to Skip.
Petros’ line was much smaller than its counterparts, but that does not always determine who wins or loses on the line. If done correctly with the right fundamentals, a smaller man can block a larger man, and that was the case on this play.
The Panthers’ line blocked the right player and Skip looked up to see a large hole in front of him. It closed quickly, but not before he picked up almost seven yards. Cole sent in the same play and once again, it worked.
Skip hit the hole quickly and picked up four yards before the Rams responded. It was a first down for the Panthers, their first of the game. It also kept the ball away from Anson a little longer.
D.J. got the call on the next play. The hole was clogged with bodies, so he bounced outside, appeared to have running room but was quickly run down by the great speed of the defense. He did pick up three yards, however, so the play was not a total waste.
Cole could see the confidence rising slightly. This was how he hoped the offense would look the whole game. He watched as Gary took the snap, faked a handoff to Skip, as the defense was geared up for him this time, then kept the ball and ran through another big hole.
The run was good for six yards, setting up third and short. Cole sent Happy in so the Panthers lined up in the wishbone.
Gary faked the dive to Happy, pivoted around and handed off to Skip on a crossbuck. There wasn’t much of a hole, just big enough for him to slide through for a gain of two yards and another first down.
Cole saw the defense moving closer to the ball, not the least bit worried about a pass. Now was the perfect time for a play-action pass, and if Lucky was playing, he would not have hesitated for a second.
But with Gary in, rusty after having not played for so long, Cole decided not to try anything fancy at this time. Plus, the Panthers were moving the ball.
Petros tried the option for the first time but Anson’s great team speed just ate the play up, tackling Skip for a small loss as soon after he received the pitch.
“It’s gonna be hard to get outside,” said Lloyd, an understatement as far as his father was concerned.
Lucky was dying to get in the game, hating to stand on the sidelines and not contribute. He was still sore, but wished his father would give him the chance. He also could see the way Anson’s defense was playing and knew a pass would work.
Cole decided to gamble, facing second and long. He knew it was not likely to work, but if nothing else, it might convince the defense to scoot back a little bit. Gary faked a handoff to D.J., then Skip on the belly.
He paused for a second, selling the run, then slowly rolled out. Harry was the flanker on that side. He faked a block on the safety and cut back on a flag route. Anson’s defense recovered quickly, but Harry still had a couple of steps on the defensive back.
Gary threw a bullet into the gusting winds, a pass so hard the wind did not even bother it. It also was so hard the Anson defender could not recover. Harry grabbed the pass going full speed and was off.
Against most teams, he probably would have scored. Against Anson, however, he was caught after gaining 11 more yards.
Skip found good running room on another dive play, nearly breaking it for big yardage but settling for a gain of seven. D.J. followed with a blast that was good for five more yards and the Panthers’ offense seemed to be on a roll.
The drive continued, eating up yardage and time. But once Petros reached the Anson 20, the Rams’ defense stiffened. They were not used to teams moving the ball against them, and certainly not used to other teams scoring on them.
The holes were closed up and the backs found no running room. After two runs gained nothing, Cole called another pass. Anson’s defense blitzed, sending more defenders than there were blockers.
Gary did not read it quick enough and failed to hit his hot target, Andy, on a slant. Two Rams came in from his blind side and hit him, knocking the Petros quarterback down before he got rid of the ball. It was a loss of nine, leaving the Panthers facing fourth and 20.
They would have to reach the Anson nine to pick up a first down and keep the drive alive. Cole expected another blitz and kept both running backs in to block. Gary faked a handoff to D.J., which fooled nobody, and rolled out.
He felt the pressure this time and knew there wasn’t much time. Andy was split out far to the side, covered by two defenders. He fought through the defensive backs trying to jam him at the line and used his long strides to open a small gap.
Andy looked back, hoping to see the ball in the air. Gary was just releasing the pass as a linebacker crashed in to him, forcing the ball to flutter to the ground.
The drive had ended, but did use up some clock and keep Anson’s offense off the field. Now there were only a little over three minutes left in the quarter. The offense had partially done its job, just failed to score. Now it was time for the defense to step it up.
Petros’ defense knew what was coming, as did everybody in the stadium. The Panthers keyed on Hayes, willing to risk a pass play. They crowded the line and edged closer.
Anson’s quarterback took the snap and pitched back to Hayes. Stewart Andrews was the defensive end on that side. He read the play and did just as the coaches instructed him. Stewart ran straight up the field, cutting off Hayes from getting outside and forcing the runner back inside. Ronnie Jones fought off his block and was waiting.
He grabbed Hayes and refused to let go until help arrived. Murray and Skip followed, blasting Hayes with hits that would take a normal player to the ground. Stewart also joined in and the four players actually brought Hayes down. The Petros side let out a wild cheer, finally realizing Hayes could be tackled.
Anson came back with an option to the other side. Sam Roberts crashed so quick the quarterback was unable to pitch back to Hayes. It was two straight plays with a loss and Petros was starting to get fired up.
But the Panthers needed another big play to stop the onslaught. All the Panthers expected a draw to Hayes and maintained their spots. Anson’s quarterback dropped straight back, looking for an open receiver.
Gary had Hayes covered, who was the first option, so the quarterback had to try and find somebody else open. The Panthers’ coverage was good so the quarterback tried to scramble. He got through the wave of linemen, only to find Happy waiting for him.
Happy caught him flush, straightening up the quarterback then driving him backward to the ground. It was a perfect form tackle, one that would have been a good one for an instructional video.
The Panthers mobbed Happy, who was so keyed up it was doubtful he even realized what happened.
Petros had actually stopped the mighty Rams and would get the ball back, probably in good field position.
Cole decided to go after the punt, sending ten players to try for the block. Skip’s fingers almost grazed the ball as he dove for the block. But despite the pressure, the punt was still a good one.
Kenneth had to retreat backward, waiting for the punt to come down. He hated to do it but was forced to call a fair catch, knowing the Rams had two players bearing down on him and likely to take his head off if he didn’t raise his arm before catching the punt.
The Panthers took over on their own 43, the first good field position of the game.
A dive to D.J. netted five yards, followed by a crossbuck to Skip, good for another three. Facing third and two, Gary saw the middle of the defense open as he came to the line and kept the ball himself on a quarterback sneak, easily picking up the first down.
With the clock counting down until the end of the quarter, Skip took a dive handoff for six yards. Gary ran the same play, only keeping this time instead of handing off. He picked up four yards and appeared to have a first down.
The officials measured and the Panthers were short by less than two inches. As Petros broke the huddle, the buzzer sounded, ending the first quarter. The two teams went to the sidelines to get some drinks and advice.
Cole sent in Happy on the short-yardage play, planning to let him rumble ahead for the first down.
The Petros side was getting back in the game, realizing a 14-0 deficit was not impossible to overcome. After all, aside from the two quick touchdowns in the first minute, Petros had played its opponent even.
Gary led the offense back on the field. The Panthers went straight to the line, waiting for the official to let them play. He took the snap and handed off to Happy, who barged forward for a couple of yards and another first down.
Cole kept the same lineup in for first down, again calling for a handoff to Happy. There really wasn’t much of a hole, but that did not keep him from making his own. He plowed forward, looking for somebody to hit, not a hole.
He hit one lineman, powered through then ran into a linebacker. Happy was brought down, but not before delivering a hit that left the linebacker shaking his head. It was good for four yards, another good play on first down.
Cole sent in the same play to the other side. This time it did not work, Anson’s defense swarmed Happy in the backfield before he picked up any speed. Now the Panthers faced third and six, not the kind of situation they wanted to be in.
Gary got the call from the sideline and relayed it to his teammates. Happy had gone to the sideline, replaced by Andy. The Panthers were going into the shotgun for the first time, putting receivers all over the field.
Seth was the only running back in the backfield with Gary. The Petros quarterback took the snap and dropped back, waiting for the pressure to come. As soon as the linemen got close, he lobbed a pass over their heads to Seth, waiting behind a wall of blockers.
He was wide open and had nothing but blockers and a lot of grass between him and the goal-line. But he only forgot one thing before taking off, and that was catching the ball before running.
The ball bounced off his fingers and to the ground. He was already two yards down the field by this time, looking back and wondering why the football was not in his hands.
He threw his hands up in dismay, knowing the drop kept Petros from a big gain. Now the Panthers would have to punt, giving Hayes the ball again.
Seth walked slowly toward the sideline, wishing for some place to hide. He was expecting a lecture but his teammates and coaches surrounded him, patting him on his shoulder pads and telling him to forget it.
He was glad for the support but it did not keep him from feeling terrible. Seth was grateful for the opportunity to play in a situation like this, but wished he could hide on the sidelines if another mistake like this was going to happen.
Cole made sure the entire punting team knew Hayes was back for the punt. He grabbed Jeremy before the kicker jogged on to the field.
“Kick the ball outta bounds,” Cole instructed.
“Will do,” replied Jeremy.
The Rams were setting up for the return and did not punt any pressure on the kick. Jeremy took his time and just murdered the kick, one of his better punts of the year. The football sailed long and high, easily clearing Hayes and sailing out of bounds at the Anson 32.
His teammates were impressed and made sure they let Jeremy know as he ran off the field. The fans rose also, making sure Jeremy knew his efforts were appreciated.
The Rams tried to trick Petros on first down, faking a handoff to Hayes, then the quarterback waited patiently before unleashing a long pass.
Skip read the play perfectly, making sure none of the receivers got behind him. The Anson wide receiver flew past D.J. and appeared to be open, but Skip came out of nowhere and dove at the last second, knocking the ball away.
It was a great play, one that even Anson’s coaches applauded.
The Rams decided to quit messing around and handed off to Hayes right up the middle on second down. The Panthers penetrated into the backfield and three of the players were holding on for dear life. Gary saw the opportunity he had been waiting for and sprinted in from the secondary at full speed, lowered his head and tried to remove Hayes’ head from his body.
The crashing of the collision reverberated off the stands, the crack loud enough it was heard in the press box. Unfortunately for Petros, Gary’s plan did not work. All it did was knock the Anson running back free.
He retreated two steps, took another big hit from D.J., spun around and headed outside. Stewart Andrews was caught out of position and dove for Hayes’ legs, trying to keep him from getting outside.
Hayes ran through the attempted tackle and got to the corner. Seeing this caused anguish for the Petros coaches, knowing this was not good.
They could see what was developing, knew what was fixing to happen but were powerless to stop it.
Two of the Panthers had the angle on Hayes, not that it did any good. He actually seemed to slow down to let the Petros players get close, like it would raise the hopes of his teammates and fans, then turned on the afterburners, leaving all the players far behind.
“There’s no way to stop him,” Lloyd stated.
“He’s probably the best dang high school football player I’ve ever seen,” Stub complimented.
Cole tried to not pay attention to what everybody was saying. He was watching his players on the field, knowing how bad this hurt to advance this far and then get manhandled.
But there wasn’t anything that could be done. Cole couldn’t put on the pads, he was too old by now, not that it would do any good. They just didn’t make running backs like this when he played.
There were fast backs then, and big backs, of course, but not the combination Hayes possessed. He was big, strong, fast and smart. Plus, as he had shown several times, Hayes could take a hit and keep going.
The players jogged to the end of the field, the Petros players looking to the sideline for directions on how to stop this stud. None of the coaches could answer the question, not really sure there was an answer.
There were teams in college ball that could stop him, but certainly not in a Class 2A state championship game. There was only one way for Hayes to get stopped and that was to knock him out of the game. And after seeing him survive hits that would put a normal player on the bench for the rest of the game, Cole knew that was easier said than done.
He watched the kick split the uprights, watched the replay on the huge video screen and wondered what to do.
His players were dragging badly now, looking like they were beat and the second quarter wasn’t even half over.
Cole and the other coaches tried to boost the players but quickly saw it was not doing any good. The players just looked and acted like they wished this would get over with, the same way Cole always felt when he made the mistake of riding a roller coaster.
He just wished the ride would end, just as his players felt now.
His team had not quit all year and Cole doubted they would here either, although they certainly looked like they wanted to give it up.
Cole looked down the sideline and saw Lucky looking back at him, pleading to go into the game without saying a word.
He contemplated it for a second, but doubted it would really help things and only increase the chances of Lucky getting hurt worse.
Cole looked away, still feeling his son’s eyes bearing down on him.
Lucky was not the begging type, but wanted to do something to convince his father he could play. This hurt much more than the ribs, seeing his teammates getting hammered. And Lucky had not seen anything that made him think things would change, knowing the only way this would keep from being embarrassing was the kindness of the Anson coach, if he called off the dogs.
Cole sent the return team back on the field.
“We should get pretty good at this before the night is over,” Stub mentioned.
“What’s that?” Cole asked.
“Returning kicks.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Cause it looks like we’re gonna get a lotta practice,” Stub added, walking off before he heard Cole’s response.
Cole didn’t really have a response, mainly because he knew what Stub said was true.
He turned his attention back on the field. The kick was short again, coming down on the 22. Kenneth caught the ball, started up the field, weaving in and out of traffic and reached the 36 before getting his legs cut out from under him.
Petros’ offense took the field again. The fans still had enough enthusiasm to make some noise, but it was not as high on the decibel meter as before.
The offense lined up on the ball, waiting for the umpire to let them proceed. Finally, everybody was ready. Gary took the snap, spun around and put the ball in D.J.’s belly. He left it there for as long as possible before pulling it out. He stood still for a second, trying to sell the fake even more.
Finally, he started jogging in the opposite direction. Andy was cutting across the field, followed closely by one of the safeties. It was too close to throw the ball and Andy was the only receiver out on a route. So Gary pulled the ball in, held on tight and took off.
He had the corner for just a second before the pursuit caught up with him. What looked like the beginning of a good play turned out to be nothing but a bust. Anson’s defense was just too quick. Gary was brought down, still a yard behind the line of scrimmage.
Seeing this was painful to Cole, knowing if Lucky was in the game, he would have gotten around the corner and probably picked up good yardage.
Cole called another trick play, knowing Anson would not be ready for this. It was the first time the Panthers ran the play in years. Gary took the snap, pitched back to Skip running to his right and then took off in the other direction.
Skip got outside, waited for the defense to come to him, then fired a pass back across the field. Gary was wide open and caught the ball on the run.
He had plenty of room and took advantage of it, running down the field as fast as possible. It took several seconds for the Rams to realize what happened. Gary had a good lead but it did not last long.
Anson had four players in the secondary faster than anybody on Petros’ roster. Two of them were still on that side of the field. They quickly recovered and chased after Gary.
Gary had decent speed but looked like some wild African animal getting chased down by a cheetah. They caught him and brought him down at Anson’s 32.
The Panthers huddled quickly and Cole sent in the play. Gary would fake a handoff to Skip and roll out on a bootleg with the option of running or passing. The play worked fine until he faked the handoff and found a defensive end bearing down on him.
Gary panicked and threw the ball in the general area where Harry should be. That is, if the defensive backs had allowed him to get off the line. They didn’t, keeping him pinned up.
Nobody from Petros was even close to the pass, only the Anson free safety. He left his feet to dive for the ball, grabbing it only inches before it fell to the ground.
The official pointed toward the end zone Petros was defending, letting everybody know it was Anson’s ball.
“We can’t block, tackle or hold on to the dang ball,” Stub mumbled, while walking past Cole. “That animal out there’s probably gonna go eighty yards on us again.”
Actually, it was eighty-three yards and he did it on the second play. The first play was a trap to the fullback that went nowhere. Anson followed with a power play off the tackle next with Hayes taking the ball, hitting the hole quickly and running through an attempted arm tackle by Happy, nearly pulling his arm out of socket in the process.
Hayes looked like a jet taking off. He was through the line and past the secondary before the Panthers got rid of the blockers. By that time, he was off to the races.
The players and coaches watched in disbelief, getting very tired of this. They were convinced and did not need to see this anymore. They now knew Hayes was the best player in the state and did not need any more convincing. He just needed to turn into a mere mortal and stop this Superman act.
The kick was good again, giving Anson a 28-0 lead midway through the quarter. If Cole thought his players were dragging earlier, they had advanced to a new level.
This had stopped being fun for them, they just wanted it to end. They did not know how to stop this guy, especially with their best defensive player in the locker room getting his splattered nose put back together.
The kick was short again, this time taken by Skip. He flew up the middle and reached the 38 before getting chased down.
“See, we’re getting better every time,” Stub pointed out.
“You’re really starting to get on my nerves with your comments,” Ichabod responded.
Stub started to fire back with a smart remark, then caught himself.
“Sorry,” he added. “I’m just frustrated like everybody else.”
The Panthers started another drive, slowly moving down the field. But again, they had success until getting close to the end zone. Then, the Rams stiffened and the drive ended, this time as Petros could not convert on fourth-and-three as Skip was hit in the backfield, not even able to get back to the line.
Ichabod was tired of messing around. He wanted to force Anson to try something different and decided to send all eleven players. It was an act of desperation, but he wanted to somehow stop Hayes, if possible.
The Panthers came with everything and actually got to Hayes before he got started. It took around five players, but they again proved Hayes could be tackled.
Anson’s coach was no dummy, of course, you did not win as many state championships as he had and not pick up a few things. He knew if Petros was sending that many players on a blitz, a pass should be available.
He called the play, hoping his quarterback had time to get rid of the ball. He did, barely, and flung a pass out to his flanker, who appeared to be open when the pass was thrown.
But Skip read the play from his safety position and got there just as the ball did. The flanker bobbled the ball for just a second. Skip only had to put his hands out and the ball came to rest in his paws.
He took off, looking for a path to the end zone. The Petros side exploded, finally seeing something good happen to their team.
Skip had a lane to the end zone, but saw several Anson players chasing after him. He made it to the three before getting knocked out of bounds.
The Panthers’ offense finally showed a little life as they sprinted on to the field. The players congratulated Skip as they huddled, glad to be that close to the end zone.
On first down, Gary handed off to Skip, who followed the blocks of Happy and D.J. The going was tough and crowded and he only picked up a yard before getting pushed back.
Happy picked up another yard on second down, blasting into the heart of the defense. It was now third and goal from the two. Gary faked the dive to Happy, the handed back to D.J. who was angling across from behind on a crossbuck.
He had no hole and tried to get outside. The Rams were waiting for him so he cut back inside, finding only a small gap and squirting through, nearly reaching the end zone before getting thrown back.
It was now fourth-and-goal from the one. The fans on both sides stood and cheered, hoping for a score or a stop. Only a little less than two minutes were left before halftime. Cole sent in a play, one that should be able to pick up one yard. It was a quarterback sneak, the easiest play in the playbook.
The Rams had two huge tackles in the gap between Petros’ center and the guards along with two linebackers stacked in behind them. They expected the sneak also, knowing that was the best way to pick up the yard.
Gary went with a quick snap, hoping to catch the Rams by surprise. If it did, it was hard to tell. The Rams’ two tackles blasted into Danny Wall, Petros’ center, and clogged up the hole. The linebackers saw what was developing and also came forward.
As he took the snap, Gary lowered his head and tried to barge forward, but found no place to move. Danny was stood up and getting pushed into the backfield and it moved the Petros quarterback in that direction.
Gary looked desperately for any slight gap to go through but found nothing. Other Rams came pouring through like water in a hole in a dam and he was mobbed, not even getting back to the line of scrimmage.
The Panthers were left pounding the fake grass, knowing they had missed a great opportunity. Cole even showed some emotion for the one of the few times, removing his hat and rubbing his head. He came close to tossing his hat before deciding that would look stupid. How could the coaches expect the players to maintain their composure if the head coach acted like a baby and threw his hat on the ground?
Anson quickly came to the line, wanting to get started again, not satisfied with a four-touchdown lead. Petros again lined up with all eleven players in the box, ready to come hard.
The Rams played it fairly conservatively, handing off to Hayes straight ahead. There wasn’t really a hole, but he made his own. Hayes hit the line already going full speed. Ronnie Jones was waiting for him, but was soon watching from his back as Hayes ran him over like the Panthers’ defensive tackle wasn’t even there.
Happy blasted into Hayes, but bounced off those huge legs. Skip grabbed hold of Hayes and was dragged several yards before getting shaken off. D.J. was the last hope. He blasted into Hayes, only slowing him for a second before getting shaken off like he was a rag doll.
The Panthers watched helplessly as Hayes left everybody in his wake on a 99-yard touchdown run, easily the most impressive one of the night.
Cole stood bent over, shaking his head, wondering how anybody could be that talented.
“Can anybody tackle him?” Cole asked, mainly to himself.
“I can,” said a voice behind him.
He turned to see who volunteered and saw it was his youngest son.
“We might have to see,” Cole responded.
“Good.”
The kick was good again, as the kicker had gotten a lot of practice over the year and in this game at kicking extra points, just as Petros was getting a lot of practice returning kicks.
Anson led 35-0 with just over a minute remaining in the first half.
Skip returned the kick to the Petros 39, again giving his team good field position. Cole knew he should just sit on the ball and play it conservatively, but felt that would not sent a good message to his team.
So he had the Panthers go for the long ball, hoping for some lucky break. On first down, Gary unleashed a long pass to Andy, who used his height to get above the defenders and pull it down on Anson’s 33.
The Panthers hurried to the line and waited for the okay from the official. As soon as they could, Gary called for the ball and received it. This time, nobody was open and Andy was blanketed so heavily that he did not dare throw the ball in his direction.
Gary should have just thrown the ball away, but was sacked by the right defensive end, still waiting for a receiver to break free. Cole called time and brought his team over to the sideline.
“Boys, we’re gonna have to give him more time,” Cole pleaded. “It’s really hard to throw the ball while sitting on your rear. Gary, you’re gonna have to feel the pressure and get rid of it if nobody is open. We can’t take the losses.”
It was second and sixteen as the Panthers came back out on the field. They lined up in the shotgun again, receivers scattered all over the field. Gary took the snap and fired a pass to Kenneth, who was cutting back toward the line. He got behind a wall of blockers on the screen and started running down the field.
He picked up 12 yards, giving Petros a third down with four yards to go for the first.
Gary had his team line up quickly, seeing the precious time slip away. He called the play at the line, planning to go to Andy on a slant.
He took the snap and stepped back a couple of paces, then threw the ball to his lone receiver on the left. It looked like a perfect pass, but the Anson defensive end on that side raised his arm and batted the ball away.
It was now fourth-and-four, still plenty of time.
Cole sent in a play he would later regret. With as hard as the Rams’ line was rushing, there should be a huge gap up in the middle. He just did not expect two linebackers to be coming in that area.
It was a quarterback draw. Gary took three steps back, waited for a second then took off up the field. He quickly realized this wasn’t going to work when two linebackers showed up in front of him, snorting like wild hogs.
The first linebacker hit him high, twisting him in one direction. The other came low, twisting in the other direction. Something had to give and it did, Gary’s left leg under the pressure.
Several of his teammates said they heard the snap. Gary certainly did, as did the two Anson players, who jumped off of the Petros quarterback and started waving for help even before the official blew the play dead.
Gary was sprawled out on the ground, his body going one way, his left leg turned in a direction it should not go.
Cole was the first coach on the field and quickly realized Gary’s leg was broken. As expected, Gary was in quite a bit of pain and his coach tried comforting him.
“My leg feels funny,” Gary moaned.
“You’ll be okay,” Cole assured him, kneeling down beside him.
“How bad is it?” Gary asked, trying to rise and look.
Cole held him down, not wanting Gary to see this. Most people did not respond well when they saw their leg twisted in a wrong direction. The Anson coaches also joined the huddle, realizing the severity of the danger.
Doc Hardy was already making his way to the locker room and had to run from the end zone, out of breath by the time he hit the 20 and puffing heavily by the time he reached Gary.
The trainers from OSU were also nearby, already signaling for additional help. The ambulance came out of one end zone and drove down the field, stopping beside where Gary was laid out.
His parents had left their seats and came out to where their son was, trying to offer comfort. Cole was worried Gary’s mother would get ill when she looked at the leg, but she was a trooper. It was the father who almost got sick.
The medical people carefully put an air cast on the leg to keep it stationary. Stub had to keep telling his players to get back. They also wanted to comfort their fallen teammate, but were getting in the way. Once the leg was set in the cast, they removed his helmet, jersey and shoulder pads.
He was lifted on to the stretcher and taken into the ambulance. His mother got in with him while the father left to retrieve his truck and follow the ambulance to the Stillwater hospital, less than a mile from the stadium. All the people on both sides stood and clapped as he left the field.
It took several more minutes before everything and everyone could get off the field and play could resume.
Cole saw Anson breaking the huddle and realized he had not sent in a replacement for Gary.
“We need to get somebody in for Gary,” he told Ichabod.
“We got eleven out there,” Ichabod replied.
“Who took his place?”
“Look,” Ichabod responded, pointing at the secondary.
Cole saw number fifteen stationed at the rover position and it took a second for him to realize his son was in the game.
“Did you send him in?” Cole asked.
“Nope, and neither did Stub,” Ichabod answered. “I guess he figured that was the only way he would get to play.”
“Send somebody in for him. We can’t have players checking in on their own.”
“Too late,” Stub advised. “We’ll need to do it after this play.”
They looked back out on the field. Anson’s quarterback was taking the snap and handed off to Hayes on a blast play up the middle. There was a small hole and he sprinted through it, looking like it might be another big gain.
But as he ran past a diving Happy, Hayes was hit by a freight train wearing the number 15 on his white jersey.
He had taken and survived some big hits in the game, but this one topped them all. Hayes was stopped in his tracks and just collapsed to the ground.
For Lucky, it did not seem like that great of a hit. It did not hurt him at all, but it looked like Hayes' guts were all shaken.
It took a second for everybody to realize what happened. The Anson fans and players were stunned, never having seen their stud go down like this. They looked at each other, seeking confirmation that it was Hayes who had been crumpled to the ground and was now having trouble getting to his feet.
The Panthers went wild after they realized what happened, celebrating like they had not all game. Lucky hated to see this with Hayes staggering to get back to the huddle, but was also a little excited.
His teammates mobbed him and the people in the stands grabbed each other, exchanged high fives and jumped up and down.
The buzzer sounded to end the first half. Cole jogged after Lucky, catching him before he got past the end zone and grabbing his son by the shoulder pads.
“Great hit,” he stated. “But you should not have checked in without one of the coaches telling you to go in.”
“Sorry,” Lucky responded, the signs of excitement leaving his face. “I was tired of seeing him run up and down the field on us.”
“I know you were. But you’ve got to let the coaches decide who plays and who doesn’t.”
“Okay, who’s gonna play the second half?”
“You feel up to it?”
Lucky’s smile returned.
“They’d have to put me in a body cast to keep me off the field.”
“I guess you’ll be playing,” his father advised. “But don’t try and do too much.”
Lucky was so excited, he reached out and hugged his father, something which did not happen too often, especially when others could see.
They made their way up the ramp and to the dressing room, where the whole room was excited, talking about the hit. It was impossible to tell this was a group of boys trailing 35-0 in a state championship game.
It was almost like David fell Goliath again. Cole did not think it was that big, but probably pretty close. He doubted anybody had ever popped Hayes like that before and just like everybody else, you get hit like that, it hurts.
Cole walked over to where the other coaches were sitting.
“I don’t know about you guys, but I feel like we should go all out this half,” he mentioned. “We shouldn’t play conservative or try and keep the score from getting out of hand. I want to play like we’re going to try and win the game.
“We’re gonna attack on defense and throw the ball every down on offense if that’s what it takes. I don’t know if we can come back and win this game, but we’re sure gonna try. You guys okay with that?”
“I wouldn’t want to play any other way,” Stub agreed.
“I’d rather play hard and get beat by seventy points than play conservative to keep the score reasonable,” Ichabod added.
“Heck yeah,” Lloyd added. “Let’s get after them and stop playing like a bunch of sissies.”
The other coaches looked at Lloyd, not really appreciating the “sissies” comment.
Cole left, shaking his head, a way his oldest son usually left him feeling. He got something to drink and stood before his team, waiting for them to get quiet before talking to them.
“Boys, you know and I know what the scoreboard says,” Cole said. “We kinda got our behinds handed to us on a plate the first half. We didn’t play like we should have and Superman over there is trying to set a new state record for yards rushing.
“But all that doesn’t matter a hill of beans. As far as I’m concerned, we’ll play this second half like the score’s tied. I want us to win this half. Whether it is by one point or 36 points. I’d kinda prefer that it was by 36 points because then we’d win the game. But let’s show them what Petros Panther football is all about.”
Cole waited a second, getting a drink. His mouth was starting to foam and he did not want to look like a dog with rabies.
“Let’s hit them with everything we got. We’re not gonna hold anything back this half. We’re gonna run every play we can think of, anything we can do to score points. We’re also gonna have to stop them on defense but I really don’t think their tailback’s gonna run in the second half like he did in the first half.
“We’ve been playing a long time, boys. We only have one half left in this year. Some of you guys won’t ever strap on the pads again. Let’s make this half one for the ages. Let them talk about this in the years to come, how the Panthers came from so far behind in the second half of the state championship game. We can do it, guys. Hit like you’ve never hit before. Block those guys like they’ve never been blocked and let’s take it to them.”
posted by Craig Hall at 4:38 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home