Page 56 of Strong Side
“We are the best on the field.”
“Yes, sir.”
Archie stops walking and stands in the center of the room. He looks around, nodding. “We gonna take it all day like?—”
We clap.
“To the blue.” Clap.
“To the white.” Clap.
“To the offense like—” Clap.
“To the defense like—” Clap.
“To the house like—” Clap.
“And it sounds like?—”
We all start jumping around, chanting, getting pumped up.
“And it sounds like?—”
We chant louder.
“And it sounds like?—”
“WIN!” we yell.
“Let’s go protect what belongs to us!” he yells.
We grab our helmets and run out of the locker room and through the tunnel and wait. The adrenaline is high, and we’re ready to bust out onto the field. And we do just that when we hear our band play our fight song.
Beck and I usually stay together from the locker room, to the tunnel, to running out, to setting our gear next to each other. We’ve played together since we were kids, and some things you just don’t change. I get to play a game I love with my best friend. Doesn’t get any better than this.
We get to the bench and both look into the stands for our families. His dad and sister are sitting next to my parents, Charlie, Noelle, Arbor, and Chelsea. They’re all waving at us.
Then my sister pulls out a poster board that says,The weather may be cool, but #24 is hot. Then she turns it around, and it says,President of the Beckham Linson Fan Club #24.
I look over at Beck and see the smile he reserves for my sister. He loves it, but he loves it because he knows it makes her happy and she likely thinks she’s the funniest person ever.
When I turn back to wave to Noelle one more time, she has a sign too. Hers says,#82 is my boyfriendwith hearts all over it. I bring my palm to my heart, then blow her a kiss.
If she means to make a statement, she did. And I’m not gonna let her take it back.
This might just be my best game of the season. We’re up by twenty points, and two of those touchdowns … are mine. And I want one more to end the game.
We have the ball on the four-yard line, so the plan is to pass off to Beck for him to plow through and run it in. But the defense blitzes, and Bo is under pressure in the pocket. I get around the cornerback guarding me and run diagonally to get to a position where Bo can pass me the ball.
When he throws the ball, the cornerback is at my front, holding on to my right arm, trying to block the pas—or worse, intercept it. I jump up and reach for the ball in the air, grabbing it with my left hand. One-handed.
My teammates run to me, jumping up and down, cheering, yelling, smacking my helmet and shoulder pads. I can hear the crowd going wild, which just amps me up even more. I’m not known to be a showboater, but I can’t help it. After tossing the ball to the referee, I turn and face the crowd, arms up, waving my hands toward me. The crowd gets louder, and then I take a bow, turn, and run back to the sideline.
As I pass Coach, he grabs my face mask to stop me. “You are feelin’ it today, King! That’s what I’m talkin’ about!” He releases the face mask and smacks the top of my helmet.
I take it off as I walk away and look up to my family. They’re all clapping, and the girls are jumping up and down. When I make eye contact with Noelle, I hold up four fingers and then point to her. The smile she gives me is better than any touchdown I scored today.
Four minutes later, the game ends, and the fans rush the field. They’re not supposed to, but with this rivalry, the university is willing to pay the fines. I push my way through the crowd to where the team is gathering for the Golden Hat presentation and look around to see if Noelle and my family have made it on to the field, but I don’t see them yet.
