Page 26 of Go Deep (A Bad Boy Sports Romance)
9
Slade
It wasthe fifth game of the season, and the second home game in a row. We were on a winning streak, which was no surprise to me. In the locker room, suiting up with the other guys, I could feel the energy coming off of our last two wins. Our momentum was growing, and our team was stronger as every week passed.
For tonight’s game, I took a moment to let it sink in as I looked around the locker room. I watched my team members proudly put their uniforms on over the protective pads, and on the Coach’s signal, looked on as each picked up his helmet in his hand, eager for the next win. It was a giddying sight to look around the room and see all those helmets held up with pride.
“Okay, boys. Bring it in tight,” Coach said, stepping into the middle of the room. “Let’s talk tactics and then I’ll give you one of my less popular spiels.”
He sounded serious. It wasn’t his normal, energized, charismatic pep talk, and that made us all pay attention.
“Tonight we’re coming in off of consecutive wins. What happens when you get to this level of success? You get lazy. You get too content. You get careless. But you aren’t growing when you’re content, and if you’re not growing, you’re not wining. You gotta ask yourselves tonight, are we content?”
He looked around the room at the somber faces.
“Well, are we?” he asked again.
“No!” the team shouted.
“Then, go out there tonight and play like a team that’s set an awesome foundation for a winning season, and let’s keep growing. Wake up, boys! Those guys coming in here tonight know what you got, and they want it. They don’t respect your house. This is your house. You’re going to show them what happens to intruders who set foot in your house. You’re going to teach them how to respect you. They will not get to take what you earned with hard work. And you have to want it more than they do. Special teams, know your role. Defense, let’s hit them hard. Offense, let’s play fast. Let’s move that ball. Give defense a lead to protect. Are we ready to play some football?”
“Yes, Coach.”
“I said, are we ready to play some football?”
“Yes, Coach!” The team roared.
“That’s better. Now get out there and show them whose house this is.”
We stormed the field like we were going into battle. We weren’t just going out there to play football. We were going out there to crush bones and stomp on the other team’s backs. I went out there every week to earn my spot in the draft next year. That was a given. This season was the end of my college career, and I knew that in order to get where I wanted to be in the NFL, I had to play like I was already there.
The game started off with a bang, and the offense played fast during the first half on both teams. Those boys from out of town were good. They made our defense work for it and we gladly returned the favor. Personally, I wasn’t satisfied unless I threw a touchdown pass every time we had possession. The better our defensive line played, the more often I got to do that.
On our first possession, my first pass of the game, Evan caught the ball and ran it in. The crowd loved that. Our rivals for the night, not so much. I came off the field with a smile on my face. It was going to be that kind of night. We were looking at scoring big if we kept up the pace, but they showed us during their next possession that they were looking at doing the same thing. Where we’d gone for the extra point, they went for a two-point conversion, putting us behind.
Bullshit. Our defense wasn’t doing their job.
For the remainder of the first half of the game, we maintained our little back-and-forth game, but with a pass right before half-time, I brought us back into the lead. We were cutting it close tonight, but coming off the field at half-time, I still felt confident we would bring in another win. My teammates seemed a little tired and worried coming off the field. The other team was working us hard, but we would come back harder. Coach was confident, and gave us some words to that effect.
As the second half started, whatever it was that had gotten into my teammates, it was starting to spread to me. Our opponents’ offensive line ran over our defense at the beginning of the third quarter. It was like we weren’t on the field at all. Our offensive game in the second half evaporated too, and the other team got bolder because of it. I was being forced to call more run and gun plays, forcing my receivers to respond to what the defense was doing instead of trying to aim for plays we had practiced.
It was a shit show.
I didn’t know what else to do. It was either keep doing that or run the ball on nearly every play to avoid getting blitzed. I was confident that my receivers would continue coming through for me, and thankfully, they did. We were able to keep the scoring neck and neck for the remainder of the game. The other team would push ahead, and then we would get out in front. Then, they’d score again, setting us back. We couldn’t get enough of a lead on them to settle into a routine.
First and goal. Less than a minute on the clock.
We needed a touchdown and a two-point conversion to win the game, and we were close enough to taste it. Our opponents were close enough to taste it, too. I could see it in their eyes. They were hungry for a piece of the quarterback. They were coming for me. We snapped the ball, and I stepped back in the pocket with two defensive linemen circling around on either side of me. I had two options. I could throw a pass and hope like hell someone was in position to catch it. Or, I could run like hell.
My feet had been itching all night to just go for it. Their defensive line had wrecked my nerves. I couldn’t concentrate. I was less than ten yards from the end zone. I had it.
If I could just move.
And I did. I darted out from between the two hulking giants coming after me and stepped around the boys in front of me. I could see the goal line.
What I couldn’t see was the defensive lineman waiting for me as I came around the offensive and defensive players in front of me.
He hit me before I even saw him. I wound up flat on my back, dizzy and blurry-eyed until it hit me that I’d just cost us the game. As the wall of a player who hit me reached down to help me up, Evan walked by.
