Gladiators of the Gridiron

Ty watched his teammates fill out the practice field. One after another, they slowly arrived until the whole team was present, only then did Coach Long call them together.

The season was over, now it was on to the big leagues, the REAL games, Ty thought. His blood rushed through his veins as he thought about the upcoming challenges. The gloves could come off. Each game was live or die, kill or be killed. His sharp grin shone in the afternoon sun.

‘Regionals is about to start,’ Coach Long said, ‘but I don’t want anyone worrying about that. Just take things one game at a time, like we have been all season, and we’ll be alright. If we keep winning, which we can, we’ll be alright.’

Coach Hoang frowned before coming forward. ‘We have to take this seriously. This is one and done, there are no more second chances, if we lose, we’re out. So we need to play at our best, and to do that, we have to train at our best. If I catch ANYONE slacking, you’ll ALL be running.’

Coach Long laughed. ‘You heard the man, so don’t let your teammates down. Let’s get to work.’

The team began their warm-up, running laps around the field. In the large herd, Rabbit found his way to JJ. Rabbit was shivering like he’d been left out in the rain.

‘Something the matter, ¿hermanito?’

‘Uhh… I-I guess I’m just a little nervous about Regionals?’

Stephen, who was slightly behind JJ, scoffed. ‘Why? I didn’t think you shrimps made Regionals.’

Rabbit stumbled as he turned his head back and craned his neck up to look at Stephen. ‘W-We did. … I think.’

‘They did,’ JJ confirmed. ‘They scraped in as the last seed, but they did. Why are you nervous, Max?’

‘Well, because if we lose now then that’s it! We’re out of the tournament and we won’t be playing again until next year. I-I don’t want to screw things up for everyone.’

‘Pfft, you won’t screw things up.’ JJ patted him on the shoulders. ‘Just do your best. You’ll do great Max. Even if you stumble, you’ve got plenty more chances.’

‘You should be more worried about someone else screwing it up FOR YOU,’ Stephen said, his eyes boring a hole into the back of Ty’s head.

Ty slowly turned to face them, running backwards. ‘If you’re scared of fucking things up then you’ll fuck them up. But saying someone else can fuck things up for you is just an excuse to cope with how shitty and unimportant you are.’ He glared at Stephen. ‘If you were strong enough, you would’ve won on your own strength, regardless of what anyone else did to stop you, whether they’re a teammate or an enemy.’

Rabbit shivered, looking away from Ty. ‘I-I’ll… do my best, j-just like you said, JJ.’

‘Haha, I know you will, hermanito.’ JJ patted him on the head.

‘Samuels!’ Coach Hoang’s voice cut across the herd and they parted to reveal Ty who was still running backwards. ‘What the hell are you doing?’ Coach Hoang blew his whistle. ‘Everybody on the line.’

Groans filled the air as the players grumbled and passed Ty on their way to the line.

‘Nice one, freshie,’ Deshaun said.

‘Good going, dumbass. Who fucked things up now, huh?’ Stephen made sure to bump Ty on his way past.

Out of everyone, Jay gave Ty the most scathing and hate-filled look. Standing on the line, Jay looked sadder than a dog about to be put down.

‘You bitches that worried about some running?’ Ty muttered, though on his way past he glared at Coach Hoang.

‘I’ll make you all run again,’ Coach Hoang said. ‘Eyes forward, Samuels.’

The team eventually got through their warm-ups, which they still had to complete after the punishment drill, and separated into defence and offence as the main practice got underway.

It wasn’t long before the JV offence was brought over to train with the varsity defence, as Coach Hoang set up the main drill of the evening. He addressed his defence before beginning.

‘Look at the player beside you, behind you, in front of you, look at all your teammates. As a unit, I believe you could be the best defence in the country. But somethings holding you all back from accomplishing that.’

“Bullshit,” Ty thought. He ground his teeth rather than voice his feelings. “We’re already the best because I’M here and I’m the best.”

‘What is that thing? That’s what I’m going to show you today. It’s something I’ve noticed throughout the season, and something you need to overcome if you’re going to win going forward. The games will only get harder, each team you’ll face will be stronger than the last. You need to be at your best to stand a chance. Now. I want you to play defence, and stop the JV players from scoring. Pretty simple, right?’

Some of the varsity players laughed, chattering to one another about how easy a task that would be.

‘Except, you need to do it without talking. At all.’

The chatter stopped, then restarted again, quieter, with confusion powering it rather than confidence.

‘You’ll know what play you’re running, but that’s it. To make adjustments before the snap, and even after the snap, you’re not to say a word. If I hear anything from any of you, you’ll all run. Do I make myself clear?’

‘Yes, Coach.’

‘Good. Get in position.’

Ty lined up alongside his teammates. Even with the restriction of no talking put in place, he still thought it’d be an easy challenge. There was no way the JV team could do anything against him.

The defence was set up in their bread-and-butter Cover 3 Zone, with Ty playing MEG coverage.

The offence dropped back for a pass, and all was well for the defence, they covered most options, and the QB was forced to dump the pass off into the flat on Ty’s side of the field. The Receiver was quickly corralled and brought down for a minimal gain.

The defence whooped and celebrated, reassuring themselves that it’d be as easy as they expected, even with the restriction, all adopting Ty’s mindset.

‘Hey, no talking means no talking,’ Coach Hoang said.

The chatter faded and everyone returned to their positions.

‘Be thankful that was just a warning. It’s your last one.’

The offence shifted around before the training resumed. The defence was caught completely off-guard by the Draw play, and the RB had already burst outside before they realised the routes the Receivers were running were fakes. The RB scurried ahead for a dozen yards before someone took him down.

‘Ohh, not so easy now, is it?’ Coach Hoang said, laughing to himself.

Everyone kept their mouths shut, afraid that even grumbling amongst themselves would draw Coach Hoang’s ire and send them all to the line.

The teams made their adjustments. The next play was Play-Action, and even though the RB never had the ball, he was still tackled by a fooled Lineman.

A Receiver found an opening over the middle, and the JV team had another successful play.

Repeatedly the varsity Dons would fail to get a stop as they continued to defend in silence. Play-Action and Draws weren’t even the only things they struggled with. Mesh concepts, Pick plays, any time Receivers ran in unison, trailed one another, or crossed paths, chaos ensued for the mime-filled defence. Defenders would end up guarding the same target, guarding no one, or running into each other.

That was just what could happen AFTER the snap. Before that, the Dons had no way of adjusting as a group to what little shifts and changes the offence made in front of them. In the end, they’d over-correct, or not react at all, leading to Counter runs and cutbacks working exceptionally against them, or they were straight overpowered by a forceful run with too many blockers for the defence to deal with.

They were helpless.

Inevitably, the JV team scored a touchdown.

The defence sat in the endzone, catching their breath. Each player wore a mask of frustration.

‘It’s pretty hard to play without talking to each other, huh?’ Coach Hoang moved amongst the team. ‘You know, that’s how you guys look a lot of the time. You’re dysfunctional. A lot of you seem to care more about yourselves than you do the team.’

Deshaun stared across the field at nothing in particular, but he had a look on his face that would’ve scared a bulldog. Zayden stared at the ground, tearing up blades of grass and crushing them between his fingers. Ty kept his unblinking eyes on Coach Hoang, jaw clenched tight. JJ looked around at all his teammates, most of them had their eyes on the ground.

‘You lack cohesion. THAT is the one thing holding you back from achieving greatness. When the foundational pieces are all pulling apart instead of coming together, of course, the whole thing collapses. C’mon, Jones can’t be the only one, I need the rest of you to step up and work together.’

‘We’re family,’ JJ said.

‘Exactly. It’s about time you stopped fighting like one,’ Coach Hoang said.

Ty scoffed.

‘Everybody up,’ Coach Hoang ordered. ‘Get back in position and let’s try this again. This time I want to hear EVERYBODY talking, and you better not let them get one completion, or a single yard.’

‘Yes, Coach!’ JJ shouted.

The defence took their formation once again, and the drill restarted.

‘Watch the run,’ JJ called.

‘Shift right, shift right,’ Donte said, moving with the Line.

Deshaun sighed. ‘Don’t give these fuckers an inch, ‘ight? I’ll be damned if y’all make me run again.’

Zayden looked to Coach Hoang, then at Ty. He scrunched up his face before saying: ‘I’ve got your back, don’t worry about getting beat deep.’

The ball was snapped and there was an explosion of noise as the play began. People loudly called out the run. The Linemen shouted for someone to get outside and seal that off, and the Dons were easily able to swarm the ball carrier and take them down for a loss of yards.

Adjusting to the next play was simple with everyone communicating and calling out what they saw, what they thought, and what they were doing.

A pass was next, and the defence easily handled that as well.

‘Good! That’s more like it,’ Coach Hoang called out.

The Dons continued to put on a shut-out, as they held the JV offence back a dozen times. Then, Coach Hoang stopped play for a moment, as he moved over and spoke with the offence.

The defence took a short break, before being called back onto the field. Play resumed, and it looked to be another pass.

Ty followed his man, as he had been throughout both versions of the drill. He was all over the Receiver, smothering them completely as they cut inside.

‘Watch the flat! Go down! Down down down!’ the secondary MLB screamed at Ty.

Ty ignored them, sticking with his man as they streaked across the field. The pass went the opposite way, to the flat Ty left open.

‘Son of a…’ the MLB shook their head, chasing after the ball. They pushed the Receiver out 10 yards later.

Coach Hoang blew his whistle. The MLB scowled at Ty as the defence huddled around Coach Hoang.

‘Samuels! That’s the exact shit I’ve been talking about. Were you listening to anything I said during this drill?’

‘That wasn’t my assignment,’ Ty said.

‘Not your assignment? And what was your assignment?’

‘Stop my man—‘

‘Wrong! I told you to stop the entire TEAM from getting a yard, not just your man. This is a TEAM sport, Samuels. It takes a team to stop a team. The sooner you realise that, the sooner this team will become champions.’

Ty gnashed his teeth together but said nothing.

‘Everybody on the line.’

More groans came from the boys as they trudged to the line.

After running out their punishment, the defence was allowed a break. Ty ripped the lid of his drink off and spat it away, guzzling down his water. He wiped his mouth roughly and stared at Coach Hoang who was now reporting back to Coach Long.

‘Takes a team to stop a team. I don’t give a fuck about stopping the rest of the worthless nobodies that can’t do shit. Every team has a heart, and if I can rip that away from them they’re as good as dead. That’s how I win.’

‘You okay?’ JJ asked, holding out the discarded lid.

Ty snatched it away from him and jammed it back on his drink. ‘I’m fine.’

JJ sat next to him. ‘Don’t worry about Coach Hoang. He always gets harsher this time of year. I guess Regionals brings out his competitive side.’

‘I’m not worried… what’s the big deal about Regionals?’ Ty asked. He thought back to his middle-school days, even the championships back then felt like every other game; he was playing, so of course he won.

‘Hm? Well, any game could be our last, I guess that’s the big deal, but other than that, there’s nothing really special about them.’ JJ shrugged.

‘That ain’t exactly true, now is it, Julian?’ Jay sat up from behind the two, letting out a yawn. ‘For one, we ain’t playing on nobody’s home turf, only neutral ground.’

‘Haha, that’s right. I guess, because I always block out the crowd, I hadn’t thought of that,’ JJ said.

‘Crowds are a distraction anyway,’ Ty grunted.

‘There’s still crowds they’re just … fighting each other. Half of ‘em are cheering for us, the other half for the other guys. It’s more of a pain than anything,’ Jay said.

‘What’s this shit about crowds?’ Deshaun said, sitting beside JJ. The rest of the team came to the benches for their break as well.

‘We’re talking about Regionals. Tyrese wanted to know what the deal was,’ JJ said.

‘Shit, ya never played in a tournament? Fuck, I can’t remember how it works in middle school.’

‘I wouldn’t expect an old fuck like you to remember anything from back then,’ Stephen said. Benny laughed loudly, whilst Chris suppressed his.

‘Shut yo big ass up. You’re fuckin’ older than me.’

Chris didn’t hold back his laughter this time.

Ty groaned. Why were they butting into the conversation, only to get sidetracked? He turned to JJ. ‘How big’s the tournament?’

‘Not very. Only the eight best teams from the region make it in. And only one of those makes it to the State tourney.’

‘I can’t believe the JV team made it,’ Cole said.

‘Must’ve been points differential or something,’ Benny said.

Ty clenched his fists, taking back control of the conversation. ‘Eight teams. That means we only need three wins to reach State?’

JJ nodded.

‘Lot harder said than done … we ain’t done it yet,’ Jay said.

‘Really? Never?’ Donte couldn’t keep the surprise out of his voice.

‘Nope.’

‘Why not?’ Zayden injected himself into the group, unable to keep quiet after this revelation.

‘Well … we lost.’ Jay said matter-of-factly.

Ty rolled his eyes. ‘You guys have never qualified for the State championships? But you’re seniors.’

JJ shrugged. ‘We’ve been close. Last year we made it to the finals of Regionals, but, then we ran into Warren and well… you’ve seen what happens when you run into The King.’

‘I don’t give a fuck about some shithead who calls himself king,’ Ty said. ‘I’m not losing to him again, I’ve already said it. And I’m not losing before we even make it to State. That’s a fucking promise.’

‘Yeah? How you gonna stop him? Last I remember, he fucking flattened your ass,’ Stephen pointed out.

‘That’s even if we make it back to the finals. We might lose before then,’ Deshaun said.

‘Nah. This year’s different,’ JJ said. He looked back at Ty and Zayden. ‘This year we can do it. We HAVE to. It’s our last shot.’

‘It’s our best chance,’ Donte said.

‘We could be National champions,’ Benny said.

‘I bet that’d look good on your resume, Dee,’ Chris said.

Deshaun didn’t say anything. He stood up and walked away. The idea bounced around his skull; surely if he was a National champion or even State champ, he’d have to get at least one offer from SOMEWHERE.

Jay laid back down, just the thought of playing in another tournament after Regionals made him tired.

For players like Cole, Cameron, and Benny, it meant their last chance to shine, their last chance to prove they could be number one.

Stephen saw it as his last chance to win another as a number one, before he slipped back down the depth chart and had to start over again in college.

For Zayden, it was his way to make his mark, to make a statement as not only a freshman starter, but on a championship calibre team.

For Ty, it was everything.