Gladiators of the Gridiron

The following kickoff bounced through the back of the endzone for a touchback, so the Lancers took over from their own 25-yard line.

When they lined up in their formation, one of the WRs was missing, and instead had been replaced by a FB lined up in the backfield along with the HB.

‘This drive I’ll get you,’ Justin promised, smiling at Ty.

Ty tilted his head. ‘You’re pretty dense, aren’t you?’ He wondered how many interceptions he’d have to get before this dumbass understood that they shouldn’t even be in the same league.

‘Set hike!’ Justin stutter-stepped as he moved off his line, Ty backed up a step, but it quickly became apparent Justin wasn’t going to run a route and he was just blocking for a run as the two collided.

The HB, now running behind his new, stocky, lead blocker who bullishly charged ahead and cleared a path, was able to get a decent gain of 6 yards.

The next play was another similar run, with the HB heading straight up the gut behind his towering shield.

JJ locked horns with the FB again as the bullish Lancer made a beeline straight for the Dons’ captain, and again, the HB had a great run, earning a new set of downs for the offence.

The clock continued to run and soon the 1st quarter was over. Back on the sideline during the short break, Coach Hoang made his way over to JJ.

‘Jones, don’t get frustrated by that blockhead out there. His only job is to stop you from getting to the runner, so he’s gonna be coming after you each and every run. That’s perfect though. Don’t back down, don’t try anything tricky. Show him that he can’t stop you.’

JJ nodded, chugging some of his sports drink.

As the Dons got lined up to start the second quarter, JJ’s eyes held a new determination, locked solely on the FB who had been stopping him from doing his job.

‘Hey! Watch that play action!’ Coach Hoang called out to the rest of the team.

‘Set. Hike!’

Just as Coach Hoang had predicted, this time the run was a fake.

Justin tried his best to separate from Ty, though still couldn’t shake him off enough.

Though JJ had crept up too far, and there was just a small enough gap over the middle for the TE to make a catch for 9 yards before being wrapped up.

Afterwards, the defensive formation shifted, bringing one of the Safeties lower to enable and cover for JJ’s more aggressive approach to stopping the run.

The next play, the Lancers ran the ball again, and this time JJ was all over it, when the FB—who was almost as thick as he was tall—ran into JJ, it was the FB who got the worse of the collision as JJ bulldozed right through him and tackled the HB for a short gain—though it was still enough to earn another 1st down for the Lancers.

But that was the end of their success running the ball on that drive. The FB could never get the better of JJ again, and no matter which way they tried to run the ball, JJ was always there.

With the rest of the team covering up the gap JJ left behind in the passing game, and Ty still shutting Justin down, it wasn’t much longer before the Lancers had to punt again.

The short punt sailed out of bounds, and the Dons took over near their 40-yard line.

Jay marched out onto the field, and instantly his eyes dropped to the monster at the end of the Lancers’ Defensive Line.

The Left End (LE) smiled at Jay before he sunk down into his four-point stance, planting both hands onto the turf and digging his cleats into the dirt underneath.

He looked like a predator ready to pounce, and that smile still hadn’t left his face. Jay saw no malice behind that smile or those cheerful eyes, but he still knew this guy wasn’t about to run over and give him a hug … well, at least not a FRIENDLY one.

‘Set… hike.’

Jay’s eyes quickly scanned the field, and he flung the ball out just as quickly, hitting Stephen on a quick slant route over the middle for a short gain.

Even with such a rapid release, that smiling LE was right in his face by the time he’d finished his throwing motion.

A shiver ran down Jay’s spine. ‘Hey Benny… come here.’ He beckoned the TE over.

Benny jogged over. ‘Yo, ‘sup?’

Jay nodded to the LE. ‘Dude, see that bear … number 55? Chip ‘im. Please?’

Benny grinned. ‘Got it.’

Jay patted him on the shoulder. ‘Cheers.’

The huddle broke away, and on the next passing play, Benny was lined up next to the Right Tackle, (RT), the Offensive Lineman furthest to the right of the formation, who was matched up against number 55.

When the ball was snapped, Benny, instead of going directly out into his route, first bumped into number 55, giving a “chip block” to help his teammate keep the aggressive defender under control and buy Jay a little more time.

The plan worked, and with the extra second in the pocket, Jay was able to find a target further downfield for a gain of over a dozen yards.

The Dons would continue to employ this chip block strategy with Benny as they worked their way further downfield and onto the cusp of field goal range before the defence tightened up and they were brought to 3rd down.

This time, number 55 lined up even wider. Before the ball was snapped, he was down in his stance on the outside shoulder of Benny.

‘Set… …hike.’

Number 55 burst forward, and Benny did his best to shove him even wider around the edge before taking off downfield.

Though number 55 used that extra room to build up his momentum as instead of trying to get around the RT, he slammed right into the Lineman’s chest and drove him backwards, heading on a straight path for Jay.

As Jay dropped back in the pocket he saw from the corner of his eye number 55 bull rushing right through the RT, and it was all he could do to drop down onto the ground in a protective ball before he was crushed by both the massive bodies that fell over him.

This sack ended up pushing the Dons out of field goal range, and they ended up having to punt instead.

Both Benny and the RT apologised to Jay on the way back to the bench.

‘Naaah… don’t worry about it, dudes. It’s fine.’ Jay flashed them a carefree smile but when he sat down on the bench, he hung his head in his hands.

It was the Lancers’ turn on offence again, but they still couldn’t get much going as Ty continued to get the better of Justin despite the Receiver’s best efforts to break free.

Marvin didn’t throw the ball Justin’s way for the rest of the first half, and Justin couldn’t blame him, he wasn’t getting open; he couldn’t beat Ty … yet.

The rest of the second quarter was very slow. The game was clearly that of a defensive struggle between the two teams as neither offence put up any more points before halftime.

In the Dons’ locker room, they were at least optimistic thanks to their lead. The defence received plenty of praise, while the offence had a few ideas to work with.

‘We’ll have to double that 55, boy,’ Coach Norman said. ‘Otherwise, he’ll keep wrecking everythin’.’

Coach Long nodded. ‘That, and I reckon if we bring in JJ as a FB to have an extra blocker it’ll help. Our boys can get open, we just need to give them that time.’

Meanwhile, the Lancers were struggling to find the solutions for their problems, namely how to get their star Receiver into the game.

The coaches thought it’d be best if they started throwing in some pick plays or screens for him.

Justin frowned at the prospect. ‘No I…I can beat him on my own. I don’t want to use unfair advantages. Please…’ He looked up at his coaches as he pleaded with them.

Coach Henderson stared down into Justin’s eyes. ‘Hm…’ The older man pulled at the grey hairs of his thick moustache. ‘I trust ya, kid. ‘Sides, not like your strength is in your speed or elusivi-TEE. I know you’ll shake off that annoying gnat, 21. Just make sure you’re not too late and the game is already out of reach.’

‘Thank you, sir.’ Justin smiled brightly. Coach Henderson ruffled the boy’s hair before moving on.

When the Lancers emerged to begin the 2nd half, Justin’s cheer squad was back at full strength, screaming their heads off for him.

The third quarter would have a slow start, as the Dons’ offence came out first. While number 55 was given more focus from blockers and held in check, such attention meant that the rest of the blitzers had an easier time getting through their 1-on-1 matchups and Jay was still under tons of pressure.

The Dons’ first opening drive of the half didn’t amount to much before they punted the ball away yet again.

When the Lancers took over, Ty still had Justin locked down, and while the Lancers tried to exploit other gaps in the defence, namely deeper passes to try to exploit the lighter coverage downfield now that one Safety was covering for JJ, the Dons—under the guidance of Coach Hoang—could shift to their own trick coverages and blitzes to cover up those gaps or reduce the amount of time that Marvin had to throw the ball.

So as the end of the 3rd quarter neared, the score was still 0–9, though the Lancers had the ball again and were desperate to change that.

‘Hey, Marv,’ Justin said, moving closer to his QB in the huddle. ‘Look, I’m getting open, trust me. I can feel it. I can do it, okay? You gotta trust me and look my way this drive, you’ll see.’

Marvin looked at Justin, his eyes then drifted beyond the huddle and over to where Ty was.

‘Uhh… y-yeah. Alright man, I gotchu, don’t worry ‘bout it.’ Marvin nodded, still uneasy about the idea of testing Ty again.

‘Trust me, bro.’ Justin grinned, squeezed Marvin’s shoulder, and then walked away, lining up against Ty again.

Ty yawned in Justin’s face. ‘Man… I’m so bored over here. Feel like I’m gonna fall asleep if we don’t see any action soon.’

‘Aww, come on, this has been fun! Don’t fall asleep now, I’m just about to beat you.’

‘Hmm… seems you’re already asleep, ‘cause you must be dreaming if you think you can beat me.’

‘We’ll see.’ Justin kept smiling as Ty scowled at him.

‘Set hike!’

Justin stuttered out of the gates, he feinted inside, outside, then back in again for real. There was a window, a tiny gap that the ball could be thrown into.

Marvin saw it, he’d been watching the whole time, but he hesitated just a fraction of a second and then the window was already closed.

He turned away and checked the ball down to the RB instead, gaining only a few yards, but he told himself it was better than another turnover.

When Ty and Justin lined up opposite each other again, Ty was frowning. He’d seen that window too.

“What’s going on here? This guy can’t beat me… so what the fuck was that?”

The ball was snapped again. Justin gave a halfhearted shimmy before he ran into Ty to block him. It was another run.

At least that’s what Ty thought, except he was wrong, he was lulled into a false sense of security when instead, it was a pass all along, and the blocking was simply a bluff to sell the play action better.

Justin peeled away from the block and broke to the inside of the field.

Marvin didn’t hesitate this time, as he whirled away from the fake handoff, his eyes fell upon Justin and he let the ball rip.

Justin was open, he could catch this ball, he knew Ty was only a half step away, but that was all the space he should need.

If only Ty was a normal defender, then something like this could’ve worked.

Ty closed the gap in an instant, and thanks to those long arms, he was able to reach over Justin’s shoulder and swat the ball away from him, knocking it to the ground for an incompletion.

Justin stumbled to a halt, then turned to face Ty, smiling wide. ‘I almost had you that time. I was THIS close.’ He held his forefinger and thumb barely an inch apart to emphasise just how close he felt to beating Ty.

‘Yeah right. You ain’t catching shit against me.’

Justin shrugged, slowly walking away. ‘Hey, you couldn’t intercept this one. Isn’t that proof I’m getting closer?’

Ty glared at the back of Justin’s head but returned to his own huddle.

It was 3rd down, they just needed one more stop. He wouldn’t let Justin get it.

However, turns out it wouldn’t be up to Justin, as the next play was another run, though this time Marvin kept the ball and scrambled for a first down himself after faking another handoff to the RB.

The deception bought him just enough time to sprint to the 1st down marker before he was tackled barely a yard ahead of it.

With a new set of downs, they went back to the passing game.

This time, Justin sprinted forward, pushing through Ty’s tough press before he curled back right at the sticks that marked 10 yards ahead of the line of scrimmage.

As Ty stopped and moved forward to cover the curl, Justin whipped around and burst forward again, sprinting downfield. Ty spun to chase after him, only to find that this was just yet ANOTHER fake and it really was a curl after all.

Again, those long arms came in and saved Ty in the nick of time as he smacked the ball away once more.

Justin laughed, clapping his hands. ‘Oh, dude! You’re so good! I can’t believe I didn’t get you there.’

Ty said nothing, glaring briefly before he moved away, shaking his head. “Get your head in the game! You’re faster than this guy, what the fuck are you doing?!”

Ty’s teeth ground together as he stomped his way back to position. Coach Hoang watched closely on the edge of the sideline.

‘Hound!’ Again he ordered for Deshaun to blitz the QB. Even if Justin was getting more separation from Ty, those plays took a long time to develop.

The weight upon Marvin’s shoulders was feeling lighter. That monster out there that wore number 21 wasn’t unbeatable. Justin could do it, he could feel it—this was the one.

Justin gave his QB a huge grin, nodding at him. It was obvious who the target of this next play was even Megan could see where the ball was going to be thrown. Ty blocked out everything else from his mind, focusing solely on Justin.

‘Set… set, Hike!’

Justin batted Ty’s hands aside, pushing forward, then shifted his hips to the outside before snapping in the other direction, breaking towards the middle of the field.

He’d done it. He was open! Even against Ty’s long arms, if the pass was out in front of him enough, there would be no way Ty could stop it.

Marvin saw it too, and he was just about to throw the ball before he was hammered from behind.

It was a miracle he held onto the ball while he was flattened into the dirt.

Deshaun scrambled to his feet after his brutal sack, laughing and barking into the air.

‘That’s what I’m fucking talking about! How’s that grass taste, bitch?’ He laughed more, more so slapping his teammate’s hands rather than giving them high fives, and bumping his chest and helmet against theirs.

Justin hurried over to help Marvin up, grabbing onto the older boy’s helmet tightly and staring through his visor.

‘Did you see?’ Justin had his brightest smile yet. ‘I was open! I can beat him.’

Somehow, all the worry and the pain inflicted by that sack left Marvin’s body as he stared into Justin’s shining eyes. He nodded. ‘I-I saw it…’

‘You know what to do then.’ Justin laughed and hugged his QB before moving away.

Marvin’s heart was pounding, hope filling him despite the fact they were staring down an extremely long 3rd down after that sack had set them back 6 extra yards.

‘I’ve got you now,’ Justin told Ty when they faced each other again.

Ty simply shook his head, saying nothing.

The two stared at each other as time wound down in the 3rd quarter, this would be the final play before the 4th and final quarter began.

‘Set hike!’

Justin sprinted forward 10 yards, then shot towards the middle of the field. As Ty shifted to keep up with him, Justin curled back around and went in the opposite direction towards the sideline, drifting up the field as he did so.

Ty was late to react, Justin had got the step he needed.

Marvin threw the ball with a high arc which fell near the sideline. It’d be a close call if Justin would be able to keep his feet in bounds and still complete the catch.

Justin ran as hard as he could, adjusting for the flight of the ball. He jumped high, reaching out and raking the ball into his arms. Ty was hot on his heels, but too far to disrupt the pass.

Justin had caught it! The ball was in his hands and then hugged tightly against his chest. Now if he could just get his feet down in bounds still.

Justin stretched his legs out, pointing his toes down. He felt them dig into the grass just before Ty shoved him in the back and pushed him out of bounds.

Cheers erupted from the crowd as Justin made the catch. When the sideline official ran in they didn’t hesitate to signal that it was a successful catch and that Justin had got his feet in bounds… but… he was just a yard short of a 1st down.

‘Oh my god! You made me work so hard for that… damn, and we didn’t even get the first down? Ah, maybe I could’ve reached out for it… and maybe the pass could’ve been a little further up the field. Damn!’ Justin shook his head, still grinning.

‘That was a fluke. Not that it matters anyway. Enjoy that catch, it’ll be the only one you get for the rest of this game.’

Just was still smiling. Even one catch was an improvement when Ty had promised he wasn’t going to catch anything not that long ago.

Ty moved away, returning back to the bench as the Lancers elected to punt, to many boos from the confused cheer squad.

‘Whaaat? Justin caught it! Give him all the points you stupid umpires! What are you doing?!’

Ty blocked out the incessant whining of the crowd, kicking the bench before he sat down, glaring out across the field.

“Just a fluke. I’ll wipe that smile off his stupid fucking face next time he tries some shit like that,” Ty promised himself.