Gladiators of the Gridiron

Pumped up by the crowd, and not wanting to be drowned under the pressure, the opening kickoff was smashed out of the back of the endzone.

As the Dons’ defence took the field, Coach Hoang called out to them. ‘Hey! Don’t forget what we’ve been practising, and don’t be scared of them! Remember, the sideline is your friend!’

‘Be fearless!’ Bella shouted.

Cheers showered King Denzel as he sauntered onto the field and got into position. JJ had eyes only for the towering RB. JJ was positioned close to the line of scrimmage, ready to make a play against the run.

A Safety was shoulder to shoulder with JJ as well, and only two WRs were lined up far to the outside on either side of the field.

Ty’s eyes kept darting over to Denzel—it was like he was a beacon that one couldn’t help but be drawn towards—but he also analysed his direct opponent quickly.

The WR standing before Ty wore number 14. They weren’t much taller than Ty, they had broad shoulders and a large chest. However, they looked bored and perpetually tired. Their dark face had even darker bags under his half-lidded eyes, and he yawned into his hand as he stood opposite Ty.

‘Auuuwh… don’t bother. Ball ain’t coming over here. Juuuust relax,’ the WR yawned, stretching as he stood straight, not in any sort of presnap stance.

Ty frowned, but soon the drowsy WR was proven right. The ball was snapped, and the QB handed it straight over to Denzel, with the FB—Derrick—leading the way through a large gap that was opened between the Right Guard (RG)—Zee—and the RT—Mack—heading to the opposite side of the field.

Denzel burst through the hole with incredible speed, but JJ jumped in front of his path, their eyes locked on one another, with JJ lunging forward to make the tackle and stop the play short.

That was when Derrick slammed right into JJ, knocking the wind out of his sails and stopping him right where he stood.

JJ at least held his ground and forced Denzel to cut further outside, but he was locked in place and unable to chase after him.

Deshaun rushed over to tackle Denzel, but a stiff arm that felt like a cannonball hitting him in the chest shattered those foolish hopes and sent Deshaun stumbling down onto his ass.

As the last line of defence, the Safeties scrambled over and shepharded Denzel out of bounds, but only after he was able to pick up 21 yards.

JJ and Derrick broke away from one another once the play was whistled dead. ‘Feeling lighter, eh, chica?’ Derrick laughed, returning to the huddle with a smirking Denzel.

JJ didn’t say anything, rolling his shoulders in circles as he frowned.

‘Good blocking. Keep that shit up, just like that. These boys are easy feasting,’ Denzel said in his huddle.

As Ty stood in the Dons’ huddle, he was still overly pumped and jittery, bouncing on his feet as he kept his eyes on Denzel.

The Receiver he was lined up against hadn’t made any attempt to block him, but with the way the ball had been run, there wasn’t much he could do to impact the play either way.

“They can’t run the ball that way ALL game. He’ll come,” Ty assured himself.

The Bears lined up in much the same formation, two WRs spread wide, two RBs, the QB under Center, and a TE to the right side of the line.

Ty frowned deeply. His opponent still looked as if they’d fall asleep at any moment. He looked across at his teammates. “Another run to the right? Come on, you have to stop them, right?”

The ball was snapped again, and once more the QB turned to hand the ball off to Denzel, only to keep it for himself and whirl back around, looking to throw.

Ty had already been moving across to try and cover the run just in case, but froze as he saw the QB had kept it.

‘Oh fuck!’ Even #14 seemed surprised, yet to move from his spot presnap, when he suddenly burst into motion, sprinting downfield.

Ty scrambled back, quickly getting back into position and covering his Receiver as the ball was flung their way.

Ty couldn’t believe his luck. Was it ego that forced the opponents to try and challenge him? Or had they noticed how enthralled he had been with Denzel? The play-action had worked to get him out of position, and maybe if the Receiver had actually been paying attention this would’ve worked.

But with the Receiver’s slow start, Ty had recovered fast enough to be right in the ball’s path as it floated straight into his outstretched hands for an easy pick.

‘Oh you dumb motherfu—’ was all Ty heard before he had left his opponent in the dust.

He sprinted ahead, eyes locked on the vacant grass before him with the endzone as his goal.

He never let up, even as he was crossing the plain and in for the score. Though as he did so, Denzel came into view from the corner of his eye and the hairs on the back of Ty’s neck stood on end.

“Where had he come from? He almost caught me. What the fuck?”

Ty panted softly as the taller boy came to a stop just in front of him. Ty shoved the ball into Denzel’s stomach. ‘Here.’

Denzel let the ball fall to the ground, his nostrils flaring as he glared down at Ty. Ty grinned.

‘You might be a king, but, I think you’re just the king of the worms, squirming around on the ground, crawling through your own piss and shit. While I’M king of the skies, ruler of everything in the air.’

Denzel’s lips curled into a scowl, but teammates from either side soon arrived and separated the two before things could escalate any further.

Ty made his way to the bench, never taking his eyes off Denzel, euphoria washing over him.

On the other side of things, #14 and the Bears’ QB were arguing with each other as they made their way back to their bench, trying to figure out who was to blame for that pick-six.

The kick for the extra point after the touchdown sailed through the uprights, pushing the Dons out to an early lead of 0–7.

The second kickoff didn’t go for a touchback, but the return—done by a scrawny, quick kid that had yet to take the field offensively—was short, getting only to the 20-yard line where the Bears took over for their second drive.

Denzel stormed to the huddle and quickly broke it apart, shoving the QB aside. ‘Don’t be throwing shit again. Just give me the fucking ball and clear a path up the middle.’

When no one moved, Derrick said: ‘You heard The King. Get into formation!’ And after his friends followed Denzel into position, the rest of the team soon moved to their places as well.

#14 hung his head, sighing loudly as he stood in front of Ty. ‘Now you’ve fucking done it man… this game is so fucking boring, I swear.’ He turned his head towards the centre of the field. ‘It’s so useless once he gets like this.’

Ty growled. ‘Shut the fuck up or get off the field if you don’t wanna play. Trash like you shouldn’t have an opinion on the game.’

#14 narrowed his eyes as they drifted back to Ty, but he didn’t say anything further.

The ball was snapped, and the QB immediately gave it over to Denzel, who once again charged forward with Derrick leading the way for him right up the guts of the defence.

This time, before Derrick could collide with JJ, another LB rushed forward and smashed into Derrick, taking him out of the play and clearing the path for JJ.

JJ ran forward, taking a wide stance as he came before Denzel, the two staring each other down. Denzel stuttered; would he go left, or right? JJ was frozen in place before for only a moment, but that was all Denzel needed.

Having halted his opponent, he burst forward, lowering his head and shoulders and met JJ in a contest of strength. JJ was slow on the reaction, but braced himself and lowered his own pads and helmet.

There was a crack like a gunshot as the two beefy teens crashed together.

JJ wrapped his arms around Denzel’s bulky frame, holding onto him as tight as he could and digging his heels into the turf. While Denzel pushed his arm out—shoving JJ away—and kept his feet constantly churning.

JJ grit his teeth, veins bulging along his arms and neck as he put all his strength into the tackle, but he was slipping, falling down. His eyes widened just before Denzel shoved him into the turf and broke away from his grasp, charging forward, and after a couple of steps, he was back up to top speed, like nothing had even been in his way.

Another defender caught up from behind after JJ had held Denzel up just long enough, but Denzel skipped over their diving attempt to bring him down, shoving their head down into the dirt as he carried on his way.

The Safties came to stop him, but he went right when they lunged left, leaving them behind to pick themselves up off the grass.

#14 had once again made no attempt to block Ty, and Ty had given chase as soon as the ball was snapped, but even so, once Denzel was out in the open, there was no catching The King.

He rumbled over the goalline with yards of space between he and Ty, waving goodbye to him over the last ten.

The cheers were as loud as a raging storm as Denzel had broke away for his big run, and when he came to a stop in the endzone, the announcers voice boomed over the speakers again.

‘TOUCHDOWWWWN!’

Denzel strode over to Ty, shoving the ball into his chest. ‘You pretty fuckin’ slow for a shitty li’l bird, huh?’

Ty held onto the ball, turning to watch the boy walk away. ‘You’re talking a lot of shit when you haven’t even run my way yet.’

Denzel looked back and laughed, continuing to walk back to his bench and bask in his applause—the crowd chanting his name.

‘King! King! King!’

Ty sulked back to the Dons’ bench. He’d never seen JJ beaten so one-sidedly. He didn’t think it was possible for JJ to lose like that before.

‘Sorry guys,’ JJ said as he sat down, a serious look on his face. ‘He’s bigger than last year… way stronger too.’

The kick soared through for the extra point, evening the score back up at 7–7.

‘Don’t sweat it, Jones,’ Coach Hoang said. ‘It’s no big deal. Just think of it like the game starting over again, the scores are zero zero. We just have to keep THEM at zero from now on.’

The Dons remained positive, and after the Bears kickoff—which Chris returned to the 28-yard line—the Dons’ offence would take the field for the first time that game, still only a couple of minutes into the first quarter.

However, even the offence would have to contend with King Denzel, as he took up a position as a MLB for the Bears’ defence.

Thankfully, he wasn’t as big of a problem on defence as he was on offence. He was still an exceptional LB, but compared to his work as a HB, it was obvious which side of the ball he was best suited for.

The main problem to overcome when confronting the Bears’ defence was their stout Defensive Line. Led by Denzel’s closest friends, Zee, Connor, Mack, and Derrick.

Those four boys were the hardened, scarred anvil that had been toughened throughout many beatings dished out by the hammer that was Denzel’s running.

Having to go up against him every pratice for over two years had turned them into one of the best run defences in the country, and Chris felt that first hand very soon into the Dons’ first drive.

Sure, he was more elusive and agile than his much larger counterpart, but if those defenders got even a hand on him, it was like an unbreakable chain had been wrapped around him.

Each hit, each grab felt as if it’d crush his bones.

He’d wince and grit his teeth, but carry on without complaint, even as his runs came up short.

In the passing game, Stephen was matched up against Denzel. While Stephen still had the height advantage—as he did over just about anyone—strength went to Denzel.

While Stephen may have been able to outmanuever Denzel, when it came to actually catching the pass, Denzel seemed to always be quick enough to close the gap, and could use his strength advantage to shove Stephen off his spot and disrupt the pass.

‘So damn big, but you still a weak, li’l bitch!’ Denzel remarked after knocking Stephen to the ground.

Stephen’s bald head was steaming, but he said nothing.

The Dons’ offence were quickly forced into a three-and-out, and had to punt the ball away back to the Bears.

The Bears’ scrawny returner—who turned out to be one of their DBs—was back for the punt as well, though signalled for a fair catch this time.

When the offences and defences switched over, Ty didn’t notice that #14 had remained on the bench and a new WR was lined up before him; he only had eyes for Denzel.

He stood, waiting and wondering. It would be stupid for the Bears not to give Denzel the ball again. Would he finally be coming Ty’s way? Would Ty be able to stop him? Or if not, and he continued up the middle or to the opposite side, would his team be able to hold Denzel back?

His heart was pounding again, though the excitement and euphoria was gone, anger and anxiety in their place.