Gladiators of the Gridiron

Coach Norman stopped Cole just before he went out to receive the kickoff that would open the second half. ‘Listen, don’t expend too much energy here, if it’s in the endzone, just take the knee. You’ll need your legs for the opening play of our offence.’

Coach Norman saw the expectant and excited look on the boy’s face and confirmed Cole’s suspicions with a nod. Cole raced out into position, grinning under his helmet.

He did catch the kick in the endzone, and he did indeed take a knee for a touchback instead of trying to run it out.

His heart was thumping but he contained his giddiness as he lined up after hearing the play call in the huddle. Jay tapped his foot before the snap, and Cole started to jog towards him behind the O-Line.

It wasn’t the first time they’d used this motion in the game, but nothing had come of it so far, and each time they’d let Cole cross to the other side of the formation and settle back into his stance before snapping the ball.

Not this time, however. Right as he was passing Jay, the ball was snapped and handed straight to him. Cole burst into a sprint, and left the defence behind as they were caught fully unaware and flat-footed.

He raced into the secondary, and once there, he was dragged down but only after he’d gained 23 yards.

Chris cheered the loudest from the sidelines, and while coaches Norman and Long were both grinning after seeing the result, they had to admit they were a little disappointed because for a moment there it looked like Cole would take it to the house for a touchdown.

Cole was also unhappy with the fact that he couldn’t break away from that last tackle and keep going for the touchdown.

Cameron and JJ pulled him up, the former smacking him repeatedly over the helmet. ‘Damn! That’s what we need, baby!’

‘Good work, hermano, let’s keep it up.’ JJ patted him on the back as they headed back to the huddle.

Jay greeted them with a smile. ‘Hey, way to use that speed. How you feeling?’

‘I’m good. I feel great,’ Cole said.

Jay nodded. ‘Good, good. Coach wants to feed the hot hand, so get ready for a deep shot. When I tap my foot this time you need to do the same, but turn back when you reach me, then it’s just a straight sprint down the sideline.’

Cole nodded and moved back into position as the huddle broke away.

Sean was fuming as he stood in front of Cole. ‘What the hell, am I playing against a RB or what? You can’t catch a pass so you’re just gonna run away on the ground?’

Cole shrugged. ‘We’ll see.’

‘Fucking pussy.’

Jay tapped his foot again, and Cole motioned towards him. Sean followed along, hurrying ahead of him though he was stuck on the other side of the Line. But when Cole reached Jay he suddenly turned around and started running faster back to his original spot.

Sean skidded for a moment and raced after him. The ball was snapped while they were both still running, and Cole had a clear lead on the hot-headed boy.

Jay dropped back, a calm smile on his face. He looked towards Benny first, watching the large boy charge ahead and then break towards the outside, right under Cole’s route. The Safety over to that side of the field stepped up, hesitating slightly. That was all Jay needed.

He lobbed a deep bomb over the top. Cole still had a good few yards on Sean and the Safety. He turned around to catch the pass square on his chest, and he dragged his feet along the ground just before he fell out of bounds.

This time it was a 30-yard gain, and the Dons were already in field goal range, nearing the red zone.

Building off of this momentum, there was no time for the Panthers to recover as the Dons continued to force their way forward, soon finding themselves at the goal line.

Again, Cole motioned across the field. Jay snapped the ball and made to hand it off to Cole on another Jet Sweep, but it was a masterfully constructed fake, and instead, he handed it off to JJ who bulldozed his way through the centre of the field and into the endzone for the touchdown.

The crowd erupted in cheers as the first touchdown of the game was scored, and then was quickly converted with a successful kick for the extra point, pushing the Dons’ lead out to 10–0.

Even though JJ was the one to run the ball in for the score, he got up right away and gave the ball over to the real hero of the drive—Cole.

Cole was breathing heavily as he sat down on the bench, showered in plenty of praise as he took a well-deserved, albeit brief rest.

After the extra point, and another touchback, the Dons' defence was back out on the field, Cole still breathing a bit hard as he lined up.

Ty looked at the scoreboard, smirking as he stood in front of Sean. Now that the Dons had a two-possession lead, he felt a lot more comfortable, and he was glad that the offence was finally able to get going on its own.

“Maybe I won’t need to score just so we win. Even if these losers somehow fluke their way into scoring we’ll still be winning.” He looked the Panthers over, they seemed pissed about falling further behind, but also much too collected for Ty’s liking. ‘You know, as hard as it is, you’re somehow a worse DB than Receiver. Congratulations.’

‘Shut up,’ Sean snapped.

Ty yawned dramatically. ‘What’s that? Sorry, I’m falling asleep over here. Seeing as, you know, they’re never going to throw the ball your way again.’

‘I said shut up! You don’t know shit. You aren’t the only ones hiding tricks up your sleeves.’

Ty was intrigued but had no time to ask what trick they might be hiding because the ball was snapped at that moment.

Sean slammed into him. The two engaged in a harsh battle of strength and leverage. So far, nothing looked out of place. Malik was running towards Ty’s side of the field, and it looked like their standard Read Option play. “Maybe they’re still hiding their tricks.”

Ty brushed the block aside, and lunged toward Malik. It didn’t even look like they were going to be trying their counter with Sean either.

He rushed forward, having full faith in JJ that he’d be able to cover the pitch out wide to Anthony. But that pitch never came.

Instead, Malik raised up and flipped the ball over Ty’s head just before Ty could tackle him.

Ty steadied himself against Malik and whipped his head around, watching the ball drop into Sean’s hands as he had leaked out downfield after he had let Ty get away from the block.

No one was around Sean, and when he caught the ball, he spun around and sprinted away, bursting through the secondary.

Thankfully, the Safety was able to make it over from the centre of the field and stopped Sean before he could run away for a touchdown untouched, but the Panthers had still gained 30 yards with their very first play of the second half.

‘Fuck yeah! These bitches ain’t shit, they can’t hold us!’ Malik cheered, making sure to give Ty a shove as he passed him and went to hype up Sean.

‘These bitch ass motherfuckers.’ Ty clenched his jaw tightly.

When Sean sauntered back into position, he had the smuggest of grins. ‘I can’t wait to see the look on your face when we beat you.’

Ty flashed his sharp teeth with a snarl. ‘You ain’t beating shit. That was just ONE dirty play where you ran away from me, ‘cause you KNOW you can’t beat me straight up. I ain’t losing to a scared bitch like you.’

‘We’ll see about that, won’t we?’

‘Shut up and play.’

Having already crossed half field, the Panthers were reinvigorated, fully believing that they could turn things around in the second half, and just like the Dons, get their first touchdown with their first drive after the break.

Anthony was running with greater speed and power now, and was able to break away from Cole and the other DB to the right side of the field, rushing ahead for an 11-yard gain.

‘Hey! Did you forget how to tackle?!’ Coach Hoang yelled, storming along the sideline. ‘The game’s not finished! So stop acting like you’ve already won and make the damn play!’

JJ pulled the huddle tighter together. ‘Come on! Don’t let these cabróns walk all over us now. Don’t let all the hard work of the first half, and the touchdown our offence just scored go to waste. They’re still the same team, we can still stop them!’ He thrust his hand out in the middle of the huddle. ‘Defence on three. One, two, three—’

‘Defence!’

The crowd chanted “Defence” trying to inspire the home team, but even so, the Panthers reached the goal line before the defence finally got their shit together and put up a fight.

It came to a critical third down, with the Panthers knocking on the door of a touchdown, but they were yet to pull out the flip pass again even after running a few more Read Options towards Sean and Ty.

As he stood opposite Sean, Ty’s eyes were locked on Malik. Ty’s feet were planted on the painted grass that marked the beginning of the endzone, but he never took his eyes off the QB.

“They’re running this way. I know they are. Is he going to pass, or run it in himself? He could just dive into the endzone easily… but he’d have to get through me. But if I have to stay back to defend the pass he … no. He’s going to pass. I know he will. He won’t challenge me himself. He’ll go for the pass, it’s easier … that’s what they think.”

Ty stared Malik down as the ball was snapped, and the QB predictably came running this way. Ty slapped aside Sean’s hands, and Sean was all too happy to slip away and find open space behind him to hunker down and wait for the pass.

Ty hurried forward, eyes locked with Malik’s. Malik hopped up, flicking the ball over the top towards Sean.

Ty’s arm shot up. Like a snake striking its prey, his hand swatted the ball deflecting it higher into the air. Ty jumped up while Sean and Malik were still stunned, he reached out with both hands and caught the wildly spinning ball.

Malik snapped out of his shock and rushed forward, but was met with a hand in his face. His own arms swiped at the air as he couldn’t stretch beyond Ty’s long reach.

He stumbled back and fell on his ass while Ty sprinted away.

Sean leapt over Malik and chased after Ty, but he was too far behind him and Ty was too fast—he was gone.

Ty sprinted away followed only by his teammates who were celebrating as they ran along with him. When Ty got to the Panthers’ red zone he spun around, enthusiastically waving goodbye to his opponents. He crossed over into the endzone backwards, still waving.

A yellow flag flew into the endzone as the officials signalled for the touchdown. The Dons would receive a penalty on their extra point attempt, but Ty didn’t care. He was grinning from ear to ear, still staring at Malik.

Ty walked back to his bench, watching the Panthers as they retreated to theirs. ‘That’s right, get off my field! Bye bye! You can go home now!’

An official came over to warn Ty that if he didn’t stop he’d be thrown out of the game, so he quieted down, laughing to himself. He couldn’t stop grinning.

The kick for the extra point sailed wide. Coach Hoang moved in front of Ty as he sat on the bench. ‘Samuels. Get up and give me a lap of stair sprints, right now.’

Ty shook his head but stood up. ‘It’s just a point. And he’s the one who missed. I just won us the game anyway.’

‘One point is all it takes to turn a victory into a defeat.’

Coach Long watched on with approval, but let Coach Hoang handle this matter.

Ty narrowed his eyes but didn’t say anything as he got started with his sprint up and down the stands, being cheered and praised on his journey, fans reaching out to smack him on the back as he passed by.

The Panthers’ kick return only got to the 18-yard line before it was stopped. Then their disheartened offence jogged out.

They didn’t stay on the field for long, however, three plays later they were punting the ball away.

Cole was back for the return. He caught the ball, spun away from one defender and made his run, veering towards the sideline as he weaved through traffic.

He was running on empty but continued to pump his legs as fast as he could. At the last moment, he tried to cut back inside to avoid a tackle but was hit hard.

The ball was jarred loose and fell to the ground, but in the ensuing scramble for it, it was knocked out of bounds, and the Dons would maintain their possession.

Cole was helped back to his feet, wincing. He huffed and puffed even harder, as if whatever little air he had before had been knocked right out of him. He staggered over to take his position as part of the offence.

Coach Long watched with concern, and before calling the next play, had someone run out to replace Cole.

Cole’s shoulders slumped, and he was reluctant to leave the field. Coach Long ended up calling a timeout as the play clock was winding down.

Cole dragged himself to the bench as the rest of the offence took a seat as well.

‘Catch your breath, boys,’ Coach Long said. ‘You’re doing well, just keep at it and let’s put this game away for good. There’s still plenty of time for them to come back so don’t get sloppy now.’

He stepped in front of Cole who had been hunched over but instantly sat up straight in front of the coach. ‘Yes, Coach?’

‘You’ve been playing great, Cole. But I don’t think you’ve had a rest yet, have you? Aside from quarter-time and half-time, of course. Otherwise, you’ve been out there for every snap on both sides of the ball, haven’t you? You can sit this drive out, and you can stop worrying about returning punts and kicks.’

‘But Coach I can—’

‘No buts.’ Coach Long smiled and placed a comforting hand on the boy’s shoulder. ‘We asked a lot of you today and you’ve more than stepped up to the plate. You deserve this little break, don’t worry. The world won’t end if you sit on the bench for a few plays.’

Cole lowered his head, nodding. Of course, the world wouldn’t end just because he sat down for a few plays, and he decided it was also too arrogant to believe they’d somehow lose from this position just because he was on the bench for a minute or two.

However, the offence didn’t get far without Cole, this drive, but it wasn’t like they were passing much anyway. Already they had begun to drag out the plays and run down the clock with nothing but rushing attempts.

They soon punted the ball back to the Panthers, but the Panthers' offence was completely lacklustre.

Malik was second-guessing every decision now, and couldn’t run the Read Option at all. Sean wasn’t even mad, and he didn’t even ask for any passes anymore.

Ty was loving it. He stood in silence, no longer taunting either boy, just relishing the moment. He breathed it in, soaking in the depression that the Panthers were sinking into faster and faster. “This is what I live for. This right here. This is victory.”

Anthony was the only one who seemingly hadn’t given up hope. ‘Just give me the fucking ball if you can’t do anything with it then,’ he shouted at Malik. But he couldn’t do anything on his own, no matter how hard he fought against the Dons, their defence was too oppressive, and they hadn’t eased off the gas at all.

The score was 16–0 at the end of the third quarter, and that was where it stayed until the end of the game. Running out the clock was a formality by that point; the game was over as soon as Ty had returned that interception for a touchdown.

Whilst the Dons played as if they had no intention of scoring since that touchdown, the Panthers never once even threatened the chance of a comeback.

When the final whistle blew, the crowd once again burst into jubilant cheers, raining applause down on the victorious Dons who were elated to have broken their treacherous skid of two losses in a row.

The teams lined up to shake hands after the game. Ty kept his hands in his pockets the whole time, only offering his sharp grin.

Sean and Malik didn’t even attempt to shake his hand, but Anthony, conversely, reached out and forcibly took Ty’s hand from his pocket, shaking it roughly as he leaned against the smaller boy.

‘We’re gonna beat you next time and wipe that dumbass, smug grin off your face, you shitty little bitch. I’ll see you in regionals.’

Ty laughed. ‘Make sure your team doesn’t piss their pants next time.’ Ty waved goodbye, and Anthony flipped him off as they parted ways.

The Dons made their way into the locker room—JJ put Ty in a headlock and dragged him off the field before he could start more problems.

Down in the locker room, after the boys had got most of their celebrating done, Coach Long stood in the centre of the room. ‘Alright boys, settle down now. I know it feels good to win again, but let’s calm it down for a moment. Music off, come on now.’

It still took nearly a minute for the room to go completely silent and for everyone’s attention to turn towards Coach Long.

‘Now, that was an exceptional performance from you all, and we can only win when we ALL play well together, so give yourselves a pat on the back first and foremost.’ He paused to give themselves time to do so. ‘But having said that, there are a few players today without which we couldn’t have won.’

Ty was a little surprised to hear the words “a few” but assumed the coach was only trying to be nice.

‘Not enough can be said about Tyrese’s performance. Another two picks, I think he’s already got the school record for most in a season, and at this point, it’s hard not to take them for granted, they seem to happen that much.’

Ty lowered his head, trying to hide his grin as he basked in the glory. He prepared himself to accept yet another game ball to add to his growing collection. It had been too long since he received one.

‘But, who I really want to highlight today are three players who don’t get enough love, and due to the absence of some of our regular starters had to step up big time. We wouldn’t have been able to do it without them today, and I wish I had three balls to give out to them all, but I can’t find any who are more deserving than Benny, Cameron, and Cole today.’

Clapping and a few whoops bounced around the room as the trio shyly accepted the praise. Chris and Stephen—who was also down in the locker room for the first time that night—went around ruffling their hair.

Ty frowned deeply. “What? We’d have only scored one touchdown without me… what did they do that was so great today? This is bullshit!”

‘Oi, wipe that look off your face.’ Coach Hoang said to Ty.

Ty slowly relaxed, his scowl dropping away to his usual resting bitch face instead.

‘Can’t you be happy for your teammates? Or does winning only matter when you’re the player who gets the most praise? Of course, you were the key to winning, but it’ll get boring and only divide the team if you’re the only one whose actions are praised.’

‘That’s not …’

But Coach Hoang was already moving away before Ty could rebuttal. He ground his teeth quietly. “Bullshit! If they want a game ball they should just play well enough to earn it. The fuck is this handout bullshit?

He was one of the first out of the locker room that night, slinging his bag over his shoulder as he stormed out into the chilly night; the stands were practically empty.

Meg met him with a hug, squeezing him tight. ‘Congratulations! That’s more like it, isn’t it? Those last two weeks were just flukes, you’re still the best, big bro.’

‘Mm… yeah, thanks.’ Ty patted her back and then continued towards the car park. She took his hand, following by his side.

Ty held on loosely as she squeezed and pressed close.

Now that the euphoria and adrenaline had worn off, the win felt hollow. It wasn’t because of the game ball snub either, but something else.

There was still a fire burning within Ty. A fire of vengeance, with two names fuelling it:

Marshall Ward, and Denzel Kingston.