QB Sneak

Chapter 18: Caution To The Wind

My arms trembled as I raised them for the snap. Number 6 was looking daggers at me, in front of a backdrop of screaming students.

"Readyyyy!" I shouted, trying to keep my voice from cracking. My heart thundered against my chest. I stuck my hands under Mike's butt as he prepared to snap the ball. The crowd became deafening. As the screaming assaulted my ears, I tried to collect myself.

For one serene moment, I remembered the first time I visited Alex in the hospital. His body was broken. He was latched into a hospital bed, with all kinds of tubes and wraps around his body, and his face was contorted, trying to mask agony with a familiar smile. He had done it all for this football team, and I had no doubt he'd strap up and do it again right now. I asked myself the big question.

Why not me?

What was stopping me from being the hero, getting that one yard and maybe getting our team that much closer to moving on? What was stopping me from being hailed as the next Alex, or to finally prove myself as QB1?

 Maybe the play clock being at 4 seconds. 3, now 2 seconds to make a choice. Snap it or burn a timeout?

I hope Geo's warmed up.

"Set hit!" I received the ball and lunged to Mike's right. The lane filled up thanks to 6 seemingly reading my mind. I couldn't go right, and I couldn't go left. I sure couldn't go forward lest 6 smear me. I almost resigned to 6 making my uniform from white to green, but then it hit me. There was one direction I could go. 

Up.

As 6 lowered his head to fold me in half, I leaped as high as I could. Blake caught the memo, pushing on my butt to try to get me across the line. Another linebacker flew in, trying to push me backwards. As Blake and the linebacker crushed me like a soda can, I figured that I had made enough progress, and went limp. Both parties lost their grip on Winston the Human Wishbone, and I crashed to the ground like a sack of potatoes. I looked to my side to find myself clear of the first down marker by a yard and a half. Success!

The next course of action was to count all of my ribs. I didn't know how many I had before, but I certainly hadn't lost any. Double success! Nobody seemed to acknowledge this huge victory for me. The coach barely mustered a grin, and both student sections were quiet.

"Paddock on the carry, gain of 2 yards and good for a Meadows Ridge first down."

At least the announcer said something.

"Liz F! Liz F!!" Geo screamed, either enraged or enthralled. DeMarcus was right next to him, sticking out his right arm before pretending to shoot a basketball.

"Liz F HB Toss. Liz F HB Toss. Double tights. On one on one."

We broke the huddle. DeeDee stepped off the field, clearing the way for -huh?- unknown sophomore Max Kowalski. On the most important snap of the season we give this kid his first ever varsity snap? Hope he gets a lot of pictures.

After mulling it over for more than 2 seconds, I figured that Blake might prefer running behind solid blocking WR's. Nate Catanzaro's hulking frame and a taller red-zone guy in Max would be better than the alternatives; the contact-shy DeeDee, the exhausted Norm, and the diminutive Kyle Shanks. I hoped Max knew how to block. 

The plan was for Blake to run out to the side where Knox, Nate, and Max would hopefully be blocking all would-be tacklers, before I would give him an underhand toss and he'd hopefully be protected well enough to score.

"Ready-y! Set!" The student section, once again, got blisteringly loud, trying to rattle me into making a mistake. It worked, but not how they intended it to.