The Summer I Met The Girl

nineteen

There's nothing like the rush of 40,000 people screaming for your team. Matt gets such a rush on the football field, it's indescribable. The crowd is deafening today since it's the first game of the season. The whole building is electric, it feels like it's on fire.

There's 6 minutes left in the 4th Quarter, and the game is tied 24-24. It's been a hell of a game against one of their rivals, the Wheaton Warriors.

The Warriors are driving down the field aggressively and Matt watches intently from the sidelines. The pressure for the first home game is always overwhelming. Matt has never lost the first home game of the season, not in high school or college and he doesn't play on today ending that streak.

The defense makes a great stop and the Warriors are forced to punt. Matt leads his offense back onto the field with 2 minutes and 45 seconds left. It's not much time, but it'll have to do.

When Matt's on the field, everything kind of fades away. He doesn't think about the roaring crowd, or the pressure that's on his shoulders to make a play. It's about the next move, it's about the game.

The whistle blows, and he settles into formation, and ball is snapped to him. He drops back out of the pocket, and can feel two defensemen barreling down on him. He sees Landon down the field, probably 10 yards, but he's not open. His eyes are scanning frantically as he moves his feet to avoid a sack. At the last second, he spots Nelson open and throws the football his way. Then the hit comes and he hits the field, hard. But he can hear the crowd roar, which must mean Nelson caught it. He sits up, his ears ringing from the fall, and shakes his hear.

Landon and Garrett come over to him. Matt's totally thrown off. "You good?" Landon asks. He extends a hand to Matt and helps him stand.

Matt takes his helmet off and shakes his head, still seeing stars. "Fuck that hurt."

"You want me to get Coach Renner out here to check you out?"

"No, we have a game to finish. I'll get looked at after." Matt slams his helmet back onto his head and makes his way down field to where Nelson got tackled. "We're running 87 Ford, line up!" He shouts, and the team follows his lead.

The ball is snapped, and Matt runs the play to perfection. His pass lands in Garrett's arms and he runs it for 15 yards. The crowd is electric, Matt can hardly hear himself think. They're at the Warriors 20, and the clock is winding down. Only 10 seconds left. Matt cusses to himself for burning too much of the play clock during the last two plays.

He shakes off the thought, and lines the team up again. They're running Whiskey Sour, a tried and true play. This should be the game winner. The ball is snapped, Matt drops back, and Landon is wide open in the end-zone. He hurls the ball, 20 yards, and into Landon's open arms.

The crowd goes wild.

Matt sprints into the end-zone and tackles Landon. They've won the game with no time left. The team celebrates, running up and down the field with their Mustang flag held high.

The crowd celebrates with them, an entire stadium chanting their fight song. Matt is hauled away from the celebration for a brief period of time to talk with a few reporters.

On his way into the locker room a while later, Matt sees Bethany walking in his direction. She's in her uniform, with her bag slung over her shoulder. She's walking with another cheerleader, Ally, and they both stop when they see him.

"Hey Matty," Ally says happily, "Great game!"

"Thanks Ally." Matt says with a polite smile. He looks at Bethany, "Hey B."

Bethany doesn't say anything. Ally clears her throat, "I'll wait out here for you."

Ally walks away, leaving Bethany and Matt facing off in the hallway.