Lost in the Lights

Chapter 16

Despite the pristine shape Becky keeps herself in, she breathes heavily in the crisp December air. Her lungs feel like they're growing icicles and she's struggling to keep her hands from going numb in the frigid temperature. There's no doubt her nose is as red as Rudolph's by now and she can barely feel her lips as she calls out play after play, but she persists.

She always persists.

Afterall, this is the last football practice of her high school career. It's an important milestone for her but the couple of hours Coach Beiste added to practice makes it a little harder to enjoy – especially now that the sun sets earlier and the temperature drops faster. But Becky figures high school football practices are a walk in the park compared to college level, so she goes through the motions as per usual and soaks in the moment while it lasts.

At the sound of Coach Beiste's whistle, everyone gets set for another play and Becky readies herself for the snap.

When the ball is hiked, Becky takes it into her hands and tries to drop back so she can fire downfield. The Titan defense is too aggressive for her new O-Line though and soon the pocket she's in begins to collapse. Defensive players are coming at her from all angles so she has to duck and dodge. It's a mad scramble to avoid a sack but there's nothing more to do than to throw the ball away for an incompletion.

When the play is called dead, there's some shoving amongst her frustrated linemen but she wedges herself in between the guys, forcing them apart with a firm push. The tension has been growing since last night's practice, but they can't fall apart now. There's too much at stake.

"It's alright, guys! We're almost there!" Becky tries to encourage her team although she's starting to sense the discouragement, "Keep pushing! We'll get this."

"Jackson! Ridley! You have got to step it up," Coach drills for the tenth time, "Armstrong was this close to a sack. You have to offer more protection than that or we're getting our butts handed to us tomorrow night."

The replacements for Azimio and Tack nod diligently. The two eagerly accepted the challenge when Coach Beiste called upon them to step up after dismissing Azimio and Tack. The only problem is that they mostly practiced on defense so protecting the quarterback is new terrain for them.

"This isn't Carmel's first rodeo, folks. They're the defending champs for how many years now? We have to do better than this. I know we can, we wouldn't have a record like ours if we couldn't," Coach continues.

And it's true. From where the Titans were as a team in the beginning of the season to now is a drastic improvement. Hell, they're playing better than they ever have! The loss of Azimio and Tack was only a minor setback, but the team has faced adversity before and they can do it again.

Besides, they're better off without them.

"Carmel's time at the top is over," Becky adds as she looks around at her team, "Right, Titans?"

The team starts to hype themselves up again as they cheer on Becky's words and the quarterback smiles proudly at the response.

"Alright, let's run it again and this time hold the line longer than half a second," Coach instructs, "We know Armstrong has wheels, but she shouldn't have to scramble. Line up!"

The Titans all gravitate back to the line of scrimmage at the Coach's command and begin again.

With only two practices on offense under the replacements' belt and the big game just a mere 24 hours away, all Becky can do now is have faith that they'll be able to iron out most of the kinks and everything will work out just fine.

It has to.

***

It's a restless night's sleep for Becky before the big game, but that's nothing new. She always gets the jitters on game day, but there's something else that looms over her and she can't quite decided if it's good or bad. It lingers throughout her morning run and usual routine of getting ready for the school day. It's there as she texts Freen good morning and it's even there when she joins her mom and Ritchie for breakfast downstairs.