We Come Alive 5

Epilogue: Mateo Sanchez

Mateo Sanchez

Life resumed for Mateo after the boys went out after Clover. He even sat them down and gave them a lecture on why it was such a bad idea and how badly it could have gone. He also, unfortunately, had to sponsor Ethan again when the drug and alcohol addiction facility had a hearing on Ethan's punishment. Mateo's efforts helped Ethan only earn a three-week lockdown.

Mateo spent the rest of the next year dealing with his usual jobs as the athletic director and helping mold Stephen into a great captain that Clover thought he could be.

Speaking of the legendary quarterback, Mateo went to see what he liked to call the showdown destined to happen when the time came;

Mateo traveled from Texas to Alabama to watch the football game in person. He was sitting in the college football stadium with Kiara beside him since she decided to come along. He smiled widely when he saw Clover and Jose on the field, only this time they were on opposite sides.

"You nervous?"

Mateo smiled at Kiara who seemed pretty anxious herself. He shrugged his shoulders, looking at the two on the field in front of him standing across from one another for the coin toss. "It's...different."

Kiara frowned. "A good different or a bad different?"

Mateo chuckled to himself. "It's the best kind of different I've ever wanted to see. This is all I wanted for them, you know?"

"Yeah." She scoffed, "I know a little too well."

Mateo just clapped and cheered with the rest of the fans around him when Clover threw an amazing pass 20 yards down the field.

When the game ended, the final score was 37 - 45, a very close game. Mateo made his way to the field to see the two players he'd practically raised as his own. When he got to Jose, he smiled brightly and engulfed him in a hug.

"Congratulations, that was a hell of a game." He smiled.

Jose chuckled and put his hands on his hips with a smirk. "Thank you, thank you."

He kept his smile as Clover made her way over to them as people took their picture. She shook Jose's hand and gave a side hug to Mateo.

"Still not that good of a loser." Jose joked.

Clover cracked a smirk and shrugged. "Whatever. Nobody ever likes to lose. I don't see you all smiles when your team loses."

Mateo put a hand on either one of their shoulders to keep them at bay. "Hey, it was a close game. You can try to beat him next time."

And that's exactly what she did. Mateo, once again, flew out to the game when the two played each other for the NCAA championship later that year.

Mateo was on his feet in the stands as the Georgia Bulldogs pulled off an upset against Alabama. He watched Clover run on the field with her teammates as they celebrated their win, confetti falling from the sky.

He smiled with joy as he saw Clover walk over to Jose and stop short of him, when he acknowledged her, he lifted her up in a hug despite their padding making a bulk of a distance between them.

Mateo was nearly in tears getting the answer he always wanted to know the answer to. In the showdown meant to happen, madness vs greatness, who wins? Neither. They could fight, battle, and brawl until they had nothing left. The final score would always be tied. They were meant to do this forever.

Later that night, Clover sent Mateo a picture of her with the trophy and gave him credit for her success. He even cried in his hotel room when he saw videos of both athletes mentioning him in their press conference interviews after the game.

It was a similar reaction he had the following year when an almost identical championship game was played. Except for this time, it was Jose when he won against Stephen and Clemson University

Mateo continued to offer the job of assistant coach to trouble Jaguar players who needed to get back on their feet and were willing to give it their all, but one game they couldn't was one he held special to his heart, the annual Jaguar alumni game.

Every year, Mateo gathered up the same 25 football players from his favorite year of coaching for a game of old-time fun. Over the years, when some of the former teen players couldn't go as long anymore, they allowed their families and friends to play along too.

Mateo walked to the field where he already saw Sam and Victor hanging around. He smiled at the announcer booth where he saw Manny turning on the field lights and turning the microphone on, that's when they all heard a small voice through the speakers.

"Hello? Is this on?"

Mateo's heart warmed hearing his six-year-old granddaughter Esmeralda's voice fill up all of their ears. He glanced into the stands and saw the player's own families sitting around to watch them play, along with Kiara, Victor's family, Sam's girlfriend, and Danny's fiancée.

"When we starting?"

Mateo turned around and smiled at Jacob standing there. He still had his rosy cheeks from putting in an effort to put his jersey and padding. His eyes were still as ocean blue as Mateo remembered, but his dirty blonde hair was shorter than he last remembered.

"Couple minutes. Get ready to start." Mateo advised, stepping away from Sam and Victor along with Danny who had just joined them when Jacob ran off.

Victor chewed on his usual toothpick, a habit he had yet to let die, and glanced around at the field. "God, I never thought I'd see these kids in these jerseys again."

"I'm more surprised they still fit." Danny chuckled.

Sam smiled. "You can say that again. They weren't kids then, but they're definitely not kids now."

Mateo laughed, pulled his whistle out his pocket, and blew it to signal that the game was about to begin. Since he was the only unbiased one of the four of them on defense or offense, he was the assigned referee.

Mateo continued to coach the Jaguars for years to come after eight of his favorite players graduated. He looked at the team as his pride and joy. He continued to work as the athletic director even after he stopped coaching in his mid-forties. When he was 67, he retired as being athletic director after over 30 years of working.