Chapter 5

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by ijewkesyouout

by ijewkesyouout

The day was September 3 and I had finished practice yesterday and fortunately without another injury. The time was also 3:30, an hour before the game against Birmingham would start. Fifteen minutes into practice we had finished warm-ups. We ran some offensive plays and the next play was to me. I took the ball up the four-hole, juking two players and pummeling through one, taking the ball twenty-five yards before being tackled. I quickly got back up and got ready for the next play which was again to me, this time up the three-hole. Twenty minutes later, I would practice special-teams and play kick returner and then it was finally time for the game.

We stormed the field from the south side. The students made an isle about 5 feet wide and some of them flew a flag with a bulldog on it. The cheerleaders sat on the far end of the isle dancing and clapping there pon-pons every once in a while. The quarterback and some other speedy kids led the way through the isle until we reached the middle of the field. When we reached the middle we cut back towards the home team side and sat on the benches. The crowd came to almost a complete silence then started cheering again after the coin toss. The captains sped off the field and announced to the team and the coaches we would be kicking the ball.

The ball launched in the air, soaring like a rocket ship until arriving into the kick returner's hands. He raced down the field and was tackled by someone who I didn't know the name of. My team set up in their defensive positions while I sat on the sideline watching them play. The Vikings broke the huddle, "Break!" while clapping their hands at the same time. They lined up in a 6 with one receiver off with the other one on. "Hike" the quarterback snatched the ball and dropped back into a pass. The ball floated a bit and was wrapped into one of our cornerback's hands. The crowd cheered.

I rushed onto the field while most of the defense swooped past me. We made a somewhat circle shape and huddled. "Strong left, halfback jet sweep" We broke the huddle and shuffled to my earned spot on the field. I winced a little bit in pain after I felt a short, knife-like pain strike my head, probably because of my concussion not even being fully healed. "Hike" I clasped the ball in my arms and transferred the ball to my left armpit while hastening towards the sideline. I gained about 15 yards for a first down. The drive would continue with simple gains that would ultimately lead to a touchdown. Whistles blew and the referees pointed their hands in the air which signaled a touchdown. I had already scored a touchdown in this game. The quarterback trotted off the field while the kicker shuffled into the PAT formation. He took two steps before launching the football like a rocketship into the uprights. The referees repeated the action and I hurried off the field.

I got many chances at returning the ball for special teams. Nothing amazing happened while on it, even with 4 punt returns due to our powerful defense. We would go on to have force 2 turnovers as well. Things were not turning out very well for our opponents. Even worse, the score was 28-7 at the half and they would need 3 touchdowns to tie the game. Someone rung a bell which signaled halftime.

The coach gave us a pep talk and taught us a new play inside the locker room although I doubted we would even use it. Just then, there was a knock on the locker room door. The lights cut out. Everyone sat there, silent, unable to speak. Loud knocks and shouts sounded by the door. The door slid open. That was all I remembered before I fainted.