The Finals, The Spartans Return

Skip forwards 5 months ahead, November, the final of the high school league. We are standing in the locker room. Coach White had died after a heart attack while driving. This was the first match since then, it had seemed that nearly the entire school had gone to his funeral. I am standing in the middle of all of us, not something I normally do, but this is a special moment, I am on the edge of tears, "Today, we stand here," My voice is shaky, "We stand here, together, as brothers, doing what we do best, after one of our fathers passed away, Coach White, he is looking upon us, hoping that we are able to take from what he taught us and use it," I pause, "So, this year, we might be able to win, wait, we CAN win, and we WILL win, we didn't get here to fail, we got here to succeed."

"Yeah, we got here, like we did last year, but this time, it won't end that way."

"Brothers on three, 1 2 3 Brothers!" We are all holding our helmets as we walk. The crowd is loud, our school and the other school, but that other school, was the Spartans, the team that we had rolled over in the past, but now, it was the finals, and they had a nearly identical score to us, something had changed in them.

After the coin flip, we got offense first, after a fair catch at the 25 yard line after a bad kickoff. I sat on the bench looking at our team play. Michael had become a better player, and less arrogant. The new head coach is Coach Pat. I watch as Nelson flips it to Michael and he follows Buck but then, Buck and Michael get leveled by their number 52, their massive middle linebacker, he looks like Ray Lewis, crashing into Michael and Buck, stopping then in an instant. We gain 10 yards, a first down. I watch every movement of the players of their defense, our offensive line stops every attempt and Nelson was a beast within the pocket. They rush four and have three line backers, with more in the backfield. I eye their offensive line, they don't seem massive but they could be just as deadly as ours. Nelson hurls the ball deep. The crowd is silent as the ball soars through the air, 'It's overthrown,' I see a hand go up and grab it from the air, out of it's path, Antonio jumps nearly 5 feet from the floor and grabs it from the air and crashes to the floor, with it tucked away, 4 yards from the goal line, 'Well, 1st and goal,' Coach Pat walks over to me.

"If we fail this run, your up."

"Um, yes coach," He runs a fullback dive, Buck gets stopped by number 52, down at the one yard. Pat gestures with his head and I get up and put my helmet on. Michael jogs off and high fives me.

"Make it work," I nod and Nelson kneels in the middle of the huddle, "Nelson, just give me the ball."

"30, 30."

"Go," I get set next to Nelson. They have 5 in line. The ball flies towards Nelson who hands it to me, they rushed so quickly that the line is totally blocked. I have the ball in my hands. I break off to the side, running towards the side number 52 was standing nearer to. He stares me down and runs to stop me. I see him coming. Everything seems to go into slow motion. I put my arm out and push him back. He tries to get to me but my pushing makes him trip, allowing me to score. Our school roars to life and cheers, first drive of the game, first 6 points of the game. Jeremy easily kicks the extra point.

Now, it was really my turn to play. Coach Pat allows me to decide for the defense. We are in the huddle and I start, "Basic, basic," We get set and Mike starts shouting.

"Banjo! Banjo!" I look up and see no fullback or running back, he went in motion. The ball moves after a second with no hut, I lower my head and slam into the center, knocking him to the floor. The QB isn't looking at me. I slam into him and send him to the floor, a few yards back. I glare at him before turning around and walking back to my team. I am silent, focused, "46," We all nod, "For Coach," I mutter under my breath. We line up again and I hear Cassandra's voice cheering me on. I smile and move onto a four point stance, with Mike standing next to me. The ball moves and we swarm them. The QB looks around wildly and Fred decks him from behind, making him drop the ball. I yank it out of the air and as the Right Tackle tries to hit my legs, which he does, but I lateral it to Jorge, who breaks into a sprint and breaks free of all possible tackles, scoring, '13-0,' Jeremy nails the kick and we are back on.

We lead the first half for a while, 28-0, until their Defensive Tackle hits William low, taking out his knee. He receives a few punches from the DT and I break onto the field, slamming all my weight into him as his team holds him back. William is on the floor holding his knee, he has removed his helmet, revealing a painful grimace, I signal for the medics and they run onto the field. I put a knee on the ground, and the rest of the team mimics me. There are two flags on the play.

"Unsportsmanlike conduct, punching, number 98 of the defense, that penalty is accepted, holding, number 23, of the defense, that penalty is declined, 15 yard penalty, first down," The secondary referee walks up to him and talks, "Number 98 has been disqualified."

We are standing on our sideline, "Aristide, replace William, we need you to play both ways, is that fine?"

"Of course, Coach, you decide."

"No, do you think you can last?"

"I can, I'll need Fred and Adrian to work even harder on defense."

"We got you dude, just do your thing."

"We'll run a 22, but with Buck, Michael, fake the outside run, just hold the line, we are stronger than we were last year."

"Yes Coach."

"Come on, let's get them."

I run onto the field alongside the offense. The play is running on my side, their number 98 isn't on the field anymore, and they line up a bigger looking player in front of me. He glares at me and I smile as a response. We all get set and he is growling, he seems too much like an animal. The ball moves and I rush towards him and grab hold of his pads, using my superior speed, even if it isn't amazing, and weight to take him off balance and then pass him to Perry as I go up looking for more blocks. Michael is right behind me, with his hand on my pads, 'At least James did his job,' I keep running with him behind me as the last two guys are the two safeties. I slow down slightly and place myself between him and the safeties as they look for an opening. I lower my body and knock into both of them, stopping one and tripping the other. Michael hurdles the tripped one and has a clear path to the end zone, '6 more.'

The game is one sided, moving closer to a stomp than an actual game. 35-0, 42-0, 45-0, 48-0, it seems like we have won. Fred and Adrian have really stepped up in the defense to cover for my lack of stamina and on offense, everyone is playing incredibly. The clock is at 3 seconds, we are 45 yards from the end zone. Coach Pat decides to kick a field goal, to pour salt into the wound. I get set next to David with Perry to my left. Jeremy just has to let it loss, there is no wind and the whole stadium is quiet. They have one man deep in case we miss. Coach Pat had told us to play it safe to end with a perfect game. The ball is snapped and Jeremy kicks it, but no field goal. I get out of the line and run back, the ball was blocked. I run back down the field at an angle to the runner, one of their safeties playing on special teams, has it. He is already celebrating as I near him. I leap at him, barely grabbing onto his shoulder pads, swinging him out of the field. He slams the ball on the floor and shouts, clearly pissed. I stay on the floor, smiling, 'We won, damn,' I get up and I have just one thing to do. Michael is celebrating with the rest of our team.

"Michael!" I shout as everyone moves out of the way, creating a circle around Michael. He looks at me seeming a little confused. I slowly walk towards him and when I am near him, I lift my arm as if I am going to punch him, before putting my hand out to shake his, "Nice job dude, I wanted to ask, all forgiven?"

"All forgiven, nice job, big man," He looks behind me, "I think someone wants to talk to you," He points behind me and I turn around and see Cassandra walking towards me. I smile at her and she runs into my arms, "All forgiven."

"You were amazing."

"Thank you, well, your motivation was nice too."

"I love you."

"So do I."