How to Kill a King

Jake popped up and joined in the celebrations, thumping JJ on the back, grinning.

JJ returned the grin.

'You're strong, brother. I'm glad the team's still in good hands.'

JJ blushed and pulled Jake into a hug. 'That means a lot, hermano. I promise we're getting that State championship this year.'

Jake hugged back, laughing. 'Worry about getting past Warren first.'

The cheering settled down, and Coach Hoang let the players have another break. Jake joined them on the sideline.

'Speaking of Warren,' Jake said. 'I want to give you guys some advice on taking down a runner, especially one that's bigger and stronger than you.'

The players, even those from the offence sat close, all centred around Jake.

'JJ just showed a good way to use leverage to win, but that's more for battles that are fought with equal strength. Based on what Coach Hoang told me about this Bears Running Back, I'm not sure how helpful that example is. But you guys might already know the advice I'm going to give you. Ty was pretty much spot on with what you should do.'

Others looked at Ty, murmuring. 'How'd he know?' 'Didn't he eat dirt too?'

Ty pushed the words to the back of his mind and buried them there. His eyes swiped across the crowd and the murmurs faded.

'When you come up against a powerhouse, whether it's a Tight End or a Halfback, Fullback, Quarterback, whatever it is, grab ANYTHING—anything that isn't illegal. If you can't get their hips, latch onto any limb, their arms, their legs, whatever. They get their power from their core, but they can only utilise it fully when they can put it all together through their legs, hips, chest, and arms. So grab a hold of something, isolate it, and drag them down. Don't give up if you don't get their hips.'

'Excellent advice, Jake,' Coach Long said.

'Coach!' Jake jumped up, his grin returned as he hugged Coach Long.

Coach Long pat his back. 'Good to see you again, my boy.'

'Hey, Coach Short's here too.' Jake ruffled her hair, ignoring the filthy look she gave him. She couldn't keep her smile at bay for long, anyway.

'Thanks for helping us out, Jake. Though, if it isn't too much to ask, would you want to join the boys in the gym? I'm sure they'd appreciate it.'

'Ohh, hitting the weight room? Is that still as popular as ever?' Listening to the groans that came from some players, Jake got his answer.

The team followed the coaches and Jake off the field and into the school's weight room.

The training heavily emphasised leg and core muscles. 'You can't lay a tackle if you don't have the power in your legs to do it,' Coach Long said. 'And you can't use that power without a strong core.'

People filled the squat racks and the leg press machines; others performed dumbbell-assisted lunges up and down the floor.

Then you had people laid out in rows performing the ever dreaded plank, or pairs throwing a medicine ball back and forth during their sit-ups, and others using a barbell for roll outs.

The coaches oversaw it all, and with Jake there as well, JJ stepped back from his semi-mentor role he usually took during these weight training sessions, and focused solely on his own workout. As solely as such a selfless guy could, anyway.

'This'll all be worth it when you see how explosive you become,' Coach Long said.

'Pain is temporary, glory is forever, that's what they say, isn't it? Push through that pain, Samuels,' Coach Hoang said.

Ty gritted his teeth and hissed through them as he pushed up from a deep squat, his eyes narrow slits as he looked down at Coach Hoang's smug grin.

'Why don't you show me how to do it, Coach?'

'I could probably still squat more than you, Samuels.'

'Haha, very … funny!'

'You say that, but I hear Coach Hoang was a beast back in his day,' Jake said. 'I heard he could squat two Linemen at once.'

'Bullshit. When was this? When dinosaurs were around?'

'I'm not even twice your age, Samuels. You wanna run a lap with that weight on your back?'

Ty shut his mouth and finished his set before dropping the two-hundred pounds he was carrying back into the rack.

Throughout the Dons' time in the gym, Jake saw to everyone whether he was coaching them on their form or just spotting them. He stopped in for a little chat with everyone.

When their time was up, and the workout was over, Jake went around saying his goodbyes. He stuck with JJ and the other seniors the longest, though still saw everyone personally.

Eventually, it was Ty's turn. Jake took his hand in another firm handshake. 'It was great meeting you, Ty. I'm glad you're here. With freshmen like you, I know the Dons' are in good hands.'

The words and recognition they carried stunned Ty. Why weren't more people like Jake? In just one training session, he'd already seen how great Ty was.

'Thanks. It was good meeting you. … Did you play with Coach Hoang?'

Jake shook his head. 'No. His accident happened the season before my freshman year, if I remember right. But when my sophomore year started, and I earned my spot on the varsity team, that was his first year as a coach. He's one of the best I've ever had, let me tell you. Even if I wasn't really part of his side of the ball, he was still more than happy to help and give advice to everyone. You listen to him and he'll get you far.'

'I'll keep that in mind,' Ty said. Coach Hoang was good, and he seemed to recognise Ty's greatness, or at least saw potential in Ty, but Ty knew he'd go far with or without anyone's help.

After Jake left, Coach Long stepped up. 'Don't be in a rush to follow Jake,' he said. 'We've still got a load of film to comb through. Those of you from JV, you're free to go.'

There were a few more groans from some of the varsity players. For Ty, it was another burst of excitement. Whilst such a long practice session followed up by film study wasn't everyone's cup of tea, it was perfect for Ty.

The players followed the coaches through to the media room and took their seats, getting comfortable for what they were sure was a long session. After all, they were studying the supposed best team in the Region. Though, Warren would only be second best if you asked some Dons.

For the Dons' offence, there wasn't too much to go over. The focus was on the Bears' hefty D-Line, and their duo of OLBs, all of which were a part of their formidable O-Line.

Mainly, they were disruptors to the run game, however, their pass rush was still good and the Dons would have to cut back on long-developing plays because of it.

It would also be hard to pass with how the rest of the defence could sag off after putting so much trust in the five at the front to stop the run.

'How much pressure we can alleviate from our passing attack, with a few well-timed runs, will be the key to how much we can score,' Coach Long said. As he spoke, videos showcasing the Bears blowing up runs early played. Plays where they sacked a QB that held onto the ball too long came after, followed by some well-schemed runs using misdirection to get by the D-Line for big gains.

'But, we see one weakness in their pass defence we could exploit,' Coach Norman added. He circled Denzel, who often played MLB as well.

'Number twenty-two, the Bears' biggest weapon offensively. He's another bonus to their run defence. Using his personal knowledge of running lanes and what a Running Back wants to do, he can anticipate a lot of the opposing Running Back's moves. However, he can be too eager to go after the run.'

The players of the Don's offence, even Jay, were locked in, hanging off of Coach Norman's words. In the background, footage played of Denzel putting a stop to runs that somehow got past the D-Line. Then it swapped to him losing track of his Zone or a Receiver, and giving up a catch behind him.

Coach Long took over. 'Which means he's susceptible to Play-Action. But not only that, he seems to be easily distracted overall, often running after the first Receiver that comes across him when he drops back in coverage. He's their key offensively, but he'll be the key to our offence, too.'

The Bears' secondary wasn't given much attention, and then it was time to worry about the Bears' offence, and how the Dons' defence could stop them. The footage was concerning.

A lot of it was Denzel running over people, or even multiple defenders at once. It didn't matter how people tried to take him down; he was too big and too strong. And he was fast, too. There were more than a few plays where he raced around the edge, out-speeding everyone. Then, once he was in the open field, he was gone. There wasn't anyone capable of catching him.

Even the footage from their own game against the Bears that season didn't look much better. Ty stared at the images of Denzel crushing him. His knuckles turned white as he gripped the arms of his chair.

'He's a force to be reckoned with,' Coach Long said.

'But Kingston isn't unstoppable,' Coach Hoang said. 'The Vikings—who we just beat—had the best showing against Kingston and the Bears. They showed us that the key to stopping their runs was getting early pressure from the D-Line.'

A few plays showed Polar Bear Mike Ironbark breaking through the Bears' sturdy O-Line and disrupting Denzel before he could build up a head of steam. Other Vikings collapsed through the hole Mike opened up, and swarmed Denzel.

'We don't have someone as big as the boy the Vikings have upfront, so that might be hard for us to replicate,' Coach Long said.

Donte frowned. He'd struggled with the Bears' O-Line. Of course, he was an edge rusher and mainly focused on blitzing the opposing team's QB, but sealing the edge was going to be important—and hard—against the Bears.

'Still, you don't have to smash through and take Kingston down yourself,' Coach Hoang said. 'If you can just hold him up, slow him down, then help can come. It'll need a team effort to stop their run game.'

'But it's something we can do,' Coach Long said. Footage came on from the Dons' previous meeting with the Vikings, footage of them tackling Denzel and stopping him for short gains. Mainly thanks to JJ.

Unfortunately, such footage was rather short and ended quickly, leaving an awkward silence in its wake.

'My advice—get as low as you can, and don't be scared,' Coach Hoang said.

Coach Long changed the footage again, and Ty leaned forward in his seat. Now this was intriguing. They were on to the Bears' passing attack.

'We can't forget they can pass, too,' Coach Long said. 'They don't do it much, but it's there, and forgetting about it can make it as deadly as their run game. Play-Action is their main weapon. Keep it in the back of your mind, always.'

Ty's eyes lit up as footage from late in the Vikings vs Bears game came on. Number 14—that sleepy shit—was on screen. It was that same touchdown, the one Ty still couldn't figure out. It still looked like he was going left, even though Ty already knew the outcome.

Then there was footage from other games, all receptions.

Number 14 got open on nearly every play, even the ones where the ball didn't end up in his hands. Ty never took his eyes off 14, even if he was only on the edge of the screen. "How's he doing it?"

Though Ty watched closely, he struggled to see what made 14 so deadly and how he was getting open. It looked like he was just exploiting the defence's habit of falling for Play-Action, but it was more than that.

14 was smooth. His routes had no hitch, no hesitation. He was good. Quick, and deceptively strong … but there was more. Ty couldn't put his finger on it, but he could feel it just beneath the surface.

'It starts on the ground,' Coach Long said. 'In the trenches, that's where we'll win this game. If we can stop their run and force them to pass, we'll find out why they don't like to do that much. That's how we win. Offensively, we just need to pick our spots and be patient, don't make any mistakes, and don't let them run away with the game.'

The images faded from the screen as the projector shut off. Ty sat there, still staring at where he'd seen number 14 last. Whatever his secret was, Ty had to work it out before the game. He still had five days, but time was already ticking.