Target the Crown

The Bears' field goal went off with no problem and split the uprights. The score sat at 10–7, with the Bears holding a small, uncomfortable lead.

Now the most pertinent question became: could the Dons take the lead?

That was certainly the goal of their offence, and the hope of their defence.

As the kickoff was underway, Stephen pulled Benny and Cole aside, huddling close with them. ' 'Sup?' Cole asked.

'I know I ain't gotta tell you,' Stephen said, 'but imma say it, anyway. The team's relying on us today. It's the Bears' running, versus our passing, so we need to carry the load offensively.'

'We know,' Benny said. 'We're not gonna lose.'

'Never again to these bastards,' Cole added.

'Haha. I'm glad to hear it, fellas,' Coach Norman said, joining the small huddle. The three boys stared at him. 'It's good having smart players like you guys on the team. You know what you need to do. I'm just here to guide you towards the best way of achieving that.'

'What do you need, Coach?' Stephen asked.

'I want you, and you'—he pointed at Stephen, then Cole—'to draw the defence's attention. You'll streak across the field with big, scary routes. Then Benny boy, you'll be the one to pick apart the defence, find the gaps the others create for you, and exploit them.'

Cole and Benny nodded, on board with the plan immediately. Coach Norman noticed Stephen's hesitation, and the frown spread across his lips.

'Stephen, you're not just a diversion. The key to any good diversion is that it's a genuine threat. One that's impossible to leave alone. If you're open, and if they don't cover you, you'll get the ball and it'll be a deep shot. I just need you all working together as a team.'

'Yes, Sir,' Stephen said.

'Good! Now get out there and make us proud.' Coach Norman left them. The offence marched onto the field after Chris's return reached the Dons' 34-yard line.

With the threat of their run and Play-Action already established from the first drive, the Dons didn't hand the ball over to Chris as much on this drive. He still saw the ball occasionally, but usually on passes out in the flat.

Otherwise, they were looking downfield, and using Cole and Stephen as Coach Norman intended. They were still working the middle of the field, of course, still attacking Denzel.

Cole flashed across Denzel's face on shallow Crosses and quick Slants, and if Denzel didn't cover him, then Jay worked the ball into a gap for a short gain.

But even if Denzel covered Cole, then that meant a Safety had to drop down and cover Stephen who slashed across the field deeper, just beyond Denzel's usual position.

If no one helped there, then Stephen was open for a much larger gain, and that's when the Dons could really chew through the yards.

Denzel could try covering Stephen. Sometimes he shifted from Cole to Stephen pretty smoothly, and other times he stuck with Cole and someone else covered Stephen. But even that left openings, which is where Benny shined.

He was great at plugging up the gaps in the defence, finding them, filling them, and providing Jay a big target when all else was blocked off.

With their three top Receivers working in unison, and even Chris helping in the passing game as an extra outlet, the Dons crawled towards the end-zone, and were once again threatening to score.

All throughout the drive, Denzel had been pinned down to the middle, then pulled this way and that. He wasn't just stuck between a rock and a hard place; he was getting torn apart by them as they kept moving further away.

Suddenly, the Dons were only 7 yards away from their goal. Denzel and the Bears had been powerless. It was a terrible feeling, one Denzel resented with all his being … it hit too close to home, too close to the championship. Football was supposed to be his domain. When he stepped on the field, he was King.

The Bears had grown desperate to stop the Dons' passing. The formidable D-Line wall had cracked apart and shifted to a wild but clumsy pass rush, though the pressure generated was slight and inconsistent.

Jay was still as cool as a cucumber in the Pocket on each pass. But now it was time for the finishing blow, and the Dons thought another Draw would be the perfect way to cap everything off.

Jay took the snap and dropped back, eyes downfield, staring down Denzel like he had been most passes. He handed Chris the ball without even looking at him.

The wall in front of them opened up as the Bears ran wide around it. Chris burst forward, but so did Denzel. He reached the hole almost before Chris did.

There was no room to manoeuvre, no way to avoid the freight train coming his way. Denzel ploughed through Chris and knocked him off his feet. The ball tumbled to the ground as Denzel drove Chris into the turf.

There was a loud call of "FUMBLE!" as a thousand voices all cried in unison. The Bears, like sharks smelling blood, snapped away from their blitzes and darted for the loose ball.

They pounced, but Jay did too. He arrived first, smothering the ball as he was crunched under a heavy pile of Bears. They all felt as heavy as grizzlies as they crushed him, but he didn't let go of that ball, even as they tried ripping it from his grasp.

The officials rushed in as more Dons and Bears piled onto the heap, fighting for the ball. It took them a while to get to the bottom of such a heavy pile, but when they did, Jay was still there, curled around the ball.

The Dons maintained possession, though they'd lost a yard to do so. They still had plenty of time for a touchdown, and a few more chances.

They wouldn't hand it off again. They'd go back to the air, back to Stephen and that trusted, fruitful connection. No one could beat him if Jay just threw it up for the giant. That's what everyone thought.

So the Dons, under the guidance of their coaches, used that belief, as another bit of misdirection.

Stephen lined up inside of Cole on the next play, and when the ball was snapped, he, of course, darted towards the back corner of the end-zone. Cole cut underneath him, then shot up into a Slant.

Both defenders followed Stephen, viewing him as the greater threat, the slight rub confusing them. They left Cole wide open, which had been the Dons' scheme all along. Jay found him easily, and Cole leapt into the end-zone before the Bears even knew what had gone wrong.

The Dons had scored a touchdown. They hadn't just tied the game, but taken the lead. The extra point secured it at 10–14, and the Dons celebrated as if they'd just hit the dagger in game seven.

The game was still young, still only in the first half; the Dons couldn't rest on their laurels. It was time for another kickoff, and Coach Long had noticed number fourteen's lack of movement when returning. So before the Dons' kicking team took the field, he instructed them to kick the ball short of the end-zone, and draw the returner out.

The Dons did so, and it forced Sleepy out. He cottoned on pretty quick that the ball wouldn't reach the end-zone in its flight. He rolled his head back and groaned. Still, he didn't move, maybe it'd bounce good for him.

It didn't. The ball bounced up, then towards him, where it rolled to a stop 3 yards outside of the end-zone, 3 yards away from a touchback. Sleepy sighed and came forward, scooping up the ball.

He spun away from a Don immediately after picking it up, then rushed forward. He swayed back and forth, weaving through the wave of Dons, working his way upfield, and was only stopped at the Bears' 37-yard line.

Possibly the only thing that saved the Dons from giving up a touchdown on the return was the fact it took so long for Sleepy to get going. If he attacked the ball and caught it on the full, he could've gone all the way.

The field darkened when Denzel stepped on it. He stared ahead, not daring to look at the gaze boring into him from the crowd. It was like thousands of icy needles pricking him all over; he knew that kind of look could only come from one man.

The Bears were desperate and angry. This drive would be more dangerous and volatile than the ones before. Dangerous for which side, however, remained to be seen.

Ty stood in front of Sleepy, eyes narrowed. That return had been a good showcase of how deceptively shifty Sleepy was when he wanted.

'I hope you enjoyed that,' Ty said. 'Those returns are going to be the only time you touch the ball.'

'Please tell your coach to kick the ball into the end-zone. I really don't like running like that. … It's so boring.'

Ty's eyes stayed narrow until the snap of the ball. His head snapped around towards the middle of the field, watching the handoff, but for the first time that day, the QB came away with the ball in his grasp.

Sleepy burst ahead, gliding by Ty, who turned and stuck with him, glued to his hip. Sleepy shifted outside, and Ty flowed with him, even when he straightened back up a step later.

Ty stayed on him, but he knew Sleepy was just testing him, baiting reactions and seeing how his defence had developed or changed, if at all. Their last encounter had been two months ago, and Ty knew he'd grown since then. Sleepy knew too; he was trying to figure out how much.

John threw the ball over to the other side of the field, where Deshaun had been caught slipping, and the Receiver made the grab on a Curl for 8 yards before Deshaun recovered and tackled him.

Ty and Sleepy eased off, Sleepy grinning at him. 'Ah… thanks for stopping us last drive, now the fun can FINALLY begin. … I reckon we're gonna have a lot of fun together, aren't we?'

Ty bounced on his toes and shook his arms loose. It took a while, but his blood was finally pumping. 'Oh yeah, it'll be fun. Not sure how much fun you'll have getting locked up, though.'

Sleepy laughed, his smile stretching wider. 'We'll see.'

After the reception, Denzel was given the ball, and picked up the first down plus 4 extra yards on the ground. He was running mad again, like he was trying to punish and hurt the Dons.

They kept running after that. Denzel bullied his way ahead, picking up 5 to 7 yards every time he touched the ball as he smashed through whatever stood in his way.

But every snap, Ty was jumpy, sticking back and watching Sleepy, always expecting another pass.

Sleepy didn't care about blocking or selling the run, either. He went for a method of blocking that was just him bluffing a route and pulling Ty away from the area even if it was a run going their way.

The Bears moved into field goal range, and Denzel was given yet another handoff, this time on a Counter. He cutback hard, running against the grain. Near everyone was fooled by it … but JJ wasn't.

He saw Denzel through the mess of bodies between them and mirrored him as they broke towards the open side of the Line.

Denzel met him and gave him a forearm to the throat, pushing him off. JJ's airway was shut off, but he clung onto Denzel, clawing at his jersey. He slowed him, but didn't bring him down fully. No, that was Donte's job.

Donte had started on the opposite edge, the edge Denzel initially ran towards before cutting back, so when that happened, he squirmed around his block, and pursued from the backside. Now that JJ had held Denzel up, he came in from behind and took out Denzel's legs, toppling The King for a gain of only 2 yards.

The game edged closer to the two-minute warning, but the Bears squeezed in one last play beforehand. This one was a pass, no Play-Action needed.

Sleepy rushed forward as Ty backpedalled, then he slammed on the brakes and twisted back for a Curl. John cocked his arm back, and Ty started forward to cut the pass off, but it was just a fake. Sleepy spun around, right into Ty. The two stumbled, THEN John lobbed the ball way over the heads, right where Sleepy would've been if Ty hadn't disrupted his route.

The pass fell incomplete, of course, but a yellow flag lay over the turf beside the ball. The two-minute warning was upon them, and Ty had been flagged for Illegal Contact, as the pass wasn't in the air when his foul occurred.

It was only a five-yard penalty, but still the offence was automatically awarded a first down when such a penalty occurred.

Sleepy grinned at Ty. 'You knew that was gonna be a touchdown, didn't you?'

'Bullshit. You got lucky. It won't happen again.' Ty stalked back to his bench, snarling.

He went straight to Coach Hoang. 'Sorry. I fucked up. I won't do it again.'

'Don't worry about it, Samuels,' Coach Hoang said, patting him on the back. 'It's good instinct to know when you're beat—five yards is a lot better than a touchdown.'

Dark ridges covered Ty's brow as it squished together. 'I wasn't gonna give up a touchdown! I just fucked up and jumped the route when I shouldn't have. It wouldn't have been a touchdown … it wouldn't have been anything if I just stayed back.'

Coach Hoang was unresponsive. He gave Ty another couple of sympathetic pats, then moved away. If Ty believed he wasn't beat, so be it. Coach Hoang saw it another way, but he wouldn't say anything further.

The short breather was over quickly, and both teams were soon back on the field. The Bears still had all their timeouts, and used them well, giving Denzel some runs, letting him inch them closer towards the end-zone.

But it was a pass that brought them into the red zone. Sleepy came forward, then reached his break. He hesitated, floating across the turf. Ty watched closely, but he couldn't see any indicator of which way he was cutting. He burst forward.

Ty scrambled back, opening his hips to turn fully and sprint back. He stopped as he realised he would've been running alone.

Immediately after his little burst, Sleepy cut towards the outside and dropped back down on a Comeback. He stretched out, dragging his feet.

Ty recovered and dove, but only succeeded in pushing Sleepy out after he'd already secured the catch. It was good for 9 yards, and stopped the clock. More importantly, it was Sleepy's first catch of the game.

'The first of many,' Sleepy said, spinning the ball at Ty's feet. He walked past, bumping shoulders. 'Try to keep up. I don't want this to be TOO easy.'

Ty clenched his fists and bit his tongue. He'd respond on the field. If they kept trying pretty shit like that, he'd pick them off and take it back for a touchdown. That'd blow the game right open.

The next play was Play-Action. The defence was drawn in, except Ty and Deshaun, who stuck with their men.

Sleepy came forward, and again, once he reached his spot, he seemed to glide for a moment before making his cut. This time, he shimmied towards the inside. Ty leaned that way, but wasn't thrown out of position, so when Sleepy cut towards the sideline on an Out, he was there to smother it.

Ty inched down, ready to snatch the ball out of the air, but John still clenched it. Sleepy shifted again, turning back upfield. Ty turned too—a step later—letting him blow by, not bumping him and cutting him off this time, not fouling.

John lobbed the ball through the air. It wasn't a long ball, so Ty had little time to recover … he couldn't recover. The field and pass were too short.

Ty leapt at the ball, stretching and extending as far as he could, but it passed over him with half a yard's distance from his fingertips, right into Sleepy's grasp.

The field was also too short for help to arrive—couple that with Play-Action drawing Zayden forward and there was no hope of him cutting the pass off—Zayden only made it when Sleepy stepped into the end-zone.

Sleepy ran through the back of the end-zone, stopping just short of heaving the ball into the crowd, ecstatic with his 17-yard receiving touchdown. But he held onto the ball, and turned back to Ty, his face morphed by his huge, dopey grin.

Ty stared at him, neither boy tearing their eyes away from the other as Sleepy approached. He shoved the ball into Ty's gut, but Ty let it fall to the ground.

'You should be grateful,' Sleepy said. 'It's not every day you get to meet the REAL king of Warren. And now you know his name is Coby Naismith.'

Zayden tugged Ty away from Coby as officials moved in to do the same. Coby's antics had earned him an unsportsmanlike Taunting penalty, which moved the extra point attempt back. Even though that caused the Bears to miss the extra point, Coby thought it was worth it.

Ty returned to the bench with the name reverberating in his mind. Coby Naismith. He finally had a name for the sleepy bastard. Finally knew just who it was he was going to ruin. He'd pay him back in earnest for that touchdown.

The following kickoff resulted in a touchback, not that it mattered much. There was hardly enough time for the Dons to do much with the ball, and when their first pass failed, they resorted to running out the clock.

Denzel hadn't joined the Bears' defence for the few plays they were on the field to end the half, and as a result, the whole formation had shifted. Though with how little they'd been tested, Coach Long and Norman weren't sure just what had changed.

They'd have a lot to think about in the locker room during the halftime break, but they wouldn't have a lot to go off of, just speculation.

As both teams returned to their locker rooms, the score read 16–14, with the Bears holding onto a small but important lead.