Chapter 45: Two Different Blitzes

From the instant we kicked off I found that Jason was not kidding about wanting to take out some aggression. The Chester Arthur QB spent the first quarter running for his life as Jason dodged blockers and leveled running backs.

When the second quarter started Jason was yet to record a sack, but his intense play had inspired the offense and we were up fourteen to three. It was two plays into the second quarter that Jason finally recorded his first sack.

He followed it up with another sack on the next play. It forced the Presidents to punt. I came off the field and walked over to my friend. "Will four be enough?"

"Don't laugh," Jason said. He had a huge smile on his face. "I want to show everyone here that I'm angry."

"But other than our friends, will anyone know why?" I asked.

"Who cares?" Jason said mockingly. "That cum dump Kirke will probably figure it out after the game. Its time I told her all that I know."

"That might not take long," I said with a laugh.

We would have continued, but Coach Grisham called out. "Mark! Get in there!"

I trotted over to him. I think he could see the surprise on my face. "Coach?" I asked.

"We need some more blocking," Coach Grisham said. "You don't appear to mind some contact. Get in there."

I trotted onto the field. Lucas glared at me as I replaced Hector Salas the regular blocking back for the offense.

"They are sending a safety on almost every play," Roger told me as we broke the huddle.

The play had me lined up on the weak side as a wing back. The instant the ball was snapped the safety for the opposing team charged past Fred, the tackle and tried to line up Lucas. I had to stretch to get a hand out, but managed to put a hand on the shoulder of the blitzing safety.

The safety stumbled and we both ended up falling over as Lucas scrambled away. I landed on the safety, but bounced to my feet quickly. As I looked around to find the play I could hear a roar rise up from the grandstands.

A whistle was blowing. I looked around and far downfield I could see one of the officials signaling touchdown. Immediately I looked over at the sideline. Coach Grisham was waving for me to come off the field.

"Great block," someone said when I reached the sideline. I just nodded as I looked around for Jason.

Someone ran over with a water bottle. I accepted a quick squirt of water before turning to watch the kickoff. The kick was short and one of the blockers tried to field it. It slipped through his hands and Adrian landed on it, giving us another possession.

I looked over at Coach Grisham, but he waved me off. The offense took the field and tried to grind out yardage with running plays. They ended up kicking a field goal with no time left in the quarter. At the start of halftime the score was twenty-four to three. Coach Grisham called us over to the sideline.

"Boys, you know that the decision was made to have the homecoming festivities at this game. The other team agreed, and we get an extra five minutes at halftime. Now you are supposed to go to the locker room, and anyone who wants to can. But if you want to watch the parade of floats and the announcement of the court, you can, but only from the bench. None of you is to run to the stands.

Jason looked at me. I noticed Maurice had raised his hand. Coach Grisham looked at the sophomore captain and pointed.

"Can we run to the locker room and then come back to watch?" Maurice asked.

"Make it quick," Coach Grisham growled. "And no sneaking into the stands from the locker room."

"Shall we do that?" Jason asked. "I want a moment to."

I laughed and slapped Jason on the shoulder. "Race to the door?" I asked before dashing off.

I had been the first to move, but the rest of the team roared and followed. I noticed that a large crowd was standing around the entrance to the tunnel. One that stood out was Miss Kirke. She was standing against the railing above the tunnel. There was a clearly worried expression on her face. She tried to shout something, but it was indistinguishable over the roar of the crowd.

We entered the locker room. Thick walls blocked out the crowd noise and the sudden silence allowed me to hear several of my teammates moaning about minor aches and bruises. Jason and I headed for the toilets while Coach Durant and the trainers began checking on the groaning players.