Chapter 66

As much as Brandy and I wanted to set up something with Angie or Karen or even both of them if we could think of a way - we were unable to put it together.

On our way home, Ben, Emily, and Tara were all working with their new iPhones and I kept glancing in the mirror at them. I couldn’t help but smile that I was able to give my friends something so special. I was just as shocked as Ben when he showed me his number. The last four digits are 1111. His jersey number is 11.

I stopped in Ben’s driveway, and as I got out to walk Brandy to her door and Ben grabbed my arm.

“Rick, if it takes me the rest of my life, I’ll repay you for this. I’m not talking about money either, I’m talking about repaying you as a best friend. Don’t think I’m not grateful, I am. But I am humbled too that I have such an unselfish best friend as you.”

“Ben, you and I are a lot alike and I’m sure that’s the reason we are best friends. I had something that meant a lot to me. I gave Brandy one and I saw what it meant to her too. You’re like me, you’ve never had a cellphone and I wanted to be the one who gave you your first one. We will be even closer now. We can text and we can call at anytime without bothering the family or our friends. I love you like a brother, but even more than that. We’re the key parts of our football team and the team looks to us to make the right plays and the right decisions for us to be successful. There’s never been any jealousy between us and there never will be. We have the same dreams and we’ll make them come true one way or another. When there’s just the two of us left, we’ll still be brothers.”

“Thanks again, Rick. You have a way of saying things that I feel in my heart but I’m never able to put into words. I love you too, Brother, and if there’s a way possible, I love you even more right now. See you tomorrow morning, Dalton,” he finished and both of us laughed as we returned to being teammates.

Brandy was standing beside me the whole time Ben and I talked and before he turned to go inside, she grabbed him and held him tight as she spoke. “I love you too, Brother. I’ve never had a brother until just now when you and Rick talked so personal together and let me hear you express your love for each other. If there is a way possible that I can help make both your dreams come true, I’ll be right there beside you, still trying when we go to college and I’ll still be there trying when you two are drafted into the NFL. I love you second only to my best friend ever, The Outlaw over here.

“Thanks, Brandy. We will make it and we will realize our dream one day. We’ll remember this day too, as a special time in our journey. I love you too, Sister.”

When Ben turned and walked through the gate into their backyard, I walked Brandy to her door. “Brandy, you make me so proud of you I could shout to the world that I love you. You never think of yourself, you think of us and yet, you still think of me first. What you just told Ben made tears come to my eyes. I love you and if we were old enough, I would marry you tomorrow so we’d never have to say goodnight at your door again.”

“I meant what I said too, Rick. You’re stuck with me so get ready for it. You know how determined I can be when I set my mind to something. I’m going to be the best I can be at Taekwondo and I’m going to be the best I can be as your lover and your sidekick, Outlaw.”

“You already are, Baby. See you early tomorrow. I need to get Em and Tara home, or I’d slip into your room for the night.”

Fair Oaks, Texas is about seventy-five miles southwest of Masonville as the crow flies, but we have to drive over a hundred and fifty miles to get there. We were in the road by 1:00 again this Thursday for our 4:00 game with the Red Raiders. We were excited and we were up for this game as much as any we’ve played yet. Our whole team was hyped about getting to run our up-tempo, fast paced spread offense the entire first half.

After our practice yesterday, our coaches were so pleased with the way we ran the spread, that Coach Miller told us they may let us run it the whole game just to prove to everyone we aren’t a one dimensional team and that we are for real.

Fair Oaks Central is the largest of three schools in Fair Oaks, Texas. They’re a major Class 6-A school and this is the first time Masonville has ever scheduled them for football - eighth grade, JV, or varsity.

When we arrived at the sports complex, we were in awe of the whole place. This one made Masonville’s stadium look like a practice facility.

“Listen up, men,” Coach Miller said as he walked into the dressing room where we were putting on our pants, shoes and T-shirts to go warm up.

“Don’t let the size and spectacle of this place get inside your head. The grass on their football field is only one-hundred yards long and they mark their yard lines the same as any other school in Texas. They have a good team but they don’t match up with you in size or speed. They rely on finesse and ball control to win their games. We do too, and we have the speed and size to back up our play. When we go out on that field to start the game, I want you to come out with a fire in your butts and smoke coming out of your ears. I don’t care if they score the first ten points, I want you Mavericks to score the next fifty! Just run the spread offense the way you have this week and we’ll leave this place one game away from an undefeated season, the first one ever for a Masonville eighth grade football team.

“We’ve come too far and we’ve cleared too many hurdles getting here to let these Red Raiders take away from us what we set our goals for at the beginning of the season. I want to see that same Maverick team spirit from start to finish, that my Dalton Gang has shown the State of Texas for the past three games.

“We’ll have another little talk when you come in to dress out in pads, but I wanted to talk to you this week before we take the field to warm up. Not only do we have a surprise for Fair Oaks and their Red Raiders today, we have a big surprise for The Dalton Gang too. Now get your butts out there and get loosened up. Let me see some of that Maverick team attitude you men seem to have discovered deep down inside yourselves.”

With our team gathered at the doors of the dressing room, I raised my hand, “Are you ready for some football?“ I yelled and turned to push the double doors open wide. We ran down the tunnel and out onto the field like it was already game time.

There was a roar from the crowd and Charge came blasting from the band on the sidelines as we took the field to warm up. I looked at the visitor’s side of the stadium and it-was-full. I mean it was packed and they were all wearing scarlet when they stood and cheered.

They must have let the whole Masonville school out to come watch us play this game, plus half the town came with them.

I stopped on the thirty yard line in the middle of the field and our guys gathered around me.

“Would you look at that?” I yelled and there was a roar for our team as we waved to our fans in the stadium.

The very moment we looked up to see the entire visitor’s side of this huge stadium filled with Masonville fans, was when the spark ignited that lit that fire in our butts.

We had a surprise of our own for our coaches and our fans during our warmup. We did our calisthenics then jogged in place for at least ten minutes. We lined up in four lines of ten and ran sprints for thirty yards back and forth, then we jogged in place even faster than before.

With a wave from me, the team lined up in four rows of ten once more, with Toro and me faced off in front of them. For the next fifteen minutes or so, we did our Taekwondo practice routines over and over until we had worked ourselves into a fever pitch.

I raised my hand and dropped it like I was dropping a flag, and the whole team stopped in mid step as if we were a drill team. Toro and I stood side by side and turned toward the tunnel entrance. When we started jogging that way, our team fell in behind us two by two.

There was a roar from our crowd like we had never heard before, as they realized what we had just done for our warmup exercise.

“Where-in-the-hell did you men get that idea, and whose idea was it in the first place?” Coach Miller said as we ran into the tunnel where he and the other coaches stood waiting for us.

“It was my idea, Coach,” I told him.

“Sir, it wasn’t just Dalton’s idea. He mentioned it and all of us agreed,” Harlan spoke up.

“That was the damnedest thing I have ever witnessed in my life. Where did you men learn all that martial arts stuff anyway?”

“We’ve been taking Korean Taekwondo down at the gym and we’ve challenged each member of the Dalton Gang to try for the highest rank in Taekwondo we can reach, Coach,” Ben told him, sounding like a military cadet as he spoke sharp and crisp.

“Amazing, simply amazing!” Coach Chad spoke up.

“You young men never cease to amaze me either. I’ve learned more from you this year than I’ve been able to teach you. Get in here and get your pads on. We have a game to play, and after that exhibition out there on the field just now, I’m expecting even more from this team than ever before!” Coach Miller told us, but he was smiling and that was always good.

We were only a few minutes away from game-time when we stood in front of the coaches dressed in our white visitors’ uniforms, holding our white helmets when Coach Miller raised his hand and spoke.

“Remember who you are and what you stand for. Remember the things we’ve practiced and remember that the Maverick standing next to you is counting on you as his teammate to make the winning play, to make the block that lets us score, that makes the tackle that stops their runner or receiver to keep them from scoring.

“Each of one you in this dressing room is the reason we will win this game today, but it takes each one of you playing as a team to get it done. No one man among you can go out there and beat the Red Raiders alone. As a team, there’s not a football team in the State of Texas, bar none, that can beat The Dalton Gang when they play with that Maverick team attitude.

“Let’s go play some football, men. I’m anxious to see what else this team can teach me!”

Coach Clark held his hand in the air and we took a knee around him. He stood silent for a long time before he lowered his hand and stepped back.

When they opened the doors for us this time, we roared out of that tunnel like the building was on fire. I ran straight for the Red Raider logo painted on the fifty yard line and stood waiting for them to gather round. They took a knee and I looked out over them, then up at the stands where our fans were yelling and screaming.

“Listen up guys, we have a game to play in a few minutes and I want The Dalton Gang to take this town, this stadium, and this game away from the Red Raiders. I want The Dalton Gang to stake our claim on this football field right in front of our fans, their fans and the State of Texas!

“I want the 2014 eighth grade Masonville Mavericks to become the first ever undefeated eighth grade team in our school’s history. Don’t play for me though, play for those fans up there in the stands who believe in us enough to drive over here to see us play. Play for those coaches over there who have given us all they have to make winners of us. Play this game and our next one like we’re headed to the Super Bowl.

“Play like a Maverick today, and show Texas and the world who we are and what we’re made of!”

With that, I put my helmet on and ran toward our bench with the team yelling behind me and the Masonville crowd roaring louder and louder as we ran toward them.

We hurried to the water station to get a drink before the game started. Each of us was looking up into the sea of red, trying to pick out family and friends.

We lined up in two rows for the National Anthem with our coaches standing in front of us.

When it was over the whole stadium roared and fireworks burst overhead.

Just then a single engine plane circled wide around the football stadium, pulling a banner with ‘GO DALTON GANG’ in large red letters waving behind it. The Masonville fans sounded like our hometown crowd as they stomped and cheered until the plane was out of sight.

The refs blew the whistle and we trotted out to mid-field for the coin toss. Coach Miller didn’t have to tell me that we wanted the ball if we won the toss. I called heads, and heads it was.

When the refs announced the call, our fans roared to their feet and they were still standing when the game started. Ben and I were backed up just inside our end zone and Toro was up at the five.

“OUTLAW, OUTLAW, OUTLAW, OUTLAW!“ Our fans chanted when the ball was in the air.

The ball was coming right at Ben and he yelled, “Take it Dalton!” and stepped over to let me receive the kick. I circled around and ran hard just as the ball came down. Ben and Toro were already at the fifteen yard line. I kicked hard and caught them at the twenty just as the first wave of defenders came at us. I watched as Ben hit the first one, then I cut back toward Toro as he lined up to hit the next one. Before he hit him, I made my move and the defender cut back to meet Toro. I ran right by him when he hit the ground. I was headed toward the sidelines when I saw two more defenders coming across the field at an angle.

I kicked hard and ran down the sidelines as fast as I’d ever run. Just as the first defender was about to cut me off, I cut hard toward the middle of the field, then, just as quick, cut back to the outside. He tried to cut with me but fell just as I blew by him. The second one had lost his angle when I faked the first one out. I knew he was right on my tail though, and there was no one in front of me. I cut toward the middle of the field and kicked hard, remembering what Coach Chad had showed me about my strides.

There was a ref standing just across the goal line in front of the goal post and I ran to him and held the ball out. He raised both arms to signal a TD and grinned at me as I stood there with the ball. When he lowered his arms, he was still grinning. Then I recognized him from the Stratford game. The crowd was roaring when I handed him the ball. He leaned toward me and I stepped closer.

“Outlaw, I thought I had seen it all when I saw you play at Stratford! You left that defender back there like he was running backwards when you hit high gear!”

I grinned at him and put my finger to my left ear hole before turning around to see Ben and Toro barreling down on me. They grabbed me just as the rest of the team stormed into the end zone. Each of them bumped fists with me and slapped me on my shoulder pads as we made our way to the sidelines.

Our fans were still screaming and yelling, “Outlaw — Outlaw,” when Coach Miller stepped out and grabbed me. I thought he was going to tear my flac-jacket loose underneath my jersey he was holding me so tight.

I turned to see Coach Clark looking at me as he laughed and grabbed for me. “Dalton, you are the best I’ve ever seen when you get a football in your hands. You ran off and left that last defender like he pulled up lame, when you kicked that last thirty yards! Just wait until we see the film on that return!”

Coach Chad and Coach Patterson both slapped hands with me and hugged me too as we celebrated. The Masonville crowd was still screaming and yelling when I turned to wave up at them with both hands. The roar was deafening on our bench as our special teams lined up to kick to the Red Raiders.

LaRussa was told to kick it out of the end zone so none of their speedsters could get a return on us. He nailed it and sent it into the stands, right between the uprights since they didn’t have the net up. Our crowd yelled and cheered like he had scored.

With the ball placed on their twenty yard line, the Red Raiders ran onto the field and lined up as soon as the ref set the ball. Our defense was already at the line waiting for them. Our guys had practiced against us back home enough to be ready for anything.

Ben, Toro and I were standing near our sidelines with our offensive line standing behind us to watch as they ran their spread offense.

They were lined up in their spread with one running back and four receivers. The halfback went in motion and Bateman shadowed him as he moved down the line. They snapped the ball and threw it short to the halfback just as he crossed the line of scrimmage with three blockers in front of him. Bateman sliced between two of their blockers and was on him before he could even take three steps. He stopped him for a two yard gain.

They were on the line immediately and our guys were waiting for them. Their quarterback rolled out to his right and threw to his wideout on that side.

Jerry Matthews, our right side linebacker hit him and knocked him out of bounds after a three yard gain.

They had third and five, and lined up in a hurry for a quick snap. Our guys were ready for them when they called a delayed quarterback draw. Bateman came in from his left side to nail him to the ground for no gain. Our sidelines and our fans yelled and screamed as the defense ran off the field.

“Show ‘em how it’s done, Dalton!” Coach Miller yelled at me when we went out to receive their punt.

I was standing on our twenty yard line when the punter kicked the ball right down the middle. Toro was up and Ben was just ahead of me when the ball came to me on the twenty-seven. They have some really fast cover guys and Toro took the first one out. I cut toward the right to set up Ben’s block, then cut back hard when he hit that man. I ran right up the middle between two of their lineman then took it to the sidelines. When they closed in on me, I stepped out of bounds on their forty-one yard line.

Our offense was on the field by the time the ref had the ball placed. We were in the spread with five receivers, just like they run. I was split to the right in the slot with Rashad on the outside. I saw their linebacker edging out to stop in front of me about ten yards deep from the line of scrimmage. Their cornerback was down the sidelines, maybe three steps in-bounds, directly in front of Rashad.

When Harlan snapped the ball, Rashad and I both drove straight toward our defenders as hard as we could run. Rashad cut hard to the middle and I cut to the outside, crossing his route. His cover guy followed him and Ben hit me down the sidelines over the head of my cover guy who had lost a step when we made our cuts. Their safety was playing deep and recovered enough to try and head me off. He committed to the outside too soon and I cut back toward the middle for the score.