Chapter 71

When Wednesday came, no matter how hard we tried as a team, there was no way to keep from talking about today being our last team meeting. Someone asked Ben if he thought we’d ever get to play together again, as a team. Suddenly the thought of never playing another game as a complete team unit hit each of us like a brick in the chest.

We went into our meeting with a lot of doubts in our minds and we needed answers to some serious questions.

“Listen up, Men. I have some good news for all of you. The JV team has one more game left on their schedule, as you all know. Now here comes some good news I know you’ll like...

“The JV coaches have asked me to allow our starting lineup, offense and defense, to start the second half and play the entire third quarter — provided of course, they have a sufficient lead at halftime.

“You need to be aware, the JV and varsity play twelve minute quarters and you’ve only been playing ten minute quarters!

“Now...

“The second string offense will be allowed to play one whole series in the fourth quarter, until you score or fail to make a first down!

“The second string defense will be allowed to play one whole series in the fourth quarter until you stop your opponent on downs, get a turnover, or they score on you!” Coach Miller told us.

“This will be the first time that an entire eighth grade team has been invited to move up, and the first time ever for the JV team to invite more than two or three stand-out players to move up for the last game on their schedule.

“Coach Clark, our assistants and our team manager will be on the sidelines with me while you men are on the field, just as we have been all season. If this opportunity presents itself the way it has been set up, we’ll be expecting our team to show the school and the JV coaches just exactly what’s in store for next year.

“One more thing before we let you go. There has been a lot of rumors on campus over the past year about our school bumping up to Class 5-A. I’d like to make it official right now so you’ll know ahead of time. We are moving up!” He told us and we stood and cheered until he held his hand up.

“AND!” he said, as he still held his hand up for us to calm down and wait for more, “There is still a good possibility that we will consolidate with Mason County Consolidated Schools a year earlier than planned.

“We have already begun scheduling 5-A teams who have open dates or want to add a game to their schedule. That goes for the eighth grade, JV and varsity schedules.

“As you may or may not know about moving up to a higher Class, it stands to reason that the larger the enrollment at a school, the more student athletes there will be trying out for sports. This means that a larger school will have more athletes to choose from to make up their teams. The best athletes will always play varsity. The athletes who are just now developing, will play on the second string of a team with a chance to advance as they learn more, become better at their positions, or even change positions if asked to.

“The best of the best, from the ninth grade on up, will be given the opportunity to compete for the varsity team!

“The rules for athletic programs in the State of Texas have changed over the years and now, we have a varsity team instead of a senior team. A JV team instead of a junior team and so on. A varsity team is now made up of the best of the best, chosen from athletes in the ninth - tenth — eleventh, and twelfth grades.

“The JV team is made up of the remaining players from those four grades. The JV team is like the minor league baseball teams, the players get more experience and a chance to show they deserve to move up.

“Yes, a ninth grade player may be asked to move up and even be in the starting lineup on the varsity team if the coaches feel he’s good enough, physically developed enough and willing to compete for a position; which means skipping the JV team entirely, and possibly playing his last four years of high school eligibility on the varsity team.

“It’s more like the pros - the best players play - the other players try to get better so they can play if they get a break.

“Now, I’m sure all of you are having thoughts about where you will fit into this program. I want to tell each of you — you will have a chance to compete for the varsity next spring as ninth graders! If you make it, it will be on a player-by-player basis simply because you are the best player in this school for that position and for no other reason.

“If you happen not to make it, that doesn’t mean that you never will. During the year and especially at each spring and pre-season practice, you’ll be graded on your scholastic achievements, your attitude in the community and on campus, and your performance in practice and in the games. You could actually move up to starter on the varsity team in the middle of the season, just as a starter on that team could be bumped down if he has a season ending injury or there is a better player behind him waiting for a chance.

“If you want to be the best, you have to beat the best, whether it is your classmate you’re competing against, or the team down the road which hasn’t lost a game in two or three years.

“This is the way the NCAA universities and colleges choose their best players, and now, so do most all high schools in Texas and a lot other states across the country.

“Coach?“ Ben raised his hand and spoke up. Everyone looked at him, since no one had spoken since Coach Miller started talking to us.

“Yes, Bolden?”

“Would an entire team ever have the chance of moving up to varsity? I mean, if the team can prove they are the best of the best?” Ben asked and Coach Miller looked around at Coach Clark and their two assistants who were seated behind him. We could see the smiles on Coach Clark and the assistants’ faces before Coach Miller turned back to face us — with a straight face - as always.

“Bolden, first let me answer your question with a question. Do you think your team could play the Masonville Varsity for four, twelve minute quarters and beat them? Remember this before you answer, this year’s varsity team is one game away from winning our conference which means they will qualify for district which could possibly lead to the state playoffs. It would be of no surprise to me if they won State this year, they are that good.

“Now, what’s your answer, Bolden?”

“Yes, Sir! I do think we could beat them. Man to man — heads up, and head to head—we are, without a doubt—a better team than they are,” Ben said and Coach Miller smiled.

The room was quiet, as we waited for Coach’s response.

“Bolden, I have another question for you.

“Was that a challenge?” Coach Miller asked and laughed aloud. So did Coach Clark and the assistants.

“Yes, Sir — We, as members of the undefeated Masonville Mavericks eighth grade football team, do hereby challenge the Masonville Mavericks Varsity football team to a game of football in order to show the Masonville School, the State of Texas and the rest of America just who is the best of the best in all of Texas,” Ben stated and I had to grin at my best buddy. He never batted an eye, never even flinched as he spoke.

Coach Miller looked around the room with no emotion showing on his face, then he began to speak, “We have coached you young men all season long and we love each and every one of you more than you’ll ever know. We’ve instilled into each of you - each day and each game - the will to win. Now that you have proven you are the best in your class by going undefeated, it is no shock to me that you want to take it one step further and prove you are the best of the best in your school. I suppose we deserve to be put on the spot like this.

“Let’s just say that we do present your team’s challenge to the coaches of the varsity — and, just supposing they ask the school’s administrators and school board for permission to play this game — are you willing to face defeat?”

“No, Sir, we are not! We will win!” Ben said and the team erupted like Mount St. Helens as we stood and yelled our approval of his answer, pumping our fists in the air.

Coach Miller turned to where Coach Clark, Coach Chadwick and Coach Patterson, the two assistants sat. I saw them nodding and talking between themselves, then each of them nodded before Coach Miller turned back to face us.

“We’ve decided to present your challenge to the varsity coaches and the school superintendent. Don’t be disappointed if your challenge is not accepted. They have no reason to play you men and risk the chance of defeat. Don’t be disappointed either if the administrators deny the two teams a chance to play even if the coaches accept the challenge.

“I’m proud of all of you for wanting to prove that you are the best. Whether this game is played or not, there will be many of you playing on the varsity team next year.”

“Coach?” I raised my hand and spoke up when he acknowledged me.

“Yes, Dalton?”

“Just saying we do get to play the varsity and we beat them, does that mean some or all of them may get bumped down to JV?”

“Dalton, I’d have to say that the evaluation process would still be in effect, even if you did play and win. Each of you would still be eligible to play on the varsity, but I doubt your team as a whole, would replace the existing team as a whole.

“Although, I might add, there are ten seniors on the varsity team — offense and defense. That will leave a lot of positions to be filled either in the spring or early next fall before the first game.

“Sir, with all due respect to you, Coach Clark, Coach Chadwick and Coach Patterson, we’d still like to play that game and we’d like to play varsity football the next four years as a complete team when we win,” I stated firmly, and my heart was pounding.

“Dalton, you and Bolden swing a lot of weight with your team. You’re the team leaders in stats and you two are the leaders on campus and on the field. Your opinions are important to your team, to me, and the coaching staff and I’m sure to the school administration as well. BUT, first things first. We must present your challenge to the coaches and let it work its way up the chain of command to the top men in charge of the school and all the sports programs.

“To be honest with you men, as much as I would love to see you play that game, I-just-don’t-see-it-happening.”

“Coach?“ I raised my hand again. I had a huge brain fart, one that just may make it happen.

“Dalton, before you start in again—I’m just not sure this will happen, Son! I cannot recall it ever happening before, here or anywhere else. We need to end this now with our promise to you and the team, that we will sincerely try to make it happen.

“Now what was your question?”

“Coach, what if we challenge the varsity team to a benefit game to help pay for our new stadium, or even a local charity if that project isn’t acceptable? Yet, we still play with all the marbles on the table for the winner. Sir, we could get WMAV, the local newspaper and all our sponsors involved and bill it as the biggest game ever played here at Masonville Public Schools.”

“Dalton, you and Bolden come go with me!

“Coach Clark, you come too,” Coach Miller said and I thought this was where I get kicked off the team for continuing to badger the coaches about this.

Coach Miller was already at the door—he never looked back as we hurried to follow him. When I looked at Coach Clark, he shook his head and shrugged his shoulders as if to tell me, I don’t know what he’s up to either.

Coach Miller was walking straight toward the administration building which is built out away from the main junior high building. Just as he reached out to open the entrance door, Mr. Harris, the junior high principal stepped out.

“Mr. Harris, if you have a few minutes to spare, I need your help. Do you know if Mr. Rutherford is in his office?”

“He’s in, I just left his office. What’s this about, Coach?” Mr. Harris asked as he glared over his glasses at Ben and me.

“Will you please see if Sam will meet with Coach Clark, you, two of my players and me for just a few minutes? We have some things we need to put before the school’s administrators.”

“Sure, follow me.”

Coach Miller held the door for all of us to enter ahead of him. I went in last and just as I walked past him we made eye contact.

He winked at me.

I felt the weight of the world lift off my shoulders.

“Mr. Rutherford, Mr. Harris - we’ve just had what we thought would be our last team meeting of the year. During that meeting, we had a serious discussion about our team playing one more game this year.

“Would each of you be willing to listen to an explanation of this unique proposal?”

“Sure, Coach. I hope this is something we can work out for you and your team members. This group of young men has really made our student body, our school, our town and the community as a whole proud of yours and their efforts this year.”

Coach Miller looked over at Ben, then me.

“Bolden, Dalton, tell Mr. Rutherford and Mr. Harris what we’re here for and how it all came about. Both of you were adamant about wanting this, now see if you can sell your idea to the men who run the school and make the decisions.”

Ben looked at me and nodded as if telling me to go ahead.

I wasn’t the least bit nervous as I tried to collect my thoughts and present this to them in such a way they would at least give it some consideration.

“Mr. Rutherford, Mr. Harris - we appreciate both of you taking the time to hear what Coach Miller brought us over here for.

“As Coach Miller told you, we were having a team meeting and he was telling us about our school moving up to Class 5-A this coming year. We have heard rumors of that all over the campus and we’re proud to know this is about to happen.

“Coach Miller also explained to us the ins and outs of how it all worked and how the JV and varsity teams were put together. He went on to tell us that he was sure there are some members of our team who will be invited to play varsity football next year—as freshmen.

“Coach Miller told us the varsity team members would be chosen according to talent and the need to fill a position. After he had explained how it all worked, Ben asked if there was a chance that our whole team could move up and play together on the varsity team. Well, one thing led to another and Coach Miller asked Ben if he was challenging the varsity team to a game and if our team was willing to risk a loss. Ben told him no, we weren’t afraid of losing — that given the chance, we would win.

“Coach Miller tried to explain to us that this was all but impossible, that it had never happened before, but he would ask the varsity coaches and both of you before he ruled it out.

“We felt like we were not going to be given a chance to play together as a team next year unless we elected to play JV ball, and even then we may not get to play as the team unit we are now. As a team, we felt like all we had worked for, and all we had accomplished this year, was about to go down the drain. We felt like we had played our last game together as a complete unit, and that was not acceptable to us.

“I asked Coach Miller if there wasn’t a way we could challenge the varsity team to a game, with all the marbles on the table, and call it a benefit game for the school’s new stadium or maybe even a local charity. I even suggested we get WMAV and the community involved along with all our Maverick sponsors and bill this as the biggest game ever played at our school.

“That was when Coach Miller told us to follow him.

“Now, here we are, asking you for one more chance to prove that we are the best of the best and asking you for a chance for our entire team to play together as a unit throughout our remaining four years here at Masonville Schools.”

“Dalton, you and Bolden really believe in one another and your teammates, don’t you?” Mr. Rutherford said as he looked at me.

“Yes, Sir. We do believe in each other. We’ve just played our eighth game of the season without a loss and we believe that we can not only beat the JV team, which we did, back earlier in the season, we can also beat the varsity team!

“Sir, if we didn’t believe that, we wouldn’t be here asking for a chance to save our team! The way we figure it, this is the last chance we have to try and keep our team together and play together in the future. We cannot lose what we have fought hard for all season. We have to fight for what we believe in, and we believe in our team, our coaches, our school pride and we believe in Masonville Schools.”

I stood looking at Mr. Rutherford and Mr. Harris as they looked over at our coaches, then each other. Finally, Mr. Rutherford turned to look at me for what seemed like minutes before he spoke.

“Dalton, you and Bolden may be excused and return to your classes. I need to consult with Coach Miller, Coach Clark and Mr. Harris,” Mr. Rutherford told us.

I started to say something else, then looked at Ben. We nodded at each other and turned toward the door to leave.

“Dalton, don’t you and Bolden dare walk out of this office with your heads down!” Mr. Rutherford raised his voice so loud, I whirled around to look at him.

“You young men have given our town, our student body, this school and this administration a lesson in life and a lesson in teamwork. When I excused you, I wasn’t telling you no.

“I believe in you young men, and I believe in your team. If there is a way on God’s Green Earth for this game to happen, I’ll personally see that it does!

“Please be aware, I can’t promise you that even if we put this game together, that your team will get to play in the future as the complete unit you are now.

“I can tell you, that when the dust settles behind this cyclone you young men have stirred up, we will have exhausted every effort humanly possible to help you and your team attain your goals and play as a team throughout your remaining years here at Masonville Schools.

“There are already things in the works as we speak, of which I cannot at this time divulge the details, that may just leave a slight opening for your dream to come true! Now get out of here so we can begin making phone calls, and making plans or making excuses, whichever works best for this game to become a reality.

“If your plan makes it past the local and state school boards, I predict now, that Masonville and Mason County Schools will be known as the football capital of Texas!”

“Do you realize what he just said?” I asked Ben when we stood outside the building, looking at each other as if we were in a daze.

“I sure do and when he mentioned the state and local school boards, then Mason County Schools and Masonville Schools all in the same sentence I knew our consolidation was going to happen even sooner than rumor has it.”

“That’s exactly what I got from his statement too, Ben. But I’ll even go you one further. I have read about the really big Class 6-A schools in the state having an Division 1 and a Division 2 team in both JV and Varsity because of the large number of athletes who want to play. If we could do that here, we’d stand a chance for our team to stay together over the next four years!”

“HELL YEAH! I know it’s a long shot, but right now, it’s the only shot we have left. Thanks for jumping in and backing me up earlier over there at our meeting. I wasn’t sure if they would even listen to me, but I had to try when the guys asked me about it.”

“Ben, as soon as you started talking, you had the whole team backing you. When it looked like they were about to shoot it down, I had to jump in and put my two cents on the table. Boy, when Coach Miller jumped up and told us to follow him, I just knew I was about to get my ass kicked off the team or even expelled from school for keeping on like I did.”

“What are we going to tell the team, Rick? You know we’ll have to tell them something. We owe it to them.”

“Let me think on it. I’ll come up with something. I don’t want to give them false hope, but I do want to keep our team’s hope alive. We sure don’t need to breathe a word about the speculation of us consolidating with Mason County before next fall.”

“Dalton, have you stopped to realize what that would do to our school, if and when it does happen?”

“I sure have. It would create a Class 6-A school district as large as any in the state, is what it would do. They are Class 5-A, we’re about to move up to 5-A. If we do consolidate, our new school will have over four thousand students! Like Mr. Rutherford said, it would make Masonville and Mason County the football capital of Texas.”

“Which means, here we go again, trying to find a way for our team to stay together,” Ben countered.

“If we consolidate and we have a Division 1 and 2 team in both JV and varsity, I’d be willing for our team to play JV ball together as freshmen — even on the Division 2 team if we had to. Another year together will only make us better and we could compete for the A team in varsity our sophomore year.”

“I’d be willing to settle for that too, after the other teams prove to us they’re better than we are,” Ben said and we laughed our way back to the dressing room where the team was waiting.

“What did you find out?”

“Would they even listen to you?”

“Do we even have a chance, Dalton?” Toro asked after the others jumped us when we entered the locker room.

“Here’s what we got, Men. We have the support of our coaches, Principal Harris and Superintendent Rutherford. Mr. Rutherford told Ben and me that he would present my idea of a charity football game to the varsity coaches and if they agreed, he would present the idea to the school board. If the idea passes through those channels, he will still need to get approval from the Texas State Board of Education.

“He was quick to caution us though, that even if the game was approved and we won it, this would be no guarantee we would be allowed to stay together as a unit over the next four years!

“What he did give Ben and me, was his promise — that if there was a way on God’s Green Earth to make it happen, he would personally see that it happened! Those were his exact words. We have to believe in our team, we have to believe in each other and we have to believe in our school administrators since they believe in us enough to commit themselves to at least trying to make it happen.”

“What’s your gut feeling about our chances, right this minute, Dalton?” Harlan asked as everyone turned to look at him, then me.

“Right this minute, I honestly believe it will go all the way to the state board, from there, I have no idea.”

“Well, at least it’s good to know we have our hometown guys behind us,” Riggler said and we all agreed.

Everyone but Ben and I had cleaned out their lockers. He and I grabbed a net duffel bag each and stuffed what few personal items we had in them. I had two game balls in my locker and I crammed them down into my bag with the rest of my stuff and slung it over my shoulder.

Each of us lined up and walked past our team manager, Billy Marter. He stood at the door, bumping fists with each of us as we walked out for what was shaping up to be our last time as eighth grade football players. As I walked past and bumped his fist, I pulled my last Outlaw T-shirt out of the duffel bag and tossed it across his shoulder.

The buzzer sounded as Ben and I walked over to Mom’s SUV. We threw our bags in the rear and I started the engine to warm it up. The girls would be here soon.

Neither of us mentioned our last team meeting when they came out laughing. They quickly had us in a holiday mood when Bonnie, Gage, Em and Brandy announced we were all going to Mom’s to spend the night. Ben and Em were going with us and coming back tomorrow morning for Thanksgiving with their parents.

Gage was spending the weekend with us so we could go to Austin and meet Maelee at the airport Saturday. His family was waiting to celebrate Thanksgiving after Maelee arrived. Aroya and Marita were spending the night with us at Mom’s and Dusty’s tonight, then coming back to town tomorrow morning when Ben and Em did, to spend the weekend with their momma since we had to be in Austin late Saturday and may even spend the night before coming back.

The one thing we all agreed on, we would meet at the studio for Taekwondo on Friday afternoon for a rigorous workout.

Priscilla and Angie came out to eat with us Thursday. Mom had invited them when Bonnie suggested it and told her that each of them would spend Thanksgiving alone if she didn’t.

Thanksgiving has always been a fun day for me, even back when it was just Mom, Bonnie, Aunt Karen and me, oh, and Molly most of the time. We always had more then we could eat and I looked forward to watching Macy’s Christmas Parade and the NFL games, though at the time I had never played football. I did have my heroes though and maybe it was then that my dream of playing in the NFL started. The Dallas Cowboys would always play on Thanksgiving, and though I was the only guy in the house, they let me watch the game.

That was when I first saw Emmitt Smith play. During a commercial, I would take my old Nerf football and run and dart through the rooms, around the furniture, then out the door and around the yard, pretending I was Emmitt running for a score.

Dallas is only a couple of hundred miles to the north of us and I suppose that’s the reason I adopted them as my team. Until the past few months, I was just a skinny kid with big dreams of playing football. Dreaming of the day I would play for the Texas Longhorns and later the Cowboys. Both teams were close by, with the University of Texas just down the road in Austin, and I saw many of their games on TV too.

Hook’em Horns!

I had never been to a Cowboy’s game or a Longhorn’s game. Hell, until I went out for eighth grade football back in August, I had never been to a Maverick’s game.

Today there was an NFL triple header on TV with the Chicago Bears playing the Detroit Lions - the Seattle Seahawks playing the San Francisco Forty-Niners and the Philadelphia Eagles playing the Cowboys in the late game.

We weren’t going to eat our Thanksgiving dinner until later and I was glad. I took Ben, Em, Aroya and Marita back to town early on Thursday morning and made plans to pick them up on Friday for our Taekwondo class.

Back home once more, Gage, Dusty and I watched the Lions destroy the Bears. Then we watched the Seahawks as they killed the Niners.

We took a break from football and ate our biggest and best ever Thanksgiving meal in my life. Today was when I realized just how much family and friends meant to me — and the others here with us. There was so much laughter and so many different conversations going on at the same time, that it was fun just listening and watching everyone eat and have a good time.

With our bellies overfilled and smiles on our faces, the guys migrated to the den to watch the Cowboys play.

Of course, my Cowboys have been struggling of late and they needed this win. Most of the prognosticators on the pre-game shows had picked the Cowboys to win at home since the Eagles had lost their starting quarterback due to a season ending injury. But no one bothered to consult with the Eagles before making their picks.

The Eagles tore them apart and literally embarrassed them on their home field up in Arlington.

I could just see the Cowboys with Ben running the offense and me at halfback wearing number 22. I knew we’d win our game on Thanksgiving Day.

That was when Brandy sat on my lap and woke me up...

“Rick, did you and Ben win another game?” she asked and everyone laughed.

On Friday, we gathered our friends once more for what would be one of our most strenuous Taekwondo workouts to date. From 1:00 until 4:00, we hammered the mats with only three short breaks. We weren’t contact sparring, but we were told to come as close as we could on our kicks, strikes and blocks without contact. There were eighty-two of us here for classes today and Garrick was pleased with such a turnout.

When we paired off, most of those here were sparring with new partners for the first time but that didn’t dampen our workout. Gage and his dad led the group in the larger, main studio. Brandy was paired with Marilinn once again and damn, was I ever proud of my girl. The few times I had the chance to watch them, it was hard to believe they were not actually competing in a match.

After the class, when the others had left, our group sat around cross-legged on mats and cooled off. Jimi and Martine were here with Isabel and Anitra. Aroya and Marita were still here with us. Brandy and I walked out with them when they were leaving. Marita and Aroya were going with them and we wanted to tell them goodbye with a little privacy.