Chapter 84

Fair Oaks, Texas is about a two and a half hour drive from Masonville, and our bus left at 3:30 for our 7:30 game. School had let out at 3:00 so all the students who wanted to ride the pep-squad buses to the game would have time to board the buses. There were three busloads of students, plus our team bus leaving the campus together.

We were told that there would be two more buses leaving the campus later, and that there were three charter buses scheduled to leave downtown at 4:00.

We arrived at the Fair Oaks stadium just before 6:00 and Mr. Tom DuVall, our driver pulled the bus right up next to the visitor’s dressing room.

Each of us carried our gear-bag off the bus, with our shoes, socks, pants, T-shirts and personal items inside. The team managers began unloading the duffel bags from underneath the bus when we entered the dressing room.

Last year, we came here thinking this was the largest and most majestic high school football stadium in all of Texas. Today, we can honestly say that MMCS Stadium in Masonville, is the biggest and best we’ve seen by far this year.

We have five teams on our remaining schedule which we didn’t play last year. Four of those will be away games and one will be played at home, for our last game of the season.

From what we’ve gathered by listening to rumors and reading the sports pages, all of them have marked our game on their calendar. Two of those teams will host us on their homecoming, which, from what we’ve been told, is a hard win to take away from a home team.

Our team will play our first ever homecoming game this year on October, 16, and our opponents will be the Stratford Cowboys.

We were dressed in our shoes, pants and T-shirts when we went out to do our warmups and stretches. With an hour to go before game time, we went to the dressing room again.

We have a lot of players on our team who wear ankle braces and knee braces during practice and during the games; mostly the offensive and defensive linemen. Some of the bigger guys even have their ankles taped.

Our coaches and our trainers make sure we do the prescribed, foot, ankle, leg and lower body stretches and exercises before each practice and before each game. Our team has developed a dedicated regimen of exercises based on what the trainers and the local team doctors tell us is best. I don’t wear a brace, or have my ankles taped, though I do have my shoes taped on my feet to keep me from losing them when I’m running and make a hard cut.

Fifteen minutes before the start of the game, we were back on the field in full pads, wearing our helmets. The Red Raiders team was on the far end of the field when we went out.

There was a loud roar from the crowd, and when we looked toward the visitors stands, it was packed.

“Would you look at that?” Ben yelled above the noise.

“Can you believe this many fans from Masonville drove over or rode the charter buses and school buses all the way over here?” Harlan said, pointing toward the stands.

“We’re not going to let them leave here disappointed either. Let’s get warmed up and get ready to make our fans proud!” I yelled over the noise.

With ten minutes left before kickoff, we broke out into our Taekwondo routines. Our fans really went wild as we hammered them for five minutes before running to the sidelines.

During the National Anthem, I looked around the crowded stands on both sides of the field. Everyone was standing and everyone held their hands over their hearts. There’s nothing like Hometown Pride – at a Texas High School Football Game under The Friday Night Lights!

The Red Raiders won the toss and deferred until the second half, which most home teams do, except us.

We were lined up and ready when Toro turned to yell, “He’s kicking it short!”

The kicker hit a squib kick which bounced on our twenty yard line, and rolled out of bounds. Our fans roared when they saw this. We get the ball on the thirty-five yard line.

By the time the refs had the ball set, our offense was lined up and ready. We were lined up in our read-option offense, with Toro and me in the backfield, Ben in the pistol. The Red Raiders were crowding the middle of the line; their linebackers and D-backs right up behind their down linemen. They were ready for a run up the middle.

Ben checked off and called a sweep to the right. On the first play from scrimmage, our pulling guards, Toro, and tight-end Billy Joe Henry, made them pay as they bowled the defenders over on our favorite running play. I made an easy, sixty-five yard run to the end zone for the first score of the game.

We lined up to go for two points with Rashad and me split out wide on the right side. At the snap of the ball, we ran side by side across the goal line. Ben hit Billy Joe over the middle for two points. There was no one covering him!

The Red Raiders were not going to let that one play determine the game, they came right back and kicked a twenty-three yard field goal.

Their kickoff was short again and we realized that they were not going to give us a chance for an easy score on a kickoff return. Jimi took the ball on the run at our twenty-two yard line. He cut hard to the right sidelines where they boxed him in. When he cut back toward the middle, I was behind him. He lateraled the ball back to me, then cut up-field in front of me.

Our guys saw what had happened and opened a gap up the middle. I made it all the way through before the last player in front of me made a shoestring tackle at their sixteen yard line.

I have just lost my first flag!

We went on to beat them 50 to 10. They did get a touchdown late in the game against our second string defense. Our subs were mad about it too, when they came off the field.

When we came out of the locker room after dressing, there were some of the Fair Oaks reporters and many more reporters from Masonville and other towns hoping to get an interview. Coach Chad and Coach Jon pulled them aside as we boarded the bus. They spent about fifteen minutes answering questions and when they boarded the bus, both coaches were laughing.

We were out on the four lane when Coach Chad stood and grabbed the mic.

“I may as well tell you what we were laughing about earlier ... you’ll find out about it when you read the papers tomorrow morning.

“It seems that someone, maybe a fan – we’re not sure, told the reporters that ‘The Outlaw has just bought his first Coke of the season’

“That brought out a lot of laughs and a lot of questions, and I finally told them the story behind it.

“Outlaw, I suppose you know, the bounty on your head will now be focused on your imaginary flags! You’ll have to be even faster and more elusive in our next six games or there will be players on our opposing teams asking for a Coke!”

The team thought that was funny and I did too, “Coach, since you and Coach Jon were the ones who spilled the beans, I think it’s only fair that both of you take an equal share in this, if we have to buy any Cokes.”

“Fair enough ... we even doubled down on the reporters for basically the same thing. That was when Coach Jon challenged the reporters, ‘For each punt or kickoff return the rest of the season, where The Outlaw does score a TD, each of you will donate a hundred dollars to a local charity’

The team bus was rocking as we headed toward home.

We learned at Taekwondo on Saturday morning, that the second string defense had privately met and made a commitment to each other and to the team as a whole – they would NOT give up another TD the rest of the year.

When word got out about their meeting, the first string defense held their own meeting and agreed to the same commitment.

During our training session at the studio, we had another promotion ceremony. There were thirty-four of us who were awarded our Green Belt. Twenty more were awarded their Orange Belt and some of the others who had started later, were awarded their Yellow Belt.

Our small group of twenty-two close friends were determined to train even harder each time we managed to gather either at the studio or at our house.

The next Friday, October 2, we were in Walnut Grove to play the D-2 Plainsmen.

The only thing our coaches told us beforehand about the Plainsmen was, they are good! They told us after the game, this had been a test to see if we could play a well matched team without scouting reports. Of course, during the game, they coached us as usual, telling us what defensive alignment or offensive set to run – not on each play – but on each series.

We beat them 45 to 6, with our defense only allowing them two field goals.

In the third quarter, Coach Chad let LaRussa kick his first field goal of the season. With the ball spotted on our 45 yard line, he nailed a 72 yarder. The kick is measured from where the kicker strikes the ball with his foot, plus ten yards of the end zone. He kicked the ball from our own 38 yard line, 7 yards behind the line of scrimmage, without using his tee. Coach Chad told him that if he wants the record – don’t use the tee – so when it happens, it will also count in the NCAA and NFL, as the longest kick. On this kick, he cleared the crossbar by a good four feet, hitting the net midway to the top. He could have easily hit an 80 yarder, with that kick!

LaRussa told us that he didn’t feel like he made good contact on the ball ... Jeff Biggers, our punter and LaRussa’s holder on field goal attempts, told us that he almost screwed up the hold and barely had time to turn the laces forward ... Harlan admitted that his screw up on the long snap, caused Jeff to mishandle the the ball on the snap, therefore throwing LaRussa’s timing off on the kick.

We knew before each of them admitted this wasn’t the best of efforts, that LaRussa was on his way and it was just a matter of time until the coaches would let him attempt an even longer field goal during a game ... possibly one from 78 or maybe even 80 yards! He has hit many of them from 80 yards, in practice kicking with an eight mile per hour wind at his back.

On October 9, we had a bye.

Our next game will be at home on October 16 ... Our Homecoming Game against the undefeated, Stratford Cowboys.

There is no way the players on our team can keep from reading the sports pages about high school football, to see how our upcoming opponents have fared each week. Our coaches don’t discourage us from reading about the teams in our conference, but they do tell us not to take what the sportswriters print each week as gospel.

We are undefeated through our first four games and Stratford will be undefeated through five games when we meet. They are picked by the sportswriters to either finish number one in our conference, or at least in the top three. According to the writers, the Cowboys biggest tests will be against Masonville, (MMCS D-2) this week and the Harrisonville Golden Eagles the following week. Harrisonville is on a twenty four game winning streak, and they are good.

Some of the writers had us ranked number one in the preseason polls.

This week, most writers now have Harrisonville at number one after five games, with us at number three, after four games. Stratford is ranked number two this week, after five games. According to the writers’ poll, the Golden Eagles have the best overall defense in our District. Then, there’s also the Williston Hornets thrown into the mix. They are picked to end the season with no more than two losses overall, since their earlier loss to us, puts them at risk of a two loss season in the conference.

When we gather at the martial arts studio, our teammates always have a story to relate, telling what one or more writers had to say about us, or our next opponent. We have a good laugh and let it go. Coach Chad told us that the rules only allow us to play one game a week and for us not to worry about our next opponent – our remaining schedule, or what the writers have to say about us.

He added, ‘the real news can only be written after a game, not before it’s played’

Though we’re allowed to have our own Homecoming Game this year – the first time ever for our school to have two Homecoming Games – we will only have one Homecoming Court with our King and Queen. Normally we would have a JV team and a Varsity team. Now, after our consolidation with Mason County, we have our Division-1 and Division-2 teams.

Like most high schools in Texas and other states, our Homecoming Queen and King will be elected from the senior class. Then, each class – Junior – Sophomore – Freshman – will elect a member of the Queen’s Court and a member of the King’s court.

The MMCS, Division-1 Homecoming Game will be played here tomorrow night. Next year, the Division-1 game will be on Friday night and the Division-2 game will be played on Saturday night.

Our school paper, The Maverick, stated this week in an article about our Homecoming games, that there have been twenty five hundred advance tickets purchased for each of our Homecoming Games this weekend, by former graduates of Mason County and Masonville Schools combined.

All week long, we have been practicing for the wide-open offense and stifling defense of the Cowboys. They have racked up three shut-outs, allowing a total of only twenty points in five games, while scoring an average of forty points per game.

They’re D-2 team has only lost two games over the past two seasons. One to our JV team last year and a loss in the Divisional Round of the playoffs last season.

The sports pages in all the papers we saw, were filled with articles about our game against the Cowboys tonight. Only our hometown, Masonville Gazette, had us picked to win our game. One paper even predicted that this game would be the beginning of the end for The Dalton Gang. Of course, that article was printed in the Stratford Guardian.

We had already been out on the field for our pregame stretches and warmups. I was dressed, sitting on the bench while our manager taped my shoes on, when Coach Chad came over and sat down close beside me.

“Dalton, you’ve been quiet all week during practice – are you alright?”

“I’m fine, Coach. I’ve just been concentrating on this game a little more than I usually do for a game. Seems like they get bigger each week.”

“Don’t let it get so big in your head that it affects your play. You’re the best there is when you have the football in your hands. You don’t have to play any harder or try to do any more than you always do for your team. Your linemen are the best ever at blocking for you when you run the ball. When you return a kick, each of your special team blockers know, that all you need is one step and you’re gone. Just take a deep breath and relax. You’re the best there is and the other teams know it. They try to stop you each week, but you always find a way to break a long kick return, or break through the line for a TD.

“If it makes you feel any better, I’ve had a special feeling all week about this game ... and about you. I just have this feeling, Dalton, that you’re going to make another statement out there tonight. We are at the halfway point of our season. We only have four more games after this one. The sports writers have become accustomed to seeing you rush for two to three hundred yards and score three to five TDs. They think you’ve reached your peak and this is what they’ll see from you the rest of the season. Well, you need to wake them up out there tonight, Dalton. Show them what The Dalton Gang can do when The Outlaw runs wild in front of his first ever, Homecoming crowd.

“There are over twenty five hundred former graduates of Masonville and Mason County Schools combined, who came back for Homecoming this year. Most of them have come to the game tonight for one reason ... That’s to see The Dalton Gang and The Outlaw ride herd on the Cowboys.”

He slapped me on my shoulder pads and when I looked at him, he was smiling.

“Thanks Coach, I suppose I needed to hear this from you. You know me inside and out.”

“What I do know about you is, you’re the best in Texas ... and probably in the whole country, and that you love to run ... But I also know, that the best you can be – is still inside you, waiting for you to reach back and set it loose!”

I looked at him again as he sat shoulder to shoulder with me. He smiled and I did too, then he bumped my shoulder pads with his shoulder.

The festivities were over, the field was cleared and we were warming up again before the game. With ten minutes left before kickoff, we broke out into our Taekwondo routine. The roar of the crowd was like thunder the whole time, even after we stopped and jogged toward our bench.

We won the toss and when the ref indicated that we would receive, the crowd roared as they stood for the kickoff.

“Show them how it’s done, Outlaw!” Coach Chad told me as he slapped my shoulder.

I was fastening my chin strap as I ran onto the field beside Toro, Jimi, Martine and Mickey. The crowd was yelling, ‘Outlaw, Outlaw, Outlaw’

As we huddled briefly before taking our positions, Martine yelled to me above the roar, “Give ‘em what they came for, Outlaw! We got your back as always, Amigo!”

I was standing on the goal line when the kicker hit a high looping kick which floated into my arms at the ten yard line. They had two of their cover guys staying near the each sideline and my guys opened a lane right up the middle of the field. I was crossing our forty before the first defender even came close to me. When he made his move, I sidestepped him, then cut hard to make another defender miss. I ran for daylight, right through the middle of the field with no one in front of me.

I felt good! I don’t know that I have ever felt as good about a kick return, as I did this one. The crowd was wild and they never stopped screaming and cheering, even after LaRussa kicked the extra point.

On the kickoff, LaRussa kicked it through the uprights and you’d have thought he won the game with that kick, the way the crowd roared.

The Cowboys came out in their spread offense with five receivers and their quarterback in the shotgun. Our defense was ready for them...

Coach Jon had them practicing against our five receivers all week. Five of the best receivers in Texas, Coach Jon told our defense during each practice.

Their quarterback rolled to his left, then turned as if he was going to run up field. He was stopped in his tracks by Johnny Bateman, for a three yard loss.

They came right back on a quick count, with the quarterback throwing to his right. He hit the receiver in his hands, but he couldn’t hold onto the ball when Martine hit him as he turned to run. The ball rolled out of bounds and the ref ruled it incomplete.

On third and long, they tried a deep pass over the middle with two receivers crossing in front of Jimi. One receiver nailed Jimi to the ground before the ball came down. The other receiver caught the pass and raced to the end zone, then turned to see flags all over the field.

We declined the pass interference penalty and they punted on fourth and seven.

We had another good return set up, but they ran me out of bounds on their twenty-five yard line.

Someone yelled, “Buy him a Coke!” and the crowd roared again.

That didn’t count in my book, they never touched me. I had stepped out of bounds when they closed the gap in front of me.

On our first play from scrimmage, Ben hit me over the middle at the fifteen on a slant route, and I raced into the end zone for our second score.

Coach Chad had already told Ben, each time we score, for the rest of the first half, we were going for two!

Rashad and I were split out to the right side. On the snap, we ran into the end zone with two cover guys on each of us.

Billy Joe was right behind us, but they had him covered with a linebacker. They must have seen our game film from last week...

Doc Roberts was all alone in the left corner when Ben hit him for an easy two.

The Cowboys failed to score a touchdown in the first half. We went to the dressing room with a 39 – 6 lead. I had scored once more on a sweep around the right side. Ben hit Doc Roberts again, for six down the left sidelines and Billy Joe over the middle for another six. We made all four of our two-point conversions.

Coach Chad ended his halftime talk with, “Defense, show the Cowboys how the Mavericks play defense in MMCS Stadium on Homecoming Friday Night ... SHUT-THEM-DOWN!

“Offensive linemen, I want you to break The Outlaw out of jail and unleash him on those Cowboys. I expect him to rush for at least two hundred and fifty yards this half!”

The Cowboys failed to make a first down the entire third quarter. Our defense was fired up and ready for whatever they threw at them.

Our offense wasn’t just fired up, we were walking two feet off the ground, we were so hyped and ready to play. We ran the ball on them the whole third quarter and in the third quarter alone, I had two hundred and sixty-five yards on the ground.

The first string linemen played until three minutes to go in the game, then the second string defense, and second string offensive line took over.

Ben, Toro, Rashad, Billy Joe, Doc, and I played the entire game.

Coach had Martine and Jimi in the game on kickoffs, so I could finish the game on offense. As it turned out, they didn’t get to receive a kickoff from the Cowboys, though they did receive seven punts in the second half.

We came out of the game with seven hundred and sixty-three yards total offense. I set a new single-game school rushing record of five hundred and thirty-one yards officially. We roared to our fifth win of the season with a score of 67 – 6 ... over a team that has only allowed a total of 20 points through five games.

Before we walked out of the dressing room, I stepped up close to Coach Chad and told him, “Thanks, Coach.”

“Don’t thank me, I had the easy job; standing on the sidelines and cheering for you like everyone else. The big guys broke The Outlaw out of jail, but you did the rest. I told you before the game that you were the best ... and even after seeing you run tonight, I still say – your best is yet to come.”

After the game, Ben and I met Brandy, Bonnie, Gage, Maelee and Em. We hurried home to get ready for the Homecoming Banquet and Dance at the convention center downtown.

The banquet wasn’t formal, but we dressed in sports coats and slacks while our girls dressed in slinky, sexy party dresses – they called them. Marita and Aroya were already at home and dressed. They had left before the end of the game so they’d be dressed and out of the way when we arrived ... and they were smoking hot!

I’ve seen all six of our girls naked. I’ve seen them wearing only panties or only a T-shirt many times, but never have I, Ben or Gage seen them dressed as sexy as they are tonight. I told them so, as we gathered for some pics before we left...

“Brandy, are y’all sure you won’t be censored at the door for exposing too much boob?”

“Ms. Necie told us this week, that as long as we, keep them covered, no one will say a word.”

Bonnie added, “She told our class that since the dance is being sponsored by local businesses for the Homecoming Classes, and will not be on campus, the school’s dress code does not apply. She did tell us basically the same thing Brandy said though... Girls, don’t shame yourselves!”

We were laughing when we went out. We had raised the rear seat in the SUV earlier, so all of us could ride together. Gage and Bonnie had stopped by the convention center last week to make reservations for ten in Gage’s name. We were ready to celebrate our big Homecoming win and we were ready to party.

Inside the convention center, all the dividers and partitions had been pulled back, creating one huge, open ballroom. The interior of the convention center had been decorated with streamers of crimson and gold hanging from the ceiling. There were Maverick banners on the walls. The tables were decorated with crimson disposable covers.

There was a stage at one end and they had left an open space for a dance floor in front of the stage. After leaving a fifty foot by seventy foot dance floor, the banquet area was still half as large as a football field. There were people everywhere, seated at tables and standing in groups talking. There was a local Country and Western Band on stage warming up.

MMCS High School Superintendent, Mr. Sam Rutherford was the MC and as soon as he stepped upon the stage and picked up a mic, he asked for all the D-2 Mavericks to stand and be recognized.

Our team was scattered across the convention center and when we stood, there was loud applause. Some people in front began standing and before it was over, we had a standing ovation that seemed to go on and on.

Mr. Rutherford announced that there were four food service islands, two on either side of the room, with two serving lines set up on each of them to speed up the meal. Even with eight serving lines, the first ones to enter the lines, were through eating by the time the last of them were sitting down to eat.

The band was playing as we served ourselves and ate, then about the time everyone had finished eating, they took a break.

There were a dozen junior-high boys setting up folding tables and chairs across the dance floor. When they were through, Mr. Rutherford asked all the D-2 Mavericks, the coaches, managers and subs included, to come up and have a seat down one side of the line of tables. We were going to have an autograph session for all who wanted their programs and T-shirts autographed.

The T-shirt shop downtown must have run out of inventory this weekend, as many T-shirts and jerseys we signed.

Just for the Homecoming celebration, MMCS had ordered team jerseys with our player’s name and number on the back. These were selling as fast as they could take the money. I had never seen anything like it with everyone laughing and talking at once as the shirts, jerseys, banquet programs, and Homecoming Game Programs with lineups on them, were passed down the line, from one of us to the other. We autographed thousands of items before the line thinned out and we were allowed to take our seats.

I was walking beside Ben as we made our way back to our table when I saw Gage talking to Doc Roberts, our left-side wideout. Gage saw me looking their way and waved Ben and me over.

“Rick, I was asked by our Cuz to come invite Doc over to sit with us if he didn’t have a date. Seems like she and our girls have already decided he was here stag for the night. Doc just told me he was too shy to ask a girl to the banquet and dance. What do you and Ben think?”

I told him, “Doc, I think you need to get over being shy and come meet our Cuz from South Korea. She’s also shy and she hasn’t dated since she came to America. If she’s brave enough to pick you out of the lineup, the least you can do is come meet her.”

Ben told him, “He’s right, Doc. We’ve been trying to get her to accept dates, but she tells us that wasn’t sure of herself, enough to date yet. Come with us and meet her at least. You already know everyone else at our table and they’ll make you feel welcome.”

Doc looked at Gage then me, “Look Guys, she’s one of the most beautiful girls here tonight, are you sure this isn’t a joke?”

“No Way! We’d never do that to you. Come with me,” I told him and pulled him by his sleeve until he gave up and walked with us.

Maelee saw us coming. She was standing behind her chair when we walked up. She was smiling and she was – absolutely beautiful tonight.

Gage introduced them, “Maelee, this is Donald ‘Doc’ Roberts, number 86 on the Mavericks’ team roster.

“Doc, this is Maelee, my only Cuz in the whole world.”

“Hi Maelee, I’m extremely flattered that you wanted to meet me. I’ve wanted to meet you since the first day you came to our school back last December, but I could never get up the courage to even speak. I’m nervous as heck right now, and my knees are shaking, just standing here.”

“Doc, I asked Gage about you and he told me you were an A student, that you were quiet and didn’t date much, and that you were a great dancer. Please ask me to dance so we can get to know each other.”

“May I have this dance, Maelee?”

The band was playing a two-step and our table cleared as we headed for the dance floor. Marita and Aroya were dancing together, as were lots of girls. The band played another two-step, then a slow song.

After that, we came back to the table, except for Maelee and Doc. They danced each song, fast and slow, until the band went on break again. They were laughing as they came back to sit with us.

Maelee is beautiful and when she smiles, she’s even more beautiful. Tonight, she was smiling like I had never seen her before. I think Maelee is beginning to like living in Texas more and more. She’s even picking up some of that Texas drawl from us and the rest of the students in school.