Chapter 12

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 1991

Seven days of kisses and bliss. Jen got her kiss every day for a seventh day. Every time I saw her or thought about her, the butterflies were there. We held hands in the hallways and word around school was that we were the hot couple.

The upperclassmen had accepted and welcomed me with open arms. If I’d been placed on the varsity team at the start of the season, I’d have likely faced some hazing. As it was, saving the big game and showing them I belonged put hazing out of the question. We had a game against Riverton to prepare for, and varsity practice was noticeably more intense than I was used to at the JV level.

Jen’s seventh day of kisses started with a few pleasant smooches in her Bronco before school. It progressed into a hungrier level of making out. I was just about to cup her left breast, my fingers touching the perforated fabric of my home football jersey she was wearing, when she paused.

“Should we head inside before we’re late?” she asked with a big smile.

“I suppose,” I sighed.

Jen giggled and grabbed her bag. We met in front of her truck and walked hand-in-hand into school. I was wearing my away jersey. Jen was wearing my home jersey. We were headed Jen’s locker when a voice stopped both of us in our tracks.

“Can I talk to you two for a second?”

Lexie popped up in front of both of us. She was in her cheer gear like the rest of the squad, ready for the away game that night.

“Okay,” I said in confusion. “Jen’s grip on my hand tightened as we faced the pretty cheerleader.

“Can Morgan sit at our lunch table again?”

The question was clearly more directed at me than Jen. Still I gave my girlfriend a confused look before turning back to Lexie.

“I never said she couldn’t.”

Lexie was in a state I’d probably never seen before. She was contrite.

“Well, she won’t come back unless you want her to.”

I gave Jen another glance. The ghost of a smile crossed her lips.

“I would be lying if I said I wanted her at the table, but I’m not the king of lunch. She can sit where she wants.”

Lexie gave both of us an almost pained expression.

“That’s the thing though, Jake. You sort of are.”

Jen nudged me and I glanced at her, more confused than ever. I turned back to Lexie again.

“Lexie, I know you weren’t there, but I didn’t kick her off the table. I was just tired of her bullshit and I got up and left the table. I didn’t ask anyone to follow me to another table, but they did,” I shrugged.

“That’s why she won’t come back unless you want her to.”

“Lexie,” I sighed in exasperation. “I didn’t kick her out and I’m not going to forbid her to sit wherever she wants. I hate drama. Tell her whatever you want. I don’t exactly want her there, but I’m not going to pound the table and shoo her away.”

Lexie closed her mouth around some sort of reply and started to smile slightly.

“I think that’s probably good enough,” she brightened. “Thanks, Jake!”

Lexie turned away from us, her pleated cheer skirt twirling up to reveal a bit more tan and toned thigh as she headed back down the hallway. Jen locked eyes with me, gave me a smirk and a mirthful snort before we walked to her locker.

“King of lunch,” she teased me under her breath.

We paused at Jen’s locker and I gave her a more serious look.

“She’s up to something. I’m not sure what it is, but she’s up to something.”

Kim and I chatted briefly before Algebra started. She looked very nice in her cheer outfit, the blue sweater tight on her perky chest and her skirt revealing trim, tan legs. I always liked the little socks they wore with the little pompons on the back of the ankle, and the low-top shoes.

We seemed to be getting along better after things got serious with Jen and some of the sexual tension between us seemed to be relieved. Still, in this outfit, I would have loved to watch a repeat of her sneaky self-pleasure. It wasn’t to be on this day.

By the time lunch rolled around, Morgan had indeed returned to the table. Nothing was said, but there was some clear tension in the air as we munched on fish sandwiches. Jen marveled at how the boys and I stacked up mashed potatoes and a pile of tartar sauce onto our sandwiches, making a messy meal. Still, she tried it and seemed to like it.

Mandy gave Morgan a chilly reception, not looking at her or speaking to her. Mitch and the boys paid the situation no mind, laughing and enjoying the end of another school week.

Lexie was clearly pleased with herself from her end of the table. DeeDee had brightened a bit since Monday, but she still seemed to be in a funk. Hard to imagine a sad, red-headed cheerleader in a tight cheer sweater encasing enormous tits, but that was DeeDee.

Shelby cornered me briefly after lunch at my locker to tell me something I already knew.

“Lexie’s up to something,” she said under her breath.

“She’s always up to something,” I shrugged, pulling a book out of my locker.

“No, I think she has her sights set on you,” Shelby insisted.

“What? Why?”

“I see how she looks at you,” Shelby practically whispered. “Like a tomcat after a rat.”

“And I’m the rat?” I cocked an eyebrow.

“You sure are,” she grinned.

“Doesn’t matter,” I said flatly. “I’m with Jen and nothing is going to change that.”

“That’s just the thing,” Shelby mused. “She’ll find some way to split you up.”

I gave that warning some serious thought, especially after Lexie had flirted with me Monday after practice.

“So, what do I do?”

“Just keep an eye on her and keep an ear out for rumors. That’s how she’ll start.”

I knew Shelby was right. There was little I could do at this point, but I would need to be wary.

“And don’t be alone with her. Ever!” Shelby hissed. “That’s how she’ll get you.”

“Never going to happen,” I shook my head.

With that, I headed for Study Hall.

Friday was a bit of a reckoning at Study Hall. Lea had been giving me the cold shoulder all week, and I was tired of it by the end of the week.

I tried to ask her something about a class assignment and she blew me off.

I looked at Jen and she gave me a helpless look.

“Look, Lea, I’m sorry I brought girls from Central to the Homecoming Dance, but if you wanted to go with someone, you should have asked him,” I said bitterly.

Two things happened simultaneously. Lea looked me in the eye for the first time in a week, and Beast slowly pulled his book down and peered over the pages at the three of us.

“Tactful,” Jen sighed, rolling her eyes at me.

Beast raised an eyebrow at me questioningly.

“I’m not saying anything else. I’m just tired of this situation, whatever, between us. Lea, I had no idea. But if you want something, you have to go and take it.”

Lea’s face blushed nearly purple and Beast did his best to hold back a wicked grin. I’m not sure if he knew who we were talking about, but I had an idea he did.

“It’s fine,” Lea finally said. “Like you said, you had no idea. I’m just frustrated.”

“I’m not stopping you from doing something about it,” I grumped.

“You’re right,” she conceded.

Nothing more was said, but the tension between us melted away after that point.

Beast, I knew, would have questions later.

Riverton was about 45 minutes away by crowded school bus. I’d been promoted to the varsity bus now. It wasn’t exactly a thrill. I didn’t really know these guys as well as my close friends in the second bus.

The Riverton Raiders had arguably the best uniforms in the district. They wore black jerseys and silver pants and helmets, with a red-trimmed black ‘R’ on the sides. Very professional-looking for high school. That’s where the compliments end, though.

They sucked at football.

The game would be a nearly foregone conclusion. Our coaches, to their credit, would not allow us to believe that and overlook them.

We practiced hard all week and the seniors even seemed to loosen up a little. No, that didn’t mean loud metal music in the locker room, but there was a little less intensity and a little more swagger.

I was a bit more quiet on the field with these guys. I was not in a position to be a leader, or a captain. I was there to listen and not screw up. Wade Anderson was there to make sure that didn’t happen.

We were finishing up warmups when the girls came out from their volleyball matches. The tall blonde in the ponytail caught my eye. I shared a grin and a little wave with my gorgeous girlfriend before we lined up for the National Anthem.

The team captains met at the center of the field and Riverton won the toss. They would receive and we took the wind to our backs.

Our kick sailed deep and was picked up by their returner off a bounce. He legged it to the 29, where he got thumped for the effort. The game started with a crash of pads that would set the whole tone.

I ran out onto the field with the varsity defense. It was my first start, and the butterflies were churning inside of me.

We formed a casual huddle near the line of scrimmage and Wade already had the alignment.

“Head, zipper. Head, zipper.”

We watched the Raider offense come out of their huddle and line up with double tight ends.

“Power right!”

I swapped over to the left side of Wade, about four yards back from the line of scrimmage.

“Down! Set!”

The ball was snapped and pads crashed into pads. I watched the fullback lurch straight forward and take the handoff up the middle. He had nowhere to go as Wade had met him at the line and I helped clean it up. That little bit of contact was all it took to settle my nerves. I was ready to play.

No gain on first down. That was a win for us. Riverton trotted back to their huddle and we watched for the call from the sideline.

“Lookin’ vanilla today, boys,” Wade grinned. “Head, zipper.”

We’d stay in our base alignment in a two-deep zone. Riverton broke their huddle and came up to the line of scrimmage in double tight again...

“Down! Set! Hut!”

The play looked identical, but I could see the handoff to the fullback was a fake, and the quarterback spun to toss the ball to the tailback, who was flashing to my right.

The play was designed to isolate Wade, and it worked. He bit inside to take on his responsibility, the fullback. That left our defensive end and strong side linebacker to make the play. I didn’t get close to the action. The tailback was able to skirt around our end, but he got immediately popped by our corner. He maybe picked up a yard.

That set up third and long. Riverton huddled and Wade had an idea.

“Watch the draw and the screen here,” Wade looked pointedly at me. “Don’t get sucked in.”

“Head, zipper,” Wade shook his head and we dispersed to our spots.

“Power left!” Wade yelled out.

I swapped to the weak side and lined up. Riverton was still in double tight formation.

“Down! Set!

Sure enough, the quarterback faked a handoff to the fullback, took several steps to drop back and looked for a short dumpoff. The tight end across from me feigned a light block on me and cut for the sideline. I stayed with him, with an eye in the backfield since I had help from the corner.

The quarterback dumped it off and Wade nearly got his hands on it as he waited for it to come to the fullback, and it did. The ball bounced harmlessly off his back’s thigh pad and hit the ground.

It was already fourth down. Our sideline was already getting loud and we could just sense where this was headed. These guys were not very good. The line was sub-par and there was no creativity, so far, in this offense.

The punter trotted out and we lined up in punt return formation. It was one of those rare occasions I got to put my hand in the ground and I found a spot at the end of the line.

They got set and snapped it on a silent count. I burst forward and found no resistance in front of me. I wasn’t totally prepared for that, but I picked up some speed with an eye on the punter. He seemed to be taking his sweet time and my eyes widened at the prospect of blocking it. I stretched out and raised my arms over my head, crossing over his path as his foot connected with the ball.

“THUMP!”

I sailed through the air and heard the crowd gasp as I didn’t connect with anything but the ground.

I could tell I was very close, but I didn’t get a piece of the ball, and luckily I didn’t run into the punter. I realized I better get up and block someone as I jumped up in time to watch Troy Bartz field the punt and take a quick step to his left, before cutting right to miss the first tackler. I looked for someone to block and found the punter nearest to me. I made sure to get ahead of him before putting a hand on his chest and driving him to the sideline. I chanced a look at Troy and found he’d cut back the other way, right to where I was blocking this punter. The crowd roared again as Troy was cutting up the sideline. I had to break off the block or I’d be flagged for a block in the back, so I just ran with the punter and Troy made one more cut back inside, only to be cut down from behind. We had the ball in Raider territory already and the visiting crowd was in a lather.

Troy gave me a bit of a pointed look as I ran off the field, likely thinking he had an easy touchdown if I’d made a block for him. I knew I had an answer if I was tested on it later.

We ran off the field for a rest as the offense huddled and lined up.

I spotted Jen in the stands again and gave her a crooked grin as I took my helmet off. She winked and waved.

Back to business, Coach had some quick questions as our offense got things going.

“Keep the pressure on up front,” Coach said. “They’re going to keep prodding until they find an opening. Don’t give them one.”

We all nodded.

“Jake, you just about had the punt blocked. See if you can’t get one for us next time.”

“You got it!” I enthused.

I grabbed a little cup of gritty, yellow Gatorade and took a swig. The crowd suddenly roared, and I turned to the field in time to see Troy Bartz bust loose up the far sideline and scamper into the endzone to put six on the board.

That was a brief break. I slugged the rest of the Gatorade and tossed the cup, pulling my helmet back on to go out for defense.

The offense lined up for a two-point conversion and Mark Carter pitched it to Troy for a walk-in conversion. It was already 8-0 and it looked like a good old-fashioned option play was going to work on them.

We kicked deep and their returner made a nice cut back and brought it up to our their 42. I snapped my chin strap and ran out with the starting defense again, still partly unable to believe I was part of the unit.

Riverton lined up double tight again, and Wade called another vanilla defense.

“Down. SET!”

The play flowed to the right and I gave a bit of chase before sensing something was wrong. I spotted the left tight end coming back to the right and I held firm at the end of the line. The running back pitched it to him and he took the reverse back in my direction with a pulling guard in front of him. I met the guard at the line and hoped I had some help outside as I forced the tight end to cut back and closer to the sideline.

Help arrived in the form of Clay Martin from the corner position, as I drove the guard off me and shared a tackle with Clay. We managed to stop that play a yard behind the line of scrimmage, and our crowd was impressed.

Again, Riverton lined up double tight and lined up against our vanilla defense.

“Down! Set Hut!”

Pads crashed against pads and the quarterback faked a handoff to the fullback, then took a short drop back to scan the field.

“Pass!”

It wasn’t to be. He held the ball up for a moment, then handed off to the tailback on a rather clever draw. The steps I had taken to follow the tight end brought me away from the line of scrimmage, and Wade was engaged with the fullback as the tailback sprinted up the middle of our confused defense.

“Draw!” I yelled before running him down. He’d gained at least eight yards before I wrapped him up in front of our free safety.

That put them just shy of the 50 for a third and short.

“Head, zipper, hammer,” Wade grinned at our loose huddle.

Riverton lined up double tight once again.

“Power right!”

“Down! SET!”

The lines collided in a clash of plastic pads and Wade was already in the backfield, and nearly swiped the ball as the quarterback pitched it to the the tailback on a quick sweep. I had the tight end blocking into me but shucked him off and met the fullback head-on.

Our collision stunned both of us for a moment, but I let the momentum carry me into the tailback, tripping him slightly before Clay met him a yard short of a first down.

Whistles blew to stop the play and a measurement was called for.

A team of volunteer dads trotted out with the chains and Riverton was half a football short.

The official took a good close look, then held his hands about four inches apart toward the home sideline.

It looked like they were going to go for it, and they huddled.

“Nose, zipper, slugger,” Wade smiled, then repeated. “Nose, zipper, slugger.”

Nose meant we’d slip into a 5-2 defensive front. Zipper was, again, zone coverage and slugger was rarely used. It meant the strong safety would come up to the line and act as another linebacker. He could pick any spot he liked and blitz from there. The free safety then had to cover the whole deep middle of the field. We were pretty sure they weren’t going to pass, though.

“Power right!”

“Down! Set! Hut! Hut! HUT!”

They very nearly drew us off for a cheap first down, but we held firm. The ball was hiked and two lines crashed together. The handoff was quick and the fullback slammed into Wade, the two twisting together before falling to the ground.

It looked to me like we stopped them, but it would depend on the spot.

“First down!” The official called out.

“Huddle up!” Wade yelled out, looking to the sideline for the call. “Head, zipper. Head, zipper.”

We broke the huddle and watched Riverton come up to the line with their right tight end split out and their halfback in the slot.

“Power left!” Wade yelled out and I immediately swapped over to the right side.

“Down. SET!”

At the snap, backs were in motion and the quarterback made a quick pitch to his right to the tailback. He had the fullback chugging in front of him and two receivers already engaging in blocks. I could only watch from the weak side, trailing from behind, as the the back crossed the line of scrimmage and picked up six yards before being forced out of bounds.

That put a little more life in the Riverton crowd. They were near our 40 now and driving.

“Head, zipper,” Wade said, shaking his head as Riverton lined up on the ball.

“Power right!”

I swapped to the left as they opened up with a wideout and a flanker to our right.

“Down! Set!”

I knew immediately that the play was going to the strong side as both the guard and tackle pulled and rain down the backside of the line like a train. I felt the tight end get his hands into me as the play developed to the right. Again, I could only flow along with the play and watch as Wade and Clay combined to take the running back down at the far sideline.

It was another first down for Riverton uncomfortably deep in our territory.

“Huddle up!” Wade grumped, watching the sideline for instruction.

“Ends, cheat out a little wider,” he intoned. “Head, man, ends crash.”

“Ends crash” meant the ends were going after the ball with their ears pinned back. That meant as an outside linebacker, I had to take the place of my end at the snap of the ball and keep outside contain.

“Power left!” Wade yelled. I swapped sides again to the short side of the field.

“Down! Set! HUT!”

The quarterback faked a handoff to the fullback and took a deep drop. I was already in trouble as the tight end I would normally be covering on a different call was already behind me. I recognized the danger and tore off after him, my back to the line of scrimmage.

The pass never came as the quarterback got gobbled up for a sack at the 42. That would bring up a third and long.

Riverton huddled up and we formed our own loose huddle as Wade watched for the signal.

“Head, zipper,” he shrugged.

Riverton lined up with a wideout and a flanker to our left and I started shifting to the right linebacker spot before Wade could even call it out.

“Power left!”

“Down! Set!”

Lines collided as the quarterback went into his drop. My tight end took a step inside, then flared out toward the sideline with me in his back pocket. The quarterback gave him a glance before looking to his right and firing right up the middle to his fullback.

Wade was right there and pulled him down after a short gain. We cheered as it left them with a fourth and four, but they were leaving the field for a punt.

They needed to get inside our 25 for a first down. We huddled over the ball and waited for the signal.

“Head, zipper,” Wade called out. “Watch for the draw!”

Riverton came up to the line in the same formation and I stayed on the same side.

“Power Left!”

“Down! Set! Hut! Hut!”

One of their own lineman sprang forward, popping into the pads of our line and we cheered, knowing the penalty was on them.

We fully expected to see the punt team come out as the official signalled false start. After all, it was fourth and nine.

It wasn’t to be. Riverton broke their huddle before we could get a call in and we watched as they split out with four wideouts.