Chapter 33

Grace sat with us on our couch in the common room. She and Alice talked while I listened. Grace was asking about the farm and the general area. She would graduate in June and should have a teaching certificate by that time. She also asked about Mitch’s long term plans. I could tell that she was interested in that. It appeared that Mitch wanted t a life that suited Grace’s plans. She admitted that her home area did not offer much and no one from the college had ever interested her.

They talked for a good while until it was time for supper. The three of us went to supper and had company from some of the others in our loose group. The meal was good and we enjoyed teasing Grace a bit. She admitted to an initial infatuation.

We went back to the common room to sit for a while. It was moderately late when I returned to my dorm room. Joe was there. He said, “Jerry, you will need a new roommate after the first of the year. Barbara and I are getting married in January though we will get an apartment together before then. We had a lot of discussion before deciding to even finish this quarter.”

“That is only a slight shock, Joe. You had hinted that you wouldn’t stay. Are you two going to go to the community college?”

“Eventually. We will work and go at night. Both of us would like to get business degrees down the road. We enjoy being together. We had the grades but just don’t have the desire to get degrees quickly. I think we will get back to the community college for the spring. That will work for us.”

I said, “Joe, what works for you works. It’s not my program but should work for you.” We went on to our beds.

The next morning, I told Alice what was happening. She said. “I’m not surprised. You suggested that might happen the last time you mentioned him.” We went on to breakfast and then our classes. I went to practice that afternoon. Coach Marshall was back though on crutches. He said, “Guys, you did a great job this last weekend. We have a bye week. We’ll practice during the afternoons but they will be light practices this week. We’ll take the weekend off and start back next Monday preparing for our next game in earnest. Let’s break into offensive and defensive groups to go over last week’s game and get some thinking started about the future.”

I went to defense and Coach Johnson directed me to the offensive group. He said, “You’re probably our starting quarterback for the rest of the year. We’ll miss you on defense.”

Coach Edwards was there, of course, when I arrived. “Short, you’re on offense now. I looked over the films. You’re our starting quarterback for the rest of the year.”

I grimaced. “Coach, I’m non-scholarship and really don’t fit the mold. When can you get someone to really carry the team?”

Coach Edwards said, “Short, you may be both those things but you have the ability to carry the offense. I think we’re a better team with you as quarterback. Even if you don’t always get the play right, you make things work. You did that on defense.” Coach Marshall nodded smiling.

Coach Marshall said, “We’ve got a bye which will give us some more time to rest and to prepare. Like us, this team is undefeated and in our conference. They will be the toughest team we will face until the post-season and I believe we will play in the post-season. Short, your play as quarterback was great. The offense listens to you just like the defense does. We’ll put in some plays that are in the book but weren’t used previously. I want Coach Edwards to work with the backs and Coach Smith to get a lot of involvement from everyone. The more we can show in the game, the better off we will be. They have a great defense so we will be challenged.”

Coach Smith was the backs coach though was mostly involved with the running backs. He and Coach Edwards stood before us. Coach Edwards said, “Short, you and Stovall will have to study a bit extra to know our complete playbook. I think we’ll be using some of the lesser used plays in this upcoming game. Their defense is quick, smart, and relentless. We will try to take advantage of their quickness to have them over-run our plays. I don’t think we’ll get a forty-two to three score on them.”

The entire offense went into the meeting area. We watched film of the other team, the Badgers. We had film of two games which was normal. I thought that would be an attention-getter since we sent them two games though only one, of course, was from last weekend.

I had to think to watch their defense to see how they were getting their keys. We would need deception to keep them from wiping us out. They were a big team. I noticed their linebackers were big but, while they were quick, they weren’t agile. In that, I saw possibilities. I nudged Bob and mentioned that to him. Coach Edwards stopped the film and asked what the discussion had been about. I said, “I was sharing with Bob that their linebackers were really big and fast. However, they aren’t very agile. That gives us an opening. If we get them leaning, they shouldn’t be able to recover.”

Coach Marshall said, “That’s what I had seen and why we will use misdirection to have success on offense. I believe their offense will be figuring the same for our defense. Our defense led now by Adams on the field is quick and agile. Short, you will need to look at those plays that give us some hope of diverting the Badgers’ defense away from our actual play. An end around will cause them problems.” He went back over to a corner spot and sat down. The film resumed. It continued to show that agility was a weakness for the Badgers. I watched a draw play with a runner who was not as good as Bob. He almost got loose to score. I filed that away in memory. With a little more misdirection, it could be very good for us. I looked at Bob who nodded.

We watched through the end of the film and then watched the next game. I saw something else that I thought promising. Their players didn’t substitute much and, as the game wore on, the defense slowed down. I said, “Coach Edwards?”

He stopped the film. “What is it, Short?”

“I’m noticing that their defense slows down as the game goes on. Making their players run more would be to our advantage because we substitute pretty well.”

He said, “That’s correct. We will be running to ready ourselves for making them run a lot. Their offensive line has the same problem though it’s not as noticeable since they get through into the back of the defense.”

The practice was finally over and everyone was sent out. Coach Edwards asked me to stay. Bob and a couple of other guys slowed down. Coach Edwards said, “You speak out a lot, Short.”