Chapter 21

I managed to survive my frequent encounters with Penny on Friday. I felt pretty good about all the kids who came up to wish me and the football team good luck in the game tonight. Jeremy told me at lunch that Kathy didn't want to get in the middle between Penny and me. I would have to try to work things out without her help. Ed and I went to his house after school and reviewed his Tivo recording of the Central-Cornwall game last week one last time. We needed any edge we could find for tonight.

Mom made a good supper for Andy and me. When we were done, Dad drove us to the school for our games. Andy dressed quickly and headed out to the field for his JV game. I hung out relaxing while our team gathered. We were loose, joking and teasing each other. We were ready for our first test as a football team. Coach Caffrey reviewed the game plan one last time. We got word that the JV team won 17-16 just before it was time for our team to take the field.

The weather was beautiful. The temperatures were in the low seventies. The stands were filled with our fans. They cheered lustily as we ran onto the field. Our team won the coin toss and received the kickoff. Coach Caffrey wanted to set the tone early, so we started off with three wide receivers. I was running a deep post pattern while Don, Karl and Greg ran intermediate routes.

At the snap, I ran flat out down the field. Cornwall's cornerback stayed with me nearly step for step. This was a surprise. The guy covering me last year couldn't do that. When I reached the Cornwall thirty yard line, I looked back for the ball. I saw Ed heave it as I looked over the cornerback's shoulder. With a slight adjustment toward the sideline, I leaped and grabbed the football just above the outstretched hands of the cornerback.

I came down and spun to get away from the tackle. The cornerback grabbed at me, grasping my jersey. I yanked as I tried to gain more yards. The momentary pause was enough for their safety to come over and clobber me, dropping me to the ground. I jumped immediately. Their tackles wouldn't slow me down! I had picked up 52 yards.

When I headed back to the huddle, I saw Adam Diem help Ed up of the ground. He shook his head a little and gathered our team in the huddle. I asked, "Are you OK, Ed?"

"Yeah, fine. They nailed me right after I released the ball. I'm good. Nice catch, Kyle," Ed answered.

We stayed in our three receiver set. Coach called for Stan to run up the middle while all the receivers went deep to draw the defense away. Stan took the ball and dived into the line. Our lineman couldn't budge their linemen. Their coach had a run blitz on that sent a linebacker straight into the hole Stan was going to. He stuffed Stan backwards, costing us a yard. We tried a pass the next down. Cornwall blitzed. Ed threw the ball away when he couldn't find anyone open.

Coach Graham swapped Drew and Stan for our third and eleven play. We kept our three receivers in the game. We ran a sweep this time. I blocked the cornerback towards the center of the field and Drew slipped outside of me. Drew managed to advance the ball twelve yards.

The next play was a play action with Stan faking a run up the middle while I went for the end zone. I ran for the goal post. I saw Cornwall's right tackle break free and chase Ed out of the pocket when I looked back. Ed ran along the backfield towards the sideline looking someone to get open while two defenders pursued him. I broke off my route and ran parallel to Ed in the end zone. I had a small lead on the cornerback. Ed drilled the ball into my belly for a touchdown. I handed the ball to the referee and headed over to celebrate with Ed. He was picking himself off the ground after getting drilled by one of Cornwall's linemen.

Cornwall wasn't flashy when they had the ball. Their offense pounded the ball into our defensive line. They pushed steadily down the field. Coach Wyndham substituted fresh lineman in every few plays to keep our guys from getting worn out. They only tried three passes on the twelve play drive, completing one for five yards. Our defense finally managed to stop them on third down at our 19 yard line. Cornwall connected with a field goal. We led 7-3.

Our next drive set the tone for the rest of the half. Cornwall adjusted to cover the deep passes better. They blitzed nearly every down. Ed had no time to throw any pass deeper than 5-8 yards. With the Cornwall defense cheating people close to the line, Stan had no room to run. On third and 8, we tried a pass. Coach Caffrey kept our fullback in to help with the blitz. I ran twelve yards downfield, covered by two defenders. A blitzing lineman pushed Jerry Morton, our right guard, back into Ed. Ed fired a pass to Don, who had gotten behind his guy. The onrushing lineman managed to tip the ball as it went by. The guy covering Don snagged the ball and ran for the end zone. Don and Stan ran after him but couldn't catch him. The score was 10-7 Cornwall.

Stan chewed out Jerry Morton while we waited for the kick-off. Ed needed better protection if we were going to have a chance to win the game. During the short break, Stan went to Coach Caffrey and said, "Put Drew in the game in my place. They have me stopped cold."

Coach Caffrey asked, "You're sure about this, Stan? You want to sit on the bench and give Drew your spot?"

"Absolutely, Coach. With Drew's speed, we may be able to spread Cornwall out and get Don and Kyle free. This is what we need to do to have a chance to win."

"You got it, Stan," Coach said. Then he shouted, "McCormick you're in."

My respect for Stan grew tremendously at that moment. We had chosen the right captain. Stan was also correct in his analysis. Drew did loosen up Cornwall's defense. That and the screen passes and draws we ran. We managed to move the ball downfield on this drive. Cornwall still managed to get a couple hits on Ed, but he kept our team moving. We caught Cornwall napping with a reverse. Most of their team followed Drew to the right while I swung behind the line going left. Ed threw a great block to spring me free. The Cornwall free safety managed to push me out of bounds at their 22 yard line. On the next play Ed tossed me the ball to me on the outside on a three step drop. I spun away from the corner back and streaked downfield into the end zone, the free safety barely missing me as I crossed into the end zone. Score 14-10 Wolverines.

Cornwall answered our score with another long slow brutal drive downfield. Their quarterback managed to thread a pass into the end zone between two of our defenders. That brought the score to 17-14 Cornwall.

There was about four minutes left in the first half when we started our drive. Drew's outside running kept the Cornwall defense loose. We managed to drive down the field efficiently using our two minute offense. We were on the Cornwall 32 yard line when Coach Caffrey called for a deep pass into the end zone. We thought all the screens would make Cornwall think twice about blitzing. We were wrong. I was in the end zone waiting for the ball when a blitzing linebacker drilled Ed just as he threw to me. The ball fluttered about ten yards downfield. A Cornwall linebacker picked the ball off and ran for the end zone. Greg managed to tackle him around the five yard line.

That is when I noticed Ed. He was lying flat on his back and not moving. Our team gathered around him while our trainer checked on him. Ed revived with a whiff of smelling salts. Coach Graham and the trainer helped him to his feet and steadied him as he walked off the field.

Cornwall handed off the ball three straight times to their big tailback. They pounded the ball down our defense's throat. That pushed the score up to 24-14 in Cornwall's favor.

Steve led our offense out onto the field. We had 82 seconds left before halftime. We tried three passes. All were incomplete. We went back to the locker room down ten points.

We found out how Ed was when we got to the locker room. The doctor said he thought Ed had a concussion. Ed's dad was going to take Ed to the hospital for an MRI.

The coaches tried to fire us up. They reminded us that our offense actually outscored Cornwall's offense. We needed to stop the errors and we would be all right. We could still win this game. We took the field ready to play hard.

Cornwall received the second half kick-off. They drove their team down the field with hard inside running mixed with a few short passes. We couldn't hold them. When they scored, they pushed the score up to 31-14.

The coaches mixed up the running and passing. Drew would stretch the defense with an outside run. Then Steve would pass on the next play. Half the time the ball was too high or bounced at our feet. On the fifth play of the drive, I was sent on a deep route. Steve lofted the ball to me. The defender was on my inside. Steve was supposed to throw the ball on my right shoulder on the sideline side of my body. Unfortunately Steve threw the ball on the wrong side. The cornerback easily picked off the pass. I tackled him immediately, but the damage was done.

Cornwall pushed the ball downfield on us again. We managed to stop them short of the end zone this time. Our offense managed to make a couple first downs on the drive. On the fifth play, Drew caught a screen pass, dodged a tackle and sprinted into the end zone. Maybe we weren't done yet. Score 31-21 Cornwall.

Cornwall answered our score with a touchdown of their own. We took the field needing to score quickly. We went into our two minute offense. Unfortunately our hurry-up offense only hurried our defeat. Steve threw another interception. Cornwall ran the ball relentlessly, but only to run the clock out on the game. We got the ball back with less than 2 minutes left in the game. We managed to show the semblance of an offense. We got close enough to put in a field goal before time ran out. The final score was 38-24 Cornwall.

Losing this football game capped off the worst week of my life. I don't know how my family stood having me around that night. I was in a sour mood. I lost my girlfriend, saw my best friend helped off the field and taken to the hospital with an injury and we lost the football game. On top of all of that, I was missing the first Boy Scout camping trip I could remember missing since I joined scouts. The troop was going canoeing on the Rappahannock River in Virginia. They left after dinner. There was no way for Andy and I to catch up to them tomorrow even if Dad had been willing to drive 3 hours to get us there tomorrow morning. I didn't think life could get any worse than this. Andy was annoyingly upbeat. He had caught the winning touchdown for the JV team.

Saturday morning I slept in. I finally dragged myself out of bed around 11 am. I showered, had a quick breakfast and then called Fritzes. Ed and I talked for a couple minutes. Ed had a mild concussion. He had to hang out at home this weekend and rest. He would be fine after that. I filled him in on the fiasco after he left the game.

I headed out to mow my three lawns. The hum of the lawnmower was some how comforting. Over the course of the summer, the sound had become normal. I thought about everything that had happened last week. I thought about Zack Hayes too. I remembered a conversation we had last fall about how he lost is girlfriend to football. I understood better now. If Zack couldn't figure out how to keep a girlfriend happy during football season, how could I expect to do it? By the time I finished the last lawn, I had come to terms with what happened between Penny and I.

Penny was right when she said I put her fifth on my list of priorities. Football, school, Scouts, and mowing lawns did come ahead of her. Zack was probably right. I didn't have time for a serious girlfriend if I wanted to excel at football. I definitely wanted to excel at football so I wouldn't try to get Penny back. I decided I wanted to at least explain myself and apologize to her. I still loved her and wanted to maintain our friendship.

I showered and grabbed a snack when I got home. Stan was coming to pick me up in half an hour for our team night out. Stan arrived right on time. I thought some more about my decisions that afternoon as Stan drove us west through Lancaster to the mall where we were meeting. Would I hook up with one of my cheerleader friends? Probably, if they wanted to. I needed some kissing and cuddling.

Stan and I walked in the pizza shop and found seats. Quite a few of our friends were there already. Amber Callahan and Stacie Thompson had two seats open beside them. Stan slid in beside Amber and I sat beside Stacie.

"Hey Tiger, Hi Stan. Welcome," Stacie said with a smile. "Tiger, where is your girlfriend?"

"Didn't you hear? Penny and I broke up a few days ago," I explained.

"Oh. I'm sorry to hear that. You and Penny made a nice couple," replied Stacie sympathetically.

I said, "Um, uh, thanks I guess."

Stacie asked, "Have you heard how Ed Fritz is?"

"Yes, I talked with Ed at lunchtime today. He has a mild concussion. The doctor wants him to rest this weekend. He'll be fine after some rest."

"That's good to hear. I like him," Stacie said. "He's a good guy."

Jeremy and Kathy came in followed by Hal and Tammy. The four of us ordered our dinner. We talked for while we waited for it to be prepared. We talked about the game last night. We were eating our pizza when we overheard Harry Good, Jerry Morton and Dustin Roberts discussing the game. All three guys were starting offensive lineman.

Harry said, "Can you believe how Ed screwed up the game last night? This is what we get starting a sophomore at quarterback."

Jerry said, "If that kid hadn't thrown those two interceptions in the first half, we would have had the lead at halftime. Steve would have had a chance if we weren't so far behind."

Dustin asked, "When is Coach Caffrey going to get smart? We need Steve as our starter."

I saw Stan gritting his teeth. I suggested, "Let it go, Stan. They are entitled to their opinion."

"Yeah, I know. It pisses me off that they are bad mouthing, Ed. Our problems last night started on the line. Cornwall beat those guys. We couldn't move Cornwall's defense off the line of scrimmage. That is where things started to go wrong last night. They didn't do their job!"