Chapter 30

Liz joined Venturers at the October meeting on Tuesday night. The meeting was devoted to a slide show of the crew’s last trip to Algonquin. The crew was going again next summer. Liz planned to go on the trip. I would have loved to go back to Algonquin for a third time. I would be in football camp somewhere then. Who knows when I would be able to go there again?

Coach McCarthy, the wide receivers coach at LSU, called on Wednesday night while I was studying with Penny. Coach Miles had delegated him to find out about the residency requirements for LSU’s veterinary school. He told me exactly what was required to attend the school. I decided to see if Penny was interested.

I hung up the phone and asked, “Have you sent in that early admission application to Penn yet?”

Penny grinned. “No. Why do you ask?”

“I think I found a way we could go to college together. Would you like to hear about it?”

“Of course,” Penny said.

“I found out that LSU has a veterinary school two weekends ago when I visited. Would you consider going there with me? They offered me a scholarship. I’d accept it this second if you would come with me.”

“Louisiana? Would the veterinary school even take someone from Pennsylvania?”

“No, but they would take you if you established residence in Louisiana for one year.”

“Live down there for a year?” Penny said. “I don’t know, Kyle.”

“I really like Baton Rouge. It’s a nice – it feels more like a town than a big city. The campus is beautiful. It’s the best way I have found for us to stay together.”

Penny sighed. “What do I need to do to establish residence?”

“Coach McCarthy says we would need to live there for one year, off campus. We’d register our cars down there and have Louisiana drivers licenses. You’d need to have a job off campus and earn some money. Your dad couldn’t claim you as a dependent on his taxes.”

Penny frowned. “I’d have to stay down there for a whole year?”

“You could spend six weeks here with your parents. That would be about the same amount of time I’d be back up here. I expect I’ll be at football camp all of August. What do you think?”

“I don’t know, Kyle. This is a huge step.”

“I know it is. I hate the idea of us being apart when we are in college. If you say you’ll go to LSU with me, I’ll call Coach Miles right now and accept his scholarship offer.”

“I don’t know, Kyle,” Penny said. “I can’t make this kind of decision this quick.”

“Will you at least think about it?”

“I’ll do that. I need to think, talk to my parents and do some research on LSU’s vet school.”

“Thanks, Penny. I’m glad you will consider this. I love you.” I gave her a kiss, a very passionate kiss. We had been studying but the books got pushed off the bed to make room for us. Next thing you know, Penny’s lying naked on my bed, I’m locking the door and joining her. We made love as quietly as we knew how. Even so, every few seconds one of us had to shush the other while we did it. Penny cleaned up and headed for home when we finished.

Andy popped into my room as soon as Penny left. He exclaimed, “You know there ain’t no justice in the world. I’m the guy in trouble for screwing around with too many girls. You and Penny are going at it like a couple of rabbits while everyone is home. You’re unbelievable.”

“Hey some guys have got it,” I teased. Andy headed back to his room. I was happy, beyond the obvious sexual satisfaction. This was the first time in a week that Andy had teased me. He was starting to pull out of his black mood.

Our team practiced hard to get ready for Cornwall. We took them seriously as a threat. They were one of the three teams in our league that had beaten us since I started on varsity. We wouldn’t have any room for errors against them.

I bumped into Justin Baer after practice on Thursday. He had parked beside my car. I noticed he had a scout uniform hanging in the back seat. I asked, “What’s up Justin? I thought you quit scouts years ago.”

“Time flies Kyle. Billy joined Cub Scouts last month. He’s a Tiger Cub. I took him to the pack meeting and next thing you know, I’m the new Cubmaster for Pack 312.”

“Are you? Cool!”

“Jon and I are meeting early tonight to set things up for the pack meeting.”

“Jon?”

“Yeah. Jon Miller’s son Brian joined Tiger Cubs too. I drafted Jon to be my assistant as soon as I took the job as Cubmaster. It’ll be just like old times. Jon as my ASPL when I ran the troop.”

“Wow. Congratulations,” I said. “Welcome back to scouting.” Justin hopped in his car and headed for the church. Andy and I hopped in my car and headed home.

We played Cornwall at Harrison Field on Friday night. I hoped home field advantage would help us handle these guys. The video on Cornwall didn’t help us a lot. They had beat LS last week with their punishing defense. They destroyed the other six teams they played, all weak teams in our league. They were playing the Braves next week and finishing their season with a game at Central. The finale of their schedule was going to be punishing.

Cornwall had the ball first. They managed one first down before Jeremy and crew shut them down. They punted the ball to Andy. Our blocking wedge opened a crease in Cornwall’s coverage. Andy squirted through and dashed down the field. The punter tried to tackle Andy as he went by but missed. Andy ran into the end zone and spiked the ball to hearty cheers from our fans. Andy was grinning ear to ear.

Cornwall operated a power running game. They don’t pass often. They tried pounding our defensive line. It didn’t work. Austin, Joey, Jamie and Travis wouldn’t move an inch. Jeremy, Jim and Kenny plugged the gaps in the line. Cornwall was forced to punt after three plays.

Our balanced attack was more than Cornwall could contain. I pulled in a deep pass and ran into the end zone on the eighth play of the next drive. Andy added a touchdown catch before half time.

Andy scored again to finish our first drive of the second half. Coach Caffrey pulled the starters. Jake Kring, Marcus Shaeffer, Jason Harting and Jonathan Landis took care of business after that. Jonathan scored his first varsity touchdown. Marcus scored a final touchdown before the game was over. Cornwall managed to score a touchdown in garbage time at the end of the game when the outcome was no longer in doubt. The final score was 42-7 our favor.

I knew Ed had deliberately thrown passes to Andy in preference to me during the game. Both of us had been open on his two touchdowns. I didn’t mind. Andy could use a good night. He hadn’t had many of them recently.

Coach Caffrey brought everyone together locker room after the game. He announced, “The game ball tonight goes to Andrew Martin. Excellent work, Andy!” Andy grinned as he came forward accept the ball. “I was proud of all of you tonight. This is the best game you played this season. I need you to maintain your focus and drive for next week’s game. Nothing but our best will allow us to beat Central next Friday.” Coach Caffrey nodded to me.

I hopped up and shouted. “Beat Central on three!” Our team stood. I chanted, “one, Two, THREE – BEAT CENTRAL!” as my friends and team mates chanted with me.

Ed and I changed together. Ed asked, “You’re going to Penn State tomorrow, right?”

“Yep. You’re off to Florida, right?”

“You got it. I have another one of those damn early morning flights,” Ed said. “Dad and I fly out of Baltimore at 6:20 tomorrow morning.”

“Get out of here. You need some sleep,” I teased.

I grabbed the night’s hero, my brother, and headed for home. Now that I drove, Mom and Dad didn’t hang out after the game was over. I usually drove Andy and myself home after the game.

The original plan for the weekend was for Dad and me to arrive in State College around 11 am, in time to see warm-ups before the 1:00 pm game. We would have dinner with Coach Paterno and Coach Burton after the game. ABC forced us to change our plans. They moved kick-off time to 3:30 pm to get a wider TV audience for the game. This game pitted #2 USC against #3 Penn State. It was the biggest college match-up of the weekend.

Our appointment at the Lasch Center was for 11:00 am. Dad dragged me out of bed early. He said we needed to try to beat the football traffic. It didn’t work. We were stuck in a traffic jam between Harrisburg and Clarks Ferry for an hour and a half.

Nearly all the cars on 322 pulled off at Park Avenue to park at Beaver Stadium. Penn State had sent me a temporary parking sticker and told us to park in the parking lot beside the Shields building during the weekend. Dad needed the sticker just to be allowed to get to Shields. Dad parked the car. We walked down to the Lasch Center and checked in with the receptionist. She took us to a conference room to wait until one of the coaches was free.

Another potential recruit was already sitting at the conference table with his parents. He was African-American. He was built like a hunk of granite. He obviously worked out as much as I did. I looked him over for a few seconds. He looked familiar. I had seen him somewhere before. I walked over and offered my hand to him.

“Hi. I’m Kyle Martin,” I said. He stood up and shook my hand.

“I remember, Kyle. We met at the championship game last fall. I’m Damian...”

“Yeah! Damian Thompson. I remember. How have you been?”

“I’m good. How is your knee?” Damian asked.

“100%. I wouldn’t be visiting Penn State if it wasn’t,” I answered. Damian introduced me to his parents, Howard and Renee Thompson. I introduced them to my Dad. Damian and I compared notes.

“How’s your team doing, Kyle?” Damian asked.

We’re 7-1. How about the Colonels?”

Damian grinned. “We’re undefeated.”

“Cool! Maybe we will play again this year in the championship game,” I said. As I said it, Christian Hunsecker walked into the conference room followed by his parents. I looked at him.

Christian laughed. “I don’t think so, Kyle. Your team isn’t even going to win the Lancaster-Lebanon League.”

“We’ll see about that next Friday night, Christian,” I countered.

I introduced Christian to Damian, his parents and Dad. Christian introduced his father Randall and his mother Evelyn to everyone. Christian and I explained how we knew each other and about the rivalry between the Wolverines and Central. We kids talked about Penn State’s season while we waited for a coach to arrive.

Another recruit and his mom came before the coach showed up. He introduced himself as Shawn Byrd from Bethlehem. Shawn was an African-American too, but a slightly darker shade of brown than Damian. He was a cornerback for the Liberty Hurricanes.

A couple minutes after eleven o’clock Coach Paterno, Coach Burton and Coach Bradley walked into the conference room. Coach Paterno introduced everyone to each other. He explained that Coach Burton and Coach Bradley needed to leave to get ready for the game. He launched into his ‘Welcome to Penn State’ talk. It was similar to the talk he gave Dad and me last fall. He talked about Penn State’s winning football tradition, the emphasis on academics and helping players earn their degree.

Coach Paterno concluded about twenty minutes later. Coach asked for questions when he was done. Damian asked, “How can you take time to talk with us this morning? You have a game in a few hours.”

Coach Paterno grinned. “I’m just the old guy who stands around and watches the other coaches work.” Coach Paterno paused to judge our reaction. “Seriously, my job is to oversee the whole team. Coach Burton runs the offense and Coach Bradley runs the defense. They take care of the details. That’s their job. On game day I coordinate between offense and defense and generally try to keep out of the way. Does that explain how I can have time for you?”

Damian answered, “Yes. Thanks Coach Paterno.”

Coach Paterno continued the Q&A session. The parents and other guys asked questions that Coach Paterno patiently answered. Dad and I sat back and listened. They were the same questions we had asked last year.

Coach Paterno cleared his throat and said, “We have time for one more question. Any one?”

Shawn beat Christian and Damian to the punch. “How are you planning to beat USC today?”

Coach Paterno grinned. “That’s an excellent question.” He turned and looked at me. “You aren’t a spy are you?”

“No sir. I can keep my mouth shut,” I answered.

Coach Paterno looked back the other guys. “Kyle was out in LA last August to visit the enemy. Do you have any tips for me about USC?”

“Sorry Coach. I have friends on both teams. You’re on your own today.”

“Good answer, Kyle. Seriously guys, I am confident our team will win for a three reasons. The first reason is Morano and Torelli play corner for us. They are two of the best in college ball. The second reason is our linebackers. They are excellent. The final reason we will win is we have Phil DiStefano. I don’t care what the guys talking Heisman for Jared Dillard say; DiStefano is the best quarterback in the country. We’ll win this game.” Coach Paterno said with determination. He glanced down at his watch. “It’s time for lunch. We’re going to eat with the team.”

Coach Paterno led us down the street to a building marked Pollock Commons. We went upstairs to a cafeteria room. The front end of the room was set up for cafeteria style food service. The trays were filled with food. Half the seats at the tables were filled already. The line straggled away from the end of the serving area as players waited their turn for lunch. Coach Paterno had us join the end of the line.

The player at the end of the line looked like he wasn’t much older than me and shaved even less often than me (if that’s possible). He stepped aside and said, “Go ahead, Coach.”

Coach Paterno laughed. “No, Tyler. I’ve learned over the years not to get between you boys and the food. Go ahead, get lunch.” Tyler stepped back into line. Coach Paterno turned to us and explained, “Tyler Madden is a freshman who plays free safety for us. He’s going to be a hell of a player in a year or two.” Coach Paterno introduced us to Tyler. When we got to the table Coach Paterno joshed, “Tyler, make sure you eat a lot. Those Ohio State running backs are huge. You’re going to need some bulk when you hit them next year.”

“Yes, sir,” Tyler answered. I looked him over. He looked to be about 6’-1” or 6’-2”. He probably weighed as much as me. He was too light? What would the coaches think about me? I had gained 74 pounds since I started football three years ago. Was I going to need to bulk up too?

Coach Paterno took us to a table with some of the other coaches. Christian, his parents, Dad and I had a seat with Paul Adams, the Penn State receivers coach. He knew Christian and me from football camp back in June.

Coach Adams was about my Dad’s age, around 40. He talked with Mr. and Mrs. Hunsecker and Dad. It turned out they were all students at Penn State at the same time. Coach Adams played wide receiver for the Lions from 1985 to 1989. Mr. Hunsecker was class of 1988. Mrs. Hunsecker was class of 1989. Dad had attended Penn State as a freshman in 1985-6. They reminisced about the 1986 national championship game.

Coach Adams hurt his knee when he was a senior. Coach Paterno kept him around as a graduate assistant for the next couple years. He went into teaching when he was finished with his masters degree. He taught high school and coached football on the side for five years until he was hired by Lehigh University to coach receivers by Coach Burton, who was the offensive coordinator at the time. Coach Burton talked Coach Paterno into hiring Coach Adams when he came to Penn State.

When lunch was done Coach Paterno excused himself. Coach Adams took over and explained the plans for the rest of the weekend. He had two players who would give Christian, Damian, Shawn and me a tour of campus. Mr. Andrews, an academic advisor for the athletic department, was going to take the parents on a tour of campus and talk about the programs that the university had to assist student/athletes in completing their degrees.

Coach Adams introduced us to Jeremiah Nowak and Dominic Cucchiella, our guides. Jeremiah had a cast on his right arm, extending from his elbow to his fingertips. Dominic, better known as ‘Cuch’ by his friends and teammates, was wearing a brace on his left knee. He limped a little, kind of like I did last winter after my operation.

Jeremiah waved his good hand and said, “Let’s go guys. The Creamery is our first stop.”

Christian and I simultaneous said, “Cool!”

Shawn looked confused. “Creamery? Why?”

“Ice Cream,” Jeremiah explained.

Cuch added, “Best ice cream in the world. The people who run the Creamery are the guys who taught Ben & Jerry when they were starting to make ice cream 30 years ago.”

The four of us followed Jeremiah and Cuch outside and cut between buildings to get to Curtin Road. We bucked the tide of football fans heading north to Beaver Stadium, talking as we walked. We found out that Jeremiah was a junior and #3 quarterback on the team. He broke a bone in his hand fooling around with a couple teammates after practice a couple weeks ago. Coach Paterno was not amused when it happened.

Cuch was a sophomore who played the hero position. He had to explain that Penn State called the strong safety the hero instead. He was #2 at his position. He injured his knee last Saturday. He had a partial tear of his medial collateral ligament and had strained his lateral collateral ligament. The doctors decided he didn’t need surgery to fix his knee. I told him about my experience last fall. Cuch didn’t expect to miss more than a couple games. He hoped to be ready when Penn State went out to Michigan.

We had a long wait in the line at the Creamery. Jeremiah convinced me to try the Black Cow ice cream. It was vanilla with a root beer sherbet swirl in it. It tasted just like a root beer float. I enjoyed it.

Our guides took us down Curtin Road through campus to Rec Hall. We checked out the Nittany Lion statue outside the building. We went back through campus past the Pattee and Paterno Library. Cuch explained that Joe and Sue Paterno had raised over 13 million dollars to expand the library a few years ago.

Jeremiah and Cuch took us down the mall to Old Main and then across campus past the HUB (Hetzel Union Building) and then on to the Pollack Dorms. Both Jeremiah and Cuch stayed in Hartranft Hall in Pollack. They explained that many of the younger members of the football team had rooms in Pollack. It was convenient to the practice facilities.

Cuch took us up to his room to show off his room. He obviously had cleaned up for us before we came. His room looked the same as Zack’s had been last year. We headed for Beaver Stadium after that.

Jeremiah and Cuch took us into the locker room to hang out for a few minutes until warm-ups started. Cuch warned, “You guys need to stay out of the way. They’re getting their game faces on.”

“Yep, I understand. It’s time for them to focus on beating Southern Cal,” Shawn said. Damian, Christian and I agreed. We watched as the team finished dressing and taping up for the game.

Greg Walker went by us. He spotted me. “Hey, you’re Zack Hayes’ friend aren’t you? Martin ... uh”

“Kyle Martin,” I answered.

“You’re visiting again. Are you going to accept a scholarship?” Greg asked.

“I might, if I’m offered one.”

“What? All these visits and they haven’t offered you anything?”

“I hurt my knee last fall,” I explained. “They waited to find out if I could play this fall.”

“Well, how are you doing?” Greg asked.

“I have 22 touchdowns so far this season.”

“Shit! 22. Say yes when they offer you the scholarship, kid. They’re going to offer it soon, guaranteed.” Greg said. “Our team can use somebody like you next year when I’m gone.”

“I’ll see what the coaches have to say this weekend and then make up my mind Greg. Good luck against USC today.”

“Thanks, Martin,” Greg said. He headed off for his locker.

A couple minutes later Phil DiStefano, Zack Hayes and a couple other guys came back into the locker room followed by Coach Burton and another coach. Jeremiah explained, “The quarterback briefing is done. The team is going out for warm-ups in a couple minutes.”

Zack spotted me immediately and came over. He clapped me on the back and said, “Glad you’re here, Kyle. It’s going to be a hell of a game today.”

“Good to see you too, Zack. I’m looking forward to it.”

“Who are these other guys?” Zack asked.

I introduced Christian, Damian and Shawn to Zack. Zack invited the four of us to meet him for a party. He left me his phone number. I was to give him a call when we got settled at the hotel after the game. He said he could pick us up and take us to the party.

The team headed for the field. Jeremiah, Cuch and the rest of us followed them out to the field. We stood on the Penn State sideline watching them prepare. Jeremiah stood beside me. He asked, “How do you know Zack Hayes?”

“We were teammates in high school. He’s also my older brother’s friend. He is the one who got me started in football. A lot of what I know I learned from Zack.”

“I know what you mean. Zack and I should be big rivals. One of us is going to be the starter next season when Phil leaves.” Jeremiah paused. “I know he has the edge to get the job. We’ve both been with the team for three years. The coaches thought enough of him to red shirt him our freshman year so he has one more year of eligibility than me. He’ll probably get the starter’s job next season. I’m going to push him anyway and make him earn the top spot. In spite of all that, Zack helps me all the time. He treats me as a friend instead of a rival. He’s a special kind of guy.”

“Zack is,” I agreed. “He will do whatever it takes so the whole team is successful.”

We stood on the sidelines watching for about fifteen minutes. A parade of Penn State players stopped by: Aaron Morano, Vic Torelli, Pete Klein, Shawn O’Conner, and Tony Phillips. Cuch and Jeremiah seemed a little surprised how many guys knew me. I explained about my previous visit.

USC came out for warm-ups a couple minutes after Penn State took the field. It was a little weird looking over at them on the west end of the field getting ready. I consider myself friends with a number of the Penn State players and they sort of seemed like “my” team. But then I saw Brady Rasmussen passing to Alex Gutierrez and Jared Dillard throwing to a receiver I didn’t recognize. I looked over at Coach Carroll observing everything. I felt like I had an interest in them too. How was I going to pick between them?

My daydreaming was interrupted by a voice I knew. “Hey, Kyle! You made it to the game. I thought you said you couldn’t get tickets.” I looked up to see Alex Gutierrez run towards me after he caught one of Brady’s passes.

“Hi, Alex. It’s good to see you. I couldn’t buy tickets to get in the stadium today,” I retorted. “I needed personal intervention from Joe Paterno to get in here.”

“Ahhh, official visit,” Alex answered.

“Yep, that’s right.”

“Why would you want to come to some cold gray place like this? It was 82 degrees when we left LA yesterday morning,” Alex said.

Everyone in the group I was with laughed. “Cold? This is warm for Happy Valley in the end of October.” All of us were wearing T-shirts without coats or sweatshirts. The temperature was in the high fifties. Clouds were starting to roll in. The weatherman predicted rain later on Sunday, probably after lunch.

“I don’t know about you, Kyle. I want to go to college somewhere that’s warm and sunny. I’m going to the beach tomorrow after we get home to LA.”

“Enjoy it, Alex,” I answered. I proceeded to introduce Alex to Jeremiah, Cuch, Christian, Damian and Shawn. We talked for a minute before Coach Sarksian waved to Alex to get back to warming up. I wished him luck before he left.

Cuch said, “I gather that you visited USC already this year.”

“Yes, I did.”

“I hope you choose to stay in your own state, Kyle. I wouldn’t want you to be one of those sunshine boys over there.” Cuch said, pointing towards the Trojans.

“I don’t know what I’m going to do, Cuch. I’ll decide after my last visit in a couple weeks.”

We stood and watched the players from the opposing teams warm up for the game. Aaron Morano and Vic Torelli stopped by to say hi when they were finished. Brady Rasmussen stopped by to talk for a couple minutes too. Coach Carroll gave me a wave as he jogged off the field for final preparations for the game. Jeremiah and Cuch took us up in the stands to join our parents. They stayed with us. They weren’t going to be any help to the team with their injuries.

We sat back and enjoyed the game. It was back and forth. Both teams had fast, hard hitting offenses that could score from anywhere on the field. Both defenses were capable of stopping the other too. If a defender took half a step the wrong direction or hesitated momentarily, the offense would make a big play. If the quarterback wasn’t perfect with a throw, the pass was knocked down.

Neither team could sustain a ten or twelve play drive the length of the field. They’d go four or five plays for 10-12 yards and then hit a 40-50 yard pass. Turnovers determined the score in the first half. Jared threw an interception and let Penn State score first on the shortened field. Ben Moore, linebacker for the Trojans, put a devastating hit on Shawn O’Conner, the Penn State tailback, forcing a fumble that USC recovered. They converted that into a touchdown.

Penn State answered with a drive long enough to net them a field goal. Pete Klein and the other Penn State linebackers manhandled USC’s tailback in the first half. He coughed the ball up three times. Unfortunately for Penn State, they only recovered one of the three fumbles. Penn State cashed in on that turnover for another touchdown.

USC managed to have two big plays on the same drive after the third fumble and scored another touchdown, Jared Dillard to Alex Gutierrez. Penn State responded with by sustaining a big drive just as the half was ending. They managed to get from their 28 yard line down to USC’s 22 before things went wrong. Phil threw a pass to Greg Walker, but USC’s Chris Mann out-jumped Greg to take the ball away. Greg tackled Chris immediately. USC couldn’t score in the 45 seconds left in the half. The two teams went into the locker room with the score USC 21, Penn State 17.

Joe Paterno must have given an inspirational speech at halftime. The team came out all fired up when they received the kickoff to start the second half. They smashed the ball straight up the gut of USC’s defensive line on three straight plays.

Dad proudly observed, “This is the Penn State I remember when I went here.”

Phil caught USC sleeping on the fourth play, a play action pass. He completed a 28 yard strike to Greg Walker. The team continued down the field that way, smashing into their line most of the time and then hitting a play action pass for good yardage. Penn State took the lead after a bruising thirteen play drive for a touchdown.

I thought things looked extremely promising now for Penn State. If they could hold USC on the next drive and then repeat their long drive again, they could have a ten point lead. It would set them up for the win.

It didn’t quite work out that way. Penn State did stop USC’s next drive. USC did the same to Penn State. The two teams sparred again, looking for an opening, but nothing came up. They went into the fourth quarter with Penn Sate leading 24-21.

Penn State started their next drive with an excellent punt return that started them on their 39 yard line. They managed to keep their drive going this time. Phil completed a short pass to Tony Phillips, their tight end, on a crossing route. Tony made the linebacker miss the tackle. He ran for another 21 yards to take the Lions down to USC’s 26 yard line.

Shawn O’Conner carried the ball twice into the middle of USC’s line and netted only two yards. Penn State tried a play action pass again. USC anticipated this and blitzed. They overloaded the left side of Penn State’s offensive line. The free safety broke free and nailed Phil in the blind side, driving him into the turf violently.

Phil rolled onto his back after the hit but didn’t get up. Shawn O’Conner waved for the trainers when he went over to help Phil up. I looked down in front of us. Zack Hayes had a ball and was warming up quickly while the trainers went out to care for Phil.

Phil sat up before the trainers could reach him. They kept him seated on the ground while they checked him out before they helped him off the field. The crowd cheered as he waved to them.

Zack trotted onto the field and huddled his team mates. As I expected Zack handed the ball off to Shawn. He dove into the center of the line. It looked like a cutback run to take advantage of the way the Trojan players pursued to the ball aggressively. As I watched I caught sight of an arm coming up in the backfield. I looked at the arm. Zack still had the ball!