Game Night

Friday night. The stands are packed, what else is there to do in this small town? We enter the locker room, familiar brown lockers and chipped green painted benches and concrete floor and the stench of rancid sweat from our equipment permeating the air. But we have clean jerseys and newly laundered pants to make up for the sour smell of all our gear. Someone puts a tape in the boombox and AC/DC pounds the air as we don our gear like Greek hoplites or medieval knights arming for battle; shoulder pads and hip pads, thigh and knee pads inserted into the pockets of our uniform pants. We tie down neck rolls and tape pads to our forearms until they resemble white gauntlets. The boombox is turned off; time to go.

We emerge from the locker room onto the field, the bright lights making the autumn sky a starless black behind their glare. The field smells of freshly mowed grass and chalk. We warm up in the end zone, watching the crowd filling the stands, eyeing our opponents. The Mike linebacker and I try to identify the offensive players. Who’s the center? That guy’s big. Which one’s the QB? There he is. That must be the running back. Those guards don’t look too bad. Rattlers squirm in my stomach. I know they will vanish after the first snap. Coach calls us back in to the locker room.

We grab our helmets and gather, cleated feet rattling on the concrete floor as we form rough circles around coach who recites the pre-game prayer. O Lord let us play our best and let no one get hurt. Amen. Never pray for victory, only that we come out unscathed. We emerge back on to the field to the blare of the marching band and the cheers of the crowd. We gather on the sideline for the national anthem, eyeing the other team across the field. Everything is unknown. Will it be a good day or a long one? The autumn air is cold but I barely feel it. Soon it won’t matter since I’ll be sweating anyway.

The captains go to the center of the field for the coin toss. We lose and have to kick off. I’m secretly glad; it means I’ll get on the field sooner and the rattlers will go away. The kicking team goes on the field and the game begins. I jog onto the field with the rest of the defense and take my place in the huddle. The Mike linebacker calls the play. We break and I take a knee in front of the ball and watch as the offense breaks their huddle and moves onto the ball. The center and guards are already calling out our formation—“odd, odd”—as they get in position. I eye the center. He’s big but not too big. The guards are average size. Are they quick I wonder? The quarterback shouts “Down” and now I’m in a four point stance, the rattlers squirming and all my attention on the center’s hand as he grasps the football. Behind me the Mike audibles for defensive coverage but nothing for me so I stay in double gap responsibility. I go ahead and shift left anyway just to mess with the center. My shift sets off an audible between him and the guard as they adjust their blocking responsibility and I smile a little since I’m going to slant head-up into the center but him and the guard don’t know that. The rattlers are really moving around now, squirming in my belly.

The snap comes as a relief. I thrust forward at the motion of the ball, my legs pistons driving me to my right and straight into the chest of the center as he pushes the ball back between his legs, and I’m under him and driving him back and up, my forearms pushing into his sternum as I drive him back. I grab the underside of his shoulder pads and push him into the right gap to close it while I look past him on the left. It’s a running play but off tackle to the other side. I shed him and pursue but by the time I reach the play the running back is down. He got maybe a yard.

Back in the huddle. The Mike calls the play. We wait on the ball as the offense gets set. I’m back in a four point stance as the Mike audibles “Lion, lion” meaning I have left gap responsibility. I stay heads up. The Mike knows I heard him and knows what I’m doing.

The snap. I drive to my left and shoot the gap. I collide with the guard who was pulling off to the off-side and whatever play they were running I just royally messed up their blocking scheme. The center is behind me to the right and no concern; I’m trying to push the guard off me with my left forearm as I move in to the backfield. I look right in the running back’s eyes as he takes the ball from the quarterback and jukes to my left putting the guard I can’t shed between me and him but the Mike has rushed up to the other gap and stuffs him at the line of scrimmage. As I head back to the huddle I realize the rattlers are gone. Now it’s all focus.

We line up, they line up. The Mike yells “Tiger! Tiger!” and this time I shift into the right gap. We’re expecting a pass and I want to get in the backfield quick. The ball is snapped and sure enough the center and guards go into a pass block and I’m screaming “Pass! Pass!” as I split the space between the guard and center. The center barely touches me but the guard clips my right shoulder so I go a bit off balance but I recover and that little stagger got me away from contact with the guard. I do a quick scan for a middle screen pass but I can see the running backs heading off into the flats and go full tilt towards the quarterback. He’s a tall kid and he’s backing up fast. I’m churning towards him and thinking I’m going to get him when his arm goes back and then he throws the ball just as my head hits him right in the numbers. We both go down in a tangle. We hear whistles as we’re falling. I’m up first and I give him a hand up. I look downfield. The pass was incomplete.

I’m about to leave the field when the back judge comes up to me and tells me that I was awfully close to roughing the passer and next time I’d better pull up. I nod and say sorry even though I’m not and I head to the sideline as the punt return team comes on the field. They punt and our offense heads out on the field and gets a couple of first downs but then we’re punting and I’m heading back onto the field. It’s the same drill with the Mike calling out the gap responsibilities and me shifting or not shifting to keep the line guessing at where I’m going. The center is slow, his need to make sure he gets the ball to the quarterback slowing his responses even more and pretty soon I’m being double teamed by the guards but that’s just giving the Mike and the Buck more tackles. They can’t run up the middle so they start passing and now I’m through the line and after the QB. I chase him out of bounds. Next play he throws the ball before I can get to him. Same the play after that. They’re moving the ball and then I’m through the line and the QB starts to throw but stops and he tucks the ball and I slam him to the ground and afterward I stand up and stand over him and whoop like a mad man as my team mates rush over to hug me. Once again they have to punt.

The first quarter ticks away. We manage to score a touchdown and take a 7-0 lead. In the second quarter the other team keeps trying to pass and I keep rushing the QB and making him throw the ball away rather than get sacked. I get frustrated and slam in to him when I could have pulled up and the inevitable yellow flag is thrown practically in my face as the back judge says “I warned you!” and they mark off 15 yards and an automatic first down. Next play I make up for it with a clean sack and two incomplete passes later and all they can do is go for a field goal. We’re in an even man front and I’m on full rush in the gap and I’m through the line untouched and my arms are up and the kicker kicks the ball straight into my right forearm and the ball skitters away and we take possession.

The rest of the second quarter I’m being double teamed by the center and the guard and they even start keeping a running back in the backfield to block me but we start blitzing the Mike and the Buck linebackers and they have no luck passing. We go into the locker room at halftime with a 7-0 lead. The mood is happy and we all feel like we’re having a good night but coach isn’t happy with the offense and our defensive line coach doesn’t like what he’s seeing on the outside so he’s talking to the Will and Sam linebackers about watching for the crack block by the tight end and reading the double team and don’t over pursue and be sure to turn the run inside. Then we’re back on the field and warming up, oblivious to the crowd and the marching band and the cold. Our only thought is the game.

Third quarter. We receive the kick. The offense drives but can’t score and we have to punt. We’re on the field and now I’m being blocked by a guard and the center on every play. It makes it easy to read where the play is but they’re also running outside and having success. 4, 5, 6 yards at a time they drive down field. They try a pass once on second and short but with me double teamed the defensive ends put too much pressure on the QB. Third down. They run and get the first down. They’re inside the twenty. The outside linebackers are coming to the huddle shaking. They’re getting beaten up. Coach is screaming from the sidelines. More runs outside. They’re inside the ten. Inside the five. Touchdown.

We line up for the extra point. I’ve got a running back in my gap to make sure I don’t penetrate. On the snap I shoot the gap and the back picks me up and I can only watch helplessly as our Buck linebacker comes in from the side and smothers the ball just after it’s kicked. We still have a 7-6 lead.

We get the kick but our offense is three and out. Back on the field. Once again the runs outside gain consistent yards. It’s a grind. The snap, the crack of shoulder pad on helmet and shoulder pad, the grunts, the blur of green grass and dirt and the smell and sting of sweat and shouts of “Run! Run!” and frustration of being out of the play. The gun goes off and we’re in the fourth quarter and they’re still driving. Once more they’re inside the ten, then the five, then they score.

They go for a two point conversion. Our coach gets aggressive and we blitz both inside linebackers and they manage to bust up the play in the backfield but now we’re behind, 7-12. It’s our turn to feel like it’s been a long night.

We get the kick off and danged if it isn’t returned for a touchdown! We’re ecstatic! The extra point is good and suddenly we’re up again, 14-12. All we have to do is hold on. The clock is the enemy now.

We kick off and I’m back on the field but all the plays are runs outside and all I’m doing is running behind the play. They drive and they’re inside the ten and it looks like they’ll score again on a big run. It’s third down and I’m running as the play heads outside and away from me when suddenly something hits me from behind and I go down in the grass and jump up and whirl around in time to see the guy who hit me staring as the yellow flag from the line judge flies through the air and lands at his feet. Clipping. Fifteen yard penalty! Suddenly third and two becomes third and 17 and we might hold them! The next play they try to pass but the QB is hurried and the pass is incomplete. They line up for a field goal.

We know this is do or die and everyone is poised to rush as hard as they can. The snap comes and I’m screened by a back and they pick up the Mike and Buck linebackers and the kick is up and it’s good and suddenly we’re behind again 14-15 and there’s just over four minutes left.

They do a squib kick to prevent a big return but we’ve got decent field position near midfield. All I can do is watch from the sidelines and hope the offense can do the job. They start off well with a couple of good runs and a couple of passes and they’re past midfield but things start to stall. We run and get no yardage and burn two timeouts and then on third down a pass gets us inside the twenty and a run gets us inside the fifteen and then another run gets us inside the ten and we have no timeouts and our QB hurls the ball out of bounds and stops the clock with just a few seconds and the kicker heads out for the field goal. It’s about a 25 yard kick. The snap is good and the blocking is good and the kicker gets the ball up and it shanks left and misses the upright and the gun goes off and the game is over.

We walk out on to the field to congratulate the other team and the quarterback is looking around and yelling “Where’s that nose? Where’s that nose?” and he sees me and gives me a bear hug like we’re best friends and says, “Man, you gave me more trouble tonight than I’ve ever had!” and we laugh and joke and even the center is over talking with me about the problems I gave him and it isn’t until I’m back in the locker room and coach is giving us the “Hold your heads up you played great” speech that I realize I just played the best game of football of my entire life.

And yet we lost.