Chapter 109: No Man’s Land
The opening play of the Falcons' second drive was another run, and it went exactly as Donte had planned. Big E stayed back to deal with Donte and prevent him from getting a free run at Alejandro, so that meant Ty was the one who caught Alejandro one-on-one.
This time, Ty stuck to the outside, making sure Alejandro couldn't get past him that way, and when Alejandro tried to squeeze by the fighting Big E and Donte, Ty pounced and brought him down for only a yard.
'Yes! See what I mean!?' Donte laughed loudly as he yoinked Ty off Alejandro and onto his feet. 'Keep doin' that and they'll never run over here again.'
'Uhh, right.' Ty cleared his throat and dusted himself off. A little embarrassed to be manhandled so easily, even if it was by his teammate. 'Then maybe I'll show them why they can't throw the ball either.'
Donte smacked Ty's helmet. 'Hell yeah, lil bro.'
Ty pushed his helmet back up and glared at Donte as they returned to the huddle.
On 2nd down, the Falcons already took flight and returned to the air, though they still sought out a target other than Big E. The pass still ended in an incompletion as Deshaun batted the ball away from the intended Receiver.
'Get that shit outta my face!' Deshaun said, taunting the Falcons as the teams returned to their huddles.
The Falcons were back on 3rd down, and still with 9 yards to go before they earned another 1st—they were in dire straights, so of course, they went back to the run.
Big E stayed in to block Donte again, but as Ty sped past to confront Alejandro, Alejandro came away empty-handed from his meeting with the QB. Ty realised too late that it was a pass, as Big E let Donte by and slipped out behind him into the open.
Ty turned to pursue him once again, however, the QB was already motioning to flip the ball over Ty's head. Ty stopped, and from a standing base, launched himself into the air, arms outstretched.
He saw the ball floating towards him, it was as if everything was drifting through space, moving silently in slow motion. He knew he wouldn't reach the ball, so he twisted in mid-air, stretching further with just one hand. As the ball passed by, his fingertip brushed against it, disrupting its flight.
The ball tumbled to the ground behind Ty. He turned in time to see Donte dive in. His hands extended, they cradled the ball and dragged it in against his chest as he crashed against the turf.
An official signalled the interception, and Big E blanketed Donte, preventing him from getting up and stopping his interception return before it could even begin.
The Dons' fans exploded with excitement, though none screamed louder than Donte himself. 'WOOOOOO!' He held the ball high like it was the greatest treasure in the world, and the team swarmed around him, sharing in his joy.
All except Ty. Ty was kicking himself that he couldn't reach the interception. He knew it would've been a touchdown if only he could've jumped that little bit higher, or reached an inch further. He was the only Don in a bad mood when he reached the bench.
'I guess your growth spurt can't come quick enough, huh, Samuels?' Coach Hoang said. 'No wonder you want to focus on increasing your vertical.'
Ty grumbled at him but didn't say anything.
Soon enough, the first quarter ended, and the Dons took a 10-point lead into the second quarter.
To open the second quarter, the Dons couldn't fully capitalise on the extremely favourable starting field position the interception had bought them and only achieved a field goal.
But the Falcons were still struggling themselves. They soon found themselves on 3rd down again, looking at another three-and-out, after an incomplete pass and a short run that only gained 4 yards.
They looked to Big E to bail them out. There was no trickery or play-action this time, just a straight-up pass, following a straight-up route.
Ty's eyes lit up when it happened, and he welcomed the challenge. He stuck with Big E all the way, not falling for the feint inside, and rode the giant's hip as they raced towards the sideline.
The QB threw the ball high, making use of Big E's height advantage. Ty was frustrated, even as he was able to get a hand to it and knock it free from Big E's grasp; he was annoyed he didn't intercept it.
Another pick-six missed, he thought, all because he couldn't jump high enough.
But the Falcons remained scoreless, punting the ball away for the first time that game. The Dons also failed to score on their next drive, and neither team impacted the scoreboard for the rest of the first half.
They went into the major break with the score reading 0–13 in the Dons' favour.
The Dons' coaches were happy with the effort and results so far, though if anything, the offence was lacking, and their main worry during halftime was trying to find ways to get Stephen and Chris more involved.
Ty had something on his mind. It wasn't just his jumping power he needed to improve, he realised. So what if he was only getting one hand to the ball, wasn't Marshall only getting his fingertips to the bullshit catches he pulled off?
As the team sat around, catching their breath and resting before the second half, Ty approached JJ with a question in mind.
'Is there a way to improve your grip strength?' he asked while sitting next to JJ. 'I mean at the gym, any workouts for that?'
'Haha, of course, hermano, but what's this about?'
'I just, think that if I have a stronger grip, I can pull in one-handed catches easier.'
'You sure are worried about catches for a defensive player.'
'Interceptions are important.'
'Haha, I know, I know, I'm just messing with you. Hmm, weren't you worried about your legs before? I mean, I'm glad you want to work on yourself so much, but you can't have everything at once, all this stuff takes time and hard work. Try not to overload your plate.'
'I won't forget about the other parts of my body I need to improve, and I won't overwork myself.'
JJ thought he saw a spark in Ty's eye. 'Mm, I'm not so sure about that last part, but alright, next time we work out together, I'll show you some stuff that can help with that.'
Ty exhaled and visibly relaxed. 'Thanks, JJ.'
'Don't mention it, Ty, that's what friends and teammates are for, right?'
'Right.' Ty nodded. With that burning question put to rest, he could focus on the second half, and continuing the shutout.
The Falcons received the kickoff to open the second half. A slippery DB, quite slim and small but with feet like lightning, brought the ball out to the 29-yard line before being stopped.
For the Falcons' first play of the new half, they went back to their strengths in the running game, but even with their adjustments, they couldn't get anything going.
Now, instead of Big E engaging Donte—as he and Ty were still using the same strategy—Big E would pass him off to the RT and move up to block Ty, but that didn't work. Donte was too quick, and Big E hadn't given him enough of a bump to slow him down to the point where the RT could get in front of him and stop him, Donte rumbled right by and tackled Alejandro in the backfield for a loss of 2 yards.
Even when the Falcons tried the other side of the field with a run, they only got 3 yards and found themselves in another 3rd and long situation.
It came down to another pass, though the Dons' defenders did a great job of covering all Receivers, the QB was left with only Big E to throw to over the middle this time. Even if Ty was right there, the height difference was big enough that the QB felt if he could just get the ball that little bit higher, then Ty wouldn't be able to reach and Big E could still come down with a reception.
As the ball was in flight, Ty had somewhat of an epiphany, another one after his idea of grip strength came to him, but this one was inspired by Donte instead of Marshall.
He thought back to Donte's interception earlier in the game, how he had caught the ball off of Ty's deflection, and that was where Ty's idea came from—if he couldn't catch it in one grab, he'd tap the ball to himself.
He leapt and stretched again, and got his fingers to the ball once more, this time he pushed the ball upwards higher into the air, and as soon as his feet touched the ground, he sprung back up.
Big E saw what Ty was doing, and jumped back for the bobbled ball as well. He was taller, and didn't have as far to go, but Ty had more explosiveness in his second jump. Ty's long arms propelled his hands to the ball first, and he snatched it away from Big E before the giant could claim it for his own.
There was no chance of a return, as Big E grabbed Ty immediately and the two tumbled to the turf, but Ty didn't care at that point, from the middle of the field, it was unlikely he'd get a touchdown on the return anyway. He had his interception, and that was the important thing.
He laughed as he stood up from under Big E, turning to grin at the TE. 'I told you not to pass, I warned you. This is YOUR fault.' He shoved the ball into Big E's gut and pranced over to the Dons' sideline.
The Falcons were caught in no man's land with their wings clipped. A stout, impenetrable wall towered all around them, impossible to break through on the ground, and if they dared try to fly over it, a madman was waiting to swat them from the sky. Things were looking bleak.
And they didn't get any more hopeful for the Falcons or their crowd after the Dons' next drive. This time they managed to capitalise on the interception the defence had gifted them with, and quickly as well. It didn't take long for them to score the next touchdown of the game.
It was Stephen who scored this time. Whilst the Falcons' Zone defence could collapse on a tall Receiver and stop them from dominating close and mid-range passes—like how Big E preferred to work in the passing game—they still struggled trying to deal with such a big body when it came to deep threats, which Stephen and the Dons could exploit.
The scoring play was a long one, a pass down the sideline of over 30 yards, and the Dons' kicking game remained perfect as the extra point was good, and the lead ballooned out to 20 points.
The game was still early in the second half, and whilst hard, a comeback wouldn't be impossible for the Falcons, but they didn't even try; hope had been sucked out of them, and they were outmatched.
The Dons continued their shutout and held the Falcons scoreless for the remainder of the game. Before the game was said and done, Chris got involved with the scoring as well, now more involved in the passing game rather than trying to do damage on the ground—run defence was the one bright spot for the Falcons this game—he caught a touchdown reception of his own, albeit much shorter than Stephen's at only 8 yards.
But that was the last score of the game, so it ended with a 0–27 victory for the Dons.
The celebrations in the locker room after the game were loud and energetic, but also brief. Coach Long addressed his boys as always.
'I couldn't have asked for a better game today, I'm really impressed with how you boys have played these past couple of weeks. You all deserve to celebrate, but I know you all deserve to get home and enjoy your rest as well, so I'll keep things brief tonight. I wish I could give all of you the game ball tonight, though if there was a second most deserving recipient, that would have to be Jay. I know our run game struggled tonight, and the Falcons did a great job of shutting down anything on the ground, but thanks to Jay's guidance and cool head, our offence still had a hell of a game through his arm and the passing attack. With that said, I gotta give over tonight's game ball and MVP to the leader of the shutout, and a player who stepped up big time despite having a slightly different role tonight, Tyrese. This one's for you, buddy.'
All was right with the world—Ty was getting the acknowledgement and reward he justly deserved. He stood up, his head held high and chest puffed out, and strode over to accept the game ball from Coach Long with a quiet utterance of thanks.
The ride home was a peaceful one. Ty clutched the ball tight against his chest and stared out the window, watching the stars fly past.
The game was over, yet his job wasn't finished. He knew he still had to get much, MUCH stronger.
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