Chapitre 153: Fourth Down
Jackson huffed, cursed under his breath, and hung his head. "It's still the first half. It's a tie, they'll score on the next drive."
'Come on, Titans!' Mom yelled.
'Don't let those silly Sentinels beat you, Titans!' Chrissy cheered.
'I have to say, Seton is quite impressive,' Dad said. 'It's clear they're a strong team, but the game's still young, and I'm sure the Titans will bounce right back.'
Tommy nudged Jackson 'Dad's right, there's still plenty of time.'
During the short break after the score, Coach Otsen gathered the boys on the sideline. 'It's alright. We just need to get back to how we started the game, don't get into your head over this, it's just one score.'
He looked to Rudy. 'I know it's tough, but you've got to stay on top of your man. Don't jump overboard, they're waiting for you to get antsy, but that boy isn't good enough to get away from you. There's no need to play hero ball and go for a risky pick.'
Rudy sighed and nodded, eyes on the ground. 'Got it, Coach,' he mumbled.
'Go out there and make them feel you on this next drive. They think they've figured us out, they'll be complacent. We'll hit 'em hard before they can notice what we're doing.'
He stepped back, watching the Titans run back out onto the field. He knew they were strong enough to win, he just had to guide them there.
The kick-off was another touchback. Rudy stomped to his spot. 'Fucking pussies.'
Skipping the huddle the Titans went straight into their formation, forcing the Sentinels' defence out and into position quickly.
Pete tapped his foot before the snap. Freddy dropped away from his stance and ran across the field. 'HUT!' Vincent snapped the ball, Pete took it and handed it right to Freddy who sprinted away behind the line.
Kenny pushed against Concrete, but was flattened in his attempted block, however, Freddy jumped aside from Concrete and cut up field, running away from Poster Boy, who had to lunge out and ankle tap Freddy to bring him down. The Jet Sweep resulted in 8 yards; good but Coach Otsen wanted more.
The Titans moved to the next play, keeping the ball on the ground. They handed it to Isaac who bulldozed his way forward and picked up the first down.
He was helped up from the pile and the Titans kept moving. The Sentinels hadn't changed their defence, though they did seem a bit more alert and jumpy after the Jet Sweep.
Pete took the snap, turned towards Isaac, but held onto the ball. He turned around and scanned the field.
Rudy was sprinting down the sideline, taking Rogers with him, covered closely.
Lonnie helped against 64 with a chip block before he drifted towards the flat.
After the fake, Isaac helped block.
Freddy dashed across the field one way, then Kenny sprinted over the top the other way.
Pete watched Freddy first, then switched to Kenny, who was the real target. They were using this drawn-out play to let Kenny drag Concrete from one side of the field to the other, right under the space Rudy made, so Kenny could use his legs and the longer route to outrun Concrete and create space with pure speed. And it was working.
Kenny was gaining space with every step. Pete lobbed the ball over, Kenny laid out and made the catch, turning upfield, but Rogers was able to quickly get around Rudy's block and force Kenny out of bounds. Still, the pass had given the Titans 20 yards.
Jumping up, pumping their fist, and shouting: 'YES!' was a reaction shared by Coach Otsen and Jackson.
The Titans had broken through again, they were finally moving the ball. They wanted nothing more than to run the same play, but they had to keep the Sentinels honest, so, Pete removed the fake and handed the ball to Isaac.
Isaac burst ahead, and the defence, over-eager to get through the Titans' O-Line and stop Pete from having so much time to pass, had left themselves vulnerable up the middle, which Isaac exploited, tearing through for his best run of the day, getting 7 yards before Poster Boy wrestled him down.
Now with the reminder of how dangerous the run could be, the Titans could go back to their deep Cross. Except, this time with a new wrinkle.
It was pretty obvious the single high Safety was watching Kenny more closely rather than getting sucked in by Rudy's vertical. So, when Kenny reached the mark for his break, he veered inside just like before, but then snapped right back up again, drifting towards the sideline.
Concrete was wrong-footed, jumping towards the inside already, and even the Safety was frozen for a second. Pete lobbed the ball in quickly.
Kenny twisted around, catching the ball and dragging his feet as he fell out of bounds for another 15 yards.
Just like that, the Titans were already knocking on the door of the red zone, there wasn't much more grass standing between them and another touchdown.
But that was when the Sentinels changed. Their formation shifted, not much, but enough for the Titans to notice. Concrete backed off from Kenny, and Poster Boy was cheating over towards him more.
64 had swapped sides of the Line, which meant Pete would at least see him coming rather than getting blindsided, but Lonnie would have to be shifted over and have his route changed if he was still going to help block 64 at the start.
Pete was more concerned with what changes were going to happen after he snapped the ball. For now, however, it was Isaac's turn again. The Sentinels were waiting on it, and not only did Isaac not gain a yard, he didn't even make it back to the Line of Scrimmage, losing a yard instead.
'Hey hey, don't worry about it. Let's see what these pendejos are planning when we hit 'em deep again,' Pete said in the huddle.
Rudy was silent, festering.
'Don't forget Lonnie if I'm covered by some bullshit,' Kenny said.
'Am I matching number sixty-four?' Lonnie asked.
'Yeah, go for a shallow cross, just make sure not to run into Freddy.'
'Want me to go over the top?' Freddy asked. Lonnie bobbed his head.
The huddle moved apart and they took their positions. Kenny kept an eye on Poster Boy. This time the Titans were back to the original deep Cross.
When Kenny cut towards the inside, Concrete let him go, and his eyes lowered to the flat underneath, meanwhile, Kenny had a six foot two inch, two-hundred-and-twenty-pound obstacle in his way. Poster Boy was right there, smothering his route.
Pete looked towards Freddy and dumped the ball on him. As soon as it left his hands, Concrete burst forward, using his explosive speed, he closed the distance and hammered Freddy as soon as he caught the ball.
Freddy held onto the ball, but was slow to get up, even as his team hurried over and helped him to his feet. All that for only 4 yards didn't quite feel worth it.
'You good, Freddy?' Kenny asked when they were back in the huddle. Kenny gave a thumbs up, still holding his side.
Kenny turned to Pete. 'Hey, let's try the fake this time.'
'If they're focusing on you so much, why don't we throw to me?' Rudy said, making it sound more like an accusation of something nefarious rather than a question.
Kenny responded before anyone else could. 'Can you get open?'
'Can you?'
'Wait and see. We're about to find out, you know, even though their defence is focusing on me. Whereas we already know they've got your sorry ass locked up.'
'Guys! Stop biting each other's heads off for one huddle. Joder.' Pete broke the huddle apart.
Again, they went with Play-Action. This time when Kenny feinted inside, Concrete didn't bite, he was still backing off. But, if he was out of the picture, then Kenny could be open underneath, so Pete flipped the ball over again.
With Concrete covering something deep, Poster Boy was freed up, so it fell to him to sprint over. Freddy caught the pass and made a mad dash for the first down marker. He lunged, and Poster Boy dove at him. They smashed into one another and Freddy was launched off his feet and three yards deep into the Sentinels' bench.
The Side Judges rushed in, conferring with one another on where to mark Freddy out. When they came to a consensus, they had him barely a yard short of the first down.
'Bullshit!' Coach Otsen shouted. Coach Knight side-eyed him but said nothing, simply shaking his head. Tommy had to cut himself off midway through giving the same complaint as Coach Otsen; Mom looked at him sternly, hands over Chrissy's ears. He mouthed "sorry".
Coach Otsen watched the Titans start to prepare for the field goal before he called for a timeout. He beckoned the boys over. They were bewildered, but hurried over.
He pulled them close. 'We're going for it,' he said. 'We should've got it there, and I'll be damned if we come away from this drive with anything less than a touchdown.'
Freddy was partially relieved, though worried at the same time. 'Uhh C-Coach?' Everyone in the huddle looked at Freddy, though it felt like the eyes of everyone in attendance weighing down on him. He almost swallowed his tongue before speaking up again. 'H-How are we going to do-do that?'
Coach Otsen smiled. 'It's simple.' He draped his arms around the huddle and pulled them even closer. As he explained the plan, Pete's chest tightened.
'I can't believe they're going for it,' Dad said.
'They're not kicking the field goal? Why not?' Mom asked.
'You would have to ask the coach, love. I'm sure he has his reasons, and I like the decision. What do you boys think?'
'Yeah, I like it. Takes balls—' Mom reached over Jackson and whacked Tommy's arm '—ow… to go for this kind of thing.' Tommy rubbed his arm. 'But it's the kind of decision that can win you the game.'
"Or lose it," Jackson thought. Absentmindedly, he'd clasped his hands together like in prayer. Upon seeing such, Chrissy mimicked him and started to mouth a prayer for the Titans. Even Pete muttered a prayer as the Titans took the field.
The Sentinels expected the Titans' had used the timeout to come up with some sort of strategy to go for it on fourth down, after all, what point would there be to kick a field goal after going to such lengths? Their defence was on the field waiting for the Sentinels.
The Sentinels pressed close to the Line of Scrimmage like they were defending the goal line. They practically were, the Titans were only aiming for one yard.
Everyone in attendance was waiting for the snap, and the question on everyone's mind was what were the Titans going to do? Jackson brainstormed.
A run up the gut was normal in situations with only a yard or less to go. But the Sentinels were bigger and stronger, he doubted the Titans would go for something so simple.
A QB Sneak could catch teams off guard, and was less about pure strength and more about opening one point of weakness within a formidable wall. Doable, but he couldn't recall the Titans trying it before.
Passing was still an option. Lonnie's big body was hard to stop in short-yardage situations, he could surely grab a Hitch Curl just for a yard or two, even if he was tackled right away.
Rudy was in a similar situation with his size advantage over Rogers, he just had to hold onto the ball.
And there was still Kenny, he had the upper hand in speed. He could make a catch on a Slant … though holding onto the ball afterwards was a harder task if Concrete was the one hitting him.
Out of all these options, Jackson was clueless about what one Coach Otsen had chosen, if he had chosen any of them at all. The options were practically endless, but only a few would bring them success. Had Coach Otsen found one of those chosen few?
Pete calmed his breathing as he stood right behind Vincent. He did his best to drown everything out as the play clock slowly ticked down. He used every second of it before taking the snap.
He whirled around, extending the ball towards Isaac. Isaac reached out, but Pete snatched the ball back. Isaac closed his arms around air and held them to his chest, feigning that he was carrying the ball as he charged forward.
As soon as Pete took the ball back, he tucked it under his arm and wheeled around.
'Bootleg.' Tommy shouted. 'It's a Bootleg!'
He—and everyone else—watched as Pete ran out of the pocket on a wide arc and turned upfield. He raced towards the first down marker. He was going to make it too.
64 gritted his teeth and shoved Lonnie away like he was as light as a balloon. Lonnie clawed at 64, ripping his jersey. A flag flew. 64 lunged out, like a pouncing lion he dove on top of Pete, smashing him into the ground and stopping him short of the marker.
The Sentinels' fans erupted, cheering like they'd just won the match, and even the players showed some emotion, roaring as they swarmed around 64, pulling him off Pete and into their celebration.
'Let's GO, Bryce!'
Pete lay on the field, as flat as a pancake. He didn't move until two hands appeared. It was Kenny and Freddy. He took them both and they helped him to his feet. 'I'm sorry guys. I fucked up.'
Lonnie stared down at the strip of ripped jersey in his hands, then let it flutter away on the breeze. '…I messed up.'
'We failed,' Freddy said. 'We succeed as a team, we fail as a team.' His smile was infectious.
Coach Otsen hung his head back. He'd let the team down. Even though it was only the second quarter, he wondered if that mistake would cost them the game.
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