章 144: Ups and Downs

The Cats did manage to score with a field goal, but 10–3 was much better going into the first break than a two-possession game of 14–3.

'You saw it right?' Ty said, looking around at his teammates between quarters. 'If you wanna stop him just yank him down! If he wants to have that stupid fucking ponytail flopping around, grab that shit and pull it!'

'I don't know.' JJ rubbed the back of his head, a sour look on his face. 'That doesn't seem right.'

Ty stared at him coldly. 'I thought you wanted to win. Isn't it–'

'I want to win but I won't play dirty to do it.' JJ stared back. 'I'd rather never win again than play like that.'

'There's nothing dirty about it.' Ty shrugged. 'They might not like it, but it's in the rules, it's part of the game. Everyone saw what I just did, the refs would've never picked up that flag if I was in the wrong.'

A deep frown creased JJ's face. He turned away, staring at the grass now.

'I'm with the freshy on this,' Deshaun said. 'If that dumbass wants to have girly fuckin' hair like that, I'm finna rip it out.'

Donte squirmed listening in to the conversation. His stomach knotted and it showed on his face. He wanted to speak up, to vouch for JJ and the integrity of the game … but he stayed silent.

As the second quarter resumed, Chris still had to wait for his chance to return a kick as once again the Cats sent the kick-off out the back of the endzone.

The Dons had a new offensive message before they took the field in the second quarter. 'We were too hasty last time,' Coach Long said. 'We got ahead of ourselves, and that's my fault. Just because we're bigger than them, doesn't mean deep balls are the only way we can use that size. We don't need to close the gap all at once, let's chip away at them, take your time, take it steady. Yard by yard we'll chip away at them, that's how we'll win.'

Jay led the team onto the field, though Chris was still waiting for them. They huddled around him. Jay's head lolled to one side. 'Uhh … that last one's on me. … It was a bad throw. … But the past's the past, ain't no changing that … even trying sounds like too much of a pain. … Let's make up for it now, I guess.'

Cole laughed. 'As inspiring as ever, boss.'

The huddle broke away, most players chuckling as they lined up.

The Dons went with Play-Action to begin their drive once again. However, they didn't look for an opening deep–even if Benny did streak down the middle of the field–but instead, it was for Cole on a short Out route. The fake had frozen his defender long enough to give him the separation needed for the 6-yard gain.

Chris and Cameron picked up the first down over the next two plays with consecutive runs one after the other; Chris's Sweep worked for 3 yards, whilst Cameron powered ahead for 2 yards off a Dive.

With a fresh set of downs, the Dons stuck to the ground. Chris was back out there, though as he tried to work his way through the Line on his narrow Power run, the Blob flattened him and stopped him right at the line of scrimmage.

It was Stephen's time to step up. The Dons needed to crack this aerial defence if they wanted to get anywhere this game.

'Set … hut.'

Stephen exploded out of the gates. There were no fakes, no shimmies, no stutters, he just burst right to the inside at a harsh angle. The Slant was quick and sharp, and Jay zipped the ball in high.

Stephen stretched up, and the play was so quick that Smoke didn't even have a chance to get a good jump at the pass before the ball was already in Stephen's hands. He did manage to latch onto Stephen's long legs, however, and brought him down for only 4 yards as they tumbled to the ground.

A quick pass could work, but they hadn't gotten much, and they'd need more than another play like that if they were going to secure a first down.

Stephen's frustration was visible on his face when he returned to the huddle. 'Good grab, big man,' Cole said, patting him on the back.

Stephen shook his head. 'I shouldn't be getting taken down by a pipsqueak like that.' He looked back at Smoke, again, Jahsiah was whispering in his ear, even while they were in their own huddle, the two were still secretive and close, like Jahsiah was passing on the most valuable information in the world.

'Six yards is all we need, guys … it's not that hard, is it?' Jay looked around the huddle.

'Six yards,' a few members repeated.

'Easy,' Benny said.

They took their positions, determined to keep the drive alive and continue their march towards a touchdown.

The Cats had made a rather large adjustment between plays. Instead of Jahsiah taking his position far behind the defence, high above everything like the general he fancied himself to be, he was down close to the action, lined up over the top of Benny, like he would be personally guarding the TE.

The Dons, of course, called it out, though were unsure what to make of it. With only a single, high Safety, deep shots—in general, as well as specifically down the sideline—had suddenly become all the more appealing, but what if it was a trap?

Jay scanned the defence, looking for any signs that someone would drop back into another deep zone, but the Cats were as impassive as always, staring back at him.

He frowned and took a deep breath before calling for the snap of the ball. Stephen jumped forward a few paces. Smoke backed off, still not pressing aggressively. Stepehn cut inside on another Slant, but when he did so, Jahsiah was there waiting for him like a LB plugging the middle of the field.

Jahsiah hadn't covered Benny at all, and had instead dropped back at an angle to fall right into the area where Stephen would've been looking for his Slant.

Jay saw this, processed it in a second, and swivelled to Benny. He must've been uncovered. Benny ran right up one side of the hashes that marked the full length of the field. He was open, though running towards the Safety in the middle of the field.

Jay fired the ball in quickly, wanting to get it in early before the Safety could cover it. The pass wasn't high this time. The MLB jumped across in front of it and got a hand up to deflect it. The ball bounced high in the air, continuing its flight though it sailed well past Benny's head, and thankfully, past the Safety too after the erratic deflection.

The Dons had avoided another interception, but they couldn't avoid fourth down, and the punting team was sent out to relieve the offence.

Jay thumped onto the bench with another loud sigh. 'My bad, Benny.'

Benny sat next to him. 'Don't worry about it.'

'It's not your fault, boss. It's crazy, they're popping up out of nowhere to get to these passes.' Cole said.

The punt return couldn't end fast enough for Ty, even when it resulted in only a fair catch. "Of course, I have to do everything myself. Why did I expect anything else from them?" He strode out onto the field ahead of his team. He turned back to face them. 'Remember what I told you—drag that fucker down by any means.'

When he met Vance, he was happy to see a scowl on the Receiver's face. Ty grinned. 'If you've got a problem with what I did, tell your friend to get a haircut.'

Vance's scowl turned to a look of disgust. 'Shut your mouth. You don't even know what you're talking about. Hair is a sign of strength to his people. It's–'

'Strength?' Ty stifled a laugh. 'Looks like a weakness to me. Hair is hair. Prove your strength on the field. You want me to shut my mouth? Come and beat me.'

The ball was snapped and Vance lunged forward, he wasn't even worried about pretending like the play could've been a pass. He slammed right into Ty and shoved him back a few yards. Even when the whistle blew and the play was over, Vance didn't stop shoving Ty as Ty dug his heels in and stood his ground, pushing back even if it was a losing battle and he kept slipping further away.

An Official had to come in and separate the two, warning them to stop that behaviour. The play had been a run, one up the middle behind the Blob, but Archie had been pulled down after only a yard, and more shoving had occurred as another Don had used his hair against him.

'Dirty bastards,' Ty heard Vance mutter as they walked away from one another.

Ty kept his focus on JJ during the huddle, and whilst he still looked like he was constipated, he didn't disparage his teammate for tackling Archie by his hair. Ty smirked as he walked back to his spot.

Vance's scowl was still there, but he didn't have anything to say this time, even when Ty taunted that "Archie's hair wasn't looking very strong".

When the ball was snapped, Vance was more furious than a bull at a rodeo. He nearly took Ty off his feet as he shoved through Ty's press, completely nullifying it. With a couple of yards of separation, Vance turned towards the middle of the field, feinting for the Slant. Ty shifted over, and Vance slid by him to the outside.

Ty slammed his feet into the turf and jumped back, racing after Vance. He was faster, he could catch him! But Vance weaved into his path. Vance always stayed directly in front of him, and Ty couldn't speed up without fear of clipping the back of his heels and getting called for Pass Interference.

The ball floated over them both and dipped right down into Vance's waiting arms. Ty lunged forward and swiped at Vance's ankles, tripping him up, but the Cats had already gained 16 yards from the catch.

Vance sprung to his feet and stared at Ty, dropping the ball in front of him. 'We'll see who's stronger at the end of the game.'

Ty glared at the back of his head as Vance walked away. 'It won't be you. Not ANY of you.' He stalked back to the huddle.

'Ni–'

'Shut up!' Ty snapped at Deshaun.

'Just cover your man, Freshy!' Deshaun left the huddle early.

Ty huffed and turned away early as well, stomping back to his spot, where he paced back and forth, awaiting Vance.

At the snap of the ball, Ty jumped back, giving Vance a few yards of space. Vance stumbled forward, grimacing. He stuttered before leaning towards Ty, going to bump off him, but Ty shied away from the contact and let Vance partially by before glueing to his hip.

Vance grunted but continued downfield, eyeing Ty warily. As they ran together, he again pushed into Ty just before making a cut inwards. Ty didn't try to fight through the contact and stayed a half-yard back as he chased Vance.

Vance put Ty behind him–figuratively, and literally–as he focused on making the play. As he neared the middle of the field, the ball came towards him. He slowed to make the grab, and Ty dove across, extending a hand to swat the ball to the ground.

Vance stumbled back, staring at Ty in shock.

Ty pushed himself up and rolled his neck. 'You ain't stronger, bitch. You're nothing without a run game, and that pussy is nothing with his hair.'

Perhaps further emphasising Ty's point, the next play was a run, this one heading towards the outside, but it was Donte who reached out and snagged Archie's hair, pulling him down after only giving up a yard.

Donte looked sick with himself as he returned to the Dons' huddle, but what was done, was done.

Ty was grinning from ear to ear in the huddle. 'That's the way. Stop their run and we stop their whole team. Who cares if Seven gets a fluke catch every once in a while? Luckily the rest of their Receivers are trash.' He said the last part looking at Deshaun.

'Maybe the rest of us are just that good.'

'Keep telling yourself that.'

'Guys, c'mon, you're family, they're not. Stop fighting each other and fight them. We're doing good, just need to keep it up. One more play, then our offence gets another chance.'

Ty frowned at that. He looked to the scoreboard. It wasn't enough to just get a stop, he had to do something to change this game. But he had a feeling that chance would come soon. VERY soon. He licked his teeth as he strutted towards Vance.

'Hey, I know you guys are big fans of me. So you should know you can't try your Curls or Comeback bullshit on me. Don't even challenge me. It's a pick-six, guaranteed, every time. EVERY time.'

A silent glare was all the answer he got from Vance.

Ty chuckled. 'Just saying, don't test me. You'll regret it. But, I doubt you're man enough, strong enough, to even think of challenging me, right?'

Vance suppressed his response with a groan.

The ball was snapped and Vance forced his way towards the outside, pushing by Ty who was up close on him again. He kept running, and Ty ran by his side. Ty was locked in on Vance, his attention nowhere other than the man by his side.

Vance stopped like he'd run into a wall. Ty took a half-step further, just to make sure it wasn't a feint and Vance wasn't trying to get by him with a deep ball. It wasn't, Vance was spinning back towards the sideline.

Ty turned towards Vance, keeping his eyes on the Receiver just to make sure it REALLY wasn't an elongated fake-out. It wasn't. Vance kept curling. He ran back to meet the ball. Ty's eyes finally flashed towards the QB as he burst forward, ready to cut off any pass and take it right back to the house.

But the QB looked away from them, lowering the ball back down. The fucker had sniffed out the danger. Ty's face contorted with rage. He stuck to Vance, covering him fully as his eyes scanned the rest of the field. There didn't seem to be any other openings, just Archie in the flat. Then Deshaun's man broke towards the sideline on a Corner route.

The QB threw the ball over. With a burst of speed, Deshaun caught back up to the Receiver's hip, extending his hands to cover off the catch, but as the Receiver stretched out, the ball was just too far for him to reach, and it landed out of bounds.

The Cats' supporters groaned with disappointment, and the Dons stopped the Cats for the first time.

Ty sighed. 'You're lucky he didn't throw it this way. I'll get my pick next time though, don't worry.'

Vance scoffed and watched him leave the field. The game was getting bogged down in the trenches after soaring through the sky early on with points and turnovers.