Last game for the season

Mark had mixed emotions as their football season came to an end on a Saturday twilight fixture. The Eagles were taking on the Gators, another lowly opponent which meant they were every chance of actually winning the game.

After a rev up from Bryce Walker in his last official college match, the boys were all pumped to get out there.

It took them a while to get going but an impressive second half saw the Eagles cutting back an early 17 point deficit to just 3 points. The crowd had started to involve themselves in the contest. A packed house and a sea of red in the grandstands cheered and chanted loudly as the Eagles continued to cut back that margin.

With the defence on the field as the Gators had the ball 60 yards out from their end zone, Mark took a second to appreciate where he was.

On the bench, he peered out to the crowd, cheering loudly under the night sky, pleading for the Eagles defence to hold up under extreme amounts of pressure. He then looked to his left and saw the cheerleaders also doing their best to pump up the crowd. In the middle of that group was Tiffany, her red cheerleading outfit taking his mind of the game.

He couldn’t help it, her brunette hair done back in a ponytail, a great big smile on her face, she looked incredible. That skirt was short enough to show off her long smooth legs. He would have loved to peel off that uniform right now and start…

“Hey! Rodgers!” Bryce shouted at him, shoving him in the shoulder.

He had snapped Mark’s attention back to the contest in front of them.

“Wake up! Turnover, our ball!” he told him as he threw on his helmet and went running out onto the field.

Mark had been too sidetracked to realise what had happened. He quickly shifted his mindset, determined to win this game. Bryce gathered everyone on the field and talked over a plan they had worked on at training all season.

They were still a fair way from the end zone and they were running out of time.

It meant that everything had to go right.

Bryce’s first play went as planned, siking the opposition out, making them think he was going to throw it long. Instead he ran for it, carrying the ball under his arm. It was the fastest he had ever seen the big boy run, charging down the field, the crowd lifting in voice.

Before he could be caught, he slid down and took first down.

It took Mark a few seconds to realise that they were just 40 yards away from the touchdown zone. The noise from the crowd was stealing his attention, he had never heard the stadium get this loud all year.

“Faking the throw, you’re gonna run kid,” Bryce told him.

He wanted to argue at first, afraid to have the ball in his hand in such an important moment for the team. Not that he was worried about losing the game but Mark was seriously afraid of letting Bryce down in his final ever college match.

Just like he said, Bryce faked the opposition out for the second time in a row. He passed the ball off straight to Mark who tried to replicate the quarterback’s recent run.

He had to dodge two opposition defenders as he went wide, keeping his feet inside the line. Mark could heard the crowd screaming behind him as he got closer to the end zone.

Before he could get close enough, Mark saw a large and agile six foot four defender charging at him. Rather than take the contact and end up in serious pain, Mark ran out of bounds before he was tackled, still gaining a lot of ground.

His teammates got around him, slapping his helmet and back as he got ready for Bryce’s next move.

“30 seconds!” Bryce yelled out as they moved into position.

Close enough to the end zone, Bryce wanted to hit up a target and end the game right here.

As the whistle blew and players began to move, Bryce shuffled backwards. His eyes darted from left to right, nobody had gotten into a perfect position enough for him to throw without risking a turnover.

He was swearing in his mind as he continued to move backwards.

No options…

Suddenly he realised the defenders had broken through and before he could get the ball off, he was tackled to the ground, back first.

Sacked.

The quarterback wasn’t protected enough by his o-line resulting in a loss of yards.

He felt sick and sorry after that hit, he wanted to yell and scream at his teammates for not protecting him well enough. But there just wasn’t enough time for that, the side had run out of timeouts and the time was ticking.

The game on the line… they had one chance…