A Game of Inches – Part Two

We breezed into the playoff’s undefeated, drawing a bye in the first round, which gave us an extra week of practice to get ready. We would play the winner of St. Christopher High School and Riverbend High. That Friday night, Riverbend defeated St. Christopher 32-27 in a close game. We would play Riverbend the following Friday night. The week seemed to drag by, the entire school was anticipating the big game. We practiced light most of the week, none of the coaches wanted any unnecessary injuries at this point of the season. We arrived at the stadium about three o’clock Friday afternoon to begin preparation for the game that night. By six o’clock I was fully taped up and ready to go, I was pacing the locker room. The clock didn’t seem to move fast enough, everyone was on edge. About fifteen minutes before we were to take the field, one of our trainers came in telling my Dad the rain was coming down in buckets. This was not something he wanted to hear. We were a team with a lot of speed, a wet field would negate some of that quickness. Riverbend on the other hand was a power team, slow but big, built to grind it out. By the time we exited the tunnel, the damage had been done. There were pools of water everywhere, the rain was still coming down.

We won the toss and elected to receive the ball. The thinking was one or two scores might be enough to win this. If we could get ahead quickly before the field got too damaged, we should have the edge. As if scripted our offense took the opening possession and drove sixty five yards for a touchdown, we converted the extra point and led 7-0. The rest of the first half was very physical, the weather conditions were horrible. Both teams had trouble handling the ball much less sustaining any type of scoring drives. With less than three minutes to go before halftime Riverbend fumbled the ball on their own thirteen yard line, which we recovered. Four plays later we scored again and led 14-0 at halftime.

The second half was miserable, the field had deteriorated to a large mud pit. Neither team could do anything, the game ended as it was at halftime , 14-0.

The following Monday at school was a definite high, everyone was still buzzing about the first playoff victory in our high school’s short history. In between all of the practices, watching game film and the daily grind, I noticed that my Dad had been spending a lot of time on the phone and in meetings. I wondered what was going on but kept quiet knowing my Dad had always made the right decisions when it came to my welfare. The following week we would play one of the state’s longtime powerhouse teams, Baker High School. They had won seven state championships and were always considered one of the best teams in the region. We prepared hard for the game as always, we thought we were ready.

Four quarters later our hopes and dreams for the year were lost in the faded green scoreboard at the south end of the field. We had lost 21-10 in a hard fought contest, Baker scoring their last touchdown with three minutes left in the game. We had our opportunities, we just did not cash in on them. Our locker room was as solemn as a funeral parlor after the game, everyone collecting their gear. We rode back on the bus in silence, no one said a word. That night at home my Dad walked in my room and sat down on the bed next to me.

“Hey, I wanted to wait until the season was over to tell you what I have decided. I have accepted a defensive coordinator’s position at A&M next season.”, he said.

“You’re quitting here?”, I asked dumbfounded.

“I have to Brian. It’s a great opportunity, they don’t come along every day. I have to take the job. It means more money, more exposure, perhaps even lead to a head coaching job one day.”, he explained.

“I understand Dad.”, I replied, “Are we going to have to move ?”

“Not this year Brian. I want you to finish out next season here. I will commute whenever I can next year. After you graduate, Ashley and I will find a home up there, you will go off to college.”, he answered.

He went on to tell me that our defensive coordinator, Mike Middleton, would become head coach for next season. That was good news to me, Coach Mike was my coordinator and position coach. We got along great, he was a phenomenal coach. He told me they would make the announcement at school on Monday morning at an assembly. He asked me to keep quiet until then, I assured him I would. I stayed home the rest of the weekend resting up from a long season.

We had just arrived in our homeroom on Monday morning when I heard the Vice Principle Ms. Carter on the school intercom system asking all students to report to the gym for an assembly. Everyone filed down the halls heading to the gym. Courtney ran up from behind me, grabbing my shoulder.

“Hey, what’s going on ?”, she asked.

“Bad news I’m afraid. Come on.”, I said, grabbing her hand.

Our school was pretty informal as far as rules and regulations. We were small town America, as long as you followed the rules, everything ran smooth. I sat in the center of the gym where most of the juniors sat, seating was informal although understood. The seniors had their section and so on and so forth. Courtney sat down next to me, her hand in mine between us. The building filled quickly, the faculty and teachers up on the elevated stage. Ms. Carter stepped up to the podium and asked for quiet, which she immediately received.

“Ladies and gentleman, please settle down.’, she demanded.

“First of all I want to congratulate Coach Stevens and the football team for a wonderful season. We are all proud of your efforts, as well, you should be proud of yourselves. We all realize the effort and sacrifice you put in this year.”, she continued.

“With that said, we have some sad news for our beloved school. But I think Coach Stevens should be the one to tell you. Coach, would you please come up here.”, she ended.

My Dad slowly stood up and walked to the podium. I could see the weight of his decision was taking a huge toll on him. The sadness was evident in his face. Courtney leaned over and whispered in my ear.

“What’s going on Brian ?”

I just squeezed her had tight and turned back to see my Dad lean into the microphone nervously.


“Thank you Ms. Carter, good morning everyone. I too, want to thank the entire school for the effort and dedication you showed to our team this year. I cannot convey to you how proud of these young men I am. In football as in life, hard work and dedication pay off. That is what makes my decision so difficult but nonetheless necessary. I am resigning as head coach effective immediately, this will be my last year here.”, he stated.

Immediately there were some loud comment’s of denial, everyone was talking at once. Courtney was staring at me with a blank look on her face. I just shook my head slowly at her.

“I have accepted a coaching position at A&M next season, it’s a dream come true for me. While I am heartbroken to be leaving you, I have to follow my dream. But I am proud to let everyone know that this team will be in good hands next year. The school board has already approved Coach Mike Middleton as my successor, although there was never any doubt, he was the right man for the job.”, he continued.

There were few claps, a few cheers but the crowd was still pretty much stunned. By now I could feel hundreds of eyes on me, I knew what everyone was thinking. I looked over at Courtney, I saw her tearing up, her head down. Once again, I squeezed her hand tightly.

“Although I will be residing up north near A&M, my son Brian Stevens has decided to return here for his senior year rather than move with me at this time.”, he ended.

There were some more claps, a couple of players got up and shook my hand. Courtney was squeezing my hand so tight my fingers were turning white. My Dad relinquished the podium to Coach Mike who graciously accepted his new role, speaking briefly about the future. The assembly ended soon after, everyone filing back to their classes. Courtney walked with me to our next class.

“Can we talk tonight ?”, she asked.

“Sure, no problem. I will call you tonight after I get home from the gym.”, I replied.

That night Courtney and I talked about the upcoming year, what my plans were and what we thought our future was. We talked for several hours on the phone before hanging up. It wasn’t until I was lying there in the dark did I realize that once again life was changing, things would never be the same again.



With football over, I decided once again, with Coach Mike’s approval to begin my off season weight program off campus. He knew what was going on and decided since it was my last year not to make any waves. He just asked that I check in with him once a week or so and let him know how I was progressing. On my first full day back at the gym, I looked up Carl, the owner of the gym. Carl was a former U.S. Olympic Power Lifter and definitely knew his way around performance enhancing drugs. He was also a master of building both muscle mass and an expert in strength training. I basically told Carl what had happened with my Dad, but more importantly what I wanted next year. I wanted to dominate my opponents, I was willing to do whatever it took. Carl was always partial to me, I think due to my dedication in the gym. I never missed a workout, I pushed myself to the limit every time, he liked that.

Within a week I was “stacking”, a term that basically meant I was taking both anabolic steroids and HGH in combination with each other. That in addition to two workouts per day, one at five in the morning, another at five in the evening and an enormous amount of protein intake everyday should do the trick. I started the program in mid January and had until early August before any organized practice would start at school. I was absolutely relentless for the next seven months, pushing myself to exhaustion day after day. I barely saw Courtney other than at school and maybe once on the weekends. We had become quite close, although we still had not had sex. In fact we had not done anything much other than what we had the night after the dance.

The first two months under Carl’s program my weight actually dropped from 277 pounds to about 260 pounds. But my strength was definitely up, I was pushing more weigh than ever. By the time our first organized practice was scheduled my weight was up to 288 lbs., my body fat was incredibly low. Even though physically I only weighed maybe ten pounds more than the year before, because of the loss of body fat, the muscle mass I gained, I looked much bigger. We started our organized practices the second week of August, the sun was blistering. It was quite easy to see who had taken the off season casually. Coach Mike was extremely upset with most of the team who had apparently thought this season under him would be easier. He dispelled that theory quickly as he drilled them into submission. I saw at least a dozen or so players throwing up, the heat and exhaustion had become too much. I dominated the line drills, no one could block me one on one. In fact I beat most two on one drills as well. I had become quicker, stronger and faster. No one on this team could come close to controlling me on the line of scrimmage. We were barely a month away from our first game, school was starting this coming Monday. The local newspaper came out with the preseason rankings and perspective senior prospects. Our team was ranked second in our district and thirteenth in the state. I was selected second team all district honors along with Chris Keller, our best running back.

I was a bit anxious to start back to school, after all it was going to be my senior year. The only drawback was that my Dad would be gone most of the time, I knew it was going to be hard on Ashley. I had a total of seven classes that year, five were with Courtney, which was great. It was nice to see everyone again Monday morning, some I had not seen since school had ended this past summer. Everyone could not help but commenting on how big I had gotten during the summer, I was even getting the eye from a few girls in my class. I was not the one who noticed the latter, Courtney was. She informed me of that on Friday night when we were waiting for the movie to start.

“You better keep your eyes and hands to yourself mister.”, she informed me as we sat there holding hands.

“Courtney, I barely have time to see you , much less try to juggle more than one girl. You know better.”, I laughed.


By this time the theatre had pretty much filled up and the movie started. It was a boring movie, I could barely keep my eyes open, but Courtney seemed to enjoy it. We stopped and had a hamburger then headed home, stopping to drop her off at her house. Courtney lived in an upscale area of town, several streets of real high end homes. Her dad owned his own business, he appeared to be every successful. As I pulled into her drive, I noticed the house was dark, only her mother’s car was in the driveway. I got out of my truck, walked around and opened Courtney’s door for her. We walked slowly up to the front door as was our ritual. We usually ended the night with several heated and passionate goodnight kisses. As I pulled her close to me and pressed my lips to hers, I noticed she was not as aggressive as usual.

“You ok Court ? Is there something wrong ?” I asked.

“No not really. Um…. I need to ask….. Well …do you have to go home now ?”, she stuttered.

“No, not really. You want to go back out somewhere ?”, I inquired, looking at my watch.

It was past midnight, there was very little left open in this small town at this time of night. Other than the local diner, pretty much everything else was closed.

“Well no, but you can come in if you want. My Mom, Dad and Sister are out of town tonight. They won’t be back until late tomorrow.”, she said, looking nervous.

“Oh wow Court, I don’t know if that’s a good idea. They might get really pissed if they find out.”, I warned.

“They won’t know unless we tell them.”, she said, grabbing my hand, leading me inside.

As I stepped past her into the front foyer, I looked over my shoulder, I guess out of caution. I knew Courtney’s Dad would not be happy with us being alone in his house. We had a good relationship, I did not want to mess that up. I followed her into the family room, she veered off into the kitchen. She returned a few minutes later with two glasses of iced tea.

“You want to watch TV ?”, she asked.

“I don’t care, whatever you want to do is fine with me.”, I muttered.

We were watching TV for about twenty minutes when it dawned on me I had better call Ashley and tell her where I was. Even though my Dad was out of town, I knew he expected me to mind Ashley, giving her my complete respect. I dialed her cell phone number, she answered on the third ring.

“Hi, did I wake you up ?”, I asked.

“No, I am watching a movie on TV. Where are you at this time of night ?”, she shot back.

“I am at Courtney’s watching TV. I just wanted to let you know I was ok.”, I responded.

“Brian, are her parents there ?”, she asked, with authority in her voice.

Now Ashley knew me quite well by now, there was no doubt about how my Father had raised me. I knew the repercussions of a lie, I had paid them several times as a teenager. My Dad trusted me completely, only because I had earned that trust. He knew no matter how bad I had screwed up, I would admit to it. Ashley knew that as well.

“No, they are out of town till tomorrow.”, I answered quickly.

“Brian, do you really think that it’s a good idea you two are alone in their house ?”, she fired back at me. “I won’t tell you what to do, you’re a man now, just remember one bad decision can affect your entire life.”

I told Ashley I would be home shortly, not to worry. She seemed relieved, although I am sure she still had concerns. I hung up and sat back on the sofa again with Courtney.

“Ms. Thompson is upset that you’re here ?”, she asked.

“A little bit maybe. She just thinks it’s not a good idea.”, I answered.

She leaned over and softly kissed me on the lips, her hand on the back of my neck. She immediately parted her lips and pushed her tongue between my lips. I reached out for her, pulling her close to me. I could tell from the way she responded to my kiss she was really excited again. She leaned back on the sofa, pulling me over her. I ran my hand up the inside of her jean covered thigh stopping when I reached her zipper. She broke our kiss and whispered softly into my ear, her hot breathe warming my face.

“I really need to cum bad. Please make me cum.”, she whispered hoarsely.

I reached up and unbuttoned her jeans, pulling the zipper down slowly as I kissed her once again. This time she was passionate, more relaxed, the urgency seemed gone. I pushed my hand inside of her panties, my finger finding her slick pussy. She gently moaned as my finger entered her vagina, her hips moving forward against my hand.
I could feel her lips on my neck, gently kissing and licking my skin. I pushed her jeans down her hips exposing her black laced panties. Courtney was beautiful, her body flawless, her legs long and smooth. I reached under the waistband of her panties again, my fingers quickly finding her drenched vagina. I began to gently rub her clit back and forth, feeling it swelling under my touch. With my other hand, I reached up and pushed her panties down her legs exposing her lips, a soft patch of red hair neatly trimmed framing her pink opening. She turned slightly and laid flat on her back on the sofa, her legs spread exposing herself to me. Her right hand moved over her pussy, her fingers finding her clit, flicking across it rapidly. I guess I must have read her mind, I’m not sure, but I leaned down my mouth covering her pussy. I extended my tongue and placed it against the bottom of her slit and took one very long and slow lick upwards, pausing on her clit for just a second.

“Oh my Goddddddddddddddddddddddd…………………..,” she moaned.

I opened my lips gently and began to suck her clit, my tongue flicking across as I pulled it into my mouth. From the movement of her hips under me, there was no doubt she was enjoying the feeling. I reached up and eased one finger inside of her as I continued to suck on her clit. Her pussy fluid became somewhat thicker, a distinct sweet taste was evident as it flowed from her. I could tell from past experience with her she was extremely close to reaching an orgasm. I reached up with two fingers and opened her lips up exposing her swollen clit. I began to rapidly flick my tongue back and forth over her as quickly as I could. It took less than a minute before she grabbed my head and held on tight.

“Oh shit…………..Oh God ,that’s so fucking good………………”, she wailed.


Her hips thrashed under my mouth, fluid pouring from her, covering my face. I held her tight, as I pushed my tongue deep inside of her, tasting her thick cum for the first time. I felt her body starting to relax, her orgasm subsiding as I continued to softly lick her throbbing clit. I could still feel thick fluid oozing from between her lips. Her fingers were gently running through my short black hair gently, lovingly. Almost as quickly as her body relaxed from her orgasm, she once again began to move her hips in response to my tongue. Her breathing became shallow once again, her muscles tensing, then relaxing. A few seconds later she had her second orgasm, her body rigid as she shook under my tongue. I eased my tongue deep inside of her, once again tasting her cum as she continued to tremble beneath me.

Finally she opened her eyes, her face flushed, her eyes had almost a sleepy look to them.

“Brian, that was incredible. I have never cum that hard in my life.”, she whispered, “Thank you so much.”

I leaned back over her and pressed my lips to hers, my tongue pushing into her mouth. Her tongue met mine as she tasted her own cum from my mouth. She moved from under me, sitting up on the sofa. She reached down and pulled her laced panties back up her long legs, her thumbs adjusting her waistband.

She sat back against the sofa, she looked exhausted, yet radiant.

“You ok, Court ?”, I asked.

“Oh yea, I’m very ok.”, she answered.

“Good. Look I am gonna go before Ashley gets too out of sorts with me.”, I told her.

“Noooooooooo. Not yet.”, she whined.

“Yea, I better Court. It’s almost one thirty, I know she is watching the clock.”, I said , getting up.

“But , you didn’t …… uh … you know.”, she said softly.

“It’s ok, really. I will, next time ok ?”, I answered.

She jumped up and wrapped her arms around me squeezing me tight. I kissed the top of her head, her hair soft with a slight smell of honey. I kissed her softly for a minute, then left her curled up on the sofa. I drove straight home, it was almost two in the morning when I got there. I went in the kitchen door and saw that all the lights were out. As I walked softly down the hall, I heard Ashley call out from her room.

“You home Brian ?”, she asked.

“Yes, mam.”, I answered, as I went into my bedroom.

I was sitting on the bed taking off my shoes when Ashley walked in. She was in her robe, her hair was hanging in her eyes. Even right out of bed, Ashley was just drop dead gorgeous.

“I do hope you know I will not lie to your Father for you. If he asks, I have to tell him you came in very late tonight.”, she stated.

“Yes mam, I understand.”, I replied.

“Brian, I hope you didn’t do anything stupid tonight. You possibly have a great career ahead of you, the last thing you need is getting Courtney pregnant.”, she warned.

“I understand. Just so you know, Courtney and I haven’t had sex. Well not like that anyway. I know better.”, I responded.

It was strange to see the look Ashley gave me when I made this statement. It was almost comical for a lack of a better word. It was like she was trying to think of the right words to say. I decided to help her out.

“I mean, we have fooled around a little, but at no time was that ever an issue and it won’t be.”, I stated.

“Ohhhh … Ok.”, she answered, looking somewhat relieved.


She turned and left my room, closing the door behind me. It was rather amusing to see a woman of Ashley’s demeanor being thrown by sexual conversations of a teenager.

We started school anxiously the following week, our first game was Friday night here in town. It was always a standing room only event here, football was definitely king. The school was decorated all that week by the Spirit Squad and Cheerleaders, moral was definitely high.
The week seemed to pass quickly and once again I was sitting on the trainer’s table getting taped up for what was my last season here. I was ready to go at least an hour before the game. I found a quiet corner of the locker and sat down on the floor, I didn’t want to talk to anyone. I needed to focus myself on where I needed to be mentally. I needed to bring the aggression out, it was time to put away manners and niceties.

We hit the field fifteen minutes before kickoff and began to warm up across from Westwood High, who as last year, was our opening night opponent. They were loaded with seniors and figured to give us a run for the district title. Both teams knew what was at stake in this one. If you lost and your opponent won out, there was no way you get to the playoffs.

We kicked off first, they started their first drive on their forty yard line. As we broke the huddle, I saw my opponent for the first time. He was maybe six foot tall and two hundred fifty pounds. As I got down on his outside shoulder, I looked up into his eyes. He had that deer in the headlights look, he knew he was going to be in for a long night. One the first play they had a power toss left play set up, where the tight end came in motion to my side and both he and the left tackle tried to pin me and run outside. I think I was past the tackle before he could get out of his stance, the tight end tried to slide over and chip me but I simply pushed him backwards into the running back and blew up the play for a seven yard loss. There was absolutely no way this guy was going to handle me tonight.

By the end of the first half we had a 13 – 0 lead, They only gotten one first down in the first half. I had eight tackles and a pass block in two quarters. By the end of the quarter, they were lining up a tight end next to the left tackle to try and block me. We made our halftime adjustments and headed back out on to the field. Before we went out on defense for the first time, Coach Mike told me he would be moving me back and forth between the right and left end for the rest of the game. That way they could not scheme to run away from me or double me on the line. It worked perfectly, they were completely out of sync in the second half. We scored three more times and held them to only three first downs in the second half. I had seven more tackles and forced two fumbles. In fact, I was only one tackle short of the school record for one game which was sixteen. We easily won 34-0, getting off to a great start. My Dad was not able to make the game but I did see Ashley on her cell phone several times during the game updating him. I showered quickly in the locker room and was getting dressed when my cell phone rang. It was my Dad.

“Hey hotshot, I heard you had a whale of a game.”, he said.

“Yes sir. It went well.”, I replied.

“You got the record for tackles tonight ?”, he inquired.

“No sir, I was short by one, I only had fifteen. “, I responded disappointed.

“Only fifteen ?”, my Dad laughed, “Son you play like that week in week out, every major college in the country will be knocking our door down.”

I finished dressing and headed out to the parking lot where Ashley was waiting. A lot of the students were hanging out in the parking lot,
Really having a great time. Courtney was with two of her friends, Jasmin and Kelly who were both cheerleaders. I never could figure out why Courtney was not a cheerleader. She was easily one of the best looking girls in the school. Ashley gave me a big hug and a kiss on the cheek.

“Hotshot, you were incredible. I have never seen anything like it.”, she stated.

“Thanks, it was fun.”, I replied.

“You going out with your friends tonight ?”, she asked.

“No, I don’t think so, Court and I are going out tomorrow night, I think I am gonna go home with you.” I responded.

I told Courtney of my plans and kissed her goodbye, she told me she would go out with Jasmin and Kelly for a while if that was ok. I reassured her that was fine and to have a good time. I left with Ashley and we went directly home.

We had a great next four weeks. Ashley and my Dad were married the following Saturday in front of a small gathering of family and friends. They didn’t really take a honeymoon, they just went away for the weekend because they both had to be at their respective schools on Monday morning. We won our next four games easily, in fact we posted another three shut outs. Our defense had become a dominate unit, we literally shut everyone’s offense down. The newspapers were saying we could be one of the best defenses in the history of this state, we were that good. They were now projecting that four of us would get scholarships to play at the next level. My Dad had made two games thus far which considering was very good. Courtney and I were getting along well, everything seemed to be falling into place.



We ended the season undefeated and drew a bye in the first round of the playoffs. We watched the first round of games to see who our opponent would be. We would be playing Southside High, a relative newcomer to the playoffs. They had a coach who was very outspoken, in fact, a lot of people said he was downright arrogant, but his team bought into it. They only lost once all year, that game being decided by three points. They ran a veer type offense which basically hinged on my play. The entire offense was schemed on how the defensive end’s reacted, I knew I would be heavily involved in the game. I talked to my Dad on Tuesday, he told me he would fly in Friday evening in time for the game. He would fly back out Friday night. We prepared hard that week, I knew we had a good game plan going in.

As usual I was taped up early and ready to go over an hour before the game was to start. I was sitting in the corner of the locker room alone as usual when Coach Mike approached me.


“Brian, can I ….. can I see you a moment son.”, he asked, in a shaky voice.

I got up and followed him out of the locker room to the coach’s office and went inside with him. He motioned for me to sit in the chair across from the desk. I had no idea what this was about, somehow it didn’t look good. I had never seen Coach Mike this somber. Not even during our loss last year was he this quiet. There was a knock on the door, one of the other coaches opened the door, in walked Ashley. As soon as I looked at her, I knew. I looked back at Coach Mike.

“Son, there isn’t an easy way to say this. Because of the man you are, I am just going to say it. Your Dad’s small plane went down about two hours ago. No one made it out alive.”, he said softly.

I turned to look at Ashley, I could see tears streaming down her face.
I stood up and walked over to her wrapping my arms around her. We both cried as Coach Mike quietly left the room. I don’t know how long we stood there, it seemed like forever. I led Ashley back to one of the chairs and helped her sit down, I sat in another. A minute or so later there was a knock on the door, Coach Mike opened it just wide enough to stick his head in.

“Can I come in for a moment ?”, he asked.

I nodded to him and he stepped in and closed the door behind him . He moved over and sat on the corner of the desk, the weight of this was bearing down heavily on him. He was one of my Dad’s best friends, I knew this was killing him.

“Brian, I want you to take Ashley home right now. Don’t even go back to the locker room, go straight home. I don’t know how I am going to tell the team but it was on the radio at least an hour ago, people in the stands are going to know. I can’t let the kids find out like that.”, he stated.

Ashley nodded quickly to him, he got up and headed back to the locker room. I got up and reached for Ashley’s hand, which she placed so gently into mine. As bad as I felt for myself, I felt worst for her. She stood up slowly and turned to the door. I guess we took about three steps, the sound of my cleats were deafening on the gray painted concrete floor, before she stopped dead in her tracks.

“Brian, I don’t know how you feel and if I am way off base, please tell me.”, she said, “But personally, I think your Dad would want you to play tonight, for him.”

It took a few seconds for what she had said to sink in. I could see she was sincere in her words, she was not saying this for my benefit.

“Brian, if these roles were reversed and we had just lost you, he would be devastated. But he would still lead those young men in that locker room onto the field tonight. He would hate to be out there without you, but he would do it.”, she ended.

Again I thought for a moment, hard as it was to think about, she was right. My Dad lived for this game, now he had died for it. I stood there looking into her eyes for several moments. I knew she was right. I moved over and hugged her once again, her arms holding onto me tightly.

I walked out of the small office hand in hand with Ashley. I left her at the locker room door, she wished me well, saying she would be watching. As I opened the locker room door, everyone was kneeling, their heads down, a lot of tears were being shed. Most of these guys in here had played for my Dad at least one year, some of us three years. As hard as he was on us, everyone to man, respected him. Everyone looked up as I entered the room, some in disbelief.

“Coach, I had a talk with Ashley. I’m going to play, for my Dad. All I ask is that everyone act normal, give me some space.”, I said calmly.

Coach Mike stood up and walked over to me. He put his arms around me and hugged me as only a coach could. He stepped back and looked me in the eyes.

“Brian, you’re quite a man. But make sure you are doing this for the right reason.”, he said, “Not for us, but for you.”

“This is not for me Coach. This is for him.”, I answered, walking past him to pickup my gear.

We hit the field several minutes later to a packed crowd on both sides of the field. I looked up into our stands, a lot of familiar faces were present. I could see from their demeanor just about everyone in the stadium knew by now. Coach was right to tell the team when he did. The game started with our offense getting the first possession of the night. I sat on the end of the bench as they went on a long drive. I could feel the anger and hate boiling up in me as I sat. I was not sure who I was angry with but I knew who I was going to take it out on. With barely four minutes off the clock, our offense punched a touchdown in the end zone. I got up, putting on my helmet and gloves, preparing to take the field. I saw our quarterback Jason talking to the official in the end zone, then turn and jog off the field towards me. He stopped a few feet ahead of me, walking the last few steps.

“This is for your Dad. And we’re not done yet.”, he said, extending the ball to me.

“Thanks Jason.”, I said, taking the ball.

We kicked off and they started their first drive from their own twenty six yard line. I was already on the line kneeling down when they broke the huddle. As they lined up, I looked into the backfield to see their all-state running back strut around the backfield like a rooster. Now I knew who would be the victim of all of this anger.

The entire game seem to move in slow motion for me. It was like I knew what they were running and where it was going. I ended the night with twelve tackles, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery. We won easily 28-7, their only score coming late in the fourth quarter when most of the seniors were off of the field.

The next few days were really hard, thankfully Ashley handled everything. The funeral was held Thursday morning, it appeared the whole town turned out. In fact I was told that my mother and my grandparents were there, which really surprised me. By end of the day all I wanted to do was be away from people. I know everyone meant well, it was just a very long and sad day.

We arrived back home about three thirty in the afternoon, I undressed and laid down for a while, Ashley did the same. When I got up about six o’clock she was in the kitchen making soup and sandwiches. We ate, cleaned up and watched TV in silence, nothing really needed to be said. I took Friday off from school, I told Coach Mike I would meet the team at two o’clock the next day at school. We were playing out of town so we had about a ninety minute bus ride to their stadium. We were two games away from the State AAAA Championship, a goal that still seemed so far way.

We won our next game in a close hard fought battle, the score was 14-10. Defensively we didn’t play well, we allowed them to convert too many third downs, letting drives continue. In the end we won, but I didn’t play well, most of us didn’t. Coach Mike let us know about it too after the game was over.

I went back to class on Monday, Ashley went back to teaching her class. I pretty much went through the motions that week at school, nothing seem to really matter. We practiced every afternoon getting ready for Friday’s game. A win would insure us of a spot in the State Championship game. Emotions were running high at school, despite what had happened.

We played the next game at home, our record was better overall, giving us the home field edge. Everyone stepped it up a bit, the defense was exceptional, we won easily 21-7. We would play in the State Championship next Saturday night in Midway, a large town 150 miles away. We would play in a college type stadium with an artificial surface, something we had never experienced.

School was absolutely crazy the following week, everyone was riding a very tough emotional year. No team from this town had ever been in a State Championship game, no one had ever gotten even close. The news media showed up at school on Tuesday for an interview with our coaches. After the interview with Coach Mike, one of the reporters asked to speak to me.

“How does it feel to be this close to a State Championship Brian ?”, he asked.

“Good I guess. It still doesn’t seem real, I guess.”, I replied.

“It only seems fitting that after your Dad’s accident, his former school should be here.”, he stated.

“I guess, I dunno. I am sure he is happy.”, I answered.

“You’re being touted as possibly the best defensive player in the State. Any idea’s on where you would like to go to school ?”, he inquired.

“No sir, not at all.”, I replied.

The interview was on TV that night, I basically came off looking like an idiot, at least I thought so. Thursday morning’s paper ran a five page special article on the entire team and what we had been through this year. It listed all the players and their respective resumes. It was really a nice article, until we got to the last page. They had interviewed the coach of the opposing team, Parkview High, a powerhouse school with eleven state championships to their credit. Their coach got extremely personal in his article about me.

{ “You know, there is a difference between a great team and a very good team. Yea, they’re good, but we’re great. Other than the freak they have on defense, they’re a pretty mediocre team. And by the way, that kind of size and strength is not normal, if you know what I mean. I’m just saying….that’s all….. }

I had to read the article three times to let it sink in. In this day and age, it was surprising an opposing coach would give his opponent billboard material to add fuel to the fire. Yep, we were the small school, we were the underdog, but still you never know. As I walked down the hall in school that day, apparently everyone else had read the article as well. I was getting some pretty strange looks from everyone. At the end of fourth period, I was headed to lunch. Courtney caught up to me and we sat together in the corner of the cafeteria.

“Brian, is what they say in the newspaper true ? Have you taken drugs to get this big ?”, she asked quietly.

“Courtney, it’s not worth talking about. All they are trying to do is get in my head. They can say what they want, I will answer them Saturday night.”, I answered.




We took the school bus to the stadium Saturday, we left town about noon, the game was for seven thirty that night. There were close to fifty cars that followed the bus up to the game, it looked like a parade. We arrived at the stadium about three o’clock, we had stopped for a meal on the way. We went out on the field at our allotted four o’clock slot and got our ninety minutes of work in on the artificial surface. I found it to be very fast, I liked it a lot. As we were winding up, the opposing team gathered at the tunnel on the north end to come out. Their head coach walked out and shook hands with Coach Mike. I never took my eye off of him, I stared him down the entire time. We left the field quickly, beginning our pre-game rituals. I was taped up and ready to go an hour and a half before kick off. I just sat quietly in the corner, my eyes closed, waiting for what would be the biggest game of my life thus far. About thirty minutes before kickoff one of our assistant coaches came back in the room and walked over to me.

“Brian, every major college in the region has someone here son. And apparently, they all are here to see you.”, he said as he patted my shoulder.

“Thanks Coach, I hope I don’t let them down.”, I replied.

I couldn’t speak to anyone about a scholarship until after the season was over, but that was almost here. My Dad had warned me that I would probably get an offer or two immediately after the game. He told me we would take it all in, relax then make a smart decision down the road. I had until May 1st to commit, it was still early.

We exited the south tunnel at exactly 7:11 pm Saturday evening, I noticed the clock as we ran out. The stadium was packed, we were greeted with a warm reception. As one of the teams co-captains, I would be allowed to go to mid-field for the coin toss before the game. As the referee explained the ground rules and the coin toss, I looked over at their quarterback. He looked extremely nervous, his eyes darting around. They were known as a wide open passing team, he knew the game depended on his having a good night. We lost the coin flip and had to kickoff. They started from their thirty four yard line.


My opponent for the night was a 6’2”, 260 lb. sophomore left tackle, who according to their coaches would play major college ball. As I lined up across from him for the first play, he looked up at me for the first time. He did not appear to be very confident to me.

They ran a few plays, got a first down and moved the ball out to the fifty yard line. They liked to play action pass on first down, in fact they were pretty predictable. We set a pass rush for first down banking on that, holding our linebackers in case they ran. We were running a cross stunt up front with the tackle stepping over to my man, I was going inside on his. As the ball was snapped I delayed a half count as I was taught. Our defensive tackle slid over on my man, his man slid with him giving me a clean shot to the quarterback. I accelerated through the hole as he stepped up in the pocket. I have never hit anyone that hard in my life. His body collapsed under me, my weight landing on him as I drove him into the turf. I heard “ball, ball , ball”, which meant fumble.