It was week nine and we were getting ready to face our rivals at West Whitaker. Because we hosted the game the previous season, it was their turn to host that year. After the coach made his usual starting announcements, I pulled him to the side and explained my plan to him. Like I said, I had nothing to lose.
In five weeks of practice, Trevor had been constantly working on his defensive skills. He was still struggling, but he had come a long way. His skills were increasing, and his speed and strength continued to increase as well. The coach and I both agreed that I was creating a gap in our opponent’s offensive line by getting double-teamed. The problem was, whoever found the gap seemed to lack the athletic ability needed to get to the ball carrier in time. It made sense to put Trevor somewhere in the defensive line. With his speed, he would be able to find, and get through, the gap. Once in the backfield, he would be able to use his strength to take down whoever had the ball. With any luck, West Whitaker would realize that they couldn’t leave him open as well, and would possibly call off their double team on me. The coach pondered my plan, then a few minutes later, we had a change in the starting defensive line.
During practice the next day, I discussed my plan with the new defensive starter. I explained that his job was to find the gap, get in there as quickly as possible, and tackle the ball carrier as often as possible. Trevor really liked the idea because he would be able to put his hard work during practice to good use. It would be up to him to change our defensive scheme. Selfishly, I also knew it would be up to him to eliminate my double team problem and put my recruiting chances in a better spot.
On Friday, we were introduced at another pep rally in the gym. Students were decked out in their aqua and dark purple colors. The crowd was intense. We were in a position to give the school their first back-to-back undefeated season and were on our way to the playoffs. Quickly, my excitement was replaced by panic. I discovered that it was my job as a captain to talk to the student body on behalf of the team.
Chapter 29
The last home game of the regular season had a mix of emotions. For us seniors, that game would be our last regular season game. We were also the visiting team in a matchup against our rival school and we were clearly not welcomed. We were one game away from an undefeated season. We were also one game away from an intense playoff run. Personally, I was even more emotionally invested because I knew that game would be my last chance to impress the scouts during the regular season, and I would have to rely heavily on my newly formed plan.
Mike and I got the team together one last time before the game started. I reminded them how important the game was, and how hard we worked to get to where we were. Although the Wolves weren’t undefeated, they would surely love being responsible for our only loss. Our team heard the message and continued to build excitement and energy until we all shouted in unison “Go East Whit”
Even though West Whitaker was a 30 minute drive, we still had a big section of fans with us. Even cowbell guy and the adult cheerleader made the trek. With the crowd behind us, and our rival across from us, we were ready for war. During the coin flip, we decided to kick off so that we would have the ball to start the second half. That meant our defense would be on the field first and my new plan would take place right away.
Play began. I was on the left side of the defensive line, while my secret weapon was on the right side. West Whitaker always started their games with a run play, so we were expecting one that time. As the ball was snapped, the tackle and the guard both came at me. I tried hard to fight them off, but realized that they were their strongest linemen. That worked out to our advantage because that meant the tackle guarding Trevor was one of their weakest linemen. That explained why he fell down hard once pushed. With nothing but the ball carrier in front of him, Trevor not only caught the running back, but he hit him so hard that the ball popped out and onto the ground. West Whitaker was not expecting this and thus, not prepared. They were expecting one of our defenders to be in the area, but they weren’t expecting our future all-state offensive tackle to be nose-to-nose with their running back.
They were able to recover the fumble, but they were not able to recover their offensive scheme. With the new twist in the defensive line, they had to either make a quick adjustment, or face that stud defender every time. As was expected, their quick change led to a release of the double team. It was like fixing a hole on a boat with a patch, only to discover another hole and fixing the secondary hole by ripping the initial patch in half. And, just like with a smaller patch on a bigger hole, it wasn’t long before I was able to burst through the offensive line. With two strong defensive ends, we were able to return to the original defensive threat that we had displayed in the first two games of the season.
Selfishly, I wanted to credit our victory to my game plan. Once they had to change their offensive plan of attack, they were never able to recover. I was able to get 4 tackles, while Trevor got 3 of his own. The truth was, however, that with as many points as our offense put on the scoreboard, West Whitaker didn’t stand a chance - no matter what their offensive plan was. That game gave our school its first back-to-back undefeated season in school history, and it put our team in a nice place for the playoffs. For me, that game gave me the confidence that I needed as a player, and gave my recruiting hopes another shot at life.
Chapter 30
I took the momentum from the previous week and used it during our playoff run. The first week of practices during the playoffs felt like a whole new season. Due to my slump, I had not been looking forward to playing our Friday night games during the regular season. Who would, after working so hard all week long to end up with no tackles? But once I saw how effective our new defensive plan was, I had life again. Our new defensive end was relieving the pressure I was facing, which allowed me to feel like I could make a difference. During the practices, I knew I was capable of a great game at the end of the week so I pushed even harder to see it through.
It didn’t take long to see of the effectiveness of the defensive change. For the second week in a row, I was able to play like myself again. Just like last year, we knew we would be facing a soft opponent in the upcoming playoff because the state athletic association typically paired the best records against the worst for the first game. Since we didn’t lose a game all season, we were playing against a team who barely made it to the playoffs. We still played like it was do or die for us, though. I ended up with a personal best 7 tackles for loss in that blowout; 4 of those came from tackling the quarterback. Mike didn’t have quite the game I had, though. The coach wanted to try different plays, and wanted to see how different players handled the pressure of the playoffs, so he used that first game to observe both. Mike managed to break 100 yards, but his only touchdown came from a kickoff return.
During practice in the second round of playoffs, the coach wanted to try something new. We were going to continue working on new plays that we hadn’t used during the regular season. For some of those to work, Mike had to go from running back to receiver. Needless to say, his catching ability was nowhere near his running ability. To make up for that, rather than running all week in practice, the coach had him practice catching. Mike didn’t just play catch with one of the quarterbacks; he had to practice catching the ball while running plays, while running backwards, and even while running with his back to the quarterback. It was ugly to watch at first, but it gradually got better.
Although Mike practiced all week, he wasn’t used to catch the ball at all during the game. I’m pretty sure this had something to do with his lack of talent at catching. His talent at running, however, continued to improve as he scored 3 touchdowns. I didn’t have as many tackles as I did the previous week, but my tackle streak did continue. Trevor was able to add a couple of tackles as our defense kept their entire offense under 100 total yards. That was probably one of the best victories for our defense. Not only did we stop them from scoring, but we also stopped them from gaining much yardage. Whatever we were doing was wor
king and needed to continue.
We weren’t as lucky during the third round of playoffs, as the team we were matched against was able to score 4 touchdowns. We tried our hardest to prepare for that team because we knew they had one of the best quarterbacks in the state, but clearly we weren’t as prepared as we should’ve been. Luckily, their defense wasn’t as good as their offense. That game turned into a shootout, giving a victory to the team that scored last. Because of a great coach with great time management, we were the team that had the ball last.
That win put us into the semi-finals for the second year in a row. The nerves went away, but the excitement did not. We knew what to expect from that game, but we also knew that that game was the only thing between us and the finals. We kept our cool though, and kept our heads in the game. Even when we struggled in the first half, we stuck to our game plan of letting Mike run all over the other team, and using our talented receivers to relieve some of the pressure. We also stuck with our strong defensive line that moved like a college football line. Although we went into the locker room losing at halftime, we continued to play like we had played all year. We knew what we were capable of, and we knew that no team could stop us from scoring the 2 touchdowns we would need to win the game. Surprisingly, both of those touchdowns came from our receivers. Our defense stopped our opponents from scoring during the second half, and Mike’s punt return towards the end of the game sealed the victory for us.
On the way home from that game, there was a lot for the team to be excited about. We had just spent four weeks sticking to our game plan and beating some of the best teams in the state. We were only one of two teams left in the playoffs. A lot of us felt that we played better as a team that year than we had the previous season. Even though we squeaked by on two of those games, we never gave up and played as a solid team. But there was also a lot to be nervous about. The previous year, we made it to the same point. However, that was as far as we got. We faced a team that was bigger, faster, and stronger than us, and they knew our game plan. Unfortunately, we would have to play against that same team again. They were even bigger, even faster, and even stronger than the previous year, and our game plan hadn’t changed much since the last time they saw us. Our players were more talented than the previous year, but would that be enough to beat those guys? The one thing I was really curious about was why Mike was working on catching the ball for an entire month during practice, but never lined up as a receiver during the playoff games. My answer came a few hours later.
Chapter 31
As we got off the bus, the coach again pulled the two of us into his office; this time to talk about the upcoming championship game. The coach felt the same way I did. Although our guys grew, theirs did too. He even watched some of their highlights from previous games that season on the way back from the semi-final game and noticed that they were running the same plays as the previous year; the same plays that sent us home as losers. But we did have one advantage that no one was expecting, not even our own players.
During the playoffs, the coach was trying to come up with a way to secretly change our game plan without telling anyone. He knew that if we tried anything out of the ordinary during the playoff games, the defending state champions would pick up on it and would expect it during the finals. He also didn’t want to spend practice time preparing for the championship game because he wanted our team to concentrate on the playoffs, one game at a time. That meant he only had a few weeks to come up with a new plan and only one week to try it out. He wanted my help as the defensive captain to help with the defense plan, and Mike’s help as an offensive captain to work with the offensive plan. The plans weren’t a major change, but were enough to throw off a team - even a defending state championship team.
Offensively, the other team would be used to Mike as a running back. They knew our offense revolved around him, and shutting him down would shut down our scoring. What they wouldn’t expect was a different running back. While Mike was practicing catching, another running back was taking his place. Rather than being a speedy runner, the new guy was a big bruiser that was hard to take down. The new offense would consist of a running back that the opponent wouldn’t be expecting and a new receiver with quick speed. After having improved on his catching, we knew Mike would be hard to beat; once he caught the ball, no one would catch him.
Defensively, the other team was used to the strength, size, and speed of our defensive ends. They would probably put their big, strong guys opposite from us to defend against us. That would put their weaker guys in the middle of the offensive line. They would also probably plan on running up the middle, through our soft defensive tackles, because that was the weak point of our defensive line. The new plan called for switching our defensive ends with our defensive tackles, putting us across from the quarterback. By the time the offense realized what we were doing, they would have to completely change their play calls, and their assignments, during the game. The state finals was not a game where a coach would want to do that.
We spent the entire week working on the new plan. Not only did everyone master it, they loved it. The new running back felt comfortable because he had practiced for so long as a starter. Mike loved the receiver position because it gave him a new, creative way to score touchdowns. We loved it on the defensive line because we kept the initial plan of tackling the guy with the ball, but it put Trevor and I next to each other and turned us into an immovable force. I personally loved the fact that, for most of the season, I was double teamed and couldn’t get past the line of scrimmage. That week in practice, I was the one doing the double teaming, and was able to get past the line of scrimmage every time. I was starting to feel bad for our quarterback getting hit so often.
Just like with the previous year, the entire town of East Whitaker was proud of us. They hung school flags on most of their businesses, and most of the streets were decorated with our school colors. Even though we had already been there once, we were still representing the county on the state’s biggest stage. The town was ready to support us, win or lose, and was proud at the fact that we were in the finals for the second year in a row; a feat that had never been accomplished at East Whitaker. We had higher expectations than the citizens of East Whitaker, though. They didn’t know about our team’s secret. We felt that with our new game plan, we would be coming home winners, and we would be bringing back with us the State of Michigan Football Championship Trophy; a trophy that has never crossed the Becker County line before.
Chapter 32
What a difference a year made. The previous season, we were excited just to make it to the state finals. We were overwhelmed by the fact that we were playing where the Michigan Knights played their games, and had access to a professional football locker room. We were overwhelmed by our opponent and how big they were. One year later, we felt like we were at home. That year, we were there, not just to play in the game, but to win the game. We already knew who are opponent was, and watching them run onto the field filled us with hatred rather than fear. We knew we had something that they didn’t have. We knew that our secret weapon was the only chance we had to win.
It was almost humorous watching them on defense. Their defensive line saw a much bigger running back than they expected, but no doubt felt relief when they didn’t see one of the state’s best running backs behind our offensive line. As they were enjoying what appeared to be an easy day at the line of scrimmage, the defender covering one of our newest receivers started panicking. He began waving his hands in the air and asked for immediate help. Due to his reaction, two other defenders came rushing over and began preparing for a foot chase once they recognized who they would be defending. With 11 total players on defense, putting three of them on one of our players obviously left one of our players open. That one player ran out about 40 yards and wasn’t noticed until after he caught the ball and ran it in for an East Whitaker touchdown.
It was even more fun when we were on defense. That’s because what we couldn’t hear from the s
idelines, we could hear on the line of scrimmage. The center, as well as the two guards on either side of him, swore. They knew what we were capable of, and yet never saw it coming. Once the ball was snapped, the only thing they saw was the roof of the stadium as they were all lying on their backs. We didn’t get to the quarterback in time, but we sure got to their coach. There wasn’t anything he could do other than instruct his quarterback to get rid of the ball quicker.
When we got the ball back a second time, their defense was more prepared for our new receiver, Mike. They knew he had speed, and was a danger on the ground. What they didn’t know was how good of a catcher he was. He ran out about 20 yards, then made a sudden cut across the field. The cut was so sharp that he lost his defender. As he ran across the field, the quarterback threw the ball in front of him. Once he grabbed it, he never let go and gave us our second score.
Their second offensive drive led to a touchdown once they were able to regroup and create a drive full of fast moving plays. Even though they were able to score a couple more times, their defense was unable to stop Mike, our new offensive weapon. That took us into the locker room with a small lead at halftime. Once in the locker room, our coach dropped yet another surprise on us. He figured that at halftime, the other team would use the 20 minute break to adapt to our changes. That would’ve been plenty of time for a defending champion to reconfigure their team, which could’ve cost us the game. For that reason, the coach wanted us to go back to our original game plan that we had ran all season.
As expected, it worked. When they had the ball, they came up with the solution of putting their strongest guys in the middle of the offensive line in preparation for us. That put their weaker guys on the outside of the offensive line. That also gave us a cleaner path to the quarterback. Within seconds, the quarterback also got to see the roof of the stadium.
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