by Bert Carson
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Just before we got to the dressing room door Brent, with Jeff beside him, called out, “Daddy, before you go in the dressing room, come down to the office.”
I followed them down the hallway to the small office next door to the dressing room. As soon as we were inside, Coach Jenkins came straight to the point. “I want both of you to hear this so listen up. Daddy, you are doing everything that can be done. If I thought that taking you out and putting Jeff in would win the game, I would do it. In my gut, I know that isn’t true. You brought us to this game and it’s yours to win or lose.”
He turned to Jeff and said, “Jeff, if you’d been running the team for the last nine weeks, and the three of us were standing here just as we are now, I’d be telling you what I just told Daddy.”
Jeff smiled slightly and said, “Coach as much as I’d like to play, I’ll be the first to agree with you. If you put me in now, about all you can be sure of is it would make matters worse. Today the Grizzlies are Daddy’s team and he is the only one who can run it.”
Brent said, “Good. I just wanted to make sure we were all on the same page. Now you two get in the dressing room, I’ll be there in a minute or two.”
With the offensive and defensive adjustments in place, Coach Jenkins called the locker room to order. “All right, guys, they are tough. We knew they would be. They are ready and we knew they would be. They want to win this game as much as we do. We expected that. We are behind by ten points. We can let that stop us or we can go back out there and win. What’s it going to be?”
Our shout was deafening, “WIN!” Coach Jenkins didn’t have to prompt us to repeat it or shout louder. The call rang out ahead of us as we ran through the tunnel. On the field, the cheerleaders and Flexible were waiting. The cheerleaders running ahead of us, began chanting, “WIN! WIN! WIN!” Quickly the ten thousand Grizzly fans joined in, Flexible barked in time with the chanting.
As the second half began, I stood on one side of Coach Jenkins and Samuelson stood on the other. We watched the CalState kicker try to kick through the end zone but he was short. Steve Powers took the kick at the goal line and returned to the fifty-yard line. Coach Jenkins slapped me on the back and shouted, “This is it, Daddy.”
As we huddled I could sense a change in the team. For the first time all day I felt their confidence and, against all logic, I knew we were going to win. I took the first snap, dropped straight back and saw Wright breaking into the open. It had happened so many times during the season that I knew exactly where he was going to be when the pass arrived. He caught the ball, chest high, at the five-yard line. Without breaking stride, he flashed into the end zone two seconds later. I added the extra point and we kicked to CalState. One minute into the second half, the score was UM 7, Cal State 10.
What began as a great comeback, faltered on our next possession and we had to kick after three unsuccessful tries to move the ball. Like CalState, our defense was up to the task and the game turned into a defensive battle. It stayed that way throughout the rest of the third quarter and well into the fourth.
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“Folks, time is running out for the Grizzlies,” Jim reported. “It looks like they’ll get the ball back one last time with a little less than two minutes left in the game.”
“They’ve got to do something different,” Charlie noted. “Jim, it looks like Coach Jenkins and Daddy have to get the running game working or the passing game is never going to be effective.”
Chapter 25
Coach Jenkins said, “Look, Daddy, this is it. We have eighty yards to cover and a little less than two minutes to do it. They are going to be expecting us to pass, so I want you to open with two quick running plays. If we can make a first down running, it will take a lot of pressure off the passing game.” With that, he sent me onto the field.
The running plays worked, chalking up gains of eight and ten yards. With a first down on our own thirty-eight yard line, I called another run, “Just to keep them on their toes,” I explained in the huddle. This time CalState was quicker to stop the play, but it was still good for five yards.
In the huddle, I said, “Okay, let’s see if we can throw the ball now.” I called for a short down and out pass and completed it to Bobby who was immediately tackled on the fifty-yard line. The play was good for seven yards and another first down. With the clock stopped for the chains to be moved, I called another play. “Look, time is running out so I know they are thinking pass, but they have to be concerned about the run, too. Let’s start the option around right end and instead of passing I’m going to pitch to Powers, if it looks good.”
Denby snapped the ball and he and Hunk pulled back and began to sprint toward the right side ahead of me. I saw the defense was playing pass all the way. I stopped, cocked my arm as if to pass and at the last second I pitched the ball to Powers, who was running full out as he passed behind me with Denby, Hunk and Barron, leading the way for him.
I didn’t see Powers go to the CalState thirty-yard line before he was finally tackled. I didn’t see the end of the play at all because I was smothered by the Cal State nose guard. He had slipped through the line behind Denby and trailed the play all the way, smashing into me a second after I pitched the ball to Powers. Lying under the big lineman, I almost passed out. The pain in my right hand was extreme.
To annoy me even further, the nose guard took his time getting off. Finally, Hunk, returning to check on me, pulled him off my back and threw him to the side. I rolled over, looked up, and saw both Denby and Hunk standing over me, concern was etched on their faces. Denby bent down, “Daddy, are you all right?”
“Call time-out, then help me up,” I managed to gasp. Denby turned to the nearest official, signaled time-out and shouted at the same time, “TIME-OUT!” He need not have bothered. The clock had already stopped on the first-down run. There were sixteen seconds left in the game.
I trotted slowly to the sideline after Hunk lifted me to my feet. The pain in my hand was so severe I knew it was broken. Coach Jenkins, with Samuelson beside him, was waiting at the sideline. Neither of them said anything. They were waiting for me to give my appraisal. “Coach, I know I can kick the field goal. But none of us came this far to go away with a tie. It’s your decision, though. We have thirty yards to go and sixteen seconds to do it in…but, before you decide, there’s something else you need to know.” I took a deep breath to clear the pain from my head. “I broke my hand on that last play and there’s no way I can pass the ball…but if you are willing to let us try, I believe we can run it in.”
For a moment, Brent didn’t say anything. Later he told me that he didn’t say anything because he couldn’t talk. Finally he said, “Daddy, you got us this far, I’m not going to quit listening to you now. Call the play you think will work.”
As I turned back toward the field, I heard Samuelson call out, “You can do it, Daddy.”
The stands were hushed when the referee blew the whistle. In the huddle, every eye was on me. “Listen close, guys. This play is our whole season. We didn’t come here for a tie and we aren’t going to leave with one. We are going to fake a field goal. However, this one will be a little different from any other one we’ve run. This one isn’t in the playbook. It will be a run, not a pass. I can’t pass the ball.” There were shocked looks on every face as I explained, “My hand is broken. It’s no big deal. It just means I have to carry the ball. Sammy, you are going to have to make the fake convincing, Powers, you go right, in front of Denby and Hunk. Denby, you and Hunk are going to have to clear the way for me.”
I caught Hunk’s eye, “Remember, Hunk, make it a big hole, I’m old and I’m slow.” I winked and said, “All right, let’s do it.” They slapped hands, without me joining in, and we broke the huddle.
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“This is it, Charlie. The undefeated season is coming down to one play and it looks like they’ve decided to go for the tie with a field goal,” Jim reported.
“You’re
right, Jim. And even though I’d rather see them leave here with the win, it’s obvious they are playing good percentage football. There is only time for one play and the Grizzlies are thirty yards away from the goal line. That’s iffy for a pass and we know that Daddy can kick the field goal easily from that distance,” Charlie concluded.
Jim picked up the play-by-play call, “The teams are down, Sammy is calling the signal, and Denby’s snap is on the way to…wait, wait, it’s the fake kick. The snap went to Daddy. He’s going to throw. No, No, he’s not going to throw. Oh, my God, he is going to run!”
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The ball smacked into my hands. Even though I took most of the force with my left hand, enough of the shock came through my broken right hand to fill my vision with red. I shook my head, tucked the ball under my right arm, and began sprinting for the right side of the field. Denby and Hunk pulled off the line with the snap of the ball and began moving to the right side, ahead of me. Both of them were looking for opposition to block. Behind me I heard a terrific impact and knew that Porter had taken out my friend, the nose guard.
Bobby, Powers and Sammy had also thrown effective blocks opening the way to the corner for Denby, Hunk and I. We turned the corner without opposition but I could see that was about to change. To let them know exactly where I was, I was talking to Denby and Hunk as we crossed the twenty. A linebacker and the defensive end were closing on us from the center of the field. However, they had made a critical mistake. In their enthusiasm to get to me they were running side by side. Denby shouted to Hunk, “I’ll get both of them, you stay with Daddy.”
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Jim, caught up in the scene playing out on the field, shouted, “Damn, Charlie. You could hear that hit up here.” Remembering that his words were being broadcast on live radio, he quickly returned to a more professional description of the action, “Sorry about that folks. Denby just took out two defensive men with one block. Now Daddy is crossing the fifteen with Hunk still leading him. They are at the ten with only one man between them and the goal line!”
*******
For me, everything had shifted into slow motion, an experience I knew well from flying into and out of hot landing zones in Vietnam. The crowd noise, which I knew was deafening, had faded from my perception. I was running in silence, watching the play develop in slow motion in front of me. Denby took out the two CalState defenders leaving only the safety between Hunk, the goal line and me.
However, the safety was formidable and he had an angle of attack that would stop me short of the goal line if he eluded Hunk. I reached out and put my left hand on Hunk’s shoulder and shouted, “You’ve got to take him out, Hunk. It’s the only way I can get through.”
Hunk left the ground five yards from the last defender and he flew as unerringly as a guided missile. The CalState safety was thrown backward ten yards by the impact. The picture on the front page of the Sunday Missoulian showed the safety flying backwards with Hunk buried in his chest. The caption simply read, “The Block, The Touchdown, The Undefeated Season.”
I crossed the goal line as the horn blew, ending the game. The field instantly filled with the entire Grizzly team and thousands of our fans.
********
I still don’t believe it, Charlie. What a play, what a play! I can’t even talk. I don’t know why they ran, but it was perfect. What a game. What a game!” Jim ranted.
Charlie interrupted him, “Look, Jim, coming out of the end zone. It’s Hunk, and he’s carrying someone. It looks like Daddy. Fans, I don’t know what’s wrong, but Hunk is carrying Daddy in his arms like he was a doll. I see Jimbo and the rest of the trainers headed toward them. Obviously Daddy’s hurt. We don’t know any more than we can see. As soon as we find out what’s going on, we’ll let you know.”
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The fans cleared a way as Hunk, surrounded by the rest of the offensive team, carried me all the way to the dressing room despite my protests. Jimbo walked beside us gently examining my injured right hand.
In the dressing room, he cut the glove off my right hand, took a quick look, and turned to Coach Jenkins standing beside him. “Get the ambulance to the door right now Coach. Daddy, wasn’t kidding, his hand is broken in at least two places.
Chapter 26
“Welcome back, fans, Jim Snow, here once again. What a ball game! What a ball game! I hope my voice holds out long enough to finish this special post game show. It’s a special show for more than one reason. First, our Grizzlies just finished their first undefeated season in fifteen years. That’s special enough, but to add to the occasion, we have Charlie Jamerson standing by in the locker room to talk to Coach Jenkins. I’m afraid everything isn’t good news from there. How about it, Charlie? Can you and Coach Jenkins hear me?”
“We can hear you, Jim,” Charlie said, as he picked up the conversation from the locker room. “If the mikes are picking it up, I think you’ll notice right away there is very little noise here. Certainly not, what you would expect from a team that had just finished an undefeated and untied season and is looking forward to playing for the Division 1 Championship. I have Coach Jenkins here to explain what’s going on. Coach, tell us about it.”
“You’re right about the lack of enthusiasm, Charlie. We wanted an undefeated season and we got it, but it was a costly victory. I don’t know if you and Jim noticed that Daddy was carried off the field at the end of the game.”
“We saw that, Coach, and needless to say, we were concerned, just as all the Grizzly fans are. Is that why there is so little celebrating going on?”
“That’s right, Charlie. Daddy was just taken to the hospital. The doctor says he has two bones broken in his right hand. It happened on the play before we scored the final touchdown. Daddy knew he couldn’t pass, and we made the decision to go for the win even though it meant running the ball thirty yards. I’m sure glad he made it. I would have hated to try to explain that decision if we hadn’t scored.”
Coach Jenkins paused, and then added, “That’s why everyone is so quiet. Daddy brought us all the way this season and now he won’t be able to quarterback the play-offs. The good news is, Jeff is ready to go and he’ll step right in and quarterback the playoffs, but it’s still a shock for all of us right now.”
“Thanks, Coach, and once again, congratulations. There you have it, folks. Daddy won’t be quarterbacking next week when the Grizzlies face Georgia Southern in the quarterfinal playoff game, in Missoula. Coach Jenkins told me earlier that Daddy will be able to kick in the play-offs, but the quarterbacking will be in Jeff Samuelson’s hands. That’s the story from here, Jim.”
Chapter 27
Charles Rice, the team doctor, rode in the ambulance with me to the hospital. On the way he said, “We’ll get x-rays at the hospital. If the breaks are clean, they can put the cast on there. If it’s anything more involved than that we’ll put on a temporary cast and get you back to Missoula for whatever treatment is necessary, if that’s all right with you.”
“That’s fine by me, Doc.”
The breaks were simple and clean. An hour after leaving the field house, I was back, complete with a new, fiberglass cast. The team, all showered and dressed for the trip home was waiting. When I walked into the field house, I received my first ever standing ovation.
Coach Jenkins shook my left hand and Bobby hugged me. Jeff said, “Someday, I hope I’m half the quarterback you are, Daddy.”
I laughed and said, “Jeff, next Saturday you’ll be twice the quarterback I am, wait and see.”
Hunk and Denby offered to go out and get a hamburger and fries for me while I was showering. I thanked them for the offer but said that I’d wait and eat with the team.
On the plane back to Missoula, Flexible sat in my lap. I guess he could sense something wasn’t right and he wanted to keep a close eye on me. As we turned on final approach for Missoula International airport I had a clear view of the airport parking lot. There wasn’t room for another car or truck and vehicles had
overflowed for at least a mile onto the highway into town. Janet, the rest of the cheerleaders and Flexible led the way into the airport. It was packed with fans. We took our time making our way through, talking with everyone that we could.
When we got home, I checked the answering machine and found the message tape was full. The first was from Meg. She said, “Josh, I hope you’re all right. I’ll be arriving at the Red Lion around four Monday afternoon and I’ll see you and Bobby at seven.” The rest of the sixty-minute tape was filled with congratulatory messages from fans and one from Colonel Harrison and all the staff of the flight-training center at FortRucker.
Sunday afternoon a few players, Hunk, Denby, Wright and Samuelson among them, along with Coach Jenkins, showed up for hamburgers. Wright asked about the meeting Monday night and I told him that it would happen as usual and I asked him to make sure that everyone got the word. I added that I expected a guest and that I thought everyone would enjoy that addition. He tried to find out who the guest was but I wouldn’t tell.
Sunday evening I ran an easy five miles to make sure the movement didn’t bother my hand. I was more sore than usual, but I credited that to the three hard hits from the nose guard. I had no difficulty with my hand so I knew that kicking field goals and extra points in the play-offs wouldn’t be an issue.
At Monday’s practice, Jeff resumed his role as starting quarterback. With Sammy and a freshman center, I practiced field goals and extra points for the rest of the afternoon. I was pleased to note the cast didn’t upset my timing. In fact, it had no effect on my kicking.
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At 6:45, the house was beginning to fill up with the Monday meeting crowd. I went outside to wait for Meg. My timing was perfect. She had just stepped onto the porch.