Chapter 650: Overtime Approaches
Lu Ke's eyes were fixed on the mighty football flying through the air. He didn't dare to relax. The feeling on his fingertips, the effect of the enhancement aura, and his single-minded determination—all of it converged into an unstoppable force that cut through the sky.
Then, Logan appeared at the football's landing spot. In a makeshift pocket, he easily cradled the football. The next moment, the referee followed closely, confirming the legality of the catch from different angles, and after confirming that there was no flag, he raised his hands high, signaling a touchdown.
Instantly, Lu Ke also raised his hands high, jumping wildly, looking at the end zone and the referee's touchdown signal in disbelief. Then he shouted with abandon, "Touchdown! Touchdown! It's a touchdown! Touchdown!"
He did it. He really did it. A sixty-five-yard Hail Mary. He succeeded.
In the moments before he threw the ball, he didn't dare to think, for fear that even a small thought could take root and become a seed of self-doubt, affecting his throwing motion. Otherwise, even with a perfect long-pass accuracy, it wouldn't have worked. Even with the Enhancement Aura, it wouldn't have come together.
When the Hail Mary truly succeeded, a surge of ecstasy instantly swept over him, like a monstrous wave crashing down, swallowing him whole. All his emotions were released.
Lu Ke stood there with his hands raised high, letting it all out: He did it!
Logan, who was on the ground, was surrounded by a crowd, but he knew the football was firmly in his arms. After adjusting his posture, he stood up again. Then Logan pushed through the crowd, pushing away his teammates who were trying to celebrate with him, and in a sea of red, he found his target.
Number fourteen.
Logan ran toward him, and the two of them collided fiercely. Then Logan held Lu Ke's helmet and patted it hard. "We did it! My God, we did it! Can you believe it? We really did it! Hail Mary! God, it's really a Hail Mary!"
"You! You! You are the man!" Lu Ke roared wildly, his voice almost hoarse. His whole body began to tremble. That shiver, from the soles of his feet all the way to his head, was endless and unstoppable!
"Bambi! Bambi! We really did it!" Logan didn't even realize that he was in tears.
Even for them, facing a Hail Mary, and a sixty-five-yard Hail Mary at that, a record for the league, they had their doubts deep down. But it was Lu Ke, the Lu Ke who never gave up and refused to surrender, who once again conveyed his unwavering belief, turning the impossible into the possible, and making the miraculous happen!
"It was you! Bambi! It was you!" Logan just roared in a daze.
Then, all the offensive players rushed over, surrounding Logan and Lu Ke, shouting and roaring with emotion. But their cheers were so small and insignificant in the monstrous wave of Candlestick Park, like an ant standing in front of a giant.
"Ahhh!"
Ryan Baldwin suddenly straightened his arms, stretching his body to the limit, and shouted wildly. As he shouted, he began to cry, wailing uncontrollably. Hot tears flowed down his cheeks, but the explosive joy still burst forth endlessly. He could only shout, shouting with abandon:
"Ahhh!"
For this moment, they had truly waited for too long. The resilience and determination to refuse to surrender in a desperate situation, the fierceness and tenacity to burst forth with adrenaline on the edge of a cliff—that powerful spirit, like a sword unsheathed, swept across the sky. The entire world couldn't help but fall to its knees, trembling and completely surrendering.
Ryan's entire body began to tremble slightly. He was sobbing and almost out of breath, yet he still shouted loudly, "Ah! Ahhh! We are the 49ers! We are warriors! We are the 49ers! We are warriors!" He just repeated the roars over and over again. His hoarse throat couldn't make a sound anymore, but he didn't care because his soul was still roaring wildly.
Jonathan Baldwin tried to calm his brother down and not get too excited, but he stood there, helpless. His hands were trembling violently. His heart, like the fireworks on the Fourth of July, exploded. Ecstasy and happiness rushed to his mind, and his brain was instantly blank. He was just releasing, just releasing it.
From the start of the season, when they were on edge, to the setbacks in the middle of the season, and then to the resurrection at the end of the season, this season was truly too perfect, too good to be true. A Hail Mary once again showed the entire league the soul of the 49ers! That weather-beaten, stumbling, but never-compromising soul!
So, Jonathan also gave up on trying to stop him. He just raised his arms and cheered, "We are the 49ers! We are warriors!" Over and over again, one roar after another, as if his entire soul was on fire.
At this moment, no one was an exception, and no one could be. That pure joy and madness swept over them, completely destroying all the rational dams in their minds. They just roared with abandon. The endless adrenaline that burst forth turned their bodies into a fireworks show at night, exploding wildly. It was so crazy that their blood began to burn.
No one was an exception.
Candlestick Park once again greeted a deafening roar. Seventy thousand spectators collectively jumped and roared. That surging, mighty power was shaking the entire Bay Area, arousing the passion of all the fans on this land of San Francisco. With Candlestick Park as the center, it spread out in a mighty wave.
San Francisco went crazy, the Bay Area went crazy, and the entire West Coast went crazy. The unbelievable shouts and jumps were ferociously shaking the sky and the sea! Finally, like a wildfire, it instantly ignited the entire North American continent, spreading endlessly with a deafening momentum.
Compared to the dull and oppressive AFC Championship, the NFC Championship, with its continuous twists and turns and brilliant plays, truly ignited the passion of all the spectators and pushed the 2011 NFL playoffs to an unbelievable climax! It was as if this wasn't the NFC Championship but the Super Bowl.
Listen, the whole world is shouting—
"We are the 49ers! We are warriors!"
"We are the 49ers! We are warriors!"
"We are the 49ers! We are warriors!"
The overwhelming cheers and roars were like a thunderbolt! At this moment, everyone was a 49er!
On the field, the New York Giants' defensive players were all stunned. They stood there, at a loss, as if they had no idea how it happened. Then, the touchdown was already completed. They had already grabbed the opponent by the throat. They had already pushed the opponent to the edge of the cliff, hadn't they?
But how did a sixty-five-yard Hail Mary get completed?
On the sidelines, the San Francisco 49ers' coaching staff, defense, special teams, and all the staff were completely insane. They were jumping, shouting, and roaring. Even the VIP box was boiling over. Everyone couldn't help but get out of their chairs and start cheering with their arms raised.
A sliver of hope, it was truly just a sliver of hope, but they seized it!
The celebration only lasted for a moment. Lu Ke led the offense off the field because they had only scored a touchdown, which was worth six points. The score on the scoreboard was "23-24." There was still a one-point difference from the extra point. Now, all the pressure was on David Akers' shoulders.
When he got to the sideline, Lu Ke raised his right hand and high-fived Akers, a big smile on his face. "Overtime, maybe?"
Akers immediately understood. Without saying much, he just nodded heavily and then led the special teams onto the field. In today's game, Akers had missed a sure-fire field goal. It was an accident that no one wanted to happen. Now, it was time for Akers to redeem himself.
Scott Tolzien felt that his palms were full of sweat. He wiped them again and again, but they were still wet. The situation was different this time. If he kicked the extra point in, it would be overtime. If he missed it, they would lose the game. And this extra point was for a spot in the Super Bowl.
As the holder, Scott felt like he was suffocating.
Akers, however, was calmly getting ready for the extra-point kick, as if it was just a normal extra point. This made Scott swallow hard. He wanted to say something, but he couldn't. He turned his head and saw Lu Ke standing on the sideline, holding his helmet, watching the field intently.
Scott took a deep breath, and then another deep breath.
Compared to Lu Ke's game-changing play, his job was not at all tense or exciting, but for the team, it was just as important. Maybe he couldn't stand on the field as a quarterback, but he could play his role on the special teams as a backup quarterback.
There were two seconds left in the game.
The snap, the catch, the hold, the run-up...
"Beep!" The New York Giants used their last timeout. Now they had no other choice. It was their last timeout, and they had nothing to lose. They would try to disrupt Akers' run-up rhythm and hope for a miracle. It was very rare for an extra point to be missed today, but it didn't mean it couldn't happen.
There were still two seconds left in the game.
The snap, the catch, the hold; the run-up, the kick, the contact with the ball.
With everyone watching, the football drew a beautiful arc and flew straight through the goalposts. Then, the two goalpost referees raised their hands at the same time, signaling that the extra-point kick was successful.
There was no suspense. Even with the interruption, there was no suspense. David Akers held up under pressure at the crucial moment and kicked the extra point in. The game ended with a score of "24-24," which meant the game would go into overtime.
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