Coach George thought about it for a second and then nodded at Mike's suggestion. He figured they'd give the dive play tactic a shot first—if it didn't work, they could always switch things up later.
The timeout ended, and both teams lined up at the five-yard line in Austin's end zone.
Next up was Melford's chance for a two-point conversion.
As the teams got into formation, Tucker stared across at Mike, who was now under center as quarterback, and trash-talked him: "Last time was just me slipping up, letting you cheap-shot me. You pissed me off with that sneaky crap. Pretty soon, you're gonna find out what real brutality looks like."
Clearly, Tucker was still salty about getting shoved to the ground by Mike during their earlier scuffle.
Now that Mike was the quarterback, they were lined up directly against each other.
Tucker wanted payback—he planned to hit Mike the same way he'd taken out Captain Aaron before.
Mike didn't bother responding to the taunt. Funny enough, what Tucker said was exactly what Mike wanted to say right back to him.
They'd already got beef with each other. No point in talking more— they'd settle it on the field.
Beep—
The whistle blew for the two-point try. Mike didn't dodge Tucker coming at him. Instead, he tucked the football and charged straight ahead.
The quarterback's the heart of the team, so everyone keeps an eye on him and moves with him.
That's exactly what happened here. Without Mike saying a word, his teammates read his mind and started blocking to clear lanes for him.
It gave Mike a clean one-on-one shot at the defensive end.
Boom!
With a massive collision, Tucker hit the ground again—no surprise there.
This matchup was straight-up brutal. Mike was just overpowering him with his freakish strength.
As Tucker stared up in shock, Mike strolled right past him with the ball still tucked tight.
Five yards is only a few steps. With his teammates screening, Mike swaggered into the end zone like he owned it.
The score flipped to 15-16. For the first time in the game, Melford football took the lead.
Standing in the opponent's end zone, Mike raised the football high and yelled, "Melford!"
His teammates, already pumped to celebrate, roared back, "Must win!"
"Melford!"
"Must win!!"
...
After firing everyone up, Mike dropped the ball and jogged with the team back toward midfield.
As he passed Tucker, who was still sprawled on the ground, Mike glanced down with a smirk and said lightly, "Tank? Heh."
The mocking laugh wasn't too loud—just enough for everyone nearby to hear.
It was like slapping Tucker right across the face.
Helped up by his teammates, Tucker glared at Mike's back, his eyes burning with rage.
Beep— Beep—
Once both teams were set at midfield, the ref blew the whistle twice.
The first was for Austin's offense. The second signaled the end of the first quarter.
This game was intense as hell. In just twelve minutes, the teams had traded four high-quality scoring drives.
For a powerhouse like Austin, that was expected. But Melford, coming from a small town, matching them blow for blow on offense? A lot of fans in the stands hadn't seen that coming.
Right then, a bunch of spectators gave the Melford squad a huge round of applause as they headed to the sideline for the break.
Back in the huddle area, Mike was surprised to spot a familiar face.
Aaron, his arm in a sling, sat next to Coach George with a smile on his face.
"Mike, you're killing it out there. I saw that drive you orchestrated. Man, if I'd known you were this good, I'd have handed over the quarterback spot a long time ago," Captain Aaron joked, trying to keep things light.
You could tell he'd gotten his head straight—he wasn't letting anyone see him down anymore.
"You're giving me too much credit, Captain," Mike said with a grin. "That drive wasn't me calling the shots..."
He was telling the truth. In those last two plays, Mike hadn't barked orders. It was all team chemistry.
Morale's one of those invisible things—you can't see it or touch it.
Compared to Aaron's steady, all-around nice-guy style, Mike led more by doing. He showed the way with his actions.
And for a tough matchup like this where they were clear underdogs, the Melford guys needed a hard-nosed leader right now.
So yeah, Aaron wasn't totally wrong.
Seeing the fire in his teammates' eyes that hadn't been there before, Aaron just nodded quietly and didn't say more.
"Mike, Aaron and I talked it over. From here on out, we're putting you in charge and sticking with the run-heavy attack," Coach George said during the break, locking in the game plan.
Then he added, "But keep this in mind—the Melford team is a unit. When it counts, I need you to trust your teammates."
(No typos in this version! First release of the chapter.)
Coach George had noticed early on that Mike played kinda "lone wolf." That wasn't bad by itself, but a good quarterback has to think bigger picture.
Learning to lean on the team is part of the job too.
"Got it, Coach," Mike said thoughtfully, nodding.
...
The two-minute break flew by. When they took the field again, Mike gathered the guys and laid out his plan.
Basically: ease up on defense to save energy for offense.
It was extreme. Bold as hell.
"Everybody clear?" Mike asked loudly after explaining.
The team looked at each other, then back at him, and shouted, "Clear!!"
The Melford players knew they were outmatched overall. Getting worn down trying to match Austin on both sides would kill them. Might as well roll the dice on Mike's crazy idea.
"Awesome," Mike said with a satisfied nod. Then he motioned for everyone to stack hands.
"One, two, three—"
"Let's go!!!"
...
Second quarter kicked off. On Austin's first drive, their quarterback barely got touched and jogged into the end zone.
Easy six points. Austin High was back on top.
Fans who'd expected an even wilder quarter started booing when they saw Melford basically laying off on defense.
"What the heck?" Coach George muttered on the sideline, totally confused. He was about to call timeout to figure out what was going on with Mike—had the kid lost his mind?
Sure, Melford was the underdog, but you don't play like this.
Giving up in the second quarter? It felt embarrassing.
"Hold on, Coach. Mike might have something in mind. Give 'em a little more time..." Aaron stopped him from signaling timeout.
The quarter had just started—burning a timeout now would be a bad look. Coach George lowered his arm, but his stare at the field got heavier.
He was already second-guessing putting Mike at quarterback.
On the other side, Aaron frowned too. He wanted to trust Mike, but right now, he had no clue what the guy was trying to pull.