War of the Roses: Redux Edition
-
Captain Canada
- Posts: 2215
- Joined: 01 Dec 2018, 00:15
War of the Roses: Redux Edition
The long-awaited comeback. I fucked with it. Let's not wait months for more pls.
War of the Roses: Redux Edition
solo beers on a recliner on the roof sounds pretty good, shoulda done that with a few of my friday nights back in the day
War of the Roses: Redux Edition
Only Frowned Upon
Caesar jogged down the stairs, fresh out of the shower after his workout session. DeMarcus had been getting on him for skipping a few too many over the last handful of weeks and added in some extra to make up for those. He wouldn’t say if he got his marching orders from Deion, but Caesar knew his father a little too well to think otherwise.
Almost as if the thought of him caused him to appear, Deion walked through the front door with one of his assistants.
“I told you a week ago that wasn’t good enough. South Bend isn’t exactly a marketing mecca. You’re going to have to do better than twenty-five if you want the commit.” Deion looked at his son and stopped him with a hand on his shoulder before shooing his assistant back out of the door and closing it. “At least thirty. As a starting point. Yep. Talk later.”
Caesar waited as his father hung up the phone.
“The early signing period is in a few weeks. Where are you committing?”
Caesar shrugged. “I don’t know yet. No one has really caught my eye. Alabama, maybe? They’re on the way back up.”
“No.”
“What’s wrong with Alabama?”
“You’re not going to Alabama. LSU’s in your top three.”
“I wasn’t really feeling LSU when I went there. Great program and all, but I just don’t think I fit what they’re trying to d—”
“LSU’s in your top three. Put it on social media. Everywhere.”
Caesar had heard that tone enough times to know there was no room for debate. He nodded slowly. “Alright, LSU’s in my top three. Who are the other two, though? I was kinda thinking Miami. Another Jenkins in the ACC after grandpa tore it up at Wake? Maybe TCU. Ron’s there so I know who will be throwing me the ball for at least a couple years.”
His father pulled one of his phones out of his pocket and swiped his finger across the screen. His eyes scanned the screen, but he didn’t speak.
Caesar waited.
Just as it was starting to get awkward, Deion looked back up from his phone.
“You can put Miami on there, but not TCU. USC. That’s your top three. LSU, Miami, USC, and in that order. Get someone to make some graphics for you. Do the whole nine.”
“Yeah, but I’m not actually sure what my top three is. I don’t really think I’m going to make a decision by the early signing period. No one was really recruiting me until… well, you know.” Caesar scratched at the back of his neck. “You don’t think it will throw the other schools off?”
Deion exhaled heavily. “Sometimes I think you pay your teachers for your grades because about you’re dumb as a box of rocks. I’m clearly telling you to do this for a reason. I don’t give a fuck where you go to school as long as it’s not Oklahoma State. I’m working on something for you that would be easier to pull off if you put out in the world that those schools are in your top three. And, no, you aren’t committing during the early period. You’re committing in February.”
“Working on something? What do you need me to do other than that?”
“What I tell you to do when I tell you to do it.”
Deion opened the door and beckoned for his assistant who followed him to his office at the back of the house.
Caesar still had more questions, but it didn’t seem that any answers were going to be given so he was just going to have to follow his marching orders. His phone chirped a few times in quick session before it started ringing for an incoming video call.
He sat down at the dining room table to take the call. Kaley’s face popped up on the screen.
“Notice anything different about me?” she asked.
“I feel like this is a trick question. It hasn’t even been a whole day since the last time we talked, but I know if I say no then I’m not getting any this weekend.”
She leaned back and gestured at her shirt – a Tulane shirt.
Caesar shrugged. “You have like fifteen Tulane shirts, because you’re daring to be different to everyone else here who wears all kinds of LSU shit.”
“This one is new. It came in the mail today. Hold on.” She reached for her laptop and pointed the phone at the screen where there was an acceptance email from Tulane. “I got in!”
“Oh, shit. Congrats. Even though you should’ve known that they were going to accept you. We’ll celebrate when you come down here.”
“I’m so excited! I can’t wait! I have to go tell everyone else. You were the first one I called. I’m going to talk to you later.”
They exchanged goodbyes and he hung up the phone. He took a moment to scroll through his social media pages since his phone was in his hand. After a few minutes, Kaley posted that she was headed to Tulane…
… and then the deluge of tagged replies asking if he was going there with her followed.
Sighing, Caesar started working on his “announcement” of his top three.
Devin, Hasan, Kenyatta, Freddie and Noah sat around a couple of picnic tables in a park near the school. The schizophrenic Louisiana fall was having one of its random cold days and they all huddled over fast food they’d picked up on the way, for both sustenance and a little bit of warmth.
“You know what would fucking suck?” Kenyatta asked the group. “If we didn’t go undefeated because we lost to H.L. for homecoming. I think I’d have to hang them up after that.”
Hasan stopped eating the fries in a cart on his lap and looked up. “We lost already this season, you dumb motherfucker. Do you not remember goin’ all the way to Shreveport to get beat on by Euless?”
“I remember that shit. Ain’t never going to be able to forget it,” Noah said, scratching at inner thigh and grimacing.
“I get his point. That’s not going to keep us out of number one seed in the playoffs so you might as well say that we’re undefeated,” Freddie said.
“Nigga, you don’t even play,” Hasan said, laughing. “You ain’t undefeated, defeated, redefeated, nondefeated. None of it.”
“I don’t even care about that anymore. I got a track scholarship to Jackson State. Y’all can carry y’all ass to college and get broken up letting them make money off y’all black asses. I’m going to be able to remember how to wipe my ass when I’m done and I’m going to have an education,” Freddie shot back.
“Hasn’t even gotten to the bitch yet and already turning into Brother Freddie X who crossed over at an HBCU.”
Devin shook his head and finished chewing a bite of his burger before speaking. “I haven’t even been able to think about losing or playoffs or anything of that. It’s crazy that we’re only a handful of games from high school ball being over.”
“All of us here still going to be playing,” Noah said. “Not like them dudes who going to have to hang up their cleats after the end of the season.”
“It’s not serious now, though. It wasn’t too long ago that we were lucky to win two or three games and now we’re talking about finishing a season with one loss? I doubt it’s very fun to be on a Division I squad that only wins two games a season.”
Hasan looked over his shoulder. “That’s why I’m goin’ to fuckin’ LSU. I ain’t tryin’ to go somewhere on some ‘just put me in, coach’ bullshit.”
“I think that’s the point he’s making,” Kenyatta said. “People lose their jobs if the team is trash when it comes to college football. No one firing McCoy if he goes 0-10 next season.”
“Oh. Yeah, yeah, yeah.”
“I’ll deny it if you motherfuckers repeat it, but that’s why I’m lowkey happy Danny ended up starting.” Freddie adjusted his letterman’s jacket. “Been on the team for three years, played a little here and there, but I never really had to take shit serious serious, and there were just too few quarterbacks that they didn’t want to put me at another position. Lived the high school athlete life without the hard parts.”
“Just say you didn’t want to get hit because you’re a pussy and go,” Noah said, drawing laughter from Hasan and Kenyatta.
“Anyway,” Devin said. “I think what I’m trying to say is that we shouldn’t even be worrying about winning or losing. The ride’s almost over. We might as well just enjoy it as best we can until it’s over and we all move on to wherever we’re going next.”
“McCoy would have you running stadiums if you heard you say that. Football to coach begins and ends with winning. Period,” Kenyatta said.
“Havin’ a different opinion isn’t against his rules. It’s just frowned on,” Hasan said, laughing.
“Fuck all that, though. Where the bitches gon’ be at Saturday?” Noah asked.
“Weren’t you just talking about how that random chick in Shreveport gave you something?” Freddie asked.
“I ain’t got shit.”
“Shit but that burn.”
Devin stayed out of the conversation about Noah’s health. Instead sitting back and just taking in the park that they were sitting in. It wasn’t the nicest neighborhood park, and it wasn’t the worst. It made him wonder if whatever college he ended up at would be surrounded with similar parks or if it would be out in the middle of nowhere.
However, that was a decision that he would be making in a few weeks and not a day before and until then he would take his own advice and just enjoy the ride of his last year in high school.
Caesar jogged down the stairs, fresh out of the shower after his workout session. DeMarcus had been getting on him for skipping a few too many over the last handful of weeks and added in some extra to make up for those. He wouldn’t say if he got his marching orders from Deion, but Caesar knew his father a little too well to think otherwise.
Almost as if the thought of him caused him to appear, Deion walked through the front door with one of his assistants.
“I told you a week ago that wasn’t good enough. South Bend isn’t exactly a marketing mecca. You’re going to have to do better than twenty-five if you want the commit.” Deion looked at his son and stopped him with a hand on his shoulder before shooing his assistant back out of the door and closing it. “At least thirty. As a starting point. Yep. Talk later.”
Caesar waited as his father hung up the phone.
“The early signing period is in a few weeks. Where are you committing?”
Caesar shrugged. “I don’t know yet. No one has really caught my eye. Alabama, maybe? They’re on the way back up.”
“No.”
“What’s wrong with Alabama?”
“You’re not going to Alabama. LSU’s in your top three.”
“I wasn’t really feeling LSU when I went there. Great program and all, but I just don’t think I fit what they’re trying to d—”
“LSU’s in your top three. Put it on social media. Everywhere.”
Caesar had heard that tone enough times to know there was no room for debate. He nodded slowly. “Alright, LSU’s in my top three. Who are the other two, though? I was kinda thinking Miami. Another Jenkins in the ACC after grandpa tore it up at Wake? Maybe TCU. Ron’s there so I know who will be throwing me the ball for at least a couple years.”
His father pulled one of his phones out of his pocket and swiped his finger across the screen. His eyes scanned the screen, but he didn’t speak.
Caesar waited.
Just as it was starting to get awkward, Deion looked back up from his phone.
“You can put Miami on there, but not TCU. USC. That’s your top three. LSU, Miami, USC, and in that order. Get someone to make some graphics for you. Do the whole nine.”
“Yeah, but I’m not actually sure what my top three is. I don’t really think I’m going to make a decision by the early signing period. No one was really recruiting me until… well, you know.” Caesar scratched at the back of his neck. “You don’t think it will throw the other schools off?”
Deion exhaled heavily. “Sometimes I think you pay your teachers for your grades because about you’re dumb as a box of rocks. I’m clearly telling you to do this for a reason. I don’t give a fuck where you go to school as long as it’s not Oklahoma State. I’m working on something for you that would be easier to pull off if you put out in the world that those schools are in your top three. And, no, you aren’t committing during the early period. You’re committing in February.”
“Working on something? What do you need me to do other than that?”
“What I tell you to do when I tell you to do it.”
Deion opened the door and beckoned for his assistant who followed him to his office at the back of the house.
Caesar still had more questions, but it didn’t seem that any answers were going to be given so he was just going to have to follow his marching orders. His phone chirped a few times in quick session before it started ringing for an incoming video call.
He sat down at the dining room table to take the call. Kaley’s face popped up on the screen.
“Notice anything different about me?” she asked.
“I feel like this is a trick question. It hasn’t even been a whole day since the last time we talked, but I know if I say no then I’m not getting any this weekend.”
She leaned back and gestured at her shirt – a Tulane shirt.
Caesar shrugged. “You have like fifteen Tulane shirts, because you’re daring to be different to everyone else here who wears all kinds of LSU shit.”
“This one is new. It came in the mail today. Hold on.” She reached for her laptop and pointed the phone at the screen where there was an acceptance email from Tulane. “I got in!”
“Oh, shit. Congrats. Even though you should’ve known that they were going to accept you. We’ll celebrate when you come down here.”
“I’m so excited! I can’t wait! I have to go tell everyone else. You were the first one I called. I’m going to talk to you later.”
They exchanged goodbyes and he hung up the phone. He took a moment to scroll through his social media pages since his phone was in his hand. After a few minutes, Kaley posted that she was headed to Tulane…
… and then the deluge of tagged replies asking if he was going there with her followed.
Sighing, Caesar started working on his “announcement” of his top three.
-*****-
Devin, Hasan, Kenyatta, Freddie and Noah sat around a couple of picnic tables in a park near the school. The schizophrenic Louisiana fall was having one of its random cold days and they all huddled over fast food they’d picked up on the way, for both sustenance and a little bit of warmth.
“You know what would fucking suck?” Kenyatta asked the group. “If we didn’t go undefeated because we lost to H.L. for homecoming. I think I’d have to hang them up after that.”
Hasan stopped eating the fries in a cart on his lap and looked up. “We lost already this season, you dumb motherfucker. Do you not remember goin’ all the way to Shreveport to get beat on by Euless?”
“I remember that shit. Ain’t never going to be able to forget it,” Noah said, scratching at inner thigh and grimacing.
“I get his point. That’s not going to keep us out of number one seed in the playoffs so you might as well say that we’re undefeated,” Freddie said.
“Nigga, you don’t even play,” Hasan said, laughing. “You ain’t undefeated, defeated, redefeated, nondefeated. None of it.”
“I don’t even care about that anymore. I got a track scholarship to Jackson State. Y’all can carry y’all ass to college and get broken up letting them make money off y’all black asses. I’m going to be able to remember how to wipe my ass when I’m done and I’m going to have an education,” Freddie shot back.
“Hasn’t even gotten to the bitch yet and already turning into Brother Freddie X who crossed over at an HBCU.”
Devin shook his head and finished chewing a bite of his burger before speaking. “I haven’t even been able to think about losing or playoffs or anything of that. It’s crazy that we’re only a handful of games from high school ball being over.”
“All of us here still going to be playing,” Noah said. “Not like them dudes who going to have to hang up their cleats after the end of the season.”
“It’s not serious now, though. It wasn’t too long ago that we were lucky to win two or three games and now we’re talking about finishing a season with one loss? I doubt it’s very fun to be on a Division I squad that only wins two games a season.”
Hasan looked over his shoulder. “That’s why I’m goin’ to fuckin’ LSU. I ain’t tryin’ to go somewhere on some ‘just put me in, coach’ bullshit.”
“I think that’s the point he’s making,” Kenyatta said. “People lose their jobs if the team is trash when it comes to college football. No one firing McCoy if he goes 0-10 next season.”
“Oh. Yeah, yeah, yeah.”
“I’ll deny it if you motherfuckers repeat it, but that’s why I’m lowkey happy Danny ended up starting.” Freddie adjusted his letterman’s jacket. “Been on the team for three years, played a little here and there, but I never really had to take shit serious serious, and there were just too few quarterbacks that they didn’t want to put me at another position. Lived the high school athlete life without the hard parts.”
“Just say you didn’t want to get hit because you’re a pussy and go,” Noah said, drawing laughter from Hasan and Kenyatta.
“Anyway,” Devin said. “I think what I’m trying to say is that we shouldn’t even be worrying about winning or losing. The ride’s almost over. We might as well just enjoy it as best we can until it’s over and we all move on to wherever we’re going next.”
“McCoy would have you running stadiums if you heard you say that. Football to coach begins and ends with winning. Period,” Kenyatta said.
“Havin’ a different opinion isn’t against his rules. It’s just frowned on,” Hasan said, laughing.
“Fuck all that, though. Where the bitches gon’ be at Saturday?” Noah asked.
“Weren’t you just talking about how that random chick in Shreveport gave you something?” Freddie asked.
“I ain’t got shit.”
“Shit but that burn.”
Devin stayed out of the conversation about Noah’s health. Instead sitting back and just taking in the park that they were sitting in. It wasn’t the nicest neighborhood park, and it wasn’t the worst. It made him wonder if whatever college he ended up at would be surrounded with similar parks or if it would be out in the middle of nowhere.
However, that was a decision that he would be making in a few weeks and not a day before and until then he would take his own advice and just enjoy the ride of his last year in high school.
-
Captain Canada
- Posts: 2215
- Joined: 01 Dec 2018, 00:15
War of the Roses: Redux Edition
We back and better than ever. Continue to feed this, pls.
War of the Roses: Redux Edition
Nothing’s Changed
Devin shifted the ice pack on his knee as he watched his favorite TV series for the umpteenth time. Practice had been brutal with Coach McCoy looking to keep everyone on their toes for the final game of the season at the end of the week, and Devin paid the price for going a bit too hard with a sore knee. Fortunately, it was nothing too serious.
He heard the front door open and looked over his shoulder expecting to see one of his parents walking into the house, but instead it was his grandfather – who shuffled slower and slower by the day as if he was aging faster than everyone else in their 70s.
“You didn’t answer my texts,” Devin, Jr. said. His voice was gruff and strained, almost as if he was out of breath.
The old man shuffled around the furniture and fell back into a recliner, letting his cane fall to the floor forgotten.
Devin picked up his cellphone and noticed that he did have a lot of unanswered texts and calls from his grandfather, recruiters and his friends. He held it up as an apology even though he’d purposely ignored all of them. “Sorry about that. I forgot to check my phone after practice.”
“Well, I’ve been talking to a couple coaches and what not for you and I need to talk to you about that.”
“What coaches have you been talking to that I haven’t talked to?”
“I was under the impression that I was still the one facilitating all of your recruitment. Or have you decided to pull a fast one like your bitch ass daddy used to do when I was trying to help him when he was growing up?”
Devin waved his hand. “No one’s trying to pull anything on you. I just thought all the introductions that were going to be made had already been made by this point. Early signing is in like a month. This isn’t early in the game.”
“Alright, now. Don’t get smart with me. But what the fuck is it that I’m hearing that everytime someone tries to give you a little something you turn it down? Are you out your rabbit ass mind? I’m sure people have told you not to look a gift horse in the mouth.”
“I’m not interested in any of that. I don’t know what I’m going to do with 47 Notre Dame hoodies or 15 pairs of Miami joggers. They can keep all of that and give it to me if I commit there.”
“I’m talking about the money, cars and jewelry not any damn athletic gear!” The older man broke into a coughing fit when he shouted. After a few moments, it passed, and he cleared his throat. “I told you this was all part of the game and you’re not playing it.”
“No one’s offered me a car.”
“That’s not the point. You’re being offered tens of thousands of dollars and turning it down. I thought you had more sense in your head than to turn down money. It don’t come around all the time and when it’s gone it’s gone.”
“I just said I’m not interested in that. I get it’s part of recruiting, but I don’t want it. I’m not going to be the guy on social media with a brand new tablet that some school gave him or whatever the fuck else people get.”
Devin, Jr. pulled himself forward in the recliner. “You need to start taking that money, boy. The family needs it, and you need to be the one to bring it in. You’re the only one that we can rely on now, so don’t go messing things up. The tax man’s going to be coming looking for his share of your money when you get to the league, but all of this is tax free.”
Devin rubbed at his brow before readjusting the ice pack that was on his knee. “To be honest with you, grandpa, it’s not my problem if the family needs the money. Whatever y’all have going on isn’t my fault. If I’m going to make money from playing college ball then it’s going to come through the NIL and with everything on the up and up.”
“Ah, fuck that. That’s pennies compared to what you could be getting.”
“Maybe, but I don’t need more than that. That’s the whole point of getting a scholarship, right?”
“I had high hopes for you to get some respect back to our family name, but it seems like you want to go and fuck it all up, too.” The elderly man started to stand up before swatting his hand at the air. “No, no. I don’t need your help.”
He looked up and saw Devin hadn’t moved from where he was sitting, only stared back at him. He mumbled something under his breath before gingerly bending down to pick up his cane. Without another word, he shuffled out of the house and slammed the door behind him.
Devin grabbed the remote from the table and started the show back from the beginning as it had been playing while he and his grandpa spoke. After a few minutes, he settled back into the couch and closed his eyes to steal a few extra hours of sleep before his parents got home.
Caesar sat on his bed and stared at his cellphone on the nightstand. It chirped incessantly with new messages through every avenue that he was able to be contacted through. Most of the messages were from recruiters, growing more desperate to get his signature as the early signing period approached. His announcement of a “top three” had only made it worse.
He glanced down at the watch on his wrist for the time. Sighing, he reached for the phone and started trying to respond to the messages. However, as soon as he was able to type out a message to one person, another three messages appeared. It didn’t help that this was mixed in with his typical barrage of people trying to talk to him.
Sliding open the nightstand, he rummaged through its contents looking for something to take the edge off but only found the lone pack of condoms he’d ever bought shoved in the back of the drawer. He tried to think if he’d stashed anything elsewhere but drew a blank.
He needed a distraction. Something other than football. He tried to call Kaley, but she didn’t answer after the first ring, so he hung up.
Grabbing his jacket, he left the room and headed downstairs. The house was painfully silent. His father was off on some business trip and his mother decided she was going to take an impromptu solo vacation, likely to spite Deion. She’d even given Pierre the week off, leaving Caesar to fend for himself on the food front.
Leaving the house, he got in his car and simply drove wherever his brain decided to take him.
…
Fifteen minutes later, he ended up outside of Emma’s house. He glanced up at the house and tried to remember if he’d chosen to go there. All the same, he got out of the car and walked around to the side where her room was and knocked on the window.
He heard shuffling in the room, and she poked her head through the curtains, confused.
She unlocked the window and opened it. “What the fuck are you doing, Caesar?”
“Clearly, knocking on your window, Emma. Let me in.”
“Are you high?”
“I fucking wish. Are we going to have this conversation with me standing outside the window or are you going to back up so I can get in?”
“What are you doing here, Caesar?”
He sighed. “You want to fuck?”
“You haven’t talked to me in months and you just randomly show up at my house asking to fuck me? Does that even sound like something anyone would be jumping at the opportunity to do in your head because it sure as the fuck doesn’t in mine?”
“I didn’t come here for a lecture. I came here to fuck. It’s a yes or no question. One word, not a fucking hundred.”
Emma crossed her arms over her chest and raised her chin. “Don’t you have a girlfriend anyway? What happened with that?”
“Yes, I do. Again, I didn’t ask all these questions. I asked you if you wanted to have sex.” He held one hand with his thumb up and the other with his thumb down. “Yes or no. That’s all it takes. We’re really losing time here.”
“No. Maybe you should try not being a piece of shit to everyone. You’ll never change. Now, fuck off.” She slammed the window shut.
Caesar shook his head before walking back to his car. He sat for a moment thinking about where he was going to go next. Sighing, he cranked up the car and pulled off.
…
Gravel and mud crunched under Caesar’s shoes as he dragged the old skiff off the side of the road and into the bayou. He grunted from exertion as the fiberglass caught on bigger rocks, causing him to have to yank the boat. After a few more tugs, friction gave way, and the boat began to float in the dark water of the swamp.
He walked back to his car and popped the trunk, getting a flashlight and a case of beer from it. He placed the beer in the skiff and put the flashlight in his mouth so he could use his hands to row. Shoving away from the bank with an oar.
Placing his still pinging phone on one of the benches, he started rowing toward the blind that he and Ron had set up in the swamp. It almost seemed as with each stroke of the oars, he got fewer and fewer notifications as his cell phone lost reception.
And after a while, it fell silent.
Devin shifted the ice pack on his knee as he watched his favorite TV series for the umpteenth time. Practice had been brutal with Coach McCoy looking to keep everyone on their toes for the final game of the season at the end of the week, and Devin paid the price for going a bit too hard with a sore knee. Fortunately, it was nothing too serious.
He heard the front door open and looked over his shoulder expecting to see one of his parents walking into the house, but instead it was his grandfather – who shuffled slower and slower by the day as if he was aging faster than everyone else in their 70s.
“You didn’t answer my texts,” Devin, Jr. said. His voice was gruff and strained, almost as if he was out of breath.
The old man shuffled around the furniture and fell back into a recliner, letting his cane fall to the floor forgotten.
Devin picked up his cellphone and noticed that he did have a lot of unanswered texts and calls from his grandfather, recruiters and his friends. He held it up as an apology even though he’d purposely ignored all of them. “Sorry about that. I forgot to check my phone after practice.”
“Well, I’ve been talking to a couple coaches and what not for you and I need to talk to you about that.”
“What coaches have you been talking to that I haven’t talked to?”
“I was under the impression that I was still the one facilitating all of your recruitment. Or have you decided to pull a fast one like your bitch ass daddy used to do when I was trying to help him when he was growing up?”
Devin waved his hand. “No one’s trying to pull anything on you. I just thought all the introductions that were going to be made had already been made by this point. Early signing is in like a month. This isn’t early in the game.”
“Alright, now. Don’t get smart with me. But what the fuck is it that I’m hearing that everytime someone tries to give you a little something you turn it down? Are you out your rabbit ass mind? I’m sure people have told you not to look a gift horse in the mouth.”
“I’m not interested in any of that. I don’t know what I’m going to do with 47 Notre Dame hoodies or 15 pairs of Miami joggers. They can keep all of that and give it to me if I commit there.”
“I’m talking about the money, cars and jewelry not any damn athletic gear!” The older man broke into a coughing fit when he shouted. After a few moments, it passed, and he cleared his throat. “I told you this was all part of the game and you’re not playing it.”
“No one’s offered me a car.”
“That’s not the point. You’re being offered tens of thousands of dollars and turning it down. I thought you had more sense in your head than to turn down money. It don’t come around all the time and when it’s gone it’s gone.”
“I just said I’m not interested in that. I get it’s part of recruiting, but I don’t want it. I’m not going to be the guy on social media with a brand new tablet that some school gave him or whatever the fuck else people get.”
Devin, Jr. pulled himself forward in the recliner. “You need to start taking that money, boy. The family needs it, and you need to be the one to bring it in. You’re the only one that we can rely on now, so don’t go messing things up. The tax man’s going to be coming looking for his share of your money when you get to the league, but all of this is tax free.”
Devin rubbed at his brow before readjusting the ice pack that was on his knee. “To be honest with you, grandpa, it’s not my problem if the family needs the money. Whatever y’all have going on isn’t my fault. If I’m going to make money from playing college ball then it’s going to come through the NIL and with everything on the up and up.”
“Ah, fuck that. That’s pennies compared to what you could be getting.”
“Maybe, but I don’t need more than that. That’s the whole point of getting a scholarship, right?”
“I had high hopes for you to get some respect back to our family name, but it seems like you want to go and fuck it all up, too.” The elderly man started to stand up before swatting his hand at the air. “No, no. I don’t need your help.”
He looked up and saw Devin hadn’t moved from where he was sitting, only stared back at him. He mumbled something under his breath before gingerly bending down to pick up his cane. Without another word, he shuffled out of the house and slammed the door behind him.
Devin grabbed the remote from the table and started the show back from the beginning as it had been playing while he and his grandpa spoke. After a few minutes, he settled back into the couch and closed his eyes to steal a few extra hours of sleep before his parents got home.
-*****-
Caesar sat on his bed and stared at his cellphone on the nightstand. It chirped incessantly with new messages through every avenue that he was able to be contacted through. Most of the messages were from recruiters, growing more desperate to get his signature as the early signing period approached. His announcement of a “top three” had only made it worse.
He glanced down at the watch on his wrist for the time. Sighing, he reached for the phone and started trying to respond to the messages. However, as soon as he was able to type out a message to one person, another three messages appeared. It didn’t help that this was mixed in with his typical barrage of people trying to talk to him.
Sliding open the nightstand, he rummaged through its contents looking for something to take the edge off but only found the lone pack of condoms he’d ever bought shoved in the back of the drawer. He tried to think if he’d stashed anything elsewhere but drew a blank.
He needed a distraction. Something other than football. He tried to call Kaley, but she didn’t answer after the first ring, so he hung up.
Grabbing his jacket, he left the room and headed downstairs. The house was painfully silent. His father was off on some business trip and his mother decided she was going to take an impromptu solo vacation, likely to spite Deion. She’d even given Pierre the week off, leaving Caesar to fend for himself on the food front.
Leaving the house, he got in his car and simply drove wherever his brain decided to take him.
…
Fifteen minutes later, he ended up outside of Emma’s house. He glanced up at the house and tried to remember if he’d chosen to go there. All the same, he got out of the car and walked around to the side where her room was and knocked on the window.
He heard shuffling in the room, and she poked her head through the curtains, confused.
She unlocked the window and opened it. “What the fuck are you doing, Caesar?”
“Clearly, knocking on your window, Emma. Let me in.”
“Are you high?”
“I fucking wish. Are we going to have this conversation with me standing outside the window or are you going to back up so I can get in?”
“What are you doing here, Caesar?”
He sighed. “You want to fuck?”
“You haven’t talked to me in months and you just randomly show up at my house asking to fuck me? Does that even sound like something anyone would be jumping at the opportunity to do in your head because it sure as the fuck doesn’t in mine?”
“I didn’t come here for a lecture. I came here to fuck. It’s a yes or no question. One word, not a fucking hundred.”
Emma crossed her arms over her chest and raised her chin. “Don’t you have a girlfriend anyway? What happened with that?”
“Yes, I do. Again, I didn’t ask all these questions. I asked you if you wanted to have sex.” He held one hand with his thumb up and the other with his thumb down. “Yes or no. That’s all it takes. We’re really losing time here.”
“No. Maybe you should try not being a piece of shit to everyone. You’ll never change. Now, fuck off.” She slammed the window shut.
Caesar shook his head before walking back to his car. He sat for a moment thinking about where he was going to go next. Sighing, he cranked up the car and pulled off.
…
Gravel and mud crunched under Caesar’s shoes as he dragged the old skiff off the side of the road and into the bayou. He grunted from exertion as the fiberglass caught on bigger rocks, causing him to have to yank the boat. After a few more tugs, friction gave way, and the boat began to float in the dark water of the swamp.
He walked back to his car and popped the trunk, getting a flashlight and a case of beer from it. He placed the beer in the skiff and put the flashlight in his mouth so he could use his hands to row. Shoving away from the bank with an oar.
Placing his still pinging phone on one of the benches, he started rowing toward the blind that he and Ron had set up in the swamp. It almost seemed as with each stroke of the oars, he got fewer and fewer notifications as his cell phone lost reception.
And after a while, it fell silent.
War of the Roses: Redux Edition
Might try to catch up on this. A lot of reading to do tho
-
Captain Canada
- Posts: 2215
- Joined: 01 Dec 2018, 00:15
War of the Roses: Redux Edition
Kaley really getting dogged like that huh. That's crazy.
War of the Roses: Redux Edition
Can’t Be Invincible
“We’re down to the last game of the season, ladies and gentlemen, and the Terrebonne Tigers are one game away from their best season in school history and they haven’t thought about the playoffs yet. Win here in the Hall of Fame Game against their bitter rivals, the Gators of South Terrebonne, and Terrebonne will have a record of 10-1 – their first ten-win regular season ever. It won’t be easy though as the Gators are fighting for their playoff lives down in 4A after a slow start, but this is a good football team and we’re probably in for a good game. Although, Terrebonne head coach Pierce McCoy has shown he doesn’t much enjoy close games.”
…
Danny rifled the ball to Noah on the dig route, but he was quickly brought down before getting anything after the catch. Noah popped up and threw the ball to the nearest referee as the offense rushed to get set for the next place, but the South Terrebonne player who’d tackle Noah fell to the turf clutching at his neck.
Coach McCoy waved his arms to get the team to hurry back to the line of scrimmage, but the umpire was still standing over the ball. Danny held his arms up as a South Terrebonne defender was tended to on the field.
Eventually, the referee blew his whistle and signaled for an injury timeout.
“We’re going to take a short break as Michael LaGarde is attended to down on the field. I think he was pointing to his neck, so I hope everything is okay. Still 0-0 here in the first quarter. And now a word from our sponsors…”
…
“This first quarter has felt as if it has dragged on for a while due to a number of injury timeouts for suspected head and neck injuries for the Gators, but we’re back for Terrebonne’s next offensive outing as they lead 7-3 with 7 minutes to play in the opening stanza.”
Caesar beat his man off the line and immediately called for the ball. Danny hit him in stride for a gain of ten which was looking like more as Caesar tossed a defender to the ground with a vicious stiff arm. Unfortunately for the Tigers, he lost momentum and was brought down.
He got out from under the defender and rolled the ball in the general direction of a referee before standing up. Before the rest of the offense could run to the new line of scrimmage, the referee whistled play dead for another injury – the player Caesar had stiff armed.
“I hit him in the fucking chest and he’s grabbing his fucking head!” Caesar shouted at the line judge.
“Watch your mouth, 17,” the ref said.
Caesar threw his hands up. “You’re worried about the wrong shit with those cheating ass motherfuckers faking fucking injuries.”
Without another word, the line judge blew his whistle and tossed his flag into the air to penalize Terrebonne fifteen yards for Caesar’s language.
…
Devin wrestled the running back to the ground for a short gain and shook his head as the South Terrebonne offense took their time getting back to the huddle. They’d been milking every second of the play clock between plays and coupled with their peculiar injury issue on the defensive side of the ball, seemed committed to making the game as disjointed as possible.
By the time the defense had received the play from the sideline and broke their huddle, the Gators offense were just walking to the line of scrimmage as they had been doing the entire game.
They got set over the ball with 11 seconds remaining on the playclock and after a bit of playacting by the quarterback, they snapped it with only 2 seconds left before they would’ve received a delay of game penalty.
However, unlike the other times they’d done this, it seemed that La’Quan had switched off and gotten himself blown up at the point of attack allowing the back to tear off a huge run of fifteen before being brought down.
…
“Frustration on the Terrebonne sideline as there is another stoppage in play. It bears noting, ladies and gentlemen, that none of these players are out of the game for more than a couple plays. Safety Micah Naquin has been ‘injured’ on three separate occasions and he’s jogging on to replace Miles Simmons who seems to be fine after being looked at by the trainer.”
…
“Derrick Curole takes it into the endzone and it’s 14-13 South Terrebonne with minute to play here in the first half. We could be looking at an upset of monumental proportions if Terrebonne doesn’t figure out a way to get their offense clicking again.”
…
Caesar made his cut and turned toward the line of scrimmage just in time for the ball to reach his hands. Planting to turn up field, a defender wrapped his arms around his hips and slowed him down enough for Caesar to be brought down with the help of a few other players.
Caesar shoved his way out from under the pile as the team ran up to the new spot to try to put points on the board before halftime.
But the referees blew play dead before they could get set.
Snapping off his chin strap, Caesar threw the ball at the turf. He knew when he turned around he’d see someone on the turf, clutching at their head or their neck.
A South Terrebonne player bumped into him as he jogged across the field to really sell that one of theirs was injured. Pissed off, Caesar shoved him to the ground and pushed him down again when he tried to get to his feet.
A scrum formed almost immediately as the players on the field converged. The coaching staffs ran onto the field to separate the teams, but that only saw players from the sidelines spill onto the field and threaten a full-on brawl.
Caesar, in the middle of the pileup with an official pressed against him trying to push him in the general direction of the Terrebonne sideline despite the crush, felt something hit the back of his helmet. Turning, he threw a punch at the first green jersey he saw.
…
With some effort and help from parents in the stands, the two teams were eventually separated and back on their respective sidelines. The head referee jogged over to South Terrebonne’s sideline and spoke to their coach before running to Terrebonne’s and speaking to Coach McCoy. McCoy threw his tablet down and started shouting after the referee as he went to the center of the field.
“Both teams have been assessed an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. Number seventeen on the offense struck an opposing player and has been ejected from the game.”
…
Terrebonne’s locker room was silent, other than the sound of Caesar taking off his uniform and hitting the door of his locker every few seconds in frustration.
Coach McCoy stopped as he walked into the room, glanced at Caesar and shook his head before beginning to pace between the rows of his players. They sat, waiting for the tongue lashing any player would expect after a pseudo-brawl on the field.
He stopped and held up a finger. “They don’t win this fucking game. You hear me? They aren’t going to win this fucking game.”
The players nodded.
The coach pointed to some of the defensive starters. “Don’t let them into the endzone. Not one fucking time.”
…
“We’re back underway here in the second half with the Gators getting the ball first up 14-13. Terrebonne will have to play the rest of this one without their best player, Caesar Jenkins, who has been ejected for throwing a punch.”
Devin clenched his hands into fists and relaxed them a few times as he crept closer to the receiver in front of him.
The South Terrebonne quarterback snapped the ball and tossed it to his running back on an outside run.
Devin shoved away the receiver’s attempt to block him and tore into the backfield. The back only had a couple beats to cover the ball before Devin lowered his shoulder, lifted him off his feet and finished the tackle with just enough violent action to prove a point but not draw a flag.
…
“Berthelot is stacked up at the line of scrimmage for no gain.”
…
“Batted down by Johnson and that’s a three and out for the Gators.”
…
Danny caught the snap and started through his progressions. Almost mechanically, he dovetailed to his left and started to throw to where Caesar would’ve been, but he saw that Noah was covered and brought the ball back down.
Then he was blasted from behind as the pass rush got into the backfield.
…
“Another errant pass by Jackson and it’s not looking great for this Terrebonne offense heading toward the midway point of the third quarter.”
…
“King makes the tackle, and the Gators will have to settle for a field goal.”
…
“South Terrebonne has eight in the box and Santiago isn’t having any success on the ground without the threat of the passing game. That’s another short run for the LSU-bound running back and the Tigers are going to try again on fourth down.”
…
“Another field goal for South Terrebonne and they extend their lead to 20-13 heading into the fourth quarter.”
…
“That looked like Danny Jackson from the first two games of the season as he heaves a ball downfield to no one and it’s picked off! I don’t see a way Terrebonne is going to win this game if they can’t put points onto the board.”
…
“The Gators can put this game out of reach with another score on this drive. You can feel the sense of desperation on the home side of this stadium as they try to will their team to pull off the unthinkable and win this game. Curole and Berthelot in the backfield as they’ve been all game, ready to tote the rock and burn this clock.”
“Curole takes the handoff up the middle and that’s a huge hole! He’s into the second level and cuts it outside to try to find some space. Falgout closes in to make the tackle and—the ball’s on the ground! Players are diving to try to get recover it. Ledet’s got it for Terrebonne! He tries to pitch it and it’s loose again!”
Devin dove at the loose ball but only managed to push it away. A Gator tried to pick it up but was hit before he could get it, causing the ball to pop up all the turf.
La’Quan snatched the ball out of the air and stumbled his way up the field, breaking a tackle from a receiver. In one of the slowest returns of all-time, the big defensive tackle got down to the 15 yard line before he was finally pulled to the ground.
…
“Terrebonne takes over in the redzone and they have to come away with a touchdown here with four minutes left in the game if they want a chance to win. Jackson has been pretty bad in the second half and Santiago has struggled against a stacked box.”
“The Tigers line up in the gun with three receivers split out wide. Jackson and Santiago in the backfield. Santiago motions out. Here’s the snap and it’s a quick pass to Santiago on the screen. Jackson got walloped in the backfield as he released it. He’s got good blocking in front of him and he’s going to walk in untouched for a touchdown! Coach Zeringue is none too happy down on the South Terrebonne sideline because there might have been a blown assignment on that one, but it’s 23-19 anyway and Coach McCoy is playing it safe by sending his kicker out there for only his fifth extra point attempt of the season.”
…
“A quick five-yard gain for the Gators here on first down and that’ll start the clock running late in the fourth quarter.”
…
“Two for Berthelot on a short scamper.”
…
“Curole picks up the first down and Terrebonne will have to start thinking about using their timeouts from here.”
…
“Curole’s stopped at the line on that run. Second down coming up. We’re under two minutes now.”
…
“Pickup of six for Berthelot. Terrebonne calls their first time out with one minute-eleven left in the game.”
…
“Toss out to Berthelot, but he’s tracked down for only one yard. The Tigers burn their second timeout and it looks like the Gators will punt it back to them and trust their defense.”
Coach McCoy stopped Devin from coming off the field. He called Kenyatta over as well. “Go back out there and block the punt.”
…
Devin lined up at the edge of the line of scrimmage, the sound of the band thundering in his ears. The signal was given for the snap.
He took a looping run to the punter to try to avoid the blockers. One of them got enough of hit on him to push him off balance just as the punter started his run up to boot it downfield. Devin made a desperation lunge at the ball.
And on the opposite side, Kenyatta did the same but he managed to get a hand to it.
Scrambling on the turf all hands and knees, Devin threw himself on top of the ball before any Gators could react.
…
“It’s all or nothing here for the Tigers as they start on their 45 yard line with a little over a minute remaining in the game and one timeout. They don’t have far to go to get into field goal range, but with Pierce McCoy seeming refusal to attempt them, we don’t know how good their kicker is.”
“Here we go. First and ten. Jackson’s in the gun with four receivers and Santiago lined up out wide. He gets the snap and fires it out to John for a gain of eight, but he was taken down in bounds. The clock is running!”
…
“Back at the line. Jackson shovels it to Santiago. He gets outside and stretches for the chalk as he’s being tackled. It looks like the referees say he got out of bounds. Gain of 15 and the clock will stop momentarily. 39 seconds left on the clock.”
…
“Jackson gets it out of his hands quickly once again. He finds his man and he gets out of bounds after a gain of ten. They’re down to the S.T. 22!”
…
“It’s gut check time now, folks. Jackson drops back – but there was a missed block and he’s sacked! Terrebonne have to call their last timeout, but Coach McCoy is signaling for them to spike it! This is wasting valuable time as they run back and Jackson throws it into the turf to stop the clock with 20 seconds left.”
…
“Third and long for Terrebonne. They’re in field goal range, but another sack will take them out of it. Jackson calls for the snap and there are already Gators in his face! He spins out of the pocket and makes a run for it. A desperation throw as he’s getting tackled – and John has it! But he’s taken down short of the first down marker and Terrebonne calls their final timeout. Eight seconds left in this one, folks!”
…
Coach McCoy stared at the scoreboard for a moment before looking at the field. The field goal was a chip shot even for a high school kicker, but they were in their own stadium and scared money didn’t make money.
He took a deep breath and waved off the kicker, calling Danny to him.
“We’re going for it,” he said as soon as the quarterback was close enough. “We’re going to run express.”
Danny looked around. “Without Caesar?”
“Already got the backup plan.”
…
“This is a gutsy call, but you wouldn’t expect anything else from a team that has gone for it on fourth down 85 percent of the time this season. Pierce McCoy’s offense is still out on the field with South Terrebonne leading 23-20 with only 8 seconds left to play in this game. This stadium is absolutely jumping, ladies and gentlemen.”
“There’s some confusion down on the field for the Gators with the personnel that Terrebonne has on the field. Devin King’s lined up at wideout, Noah John’s in the backfield at quarterback next to Santiago and Danny Jackson’s on the opposite side of the field at receiver. South Terrebonne needs a timeout but they don’t have anymore!”
“Jackson in motion. John calls for the snap and tosses it back to Jackson. Santiago sprints out wide with him, it looks like some type of option. Wait! Jackson steps back as Santiago picks up a block. He heaves it downfield to a wide open Devin King in the back of the endzone! Terrebonne wins! I don’t know what video game that play came from, but it worked and the Tigers have done it! And the fans are on the field! 10-1!”
“We’re down to the last game of the season, ladies and gentlemen, and the Terrebonne Tigers are one game away from their best season in school history and they haven’t thought about the playoffs yet. Win here in the Hall of Fame Game against their bitter rivals, the Gators of South Terrebonne, and Terrebonne will have a record of 10-1 – their first ten-win regular season ever. It won’t be easy though as the Gators are fighting for their playoff lives down in 4A after a slow start, but this is a good football team and we’re probably in for a good game. Although, Terrebonne head coach Pierce McCoy has shown he doesn’t much enjoy close games.”
…
Danny rifled the ball to Noah on the dig route, but he was quickly brought down before getting anything after the catch. Noah popped up and threw the ball to the nearest referee as the offense rushed to get set for the next place, but the South Terrebonne player who’d tackle Noah fell to the turf clutching at his neck.
Coach McCoy waved his arms to get the team to hurry back to the line of scrimmage, but the umpire was still standing over the ball. Danny held his arms up as a South Terrebonne defender was tended to on the field.
Eventually, the referee blew his whistle and signaled for an injury timeout.
“We’re going to take a short break as Michael LaGarde is attended to down on the field. I think he was pointing to his neck, so I hope everything is okay. Still 0-0 here in the first quarter. And now a word from our sponsors…”
…
“This first quarter has felt as if it has dragged on for a while due to a number of injury timeouts for suspected head and neck injuries for the Gators, but we’re back for Terrebonne’s next offensive outing as they lead 7-3 with 7 minutes to play in the opening stanza.”
Caesar beat his man off the line and immediately called for the ball. Danny hit him in stride for a gain of ten which was looking like more as Caesar tossed a defender to the ground with a vicious stiff arm. Unfortunately for the Tigers, he lost momentum and was brought down.
He got out from under the defender and rolled the ball in the general direction of a referee before standing up. Before the rest of the offense could run to the new line of scrimmage, the referee whistled play dead for another injury – the player Caesar had stiff armed.
“I hit him in the fucking chest and he’s grabbing his fucking head!” Caesar shouted at the line judge.
“Watch your mouth, 17,” the ref said.
Caesar threw his hands up. “You’re worried about the wrong shit with those cheating ass motherfuckers faking fucking injuries.”
Without another word, the line judge blew his whistle and tossed his flag into the air to penalize Terrebonne fifteen yards for Caesar’s language.
…
Devin wrestled the running back to the ground for a short gain and shook his head as the South Terrebonne offense took their time getting back to the huddle. They’d been milking every second of the play clock between plays and coupled with their peculiar injury issue on the defensive side of the ball, seemed committed to making the game as disjointed as possible.
By the time the defense had received the play from the sideline and broke their huddle, the Gators offense were just walking to the line of scrimmage as they had been doing the entire game.
They got set over the ball with 11 seconds remaining on the playclock and after a bit of playacting by the quarterback, they snapped it with only 2 seconds left before they would’ve received a delay of game penalty.
However, unlike the other times they’d done this, it seemed that La’Quan had switched off and gotten himself blown up at the point of attack allowing the back to tear off a huge run of fifteen before being brought down.
…
“Frustration on the Terrebonne sideline as there is another stoppage in play. It bears noting, ladies and gentlemen, that none of these players are out of the game for more than a couple plays. Safety Micah Naquin has been ‘injured’ on three separate occasions and he’s jogging on to replace Miles Simmons who seems to be fine after being looked at by the trainer.”
…
“Derrick Curole takes it into the endzone and it’s 14-13 South Terrebonne with minute to play here in the first half. We could be looking at an upset of monumental proportions if Terrebonne doesn’t figure out a way to get their offense clicking again.”
…
Caesar made his cut and turned toward the line of scrimmage just in time for the ball to reach his hands. Planting to turn up field, a defender wrapped his arms around his hips and slowed him down enough for Caesar to be brought down with the help of a few other players.
Caesar shoved his way out from under the pile as the team ran up to the new spot to try to put points on the board before halftime.
But the referees blew play dead before they could get set.
Snapping off his chin strap, Caesar threw the ball at the turf. He knew when he turned around he’d see someone on the turf, clutching at their head or their neck.
A South Terrebonne player bumped into him as he jogged across the field to really sell that one of theirs was injured. Pissed off, Caesar shoved him to the ground and pushed him down again when he tried to get to his feet.
A scrum formed almost immediately as the players on the field converged. The coaching staffs ran onto the field to separate the teams, but that only saw players from the sidelines spill onto the field and threaten a full-on brawl.
Caesar, in the middle of the pileup with an official pressed against him trying to push him in the general direction of the Terrebonne sideline despite the crush, felt something hit the back of his helmet. Turning, he threw a punch at the first green jersey he saw.
…
With some effort and help from parents in the stands, the two teams were eventually separated and back on their respective sidelines. The head referee jogged over to South Terrebonne’s sideline and spoke to their coach before running to Terrebonne’s and speaking to Coach McCoy. McCoy threw his tablet down and started shouting after the referee as he went to the center of the field.
“Both teams have been assessed an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. Number seventeen on the offense struck an opposing player and has been ejected from the game.”
…
Terrebonne’s locker room was silent, other than the sound of Caesar taking off his uniform and hitting the door of his locker every few seconds in frustration.
Coach McCoy stopped as he walked into the room, glanced at Caesar and shook his head before beginning to pace between the rows of his players. They sat, waiting for the tongue lashing any player would expect after a pseudo-brawl on the field.
He stopped and held up a finger. “They don’t win this fucking game. You hear me? They aren’t going to win this fucking game.”
The players nodded.
The coach pointed to some of the defensive starters. “Don’t let them into the endzone. Not one fucking time.”
…
“We’re back underway here in the second half with the Gators getting the ball first up 14-13. Terrebonne will have to play the rest of this one without their best player, Caesar Jenkins, who has been ejected for throwing a punch.”
Devin clenched his hands into fists and relaxed them a few times as he crept closer to the receiver in front of him.
The South Terrebonne quarterback snapped the ball and tossed it to his running back on an outside run.
Devin shoved away the receiver’s attempt to block him and tore into the backfield. The back only had a couple beats to cover the ball before Devin lowered his shoulder, lifted him off his feet and finished the tackle with just enough violent action to prove a point but not draw a flag.
…
“Berthelot is stacked up at the line of scrimmage for no gain.”
…
“Batted down by Johnson and that’s a three and out for the Gators.”
…
Danny caught the snap and started through his progressions. Almost mechanically, he dovetailed to his left and started to throw to where Caesar would’ve been, but he saw that Noah was covered and brought the ball back down.
Then he was blasted from behind as the pass rush got into the backfield.
…
“Another errant pass by Jackson and it’s not looking great for this Terrebonne offense heading toward the midway point of the third quarter.”
…
“King makes the tackle, and the Gators will have to settle for a field goal.”
…
“South Terrebonne has eight in the box and Santiago isn’t having any success on the ground without the threat of the passing game. That’s another short run for the LSU-bound running back and the Tigers are going to try again on fourth down.”
…
“Another field goal for South Terrebonne and they extend their lead to 20-13 heading into the fourth quarter.”
…
“That looked like Danny Jackson from the first two games of the season as he heaves a ball downfield to no one and it’s picked off! I don’t see a way Terrebonne is going to win this game if they can’t put points onto the board.”
…
“The Gators can put this game out of reach with another score on this drive. You can feel the sense of desperation on the home side of this stadium as they try to will their team to pull off the unthinkable and win this game. Curole and Berthelot in the backfield as they’ve been all game, ready to tote the rock and burn this clock.”
“Curole takes the handoff up the middle and that’s a huge hole! He’s into the second level and cuts it outside to try to find some space. Falgout closes in to make the tackle and—the ball’s on the ground! Players are diving to try to get recover it. Ledet’s got it for Terrebonne! He tries to pitch it and it’s loose again!”
Devin dove at the loose ball but only managed to push it away. A Gator tried to pick it up but was hit before he could get it, causing the ball to pop up all the turf.
La’Quan snatched the ball out of the air and stumbled his way up the field, breaking a tackle from a receiver. In one of the slowest returns of all-time, the big defensive tackle got down to the 15 yard line before he was finally pulled to the ground.
…
“Terrebonne takes over in the redzone and they have to come away with a touchdown here with four minutes left in the game if they want a chance to win. Jackson has been pretty bad in the second half and Santiago has struggled against a stacked box.”
“The Tigers line up in the gun with three receivers split out wide. Jackson and Santiago in the backfield. Santiago motions out. Here’s the snap and it’s a quick pass to Santiago on the screen. Jackson got walloped in the backfield as he released it. He’s got good blocking in front of him and he’s going to walk in untouched for a touchdown! Coach Zeringue is none too happy down on the South Terrebonne sideline because there might have been a blown assignment on that one, but it’s 23-19 anyway and Coach McCoy is playing it safe by sending his kicker out there for only his fifth extra point attempt of the season.”
…
“A quick five-yard gain for the Gators here on first down and that’ll start the clock running late in the fourth quarter.”
…
“Two for Berthelot on a short scamper.”
…
“Curole picks up the first down and Terrebonne will have to start thinking about using their timeouts from here.”
…
“Curole’s stopped at the line on that run. Second down coming up. We’re under two minutes now.”
…
“Pickup of six for Berthelot. Terrebonne calls their first time out with one minute-eleven left in the game.”
…
“Toss out to Berthelot, but he’s tracked down for only one yard. The Tigers burn their second timeout and it looks like the Gators will punt it back to them and trust their defense.”
Coach McCoy stopped Devin from coming off the field. He called Kenyatta over as well. “Go back out there and block the punt.”
…
Devin lined up at the edge of the line of scrimmage, the sound of the band thundering in his ears. The signal was given for the snap.
He took a looping run to the punter to try to avoid the blockers. One of them got enough of hit on him to push him off balance just as the punter started his run up to boot it downfield. Devin made a desperation lunge at the ball.
And on the opposite side, Kenyatta did the same but he managed to get a hand to it.
Scrambling on the turf all hands and knees, Devin threw himself on top of the ball before any Gators could react.
…
“It’s all or nothing here for the Tigers as they start on their 45 yard line with a little over a minute remaining in the game and one timeout. They don’t have far to go to get into field goal range, but with Pierce McCoy seeming refusal to attempt them, we don’t know how good their kicker is.”
“Here we go. First and ten. Jackson’s in the gun with four receivers and Santiago lined up out wide. He gets the snap and fires it out to John for a gain of eight, but he was taken down in bounds. The clock is running!”
…
“Back at the line. Jackson shovels it to Santiago. He gets outside and stretches for the chalk as he’s being tackled. It looks like the referees say he got out of bounds. Gain of 15 and the clock will stop momentarily. 39 seconds left on the clock.”
…
“Jackson gets it out of his hands quickly once again. He finds his man and he gets out of bounds after a gain of ten. They’re down to the S.T. 22!”
…
“It’s gut check time now, folks. Jackson drops back – but there was a missed block and he’s sacked! Terrebonne have to call their last timeout, but Coach McCoy is signaling for them to spike it! This is wasting valuable time as they run back and Jackson throws it into the turf to stop the clock with 20 seconds left.”
…
“Third and long for Terrebonne. They’re in field goal range, but another sack will take them out of it. Jackson calls for the snap and there are already Gators in his face! He spins out of the pocket and makes a run for it. A desperation throw as he’s getting tackled – and John has it! But he’s taken down short of the first down marker and Terrebonne calls their final timeout. Eight seconds left in this one, folks!”
…
Coach McCoy stared at the scoreboard for a moment before looking at the field. The field goal was a chip shot even for a high school kicker, but they were in their own stadium and scared money didn’t make money.
He took a deep breath and waved off the kicker, calling Danny to him.
“We’re going for it,” he said as soon as the quarterback was close enough. “We’re going to run express.”
Danny looked around. “Without Caesar?”
“Already got the backup plan.”
…
“This is a gutsy call, but you wouldn’t expect anything else from a team that has gone for it on fourth down 85 percent of the time this season. Pierce McCoy’s offense is still out on the field with South Terrebonne leading 23-20 with only 8 seconds left to play in this game. This stadium is absolutely jumping, ladies and gentlemen.”
“There’s some confusion down on the field for the Gators with the personnel that Terrebonne has on the field. Devin King’s lined up at wideout, Noah John’s in the backfield at quarterback next to Santiago and Danny Jackson’s on the opposite side of the field at receiver. South Terrebonne needs a timeout but they don’t have anymore!”
“Jackson in motion. John calls for the snap and tosses it back to Jackson. Santiago sprints out wide with him, it looks like some type of option. Wait! Jackson steps back as Santiago picks up a block. He heaves it downfield to a wide open Devin King in the back of the endzone! Terrebonne wins! I don’t know what video game that play came from, but it worked and the Tigers have done it! And the fans are on the field! 10-1!”
War of the Roses: Redux Edition
Devin > Caesar