The Summit
“The old adage is forty-eight minutes for the rest of your life. We’ve gotten the appetizers and salad courses out of the way and we’re moments away from kick off in the big boy classification. The crème of the crop. Catholic High, Terrebonne High, 5A State Championship Game. It doesn’t get any better than this in the state of Louisiana. The players are ready. The coaches are ready. The fans are ready.”
“Terrebonne’s Cade Sartin signals he’s ready to kickoff and we’re underway here in the Superdome! Catholic’s D.J. Stevens fields it at the 2-yard line and brings it up the field. He crosses the 20 before being dragged down around the 25 by Michael Templet for the Tigers.”
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“Senior Mikale Jefferson leads the Curdog offense out onto the field. Jefferson’s had a memorable year for the Curs, throwing for 3,500 yards and 47 touchdowns while running for another 1,500 yards and 12 touchdowns and next year he’ll be headed to Ole Miss to fight for their starting job. Let’s see how this Terrebonne defense manages against a true do-it-all QB.”
“Jefferson starts in the shotgun with junior Denzel Nash to his left. Blair Franklin, Avery Vincent and Tevin Taylor start at receiver. Jefferson receives the snap and hands it off to Nash who takes it outside for a gain of five to get things going. Kenyatta Coleman on the stop for Terrebonne.”
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Devin shoved the receiver in front of him as he started his route before Devin dropped off into his zone assignment. His eyes darted around the field, watching for receivers coming his way. The pocket started to collapse, and the quarterback spun out of the pocket and got to the outside.
De’Aaron broke down to make the tackle but was soon clutching at air as his ankles gave up on him when the quarterback juked to his right.
Devin stepped up to make the tackle and almost got the same treatment when the quarterback spun around him, but he managed to swat at his feet as he fell to make a shoe string tackle and prevent a big gain.
“Motherfucker looks like he’s gliding,” Devin muttered to himself as he got back to his feet.
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“The Curs have shown a bit of poise on this drive to convert a few third downs and keep it ticking over, but they’re facing one more here from the goal line. Jefferson checks with the sideline and gets back under the center. Here’s the snap and it’s a toss to Nash. Vincent has the edge sealed and Nash is going to walk into the endzone untouched! Catholic strikes first!”
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“Terrebonne sets up from their own 22 yard line after the return. Sophomore Danny Jackson has been a revelation for the Tigers this season, but he did suffer an injury last week against West Monroe. We’ll have to see how he’s feeling with that. A lot of seniors on this Terrebonne offense. Hasan Santiago in the backfield with Jackson and another trio of seniors at wideout with Caesar Jenkins, Noah John and Jurgen Jones.”
“Jackson gets the snap and fires it out to Jenkins quickly. He gains a handful, looks like 7 on the play, before being brought down by Jacody Rogers.”
…
“That one gets away from Jackson and it’s in the turf. That Catholic pass rush has caused many a quarterback a problem this season and it looks like they’re going to be bringing the heat against Terrebonne, too.”
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“Jackson dumps it off to Santiago on the screen and he gets upfield and picks up the first down. Ian Howard on the stop for the Curdogs.”
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Caesar jogged to the opposite side of the field, motioning for Jurgen to back off the line of scrimmage. He glanced at the corner then back at Danny. There would be space along the boundary if the safety stayed in the middle of the field.
He hoped Danny would be able to hit him.
Caesar released to the outside of the corner, swatting his hands away when he attempted to press. The safety did remain in the middle of the field and Caesar ran to stack the corner and give Danny somewhere to throw the ball.
He looked up, expecting the ball to be dropping over his shoulder. Instead, it flew over him and nearly took out a cameraman on the sideline.
Slowing to a stop, Caesar stared at the green ahead of him that he would’ve been able to run into if the pass was remotely accurate.
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“Jefferson rolls out of the pocket and flicks a pass to Taylor for the first down.”
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“The handoff’s to Nash and he scampers for a short gain of 4 on the play.”
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“Jefferson has nowhere to go, and he’s brought down in the backfield by La’Quan Johnson for huuuuge loss. Good coverage by the Tigers’ secondary and good containment by their front to keep Jefferson bottled up.”
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“Catholic’s going to play it safe here in the first quarter and opt for the run on third and long which only picks up a couple. Here comes the punt unit to give it back to Terrebonne and give them a chance to tie this one up.”
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“First down for the Tigers as Jackson takes it himself and slides down after a gain of 12 on the play. I guess that ankle isn’t bothering him after all!”
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“Jones hauls it in and that’s another first down for Terrebonne.”
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“Santiago takes the handoff up the middle. Cuts it outside. He’s got space! 50, 40, 30! Shoved out of bounds at the Curs’ 25 after a crazy fast 27 yard gain from Terrebonne’s speedy running back.”
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“Smith checks in to spell Santiago and he gets it for a short gain.”
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“Jackson throws a dart to Jenkins on the crossing route and the Tigers are in scoring range. Let’s see if they can cap this drive off right.”
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“Jackson hands it off—No, he pulls it and sprints to the outside. He cuts upfield and dives for the goal line. Is it in?! They’re signaling yes! Touchdown Tigers! And you know Pierce McCoy is signaling for them to go for 2.”
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“Santiago takes the toss and he’s into the endzone to convert the two-point try. 8-7 Terrebonne in the late parts of the first quarter and we have a battle on our hands!”
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“Uncharacteristic miss by Jefferson and the Curs are going to have to punt again.”
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“Jackson’s brought down in the backfield. Catholic’s going to be getting the ball at midfield after a turnover on downs.”
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“Big gain by Nash and the Curdogs are in field goal range already!”
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“That pass is batted down at the line of scrimmage on first down.”
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“Jefferson finds Vincent, but that’s only a gain of five on the play. Third down coming up.”
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Devin took a moment to catch his breath between plays. Some would believe it insane to call a high school football team equal in ability to some college teams, but these guys were on a different level. Possibly better than Euless and that was saying a lot.
And they were managing to hang with them.
Devin lined up in his spot. The defense shifted when a receiver motioned across the formation, and Devin backed away from the line of scrimmage.
He dropped into a zone when the ball was snapped. The quarterback rolled out of the pocket and pointed to one of his receivers. Devin glanced over and saw the crossing route. Gambling, Devin left his assignment.
He got to the receiver just as the ball was arriving and batted it away.
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“Allen Bradley’s lined up to attempt the field goal. It’s up and it’s good. Catholic back in the lead 10-8 as we head into the final minutes of the first half here in the championship.”
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“Jackson drops back and heaves it downfield! Jenkins dives for it and makes the grab! That’s a 47 yard gain on first down! Sometimes you have to take your shots and sometimes you have to TAKE your shots!”
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“It’s another completion from Jackson, this time to John and that’s another first down for Terrebonne.”
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Caesar tugged on his gloves before getting into his stance. The decibel level in the Superdome ratcheted up a bit as the Catholic High section tried to throw Danny off his game with the drive looking a bit more promising than they’d like.
The ball was snapped, and Caesar shot off the line to the inside of the corner. He made his cut toward the middle of the field and threw his hand up.
Danny zipped the ball through the middle of the defense and hit Caesar in stride. He secured the ball and headed for the closing gap between the safeties. Planting his foot, he cut to the outside at the last moment.
The safeties crashed into each other, both too committed to making the tackle.
He shot a glance over his shoulder and bent his run back toward the middle of the field to pull away from the pursuing players for the touchdown.
He, Jurgen and Noah celebrated on the way back to the sideline.
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“Jefferson’s Hail Mary attempt falls harmlessly to the field and we’re heading to halftime with scoreboard reading Terrebonne 16, Catholic 10.”
-*****-
The Terrebonne locker room was buoyant at halftime. They’d made it halfway through a game against a team that was heavily favored and had the lead. It was hard for the players to not be sailing on cloud nine at that point.
Coach McCoy quieted the team down.
“Boys, it’s not over yet. Don’t think it is for a second,” he said. “We got the lead and that’s where we want to be, but that’s a dangerous football team on the other side of the field. Don’t count them out yet, you hear me?”
“Yes, sir,” the team said in unison.
“When we go back out there, y’all better be ready to fight like hell. Fight like hell for what you want, what you deserve. We ain’t come this far to just come this far. We did not come this far to just come this far.”
“Yes, sir.”
“The work you put in from spring all the way to now is why we did it, gentlemen. Don’t let that all go to waste. Don’t let all your blood, sweat and tears go to waste when you have one hand almost touching the trophy. You just have 24 minutes to go. Finish. Finish strong.”
“Yes, sir!”
-*****-
“Terrebonne set to get us started here in the final two quarters of high school football this season. Danny Jackson’s miracle season is continuing as he’s outdueling one of the top signal callers in the country right now. The ball is at the Tigers’ 25 with Jackson in the gun and four receivers split out wide.”
“Jackson drops back to pass and checks it down to Santiago in the flats for a gain of six to settle back into rhythm.”
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“Jackson finds John in stride and it’s a 17 yard gain for the senior. The Tigers have shot out of the traps and could be threatening to go up two scores in this game!”
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Danny dropped back and scanned the defense. He patted the ball a couple of times and shifted his feet from right to left. The pocket started to collapse around him and he slipped out of it, rolling out to his right.
He kept his eyes downfield looking for a receiver coming open. He saw a gap in the defense and fired the ball toward Jurgen.
Or he thought he saw an opening…
A corner undercut the pass and picked it off. He ran toward the opposite sideline with a convoy of blockers in front of him and all of the receivers behind.
Danny spun around and almost got his head taken off by a lineman taking an opportunity to put one on the quarterback. Scrambling on his hands to get back to his feet, he avoided a second block attempt from the lineman.
He lined up the corner running down the sideline, making sure to get an angle on him. The gap closed quickly. Danny lowered his shoulder…
…and got ran over.
He managed to get back to his knees just in time to see the corner run into the endzone. He smacked the turf and cursed at himself.
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“Jackson overthrows everyone and it looks like he hasn’t recovered from that pick six on the last drive. On their own 31 and trailing by a point, Terrebonne’s sending out their punter for the first time tonight.”
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“Jefferson stretches his legs and gets the Curs going on their first drive of the second half with a 9 yard run.”
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“Nash takes it up the middle and picks up the first down.”
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“Another handoff to Nash and he rips off a quick 11.”
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“After a promising start to the drive, Catholic has bogged down in the redzone. They’re looking at a third and goal from the 10 after the sack on that last play. Jefferson takes it outside on the option but King and Ledet are there to stop him and keep him from pitching. Here comes the kicking unit to try to put the Curdogs up 20-16.”
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“Jackson leads the Tigers back out onto the field, now down 20-16. It looked like Coach McCoy gave him a pep talk before sending him out for this drive to get his mind off that pick six. As they say, the best quarterbacks have a short memory.”
“But they’re going to play it safe on first down by handing it off to Santiago. He bounces it outside and picks up a short gain of three on the play.”
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“A short pass out to Jenkins on the bubble doesn’t gain much. Maybe a yard.”
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“Jackson has to throw that one into the dirt on third down. Terrebonne’s back up deep so they should—Wait, they’re waving the offense back onto the field. This is a risky call, folks. If they don’t convert, they’ll give Catholic the ball back on their 25 with time wearing thin in the third quarter and a chance to go up two scores.”
“Here’s the snap. Jackson rolls to his right and throws a bomb down the field and it’s caught by Jenkins at the 43! He’s across the 50 and brought down at the 40 on the other side of the field! That’ll get your head into the game.”
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The offense ran up to the new line of scrimmage as Catholic’s defense tried to shuttle players on and off, a bit shellshocked from the big conversion on fourth down.
Caesar jogged across the field and got set. From the sideline, Coach McCoy signaled an audible to Danny who patted the top of his helmet, shouting the change to the linemen. He then signaled to the receivers and got back in position.
Danny waved for Caesar to motion across the field. He glanced over and saw the corner following him. Once he reached the edge of the line, the ball was snapped, and he picked up his pace just in time to have Danny push the ball forward into his path.
He hurtled toward the sideline, watching as Jurgen shoved his man to the ground. Caesar hopped over the corner as followed Jurgen up the field. The German’s next block wasn’t as successful, and Caesar had to make a safety miss with a spin toward the center of the field.
The spin took him right into the arms of another defender, but he powered his way out of the tackle and cut back to the outside. He stiff-armed away a third tackle attempt and hit the sideline.
A roar went up around the stadium as he crossed the goal line to put Terrebonne back up.
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“We’ll have to see if that missed two-point conversion comes back to haunt Terrebonne, but for now they’re up 22-20 at the start of the fourth quarter. Jefferson heads out onto the field and this is a big drive for Catholic and the senior quarterback. Putting it into the endzone will go a long way to a victory, you would think.”
“The Curs go with the read option on first down. Jefferson keeps it himself and powers forward for a handful to set up a manageable second down.”
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“Jefferson’s flushed out of the pocket and he’s going to run for the first down and gets it! Moving the chains for Catholic.”
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“That pass is knocked down by Coleman.”
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“Nash takes the handoff and bowls forward for 7 to make it third and short.”
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“Jefferson drops back and finds Taylor on the slant route. Taylor makes a man miss and picks up another dozen yards before being brought down by Templet.”
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“That’s complete to Vincent and it’s another first down.”
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“Designed quarterback run for Jefferson and he cuts it back aaaaall the way across the field, gets north-south and tears off a good chunk of yardage down to the Terrebonne 27.”
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“Jefferson pulls it down and rolls to his right. He pumps once, pumps twice, tucks the ball and heads for—King comes out of nowhere and makes the stop right at the line of scrimmage! That was an impressive tackle and great ability to read the game and trust your teammates from King.”
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“Nash gets into traffic in the middle of the line and bounces it outside. King is there again to make the tackle for a gain of maybe one!”
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“Jefferson drops back on third down, loads and fires toward Franklin – but it’s batted down by King! What a sequence of play by one player! That’s what you call a clutch gene. All over the field to make sure his team didn’t give up a touchdown! Bradley’s coming out to attempt the field goal for the Curs.”
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“Halfway through the fourth quarter here. The score is Catholic 23, Terrebonne 22. You’d have to think that the Tigers have to get points on this drive as the Curdogs have the advantage when it comes to closing out a game and bringing home a state title.”
“Jackson steps up for this big drive and they started it with a screen pass to Santiago for a gain of 12 on the play.”
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“Jackson finds his favorite target Jenkins and they’ll be moving the chains again.”
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“No dice on that pass from the sophomore and we’ll be looking at second down.”
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“Jackson gets it out to Jones who turns it upfield and picks up the first down.”
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“You can see some tired legs starting to come into it on Catholic’s defense. This no-huddle offense is really taking a toll on them. Jackson drops back again and tosses it to John who finds a little room to get 7 on that one.”
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“Here’s the pitch out to Santiago on the outside run. He’s got some clear skies over on the boundary and he finds them. He’s up the sideline and I don’t think anyone’s catching him! No, sir! Touchdown Terrebonne!”
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“Jackson finds Jenkins in the back of the endzone and the conversion is good! 30-23 Tigers!”
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“Jefferson misses his man deep and they’re going to have to punt it away. There are a few anxious faces on the Catholic sidelines.”
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“Something you don’t see often from Terrebonne, a drive meant solely to run the clock down. Jackson drops back to pass on this third down but pulls it down and falls forward for a few yards. Curs burn their last timeout with a little over 2 minutes to play.”
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“There are locked arms on both of these sidelines as it all comes down to this drive. Catholic has to get a touchdown to force overtime, but they don’t want to score too quickly or the Tigers will have a chance to kick a walk-off field goal to win the title. It’s all or nothing here. Do or die. Bride or bridesmaid.”
“Jefferson starts this drive by hitting Franklin on the out route and he manages to get out of boards to stop the clock while the ball is reset.”
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“Jefferson swings it out to Nash in the flats and the back gets up the field and gets out of bounds to preserve a precious few seconds.”
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“A zero blitz! Jefferson has to escape the pocket and he’ll take it himself for a small gain of 3 yards. They’ll have to spike it to stop the clock which he does. Third down Catholic.”
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“Jefferson drops back. You can see him itching to run, but he’s staying put. He fires it outside to Vincent but it’s just off his fingertips and that’ll be fourth down and the rest of your life. The Curs have to convert this or the Tigers will be able to run out the clock.”
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The sounds of the crowd and the Terrebonne band thundered in Devin’s ears as he stood across from the receiver. There was nothing fancy about the defensive playcall for this pivotal down. Find your man, lock him down. That was it.
He walked up to the line of scrimmage. Close enough to see the beads of sweat on the receiver’s face. Close enough that he could almost hear his heart pounding over the sounds of the stadium.
Devin glanced inside at the quarterback, a scrambling threat but a threat the team would concede as long as they got him down inbounds and before he got to the endzone.
The ball was snapped, and all the sounds disappeared.
Devin jammed the receiver at the line, the two of them fighting to win the battle. Nudged back a few yards, Devin stopped hand-fighting with him to avoid drawing a penalty.
The receiver immediately cut toward the middle of the field and turned his head to the quarterback. Devin gambled and undercut the receiver’s route. He saw the quarterback’s arm draw back and watched his eyes stare down the receiver.
Watching the ball come closer, Devin dove at the last moment.
He felt the ball hit one hand and then the other. And he knew he had it before he hit the ground. He tucked the ball against his body as the noise of the stadium flooded back in his ears.
His teammates dogpiled him as soon as the referees signaled Terrebonne ball.
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“Victory formation out for Terrebonne! Danny Jackson just has to take a knee and the Tigers will win the state championship for the first time in school history!”
Danny could barely contain his smile as Hasan smacked him on the back of the helmet while he made his way to take the final snap. Caesar stood behind him, chewing on his mouthpiece, and looking nonplussed about it all.
He looked over to the sidelines where the entire team was jumping up and down, already celebrating and ready to run onto the field.
The coaches tried to stand in front of them. It was all the coaching staff could do to keep them from spilling over the boundary.
Danny called for the snap, took a step back and knelt down. He took a moment on his knee as the rest of the team flooded the field.
As soon as he stood up, he was greeted with the scene of helmets being thrown into the air and players going sliding across the Superdome turf.
