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Hard on threecalls for a hard, or loud, count of three before hiking the ball. The Cougars defense has come out aggressive and could be susceptible to jumping offsides for a penalty.
Their line holds through the hard count and drops back into pass coverage instead of another blitz.
The pocket begins to collapse under pressure, so I slip forward between the rushing linemen as Cooper picks up a monster block in the backfield, keeping the play alive.
Griffin breaks in and then right back out again too quickly for the Cougars’ defensive backs to keep pace. By the time they recover, Griffin is streaking down the sideline several yards ahead of them, uncovered. I step up into the mass of three-hundred-pound linemen all around me and heave a long arching pass thirty yards downfield.
The ball zips into his arms at the fifteen yard line, three strides before he hits the end zone for a touchdown.
“Good job hanging in the pocket, O’Rourke.” Coach Chubb grunts at me as I come back to a litany of high fives and congratulations on the sideline. “Keep it up.”
Our special teams squad pins the Cougars’ kick returner down inside their own five yard line. Our defense then forces and recovers another fumble two plays later.
“How are you feeling?” Coach Chubb pulls me aside just before the offense takes the field.
“Like a gunslinger, Coach.” I answer without hesitation or even a hint of doubt in my voice.
“I like that.” Coach Chubb breaks into a smile, and it’s honestly a bit intimidating. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him smile before today.
“Do you remember the first ten plays on the card for today’s game?”
“Absolutely.”
“Run this series no huddle.”
“Seriously?” I’m stunned at the confidence he’s showing in me.
“I believe in momentum and we’ve got it right now. Let’s stick a dagger in their hearts early.” Coach Chubb slaps my shoulder pads twice and shoves me toward the field. “Go get ’em.”
I run through today’s play card in my head as I jog back onto the field. It’s a series of between ten and twenty plays pulled from the much larger playbook that the coaches put together specifically to start each game. Today’s card has ten, and I’ve memorized each one as if my life depended on knowing them.
As it turns out, we only need half of them for this drive. I connect with Cooper twice down the middle and Griffin three times on the outside.
The final play of the drive is a quarterback sneak, straight up the middle behind our center, Thor Sorensen. It’s a dominant drive, ending with my first touchdown of the preseason. It feels good.
I’m completely locked in for the rest of the game, and my focus has never felt this sharp. I’m sensing pressure early and slipping tackles in the pocket with ease. I’m consistently looking defenders off with my eyes and connecting with multiple receivers all over the field.
As we walk off the field after the end of the game, the hometown crowd is chanting my name, and I’ve never felt better.
CHAPTER 12
AUTUMN
Isnapped pictures and put up posts on social media throughout the game. It’s one of the ways my boss, Charlie, and I came up with to improve the social media pages for the team. Some people don’t watch every game but they still like to see what’s going on. By continuously posting highlights, I help those fans feel invested.
Frankie and Lisa have been filming a lot of footage that I’ll review and edit into posts later on. There’s a lot of Rogan to choose from since he was in for a good portion of the game. My heart raced anxiously the entire time he was out there. Watching Brett didn’t have the same effect on me, so I can’t fool myself into thinking it was just me feeling nerves for the entire team.
I was torn between my work responsibilities and watching Rogan. Every fan here and at home could clearly see the love he has for this game. It showed in the intensity with which he played and the smile that beamed out between the carbon steel bars of his face mask with every touchdown he threw. I had to keep glancing away to type out replies to post comments. I don’t know if my thumbs have ever tapped out words so quickly for fear I’d miss something.
We step into the locker room to get some post-game material, and I come to a sudden halt. Lisa barely misses walking into my back and Frankie into hers, but I’m too preoccupied with the view in front of me to notice. There are muscular and sweaty shirtless men everywhere I look.
Thank you, Lord.I feel like I’ve died and gone to Heaven.
“Holy hotness,” Lisa mutters under her breath.
“Get some footage of them. Keep it clean,” I say.
“Do we have to?” Lisa jests.
