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Chapter 21

  With just under two minutes left in the game, Siloam Springs was leading 35-28, and was lined up to punt. Lakeside would get the ball back with enough time to score. With 1:48 showing on the clock, the Siloam Springs punter got off a high, wobbly kick. The Lakeside coaches were yelling at Joe Taylor to get away from the ball.

  But between the Siloam Springs band and their screaming fans, Joe didn’t hear them and tried to field the punt. At the last second, he took his eyes off the ball as two tacklers were barreling down on him. Max could see it, it was a recipe for disaster.

  The ball didn’t bounce off his helmet like it had the previous week. It just went right through his hands and hit the ground. And as a football will do, it took a crazy bounce and ended up under a pile of players from both teams.

  One by one, the officials pulled players off the pile to find out who had recovered the ball. Players from both teams were pointing like they already knew who had it. When it was down to just two guys, Joe jumped to his feet with the ball in his hands. The referee signaled Lakeside had recovered and put the ball in play at their own 27-yard line with the clock showing 1:39 left in the game.

  With his hands on his knees, Max took a moment to recover, then listened as his offensive coordinator called the play and sent the offense onto the field. The play was designed for the quarterback to roll right and throw a 15-yard pass to the receiver closest to the Lakeside sideline.

  The center snapped the ball. The quarterback faked a run up the middle and then rolled to his right. The receiver ran a perfect route and the defender was playing too loose. When he made his break to the sideline, he was wide open and the pass was perfect. The Siloam Springs defender tried to close and make the tackle, but took a bad angle which allowed a 15-yard pass to result in a twenty-nine yard gain as the receiver broke a couple more tackles.

  The first down stopped the clock with 1:31 remaining. The official placed the ball at the Siloam Springs 44-yard line. Lakeside was at the line of scrimmage ready to run a play when the referee blew his whistle and motioned to the clock operator to start the clock.

  The ball was snapped with 1:26 left. The quarterback faked a screen pass to the left, then handed the ball to the tailback on a draw play. Siloam Springs had blitzed, so the ball carrier was hit in the backfield, which slowed his momentum. The play only gained two yards.

  It was second down and eight with the clock running. Lakeside had only one time out left and Max needed to save it. The offense lined up to run their next play and looked to the sideline for the call with 1:09 remaining.

  The play was a quick pass to the tight end, Blake Collins, one of the two boys whose charges had suddenly been dropped. Blake caught the ball, broke a tackle and picked up nine yards, enough for a first down. The clock stopped while the chains were moved. The clock showed 1:01 remaining with the ball at the 33-yard line. Still plenty of time to score.

  Lakeside snapped the ball. The quarterback pitched it to the tailback who took the ball in stride on a sweep toward the Siloam Springs side of the field. The play gained seven yards. One more block and he would have gone all the way. Max ripped his headset off and threw it to the ground.

  The play ended in-bounds, so the clock kept running. The Lakeside offense had practiced this very situation, so they weren’t panicking. It was second down and five yards to go with 0:47 on the clock. They went back to the quick pass to Blake, which gained four yards.

  It was third down and one yard to go. The clock was running with the ball on the 28-yard line. Still enough time. The Lakeside quarterback looked over the defense, took the snap and dropped back to pass. The Siloam Springs outside linebacker blitzed and no one picked him up. He planted his helmet right between the Lakeside quarterback’s shoulder blades. He went down hard but held onto the ball. The play lost eight yards, which brought up fourth down and nine yards to go.

  The clock kept running. With thirty-eight seconds left, Max was forced to call his last timeout. He ripped into the offensive lineman who’d failed to pick up the blitz, then pulled himself together and talked over their options with his offensive coordinator. After a brief debate, they decided to go back to the first play they’d called on the drive—have the quarterback roll right and look for his receiver breaking to the sideline. Max grabbed the facemask of his receiver and made sure he knew to get beyond the first down marker.

  The referee blew his whistle signaling the end of the timeout. The Lakeside offense ran onto the field. Everything was coming down to this play. A first down would keep the drive and the game alive. It would also turn their young season around. A 1-1 record was a whole lot better than 0-2.

  The Siloam Springs defense was still playing loose. A good route by the receiver and a good throw by the quarterback would easily pick up the first down. The center snapped the ball. The quarterback rolled right toward the Lakeside sideline. The receiver slowed and planted his left foot hard to make his break, but this time the defender closed harder and took a better angle.

  As the receiver made his break, he got his feet tangled up and tripped. It was too late for the quarterback to adjust—he’d already released the ball. The defender broke hard for the ball, but it was thrown too low for him to get there and the Lakeside receiver was just barely able to get his arms underneath the ball and make the catch from his knees.

  Max ran to the spot where the catch was made to see if they’d gotten a first down. It was too hard to tell. It would depend on the spot. With 0:32 on the clock, the referee called an official timeout to measure for a first down. If they were short, the game would be over. Siloam Springs would take a knee and Lakeside would go home with two losses.

  The chains were brought across the field to the Lakeside sideline. The officials pushed the players back and stretched the chain. The officials huddled over the ball. Max stood on the sideline just a few feet from the ball. It couldn’t have been closer. If it was a first down, then it was by a hair.

  It was so close, the referee had to get on his knees to take a better look. After a moment, he stood up and signaled first down for Lakeside. The Siloam Springs coach argued the call, but it wasn’t going to change anything. The officials spotted the ball just barely inside the 27-yard line.

  The Lakeside offense quickly broke the huddle and ran to the ball with twenty-eight seconds left. The center snapped the ball to the quarterback who took a quick three-step drop and looked for Blake running straight up the seam in the middle of the field. It was the perfect play call. The safety had moved over to cover the receiver on the far-side of the field. Blake was wide open.

  Siloam Springs had blitzed though and Lakeside’s left tackle stepped the wrong way and allowed the linebacker a direct line to the quarterback who took a vicious hit right in the chest. Somehow though, he held onto the ball. They lost seven yards on the play.

  The clock was continuing to run. With just nineteen seconds left, the Lakeside quarterback got to his feet and looked to the sideline for the call. Max made the call himself. It was a play they’d been setting up the entire drive. The quarterback would roll right and make it look like the pass to the sideline again. Only this time he would stop and throw back to the other side of the field to Joe Taylor who would delay for two seconds before releasing.

  The ball was snapped with nine seconds left in the game. As the quarterback rolled right, the entire defense went with him. One thousand one, one thousand two. Joe released. No one was near him. It was the perfect call.

  The pass left the quarterback’s hand with five seconds on the clock. Joe caught it perfectly in stride at the five-yard line and took it in for the touchdown. The Lakeside sideline went wild. Lakeside was down 35-34. An extra point would tie the game and send it to over time.

  But Max wasn’t going to take the game to overtime. Lakeside had the momentum. He called for a fake extra point. The play was designed for the kicker to step up as if he was going to kick, but for the holder to throw a pass to Blake in the end zone.

  Max wa
tched his team line up. He glanced up and down sideline at his players and coaches. A light breeze was blowing the flag in the north endzone. Out of habit, he looked behind him for Michelle and was hit with a sudden wave of sadness and regret. Tears filled his eyes, which he quickly wiped away.

  The Siloam Springs defense went all out for the block and completely ignored Blake. By the time they realized it was a fake, Blake was leaping in the air celebrating a 36-35 victory. They had pulled off a 63-yard game winning drive in under two minutes. Max was yelling at his team to get off the field before they were flagged for a penalty.

  He fell to his knees and breathed a sigh of relief. This game-winning drive would be the one they’d all look back on as the one that turned the season around.

  With one-second remaining on the clock, both teams took the field for the kick-off. Max instructed his kicker to kick a line drive right at the Siloam Springs front line, so their best returners couldn’t touch the ball. That was all that was left to do before they celebrated a victory and loaded the busses to head home. He turned to look for Michelle, but caught himself. She wasn’t there. He missed her more in that moment than he ever had.

  The referee blew his whistle and a moment later the Lakeside kicker’s foot connected with the ball. The kick caromed off a Siloam Springs player’s shoulder pads and bounced to one of their kick returners at the 30-yard line. He started to his right toward the Siloam Springs sideline where the Lakeside kick-off team cornered him near midfield.

  That’s when time seemed to stand still. Max saw what was happening, but was helpless to do anything to stop it. The returner stopped and threw an overhand lateral to one of their players over thirty yards away from the action. It was a perfect throw. Called at the perfect time. No one, except Max, and him too late, saw it coming.

  The Siloam Springs player caught the ball at the 47-yard line and put a move on a Lakeside tackler that literally caused him to fall down. He broke a tackle and then cut to the sideline. At the 20-yard line, a Lakeside defender tried to shove him out of bounds, but missed.

  This time, the home side of the stadium went wild. The Siloam Springs coaches and players ran to the end zone to celebrate as their band erupted in their fight song. The Lakeside sideline and fans looked on in stunned silence.

  Max looked over the field. No penalty flags. He looked at the clock. No time left. The game was over. Siloam Springs had won the game, 41-36, with one-second left in the game. One second.

  For the second time in twenty-four hours, Max could hardly comprehend what was happening. First, he’d lost his wife. And now he’d lost a game with one-second left. Any loss was bad, but to lose like this was devastating. It was a game they should have won and won easily. And they had won, but let it slip away. He could feel his job slipping away too.

  Somehow, he had to find the words to help his team at a moment he desperately needed someone to help him. The coaches pulled the team together at the end of the field away from the Siloam Springs celebration. They removed their helmets and took a knee. This was not what anyone had expected.

  A couple of the assistant coaches pointed out some positives they’d seen, but it was hard to believe them. And then everyone looked to Max. He looked at the players in front of him. They had played their hearts out. A few were injured and had icepacks wrapped around wrists or ankles. Several of the seniors were in tears.

  “Boys, I’ve made a lot of mistakes in my life. A whole lot in fact,” he said. He looked down at the ground, remembering some of them, especially the recent ones. “And I’ll make some more. So will you.” He wiped his eyes as the Siloam Springs band finished their last song. A final, loud cheer went up from the home fans.

  “And there are times I’ve wanted to quit. Times when I was tired. Times when I felt defeated. Times when I thought I had nothing left to give.” He looked around at his team and made eye-contact with each player. “But I didn’t quit. When I got knocked down, I got back up. And when I got knocked down again, I got up again. I’ve always gotten back up. Always.” His voice grew stronger with each word. “And if there’s one thing I can promise you tonight is that we will get back up. Staying down is not an option. Not for me. Not for Lakeside.”

  Some of the players who’d been slumped over were straightening up now.

  “Tonight was a loss. And it hurts.” He pointed to the scoreboard. “But that does not tell the whole story and it does not predict the future. That scoreboard says we lost, but it can’t see into a man’s heart. It doesn’t know when a man has given his all on the field of battle. But I know what I saw tonight. And I know you’ll get back up and be ready to go again on Monday. Our season is not over. I can promise you that, men, our season is not over.”

  Max could see some life returning to their eyes.

  “Tonight was a loss, but it was not a failure. It’s only a failure if you let it be. It’s only a failure if you stay down. Life will give you many opportunities to quit, to stay down, to fail.” Max looked around at the young men kneeling around him and said one last thing. “Don’t give up.”

  Chapter 22

  By the end of the third quarter, Brick Township had a three-touchdown lead over Toms River East. Chris whispered to Michelle, “Let’s go get some dessert.”

  Thirty minutes later, they were enjoying a glass of wine and sharing a slice of cheesecake in one of Chris’ favorite restaurants. Michelle finished a bite, wiped her mouth and took a sip of wine. “I told him I wasn’t coming back.” She watched Chris closely to gauge his reaction. He looked surprised.

  “How did he react?” he said.

  “To be honest, I think he was shocked,” she said. “Which I can’t understand.” She thought for a moment. “He really didn’t say much.” She paused again. “Of course, that’s no different than the last three years.”

  “Have you told your parents?” Chris asked.

  “No.” She looked away. “I haven’t told them yet. I’m not looking forward to that.”

  Chris’ phone buzzed. “Weather alert,” he said. “The tropical storm was upgraded to a hurricane.”

  “Is it headed here?” she said.

  “Doesn’t look like it,” he said. “There’s a watch out for Florida, but not this far north. There’s another one forming out in the Atlantic though. It’s nothing to worry about.”

  They finished their cheesecake and wine. The server asked if they wanted more, but they both declined. She left the check and went to check on another table.

  “What about your job?” Chris said.

  “They’ll find someone to replace me,” she said. “It’s a college town. There are always more teachers than jobs.”

  “Will you try to teach here?”

  “I don’t know. I guess I’ll look into what’s required to transfer my teaching license.” She looked around the room at nothing in particular. “I just never saw myself being in this situation.”

  “I’m really sorry,” he said. “I’m here for you. I’ll do anything I can.”

  Chris looked at his phone to check the time. He dropped a couple twenty-dollar bills on the table and said, “Let’s go do something fun.”

  “Like what?” she asked.

  “You’ll see. Come on.”

  They left Michelle’s car at the restaurant. Twenty minutes later, they were at Point Pleasant Beach. Chris parked the car, opened Michelle’s door and helped her out. They walked up to the boardwalk, then down to the beach where they slipped their shoes off.

  The sound of the waves washing onshore and the cool sand underneath her feet brought back memories of the long walks on the beach with Chris years earlier. As they walked, Chris shared more about the last fifteen years of his life.

  When he and Michelle had broken up after high school, he’d moved to Brick, started teaching and dating Cindy, a science teacher. A year later, they got married.

  He loved her and loved being with her. They worked out together. They cooked together. And they were careful with their mone
y, which allowed them to travel during the summers. They went to Europe, Costa Rica and Hawaii. They were making plans to go to Paris for their fifth anniversary.

  The night before they were to leave for Paris, Cindy was on her way home from the store where she’d picked up a few last-minute items. A mile from their house, a drunk driver ran a red light and slammed into the driver’s door.

  A policeman who knew Chris and Cindy happened to be right behind her when she got hit. He immediately called for an ambulance. When he got out and saw who’d been hit, he also called Chris.

  “I got to the scene no more than five minutes after the accident,” he said. “The ambulance hadn’t even arrived yet.”

  They walked in silence for a moment while Chris tried to continue. “The policeman who called me told Cindy I was on my way. I think she tried to hold on until I got there. She was barely breathing. There was no way to get her out of the car. I’ve never felt so helpless.”

  They walked a little further in silence.