The bus hissed as Sister Mary Thomas pulled to a stop in the parking field of High Park Senior. The team which had been best described as rowdy now quieted as Coach Waters removed his hat and nodded to the nun driving the bus. Sister Mary Thomas stood holding her cross and bowing her head, motioning for the team to follow.
"Dear Lord, please watch over our team this week and keep them from harm’s way. Please give them the wisdom and patience they need to run the right plays, and may you grant them compassion for the Monarchs. Please let the referees be fair and just, and above all, Lord, please let us win, because this year, we are taking the championship! A-men!"
"AMEN!" the team responded, clamoring off the bus. Coach Jeff Waters smiled as the Sister pulled a SJS Flyer's Booster Club T-shirt over her habit and crossed herself.
"Every little bit helps," she told him, returning his smile as he helped her off the last step. "I'll make sure to keep a line of communication open with Him from the stands." She crooked a finger at him in a mock-teasing fashion. "Maybe if your Hail Mary play last week had more hailing to Mary, young Baxter would have received the ball in the end zone!"
- The Saint Joseph's Flier sports desk
Alone in my solitude, alone in a crowd,
Alone with my silence, but my silence is loud.
"Let's Go Flyers! Crush some butterflies!" Sam called as the team got set to take the field. Bryan held up a finger as if to refute a point but decided it wasn't worth it.
They needed the game, but she tried not to dwell on it too much as she found the small section of SJS students and supporters and gave a wave. Roo, Franky and the cheer squad were already setting up on the field as the Flyers charged the field, gearing up for this weeks fight.
"This year, we are taking the championship!" She echoed to herself.
TGIF -Tanks Go In First
"Miss Douglas, we know about the nuts."
"Sam's the most amazing gamer EVER, and I love her footwear." - Laurel Fitte
The contingent from the Flyer's senior girls Field Hockey team piled out of Coach Betty's car and onto the streets of High Park. They were several blocks away from the Monarch's stadium, and definitely not in the nicer part of the rough neighbourhood. Saskia and Erika took it in stride, but some of the newer girls seemed nervous.
"Umm coach... are you sure you want to leave your car parked here?" one of them asked, eyeing a group of young men in Skulls colours who were openly leering at the group.
"What? Oh, don't worry about it, Nell. It'll be fine," the coach answered confidently. "Won't it, James?" she added, looking pointedly at one of the young men wearing a leather jacket adorned with a Death Head logo.
"Oh uh, sure thing, Betts!" the punk answered right away.
Erika and Barrier looked at each other in surprise. Sure, the coach was an imposing looking woman, but the Skull seemed to be speaking out of respect, not fear. And how did they know each other's names? It was common knowledge that Betty Brutaglia's family owned a Pizza parlour in the Row. She took the team there all the time for post-game parties. But living in Skull territory was one thing. Knowing them on a first name basis was another. Just how much did they know about their coach anyway?
Stephen Reed was ready. Sure last week’s loss had come as a blow, but he’d known going in it would be a tough game. The Monarchs were no slouches either. If you gave them an inch, they'd take a yard, several in fact, and likely enough to make a first down. Biff Hannigan won the toss, deciding the Flyers would receive first. Reed clapped his hands to show his support of the decision and the team took to the field.
Samantha Douglas stood on the sidelines wishing the wind would stop. For one thing, it would make kicking all that much harder, but for the other, with the coach suppressing their powers her skin never seemed as thick and the cold was less than enjoyable. Still, despite the weather, the Monarch’s stadium was filled. St. Joes had its own small section, a splatter of blue and white, filled with students who were die hard fans, friends of players, or faculty who wanted to show their support or vie for tenure. But small as they were, they could be heard across the field on the very first play.
Ty Cloud caught the opening kick off at the twenty yard line. Surveying the field for a second before making his break, the first year player darted between two Monarchs and found himself in the open. He tucked the ball in tight holding it close to his body as he began his dash across the field. A second wave of defenders closed in as he neared midfield, but a pair of solid blocks by Hannigan and Rodriguez opened another hole that #85 was quick to exploit. Two High Park linemen trailed him through the opening, but they couldn’t keep up with the speedy receiver. Breaking away at the thirty, Cloud outstretched his arms at the ten yard line and ran the ball straight into the end zone, leaving the home crowd stunned. Ty stood in the end zone for a second as if waiting to see flags or whistles on the play, but the upstretched arms of the ref let him know the play was good.
Despite rumors of performing an end zone dance himself, Ty was content to run half the length of the stadium, finishing with what looked like an air guitar at his team's bench. Coach Waters grinned from ear to ear, but still removed his hat to flick the teen on his helmet in response.
"Don't get cocky!" he warned. The Monarch's crowd continued to boo and jeer as Samantha Douglas' first kick sailed through the crossbars, bringing the score 7-0.
Just 13 minutes later, the Monarchs would find redemption. After a false-start penalty by the Flyers turned a fourth-and-inches near midfield into a punting situation, the Monarchs marched 69 yards in 12 plays, mainly behind fullback John Howe. On second and goal from the six, quarterback Jack Meadows found an opening in the end zone. His sure pass sailed over the hands of cornerback Nigel Barlow to receiver David McCullen, and the extra point evened the score.
SCORE: MONARCHS 7 FLYERS 7
- The Saint Joseph's Flier sports desk
Alone in my solitude, alone in a crowd,
Alone with my silence, but my silence is loud.
A my name is Aura, I live in Alaska, my husband's name is Adam, and we sell apples.
"But mom, you promised!"
She won't even look at me, moving around the kitchen. She touches the toaster, the counter, runs her fingers over the top of the tea towels tucked into the oven door. "Don't be like that, please. I told you Mrs. Peters called and she's coming right over for an emergency cleansing. I simply can't leave her in that state. You know how delicate she is, so susceptible to influence."
"Yours, you mean. Mom, you promised! You said you'd go. I flew all the way over here... "
Whoops, wrong thing to say. Clap my hands to my mouth but it's too late. She whirls, the ends of the long knotted scarf flaring out like a weird kind of skirt. I've been trying to get her attention for twenty minutes but this isn't exactly what I wanted. "You said you took the bus."
"I was late, it was going to take too long, everything's all backed up with the snow. Mom, it doesn't matter."
"That ... that thing.. that horrible thing is doing this to you. What did I tell you?" She waves her hands, rings rattling. "How can you possibly stay in vibrational balance if you keep letting that thing disturb your inner flows? Aura, you have to keep the channels clean, I don't know how many times I've told you. You can't rely on the amethysts to do it for you."
* Who is she calling thing? *
* Shut up, Mercy! This is not a good time. *
* Your mom doesn't know how to have a good time. Remember that kegger a week back? Now that was some fun. *
* Mercy, shut UP. *
Mom is just looking at me. Oops. I guess that showed on my face. She throws her hands up and turns in a clinking swirl back to the little kitchen window, leaving me staring at the back of her head. Great, just great.
"You promised, Mom. The game is just a couple of blocks from here, you said you'd come with me. I'll buy hot chocolate. It'll be fun."
She arranges a plant a centimeter to the left, leans down to blow on the incense stick, making the plume flutter. "I'm sorry Aura, I'll go with you the next time. I really do have to stay; Mrs. Peters is coming over."
Mrs. Peters who can't take four steps without becoming vibrationally unbalanced, who owns more bottles of pills than a pharmacy, who makes my mom feel more important than I do. Okay, whatever. Grab my coat and the blanket. There's only a half an hour to get there, find a good seat. Get my hot chocolate.
"Alright, Mom. Me and Mercy will go to the game."
I'm out the door and down the steps before I can change my mind.
The wind picked up, "blustery" being the best word to describe the day. Bryan Baxter stood on the sidelines, seemingly unfazed by the weather as he cheered for his team's defense. Nearby Scott Sanders did the same, the still injured quarterback clutching his play book tightly, flanked by Lonny and Mitchell, both defensive backs recovering from their own injuries. Stephen Reed kept his eye on their replacement out on the field. Noah Ryder had transferred late in the season, but the team was hurting for defense as it was, and Hanny of all people had vouched for the guy. From their place in the stands, Brianna Landers and the other Flyer’s cheerleaders led the small Saint Joe’s section in a “D-Fence” chant, but the cheers seemed to fall on deaf ears.
On their first possession of the quarter, High Park extended their momentum by going 83 yards in 6 plays, including a 29 yard pass completion when QB Meadows tossed a perfect spiral to sophomore wideout Christopher Whitney. A first attempt to penetrate the end zone was stopped when newcomer Ryder managed to down running back Michael Little at the 2 yard line. Lucas Alexander stopped the second by knocking down a pass meant for McCullen. But on third down, sophomore halfback P.J. Branden plunged across the goal line for the major. A failed extra point brought the score 13-7 in favor of the Monarchs.
With the wind still picking up, Ty Cloud received the following kick off barely inside his team's 20, but any hopes of duplicating his first quarter heroics were dashed when he was quickly hemmed in and knocked out of bounds after a minimal return. Lining up at his own 24, Reed surrendered to the wind by calling three straight running plays. Argillo gained 7 yards on the first, but lost 4 on the next after fading back and being tackled. On the third Reed went for a quarterback sneak but was stopped just shy of the first down. Harrison was called in for the punt.
Lightning struck twice as receiver Paul Snow caught the punt just barely over the midfield line, the wind being decisively in the Monarch's favor. Snow was downed by Ryder on the Flyer’s 40 yard line, but the damage was done. Four plays later set the team up nicely on the twenty yard line, Meadows calling for the field goal. With the wind at his back, placekicker Hank Thornton easily sent the ball through the cross bars bringing the score to 16-7.
The small Flyers crowd rallied behind their team, barely being heard over the wind or the much rowdier Monarch fans, but the team still heard the call. With the wind still at their backs, the Monarch's kickoff sailed well into Flyer territory. Stephen Reed squinted into the wind as he called for the next play, a long shot pass to Baxter. The defense would be expecting more running plays and the Flyer’s quarterback wanted to keep them guessing. Baxter faded back as called for, but ended up being double covered. Looking for another option, Reed spotted his former Seacliff teammate Miguel Rodriguez partly in the clear. Tossing the ball over the head of Monarch lineman Nasir Sultan, he saw the tight end not only catch the high pass, but shake off a couple tackles on his way to a first down.
The Flyer’s #1 then proceeded to engineer a methodical drive down the field. A mix of short passes and hard runs kept the defense guessing and the yard sticks moving until finally, the drive ended as it had begun with a Rodriguez reception, only this time in the end zone for a touchdown.
Unfortunately with the wind still not in their favor, Samantha Douglas' kick went wide, making the score 16-13 as the teams headed to the lockers for the half.
SCORE: MONARCHS 16 FLYERS 13
- The Saint Joseph's Flier sports desk
Alone in my solitude, alone in a crowd,
Alone with my silence, but my silence is loud.
Nova arrived late in the very cold first quarter, mumbling as he walked up to the bleacher, no shirt... only wearing some shorts painted all blue as he finally made it to an away game.
He was quiet unusually so as he found his seat, for several seconds that went on and with a deep breath he stood "LETS GO FLYERS!!!!" "Come on you can do it!!!! AWW man!! N.... no no.. Yes!! Alright!!" From that moment on in the game, things got a bit noisy around the small student section in the icy wind.
With the close of the second quarter "Get em next time Sam!" Echoed out as he stood there cheering them off the field.
During half time there was much shivering and more than a few cups of hot cocoa as comments went around of how the heck he was still standing in the cold wearing only a pair of shorts.
As they entered back onto the field he did what he could to get the fans to their feet the sentiment "Come on Flyers! You can get em! Do it lets go!" Seemed to echo through the small gathering. They may not have had numbers but the spirit was still there.
Nigel tried to relax on the bench, but he still felt like his blood vessels were going to burst. He'd been running hard the whole game, and with the secondary reduced to just him, Lucas, Kasim, and new kid Noah Ryder, there weren't going to be many chances to rest 'til the clock hit zero. Fortunately, Stephen seemed to have a long drive going, giving the defence time to rest. It also gave Lucas a chance to share some observations he'd made about the Monarch's receivers.
"They've got the wind with them for another quarter," the veteran corner was saying, so they're going to go to the air as often as they can while they still have it. It's up to us to prevent any big plays while they do. Are you guys with me?"
"Hell yeah," Nigel spat out, on top of Kasim and Noah's similar assurances. The four defensive backs smacked thier fists together, then looked up suddenly as cheers erupted from the small Saint Joe's section of the stands.
"Way to go, Miguel!" Kasim exclaimed. "We're back in this!"
He's a clown, that we put down,
He's a man, that doesn't fit,
He's a king... but not in this town,
To you and me, he is a renegade.
"All right, listen up," Coach Waters called once his team hit the locker room. From the look on his face, they could tell he was in an ‘I talk, you listen’ frame of mind. They listened.
"They're playing good, but not great. We CAN play better, and we're going to have to if we want this win. They have a great offensive line, which means our defense needs to tighten up. I want to see some pressure on Meadows. Don’t let him set the pace. Our offensive line- Rodriguez that was some nice footwork out there, I want to see more of it.
“The weather's going to continue to be unpredictable, Harrison, Reed, Douglas, you need to account for that. We’ve got one more quarter with the wind against us. Put a little more power behind the ball.
“Baxter- I don't want to see any more show boating from you unless we have the game well in the bag. I want to see you buckle down and get serious. ALL of you. Otherwise you can kiss that championship good bye. We watched it slip through our fingers last season, and I don't know about you boys, but I don't want to see that happen again. If you do not take this game, you may as well make dates with the cheerleaders for next Friday ‘cause unless the Paladins drop their game today, you'll only be taking the field for show from now on. And to show you the probability of that happening? They're playing the Titans.
“So what are you going to do? Let a bunch of butterflies steam-roll you? NO, you go back out there, you buck up and get serious, and you show me that you know how to play football. If not? Don't bother showing up for practice tomorrow because you'll just be wasting my time. Reed? See if you can pull them together."
- The Saint Joseph's Flier sports desk
Alone in my solitude, alone in a crowd,
Alone with my silence, but my silence is loud.
Ingrid watched the Monarch's cheerleaders perform at half-time with a bit of a sneer, poking fun at various botched moves with her squadmates. They weren't that bad, really, but where was the fun in saying that?
The game was still close, with the Flyers down by only three. She was confident that Stephen would pull it out in the second half. A few rows behind her, someone was explaining something about wind and eating up the clock while the other team had it. Ingrid didn't understand most of it, but the speaker seemed to be approving of the way the Flyers had played in the second.
"You see," she assured Brianna in the seat next to her. "Everything's going to be fine."
Already she was thinking about what she'd wear to the victory party.
Ingrid: "Last night was great, except for all those walking slabs of meat and muscle trying to puke all over me."
Rudi: "Vahzilok mission?"
Ingrid: "No. After-game party with the football team."
Both teams came out of the lockers twice as determined as they went in. One player in particular, Flyer’s captain Biff Hannigan, was especially fired up.
“So the Coach wants pressure, does he? C’mon guys, let’s show them what Flyer Football is all about!”
On the second play of the half, Hannigan did just that, blowing through the offensive line like a freight train and sacking Meadows for a six yard loss. The Monarch’s quarterback seemed slow to get up after the hit, and on the next play, he stumbled taking the snap and was forced to throw the ball away to avoid another sack. On third down he handed the ball to Little, but the halfback failed to find an opening, barely making it past the line of scrimmage before being tackled hard by a charging Noah Ryder.
"Good coverage! Good coverage!" the coach called from the sidelines. Hannigan gave Ryder an approving thump on the shoulder pads as they left the field.
The Flyers fared no better on their first possession. Consecutive runs by Anderson and Argillo netted only five yards, and an attempt to surprise the defense with a sideline pass to Ty Cloud resulted in an incompletion. Harrison was once again forced to punt against the wind, and the Monarchs took the ball in good field position.
It wasn’t Meadows this time, though. Instead, High Park sent out reserve quarterback Anthony D’Amato, only a sophomore but already known around the league for his strong throwing arm. With the wind behind him, he was ready to put Saint Joe’s injury-riddled secondary to the test. The Monarchs’ offensive line held firm, allowing D’Amato plenty of time to find targets for the bullets he was firing. His first three plays resulted in two first downs, driving the ball deep into Flyer territory and nearing field goal range.
With the home crowd whipped into a near-frenzy, the Monarchs fielded five receivers for the next play. Having no more defensive backs available, the Flyers countered with their standard formation, coach Waters signaling his secondary to switch to zone coverage. He also made a barely noticeable gesture to linebacker William Briggs, who proceeded to line up a few yards farther outside than usual.
As the ball was snapped, Briggs sprang into action, sweeping around the shortened offensive line to bear down on D’Amato. The quarterback kept his cool and managed to fire off his intended pass before taking the hit. The ball flew through the air in a perfect arc, straight into the arms of Flyer’s cornerback Nigel Barlow. Without missing a beat, the Seacliff transfer student ran straight up the sidelines of the opposing team, barely staying in bounds twice before crossing to the center of the field where he found his next opening. He crossed the midstripe to the 40 where he was nearly tripped up, spinning and high stepping away back into the clear. Tucking his head down and focusing on the end zone, he held the ball close to his body with his right arm and pumped his left to help increase his speed. The St. Joseph's fans were on their feet when Kasim Moamber blocked the last defender, leaving Barlow in the clear as he ran straight into the Monarch's end zone, bringing the score back in favor of the Flyers, 19-16. Once again Nigel looked to the stands to give a salute to girlfriend Kara Evans, who sat huddled with her brother, giving a small wave back.
Samantha Douglas took to the field, getting a nod from quarterback Stephen Reed. As the placekicker wound up for the kick, Reed took the snap, flicked the ball to Zack Aiken who ran it in for the 2 point conversion and 21-16 Flyers lead.
"You're not in the clear yet!" Coach Waters warned as he clapped his gloved hands in approval. "Defense! Keep it up!" Tired as they were, the Flyer’s defense heeded the call, giving the now morally deflated Monarch offense no openings to work with. When Lucas Alexander knocked down a pass on a fourth down gamble, the Flyers regained possession on the High Park 45.
With the wind still against him, Reed kept the ball on the ground, faking a handoff to Anderson then passing a lateral to Argillo who drove for the first down, then carried on for an additional 12 yards. Reed gained a few yards himself running the ball forward on the next play, until finally wide receiver Bryan Baxter broke free, making a spectacular catch for a 24 yard touchdown. The High Park crowd didn't appreciate the score, but the St. Joseph's boosters cheered loud enough for Baxter to hear as he shuffled off to the sidelines. Reed called for the secondary team, and again, Samantha Douglas was called to the field.
"Let's go Sam! Make like a Rockette! Show us some leg!" Frank Argillo called with a wink, causing the placekicker to smile and point a warning finger in his direction. Harrison told her to overshoot the goal which she did, the ball sailing through this time for the extra point despite the wind, giving the Flyers a breakaway lead of 28-16.
High Park called for a time out, their coach running onto the field to rally his team. The Monarchs wanted the championship every bit as bad as the Flyers, and they weren't about to just roll over and give up themselves. Capitalizing on a good kick return, D’Amato took over at his own 47 and converted four straight first downs, eventually scoring on a quarterback keeper as the clock ended the third quarter.
SCORE: FLYERS 28 MONARCHS 23
-The Saint Joseph's Flier sports desk
Alone in my solitude, alone in a crowd,
Alone with my silence, but my silence is loud.
Kalie sat in the stands alone Gabe no where to be seen. She was cheering for her team waving her blue and white pom poms. But she just didn't seem herself.
Bryan sat on the bench, while the Flyers defense was setting up on the line of scrimmage, the receiver was switching to his second pair of gloves. His hands were sweating and the cold wind was numbing his fingers.
Toweling off his hands, Bryan looked at the red skin on his palms and thought about what the Coach had said. Bryan had been disppointed with the team this season, the feeling had come to a head after Homecoming. Everyone was so excited about their "win", Bryan had tied to share their enthusiasm but deep down he knew the had only squeeked by.
"Coach is right." Bryan thought, "I need to start keeping my head in the game." Though Bryan had always taken his position on the team seriously, outwardly he was constantly joking about the game. Even his on-field antics were meant with the best of intentions. A cold look settled on the boy's face as he thought about his behavior.
"It's time to start taking this personally. Time to start setting an example."
Bryan toweled the cold wetness from his hands and softly flexed the stiffness out of his fingers. Slipping on the extra set of leather gloves and putting his mouthguard back into place, his eyes narrowed and he eagerly awaited his chance to get back out on the field.
Bryan Baxter (Codename: Gravwarp)
Gravity Control / Force Field / Fire Mastery
