Saint Joseph School

PREGAME

Coach Waters sat in his office, letting the team psyche themselves up in the locker room. He had a clipboard full of statistics that he meant to go over, but instead, he tapped his pencil against the edge of his desk almost pensively. His team was having an amazing season. They won seven out of their eight games, and the one forfeit was still in the process of being contested. He had good kids, the kind of kids every coach dreams of having - the kind willing to work hard for all the right reasons- for him, for themselves, for the game. But they were getting ahead of themselves. The Panthers were having another amazing season themselves, having the same record so far as the Flyers. They needed this game. He could only hope their streak held out. Morale would no doubt be a little low, considering both Darweishi Brown and Luke Bartel, two starters, would be benched for the final two games because the two knuckle-heads decided to recreate the final scene from Rocky II in the quad, but Waters was still pretty confident in his teams ability. Second stringers trained just as hard as starters, and he practiced them alongside the starting lineup often. They'd be fine.

In the locker room, Sam re-laced her right cleat. Bryan Baxter lobbed the ball back and forth with Lucas Alexander. Stephen Reed, Brandon Jordan and Damian Singleton poured over play books. Dar and Diyar sat off to themselves, and Ty Cloud chewed Charlie Miller's ear off talking about State.

On the field, the cheerleaders warmed up with handsprings and heel stretches. The crowd was decked out in blue and white, some enjoying the cool fall weather, others huddled underneath stadium blankets. Sister Mary-Thomas was decked out in her booster gear with a newly bought T-shirt to help support the team. She had already begun pitching fund-raising ideas to send the team to Foxborough if they won. "My words to God's ears." She thought aloud, causing the students around her to scoot away.

"Take a knee." Coach Waters told the team in the locker room when he finally joined them. "We're coming off a big win last week, and you did earn it, but we're not facing the Titans this week, these are the Monarchs. I'll tell you what I tell you before every game - do not underestimate them! Don't get over confident! You go out there in full force, you don't let up, you don't let them take advantage of anything and you will win this game. We're on our turf. They're coming to us! So gear up, get out there and you fight! Who are you?"

"FLYERS!" the team yelled.

"Who?"

"FLYERS!"

"What are we gonna do?"

"BEAT THE MARAUDERS!"

"Reed! Take 'em out!"

The paper banner was held by Rooster and Matt while the other cheerleaders formed two lines for the team to run through onto the field. Stephen Reed re-adjusted his mouthguard and mentally prepared for the game. Bryan Baxter jogged in place a few times to warm up his muscles, while Ty Cloud waved his good arm towards the stands and asked for vocal support. The fans and students obliged, and finally the coach gave two quick bursts on his whistle as the team took to the field.

(Sorry for the abbreviated version. /e was lazy)

FIRST/SECOND QUARTER

Reed knew the Marauders were no slouches. 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 lined up for the kickoff.

Kasim Moamber caught the opening kick off at the twenty yard line. Surveying the field for a second before making his break, the veteran 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 Jordan and Dubois opened another hole that #81 was quick to exploit. Two Jon Thomas Dye linemen trailed him through the opening, but they couldn’t keep up with the speedy receiver. Breaking away at the thirty, Kaz outstretched his arms at the ten yard line and ran the ball straight into the end zone. Nothing pumped up a crowd more than a touch down on the kickoff return, and Coach Waters cheered loudest of all. Maybe he was putting the horse before the cart, but he hoped it'd set the tone for the rest of the game.

"Don't get cocky!" he warned anyway. The Flyers crowd continued to cheer as Samantha Douglas' first kick sailed through the crossbars, bringing the score 7-0.

Right before the clock would end for the 2nd quarter, the Marauders would find redemption. Patience is a virtue, Brandon Jordan reminded himself. Unfortunately, no one reminded Charlie Miller. After a false-start penalty by the Flyers turned a fourth-and-inches near midfield into a punting situation, the Marauders offensive line took the field, as did the Flyers defense. Darweishi Brown and Luke Bartel cursed on the sidelines, keeping their eyes on returning Marauders quarterback, James Black. With only time for one play in the game, Black went for broke, spiraling off a 20 yard pass to receiver Derrick Sirius. His sure fire pass sailed over the outstretched arms of Damian Singleton, who made a diving play for the interception, but fell short. But even with Cyrus Fairchild hot on his heels, Sirius found an opening and marched the ball into the endzone, and the extra point by Ahmad McMaster evened the score.

SCORE: FLYERS: 7 MARAUDERS: 7

Brandon snarled and beat his fists on the turf, determined to do his best. He was angry with himself for losing focus, even for a moment. The game was everything right now; they had to do their best with Luke and Dar out of the picture. When the next quarter started...he'd bring the whirlwind. Time for them to know what going up against the Flyers REALLY meant!

(Stupid Internet)


HALFTIME

The half-time show on Halloween went over so well that Franky and Bri decided to try a bit of the same to help get the crowd pumped up. Drawing heavily from Judson Laipply's Evolution of Dance They devised a routine breaking the squad into two smaller squads, performing a "dance off" of sorts, each performing dualing moves to classics, such as the YMCA, Kung Foo Fighting, The Cha-Cha Slide and Cotton Eyed Joe, finishing off all together with an abbreviated version of the Electric Slide. It was simple and cheesy, but the crowd ate it up, cheering and dancing along.

Inside the locker room was another story.

"Listen up!" Coach Waters yelled as most of the team downed Gatorade and cold water despite the near freezing temperatures outside. "I don't have to remind you how important this game is! Right now, you're tied for first with Prescott. If they win and we lose? We're out! If we win and they lose? They're out. State hinges on this game! All of you worked damned hard this semester, and I'm not going to sit back and watch you blow it, not in our house!

I don't want to hear any whining. I don't want to hear any excuses! We have two players sidelined. Cloud is still out on an injury. Three people do not make an entire team, you all make the team!

You take this time to think about what you want to do. Do you want to take that trip out to Foxborough and play at Gillette Stadium, or do you want to leave this field with your tails between your legs whimpering about next year. I don't give a damn about next year, I give a damn about THIS year. Right here, right now.

Now who remembers what Two-Twelve is?"

"The boiling point of water!" Baxter and Briggs replied together, a smile crossing the faces of veteran members of the team.

"That's right! And boiling water makes steam! Steam powers trains! What does Two-Eleven do?"

"NOTHING!"

"Damn straight it's nothing but hot water! Now when you go out on that field, you give me Two-Twelve! All of you!"

"STEAM!" Cloud started the rallying cry.

"STEAM!" The rest of the team replied.

"Get out there and you show me what boiling water does!"

THIRD/FOURTH QUARTER

Stephen Reed took his spot on the sidelines as Bill Harrison and the defensive line took the field. Harrison sent the ball sailing and was received by #84, Aaron Carter at his own 15 yard line. Flyers Damian Singleton hit fast and strong, catching the Marauder ten yards later and downing him at the 25. Three quick plays later and Reed was taking the field.

Reed knew the Flyers were traditionally too reliant on their running game. Other teams were keying on that, he knew the Marauders were expecting more of the same tonight.

"Way to go Defense!" he called, patting Alexander on the shoulder pad as they passed. Shooting a confident smile to the crowd, he huddled the team up and called his first play.

The ball was snapped and Reed faked a hand-off to covering running back Nick Eastman while Baxter and Aiken tried to get clear. Bryan saw an opening, a hole in the Marauders zone coverage big enough to drive a semi through. But he was no truck. He was small, he was fast, and he took full advantage of the situation. Reed faked a pass towards Aiken, then tossed a perfect spiral which landed squarely in the uncovered Baxter's hands.

"Too easy!" Bryan thought out loud as he placed the ball down in the end zone twelve seconds later. The crowd of die-hard fans huddled under their cold weather gear were soon on their feet, and the band began to play the Flyers fight song. . With Samantha Douglas' extra point the score was moved 14-7 for the home side.

"Good job, Good job!" the coach called. "Good eyes Baxter, Good eyes, Reed. Defense, let’s keep it going!"

Unlike the Flyers, the Marauders were known more for their passing game, and sure enough that's what they tried in the fourth quarter. Unfortunately for them, the Flyer’s secondary were on fire, running down the Marauders receivers and boxing them in. John Thomas Dye's quarterback James Black had no choice but to opt to hand off, but Diyar Delevar and the rest of the defensive line was more than ready to stop the run.

Reed was quickly back on the field. The Marauders were wising up, fielding extra defensive backs for greater pass defense, but that left an opening for Running Back Antoine Dubois. Two plays later, Oby found himself in the end zone.

Samantha Douglas waited for the snap, holding her left hand in the air and starting to run as Stephen placed the ball on the ground. The wet grass made the instep of her shoe slick and she watched with disappointment as the extra point went wide, bringing the score 20-7 as the clock ran down.

FINAL SCORE: FLYERS 20 Marauders 7

"FLYERS! Woo!" she screamed as she waved her pom-poms.

The game was an amazing distraction from her recent problems, and Kara threw herself into her cheers with abandon.

The games felt different when you'd made out with one of the guys on the field. Elly found herself looking for number 76 whenever the defense got on the field, watching for what he'd do so she could bring it up again later at the D. God, she she was a cheerleader who'd hooked up with a football player. How the hell had this happened? "GO FLYERS!"