This was an easy one. I set back in my recliner and reminisced aloud:
Not only was everything moving in slow-motion but it was as though I was not only a player, but also a spectator. I saw the quarterback turn to his right and hand the ball to their tailback. I saw their tight-end take our defensive-end to the outside while their tackle and guard sealed off the inside. Their fullback had our outside linebacker which left me to close the hole.
The football gods had been good to us that past summer. A Marine veteran had retired and returned home. He brought with him two teenaged sons who happened to be football players. The oldest was over six feet tall and weighted 190 pounds. He played defensive-end and his present alone raised our defense a notch. The youngest was a scat-back type runner who has seen a lot of playing time this year.
Klinton was a county school who played in the Class 3A Conference. Last year we were the runner-up in our division and as such missed out on the state championship play-offs. This year we had a one game lead going into our last game with Richmond, a city school who played in the Class 4A Conference. A win against Richmond and we win our division outright. A lose and we need Abby to loose or have to suffer through a coin-toss to decide the division winner.
Why was a Class 3A school playing a Class 4A school in football? The answer to that goes back a number of years. Back in the 30s when schools began to compete in sports, Manchester county’s economic base had been agriculture. As a result the two county school were larger than the city school and had better sports teams. Richmond was the county site and welded some political power. Not wanting to be left behind in the sports arena they had forced the county schools to sign a long term agreement to play Richmond City High School each year in all sports.
World War Two had changed those dynamics. The war had brought industry to Richmond and with it a boom in the population. Coupled with integration, the city high school was now much larger and as a result had much better sports teams. The City School District had tried a number of times to have the agreement nullified, but the County School District had prevailed each time.
Every year for the past ten years Richmond had begun the season by playing Tolbert to start the season and ending with Klinton. This year Klinton had the home field advantage and the football gods were once again smiling on the Mustangs.
It seemed that Richmond had saved every bad break that befalls every team for this last game of the regular season. Thus far they had seven penalties called against them for sixty-three yards. The really bad thing about this is, some of these penalties came at the most inopportune time.
A half the distance to the goal line penalty had pushed them back to their own six yard line. There a bad snap had been fumbled and before recovery was kicked out of the end zone for a safety. Then a punt that had penned us on our own twelve yard line was called back for an illegal procedure. The following kick we blocked and we returned it for a touchdown. Then another fumble which we recovered on their eighteen yard line turned into a field goal.
These games, for as long as I can remember had been lopsided with Richmond having the upper hand. Last year we had played them close until the last quarter and then they ran away with the game. This year our defense had played them hard. Our new defensive-end had outplayed everyone. Thus Richmond had been held to two touchdowns. While their defense was solid, our offense did have one good drive which turned into another field goal.
With fifty-five seconds left in the game we led 15 to 14. Richmond had the ball at our forty-seven yard line with a third and one. A pass was completed to our fifteen yard line, well within field gold range. Another illegal procedure penalty brought the ball back making it third and six. A screen pass failed to get the first down, but it cost us our best cornerback.
When my name was called it was a surprise. I had not played a down in this game and now I had to replace the guy who had just stopped Richmond from making a first down. The coach gathered us on the sideline: "Listen, they have a forth and one, they’re not going to throw another pass. All they want now is a first down. They’ll run Steward of right tackle, so I want everyone to crowd the line of scrimmage."
Since I was crowding the line of scrimmage, five yards back, I was closer than Steward when he got the ball. I shot the gap and met him a yard into his backfield. For what ever reason I knew he was going to try and run me over. It was as though I had all the time in the world. I saw him lower his shoulders and head and knew I had to get lower. On contact I was lower. His facemask slid over my right shoulder pad an instant before my shoulder came in contact with the ball.
Instead of continuing to drive, it was as though his concentration turned to the ball (he had fumbled twice). He tried to spin to his left but I had wrapped up. Instead of spinning out of the tackle, he fell forward.
The whistle blew and everything turned to normal. When the measurement showed he was a few chain links short of the first down, the ball went over. With thirty seconds left on the clock, this game belonged to us even though they had two time-outs left.
Having won our division we went to the state playoffs and lost in the semi-final game by three points. That year’s Year Book play up our march to the semi-final game in the Class 3A Conference, but, it gave much more coverage to the one point victory over Richmond High School. It even had a picture of me and Leroy Steward laying on the ground with the caption: THREE INCHES SHORT.
That was the last down I ever played for Klinton High School.
The game had started and the grandsons quickly lost interest in my football experiences.
No comments:
Post a Comment