Westbrook Academy for Metahumans: Forums

PREGAME

The band and the cheer squad clamored onto the bus first, instruments in their cases at Coach Armstrong’s request. He didn’t mind a noisy bus- but he was fond of telling stories about stopping short and instruments lodged in the trachea. Even though last week was a loss, the team and its supporters seemed in high spirits. The Mustangs donned home uniforms this week, even though everyone pretty much shared the same field.

The bus hissed as Mr. Wislon- bus driver- pulled to a stop in the parking field of the Denton Sports Complex. The team which had been best described as rowdy now quieted as Coach Armstrong stood turned to face them.

“All right, boys and girls, this is it! Our field this week. Let’s go out there and kick a little Trailblazer tail!” The team whooped and hollered, helmets clanking and pads slapping against each other as they headed into the complex. Jeanette, newest addition to the cheer squad looked a little nervous, but Peyton looped arms with her and Sondra to form a chain as they passed through the steel doors.

"Take a knee." Coach Armstrong told the team in the locker room when he finally joined them, after working out some details with the officials. "We're coming off a loss last week, but this is a brand new day. I'll tell you what I tell you before every game - do not underestimate this team! 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 this week. They're coming to us! So gear up, get out there and you fight! Who are you?"

“MUSTANGS!" the team yelled.

"Who?"

"MUSTANGS!"

"What are we gonna do?"

"BEAT THE BLAZERS!!!"

"Hawkins! Take 'em out!"

The paper banner was held by Wyatt and Ar while the other cheerleaders formed two lines for the team to run through onto the field.

The band sounded the charge, leading into a 70’s funk beat while the cheer squad rallied the fans.

“Move it and Grove it
Let's get our team in to to it!
You gotta shake your hips from side to side
Shout it out with Mustang pride!”

Diya had been trying hard to match the high spirits on the bus, but was pretty sure her half-hearted attempts were just pulling the other players down. So she chose to keep quiet about halfway through - focus on the game.

The game was what was important now.

She hoped that if anyone asked, she'd be able to convince them her scowl came from focusing on kicking the Trailblazers' tails.

Brodi tossed a glance over his shoulder towards the giant who couldn't seem to stop fidgeting with his tuba. Ever so often, the bench would creak as the instrument and Eddie would shift around which of course caused everyone near him to tense up. Jitters, of course, was fidgeting in his seat, his eyes flickering from left to right as he guarded his triangle in his hand. The boy who was a magnet for bad luck was refusing to let the bleachers or a broken string or (Surprisingly) another crow make him mess up.... again. The Walker twins seemed ready, the drummers were prepped. Even Donovan had less of a green= skin tone to his face.

Brodi offered a set of dimples before pulling his hat on. Unlike the rest, he had placed a rather large assortment of feathers on top of it. You know... to symbolize leadership. Avian would do the same when they migrating, following the alpha with the brightest color- wasn't important. He shook his head and quickly finished up prepping the band.

"Alright, guys! When the team runs out, I want us to play-" Brodi began only to be interrupted by Faige. She tugged on his sleeve, pointing towards the archway their team was currently rushing out of! Brodi yelped, flopped down into his seat, and counted off!

"One! Two! One! Two! Three! Go!"

And then that funky beat started.

Matt had a lot on his mind during the bus ride. He was powerless at the moment, and that concerned him more than it could. Lark didn't date boys that weren't metahuman... and he really liked Lark. She had brought a new level of happiness to him, and knowing that she would cheer for him at this game really got him into the zone... holy crap! I'm about to play! I need to stop thinking about stuff and get ready to get tackled and stuff. Be like Alex or Roach or Diya. Be tough.

FIRST QUARTER

Chase Masters 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 Trailblazers 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. Henry Hawkins won the toss, deciding the Mustang would receive first. Espinosa clapped his hands to show his support of the decision and the team took to the field.

Diya Behari stood on the sidelines trying to get her head in the game. She positioned herself as far away from the cheer squad as she could, pretending two in particular didn’t exist. She bounced on her toes a few times, and near jumped when Derrick Cork slapped her hard on the shoulder pads, giving him a look of warning that made the lineman hold up his hands in defense.

Matt Quest himself seemed distracted, but he tried to pull it together on the field. He glanced a few times towards the stands and the sideline, before shaking his helmeted head and placing his hands on his knees. "Head in the game." He reminded himself. "Be tough. Be tough."

As always, the Mustangs had its own section, a splatter of maroon, filled with students, friends of players, local family and faculty who wanted to show their support or vie for tenure. At the forefront was the bandstand band, and small as they were, they could be heard across the field on the very first play, playing a very slow, but very on key version of the Rolling Stones “Start Me Up.”

JD Dumarr 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 Trailblazers 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 Walter Hickston and Chase Masters opened another hole that Dumarr was quick to exploit. Two James Briant linemen trailed him through the opening, but they couldn’t keep up with the speedy receiver. Breaking away at the thirty, Dumarr poured it on at the ten yard line and ran the ball straight into the end zone, leaving the home crowd and himself stunned. Dumarr 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.

Sondra was the first to holler out a long “JD!” cry, but the crowd quickly followed. The band cheer squad shouted their approval.

“Touchdown, touchdown, girls and boys.
You make the touchdowns, we make the noise.
Boom, dynamite!
Boom, boom dynamite!
Can you feel it?
Tick tick tick tick Hey!”


"Don't get cocky!" Coach Armstrong warned the team. The Trailblazers crowd continued to boo and jeer as Diya Behari's determined first kick sailed through the crossbars, bringing the score 7-0.

Just 13 minutes later, the Blazers would find redemption. After a false-start penalty by the Mustangs turned a fourth-and-inches near midfield into a punting situation, the Trailblazers marched 69 yards in 12 plays, mainly behind their fullback as they quickly learned boxing in Espinosa was their best line of defense. On second and goal from the six, the Trailblazer quarterback found an opening in the end zone. His sure pass sailed over the hands of cornerback Shanna Lasseter to the Blazer’s receiver, and the extra point evened the score.

The bandstand band added a dramatic, 50’s crime drama inspired ‘dun dun dunnnn’ for emphasis.

SCORE: MUSTANGS: 7 TRAILBLAZERS 7

Faige was totally with it tonight, fired up and ready to play. She wasn't wearing gloves, they messed with her fife. Her hat was firmly in place, hell she'd have duct-taped it there if she thought there was any chance of it falling, and last but not least her parents were in the stands.

Her father was all about this, cheering loudly for the team along with the rest of the maroon wearers around him. Her mother would have been happier if Faige was in the cheer squad, but school spirit was on point at least. As the band took a breather after their "dun dun duuuuun", she took a glance at the bleachers and met eyes with her parents who both waved at her. Sheepishly, she waved back, not even lamenting -very much- that her mom decided to wear pearls to a football game.

Diya rolled her eyes at the melodrama of the band. Really? Really? Why did football need all this extra crap anyway - bands and cheerleaders. Just play ball and cut the crap.

She sat silently on the bench, still at the far end away from the cheer squad, brooding as she waited to be called up again.

Brodi wrinkled his nose as he turned sharply towards the commotion behind him! He ran his gaze over the crowd of faces before pointing his fife towards the nervous looking boy near Eddie. Jitter's let out a yelp and then lurched forward, climbing over the next two bleachers separating them.

"I lost it!" Jitters exclaimed before holding up his triangle string ... without the triangle. Brodi face palmed, nodding his head before opening up the bag near his feet. In it, several identical triangles rested along with bandaides and burn cream. He plucked out a triangle, offered it to Jitters, and pointed.

"You only have eight more of these tonight. I don't want a repeat of last game! Wait, where is your hat?" Brodi snapped his attention upward, noticing the lack of fabric on the kids head.

"Uh... It fell out the window of the bus and got run over?"

Brodi let out a sigh and waved the boy away! He'd have to start bringing extra hats in the emergency Jitter pack.

SECOND QUARTER

The noise in the stadium was overwhelming. Matthew Quest stood on the sidelines next to Lark Lowell, manager of the team, who held fast to a clipbaord, while Chase Masters, cheered for his team's defense. Nearby Mike Jackson did the same, while Henry Hawkins set aside his play book to speak with the coach. From up in the stands, Mia Cobol led the section in a “D-Fence” chant, but the cheers seemed to fall on deaf ears.

The Blazers were on fire. They marched the ball down the field, and even completed a 30 yard pass when their quarterback tossed a perfect spiral to their sophomore wide out. Their next attempt was stopped when Guillermo Espinosa downed the Blazers running back at the 2 yard line, in a super close call for Westbrook. Pierce Drummand stopped the second attempt by knocking down a pass meant for the Blazer’s receiver. But on third down, the Trailblazer’s senior halfback plunged over Shanna Lasseter and across the goal line. A failed extra point brought the score 13-7 in favor of the Trailblazers.

With the Blazer’s crowd still chanting, Dumarr 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, Hawkins compensated for the tough defensive line calling three straight running plays. Masters gained 7 yards on the first, but lost 4 on the next after fading back and being tackled. On the third Hawkins went for a quarterback sneak but was stopped just shy of the first down. Behari was called in for the punt.

Lightning struck twice as the Blazer’s receiver caught the punt barely over the midfield line, Behari cursing the kick the second her foot connected, just feeling ‘off’. The receiver was downed by Lasseter on the Mustang’s 40 yard line, but the damage was done. Four plays later set the team up nicely on the twenty yard line, The Blazers calling for the field goal. With a windproof, indoor stadium, the Trailblazer kicker easily sent the ball through the cross bars bringing the score to 16-7.

The Mustang crowd rallied behind their team, barely being heard over the much rowdier Trailblazer fans, but the team still heard the call. With the clock still ticking the Blazer's kickoff sailed well into Mustang territory. Henry Hawkins called for the next play, a long shot pass to JD Dumarr. The defense would be expecting more running plays and the Mustang’s quarterback wanted to keep them guessing. Dumarr faded back as called for, but ended up being double covered. Looking for another option, Hawkins spotted Quest partly in the clear. Tossing the ball over the head of the Trailblazer lineman, 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 Mustang’s quarterback 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 with Chase Masters in the end zone for a touchdown.

“Dont mess,dont mess,
Don't mess with the best!
Boom Dynamite!”

Unfortunately, still feeling a bit off, Diya Behari’s kick went wide, making the score 16-13 as the teams headed to the lockers for the half. Jeers from the Trailblazers fans followed the team into the lockers.

SCORE: MUSTANGS 13 TRAILBLAZERS 16

Returning to the locker room felt more like a retreat than a respite, with the jeering crowd at her back. Diya ripped off her helmet and it was only the close proximity of her teammates that kept her from hurling it at a wall. Under the power suppression field, she wasn't sure she wouldn't brain one of them with it.

And it wasn't their fault they didn't have more points on the board, it was hers.

She muttered some curses under her breath as she gathered with her teammates, careful not to look any of them in the eyes.