Mustangs Vs. The Warhawks 9/21/11

[Flicker]

HALF TIME

The score was close enough that it was still possible for the Bandstand Band and the Cheersquad to keep the crowd pumped for the second half. Brodi Andrews and Faige Harrison with the piccalos, Donovan Taffer on the bass drum, Cassandra Finch on the clarinet who no doubt was enduring hours of ‘one time at band camp’ jokes, Eddie Brunts on his tuba, they worked the crowd while the cheerleaders took their spot mid-field.

“Too hot too touch, the Mustang’s are too much!
Too H-O-T T-O, T-O-U-C-H!” The music was borrowed, but the cheer/dancing were original. The squad learned the moves pretty quick, having to improvise with two cheerleaders down. Peyton filled in Mia’s spot, it was the good part about being a floater. Ar took care of the tumble routines. Sondra had a few second solo in the middle where she got to show off some of her ballet moves, while Peyton and Lauren - the blonde bookends showed off some toe touch jumps, backflips, scorpions and heel stretches.



"I told you this was going to be a fight!" Coach Armstrong sharply reminded his team as they stood looking war-torn in the locker room. He’d gathered both sides - boys and girls in the boys side. "They're not just going to hand you the win! Is that what you're waiting for? You're expecting them to say 'hey Mustangs, here you go!' It's not going to happen!" A couple of snickers from the team were cut short by the Coach's stern glare.

"Well they won't, but you can take it from them! You're in range, you're getting close, but close doesn't count! Keep your eyes open. We spend a boatload of time on footwork, evasion, you think I'm doing that because I want to see you dance? Hell no! The only dancing I want to see is if Masters makes it into the end zone.” That comment brought out a few laughs, and this time the Coach let them go on. It was time to change the tone.

“You're six points out,” he continued. “You have two quarters to make it up and hold them off, but it's not going to be easy. When you go out there again you keep that in mind. They aren't giving you an inch, so you take one from them! Do not let them push you around!”

“Not a chance!” called out defensive captain Guillermo Espinosa, followed by cries of assent from the rest of the team. The Coach nodded in approval before wrapping up.

“So hydrate up, do what you need to and just know you have two quarters left, and the Warhawks know you are not about to let up. When you go back out there, you let them know the Mustangs don't just hand over games either! You go back out there and show them that no one is going to bully us.”

[Flicker]

THIRD QUARTER

The Mustangs came out of the lockers loud and strong, and the crowd, encouraged by Lauren, Peyton and the rest of the cheer squad, matched their enthusiasm. Masters handed out hi-fives as he passed a particularly rowdy section, and Espy started a wave. Coach Armstorng warned them to stay focused. Guillermo Espinosa heard the warning.

On the Warhawk's first play after taking the kick-off, their halfback took a wide pass behind the line of scrimmage and made a break for open field. Reading the play perfectly, Shanna Lasseter swooped in and hit hard, managing to knock the ball free before the running back hit the ground. The crowd lept to their feet as a sea of players converged on the loose ball. The officials whistled the play dead, rushing in to sort things out. One by one, bodies removed themselves from the pile until the huddled form of Guillermo Espinosa was uncovered in full possession of the prize. He stood up triumphantly holding the ball above his head, and the Mustangs crowd cheered wildly as their offense lined up just twenty-two yards away from a touchdown.

Oddly, the bandstand band broke into a very melodic version of ‘Soft Kitty’, which made the cheer squad stop in their tracks.

Hawkins handed the ball off to fullback Mike Jackson, who managed to drive it just short of the first down. The Mustangs attempted to bull through the defense for that last yard, but was stopped hard. On the third try, Hawkins handed the ball off to Masters, who tucked his head down and plowed his way through taking a knee just inside the endzone. Triumphantly, the blond halfback held both his hands in the air before trading chest bumping Mike Jackson.

“Check out the score, we want one more!
We ain’t needy, needy, we’re just greedy greedy!”

Diya Behari was called in for the extra point, which easily sailed through the uprights, tying up the score.


SCORE: WARHAWKS 13 MUSTANGS 13

[Jason Dumarr]

JD wrapped the tape on his hands tightly and stretched, starting to feel the hits he'd taken in the first half. Offering Diya a fist, he couldn't help but smile. Doubly so as he watched the cheer squad. Taking a moment and looking over to the Warhawks' endzone, he narrowed his eyes. Taking a breath, he focused on it, and resolved to give it all he had.

[Guillermo Espinosa]

Espy spread his arms, coming in like a plane, swooping near Shanna and giving her a signature high five that he had established for every individual member of the defense, some of the team found it annoying, but it began to grow on people.

"Now that how you read a damn play!"

He cheered as Chase scored. The momentum was shifting and he could feel the tension in the air. The game was still close, it could go anyway.

[Lauren Lombardi]

"Alright, Chase! Go, Diya!"

"Sink or swim
Do or die
Come on Mustangs
Break that tie! "

[Galactic Halo]

There it was. Another six on the board thanks to a bull-headed rush and some nice screening by Jackson and the game was all tied up. Hell, Chase was still coming down off of the last dregs of his over fifty yard rush at the close of the first half. Needless to say, he was fired up as he made it back to the Mustang sidelines.

"Yeah! That's how we do it!" He called out through his mouthguard, yanking the helmet off to shake out his sweaty blonde locks before raking them back behind his head again. Espy was the man. Seriously. If anyone was going to win this game...it was the Mustang defense. The Warhawks had too good of a defensive line for the young Mustang offense, so this was going to really be all up to the rocksteady defense.

"Piece of cake..." Chase said with a grin, tugging his helmet back on.

[Diya Behari]

Diya grinned at the cheerleaders as her name was called. Yep, that's how it was supposed to be!

She bumped the fist that JD offered, and went to high five Chase for the excellent touch down. Now the game was getting exciting!

[Flicker]

FOURTH QUARTER

Neither team made any more offensive noise until late in the quarter. A Mustang punt fell short and the Warhawk's receiver received the ball on his own 40 yard line, running it back 30 yards before being forced out of bounds by Derrick Cork. That was about as close as they’d get to the end zone, however. Three more plays gave them less than five yards, and the Hanover placekicker was called into the field.

Sondra held her breath, and Peyton chanted "Miss it! Miss it! Miss it!" but the ball still sailed through the crossbars bringing the score 16-13.

JD Dumarr had received a punt and been tackled at the Mustangs 48 yard line when the coach blew the whistle, calling his last time out of the game.

"This is it!" he told them. Until that point, the quarter had remained scoreless, neither team being able to edge the other over the midfield stripe. Both teams were spot on with their punts, neither kicker falling short of the teens. The score was still 16-13, and the clock was winding down. "We've managed to get three field goals off them, but unless we get the ball in the end zone, this whole fight was for nothing! I know you're tired. It's the eleventh hour, the two minute warning. So you take how tired and how frustrated you are, you suck it up, and you use it to drive you into the end zone. This game, it's not theirs, don't back down! Don't you give it to them!" He tapped Hawkins on the helmet with his clipboard and jogged off the field.

The band started the fight song, really really off key, and the crowd made some noise to support their school as the Mustang's #7 called for the play.

"Red-Thirteen! Red-Thirteen! Hut-hut!" He faked a handoff to Jackson, spinning around to fake hand it to Chase Masters who high-tailed to the thirty. Hawkins held tight to the ball as he ran it himself to the thirty two yard line sliding feet first and getting the first down. The offensive line scrambled to take their positions, determined to make as many driving plays as they could to get into the end zone before the clock wound down.

"Red Forty-One! Red Forty-One! Hut!" This time the quarterback really handed the ball to Masters, spinning around to fake to Jackson, but both Masters and Hawkins were tackled almost at the handoff point. Once again the team scrambled for position, watching the numbers on the clock hover above 30.

"Blue Nineteen! Blue Nineteen!" Same play, same result. No first down. They were in field goal range, but with twenty seconds on the clock, 3 more points would still mean a loss. Hawkins lined them up for one last play.

"Red One-One! Red One-One!" he called as the Coach stood clenching his clipboard on the sidelines. The play set in motion. Hawkins faked a handoff to Jackson then took a few steps back, looking for options. A flash of movement caught his eye and he let the ball fly. As it left his fingertips, he was downed by a Hanover defensive lineman.

In the end zone, Matthew Quest broke away from the Warhawk's cornerback as the ball was thrown. Leaping into the air, the crowd was on their feet as the ball sailed into his outstretched hands, barely being held by his fingertips. But his elation at the catch was short lived. The minute his feet touched the ground, the receiver was slammed mid-air from the back by a defensive tackle. Both players fell forward, Quest holding tight to the ball even with the force of the blow as his body hit the ground. It wasn't until he opened his eyes that he realized he was no longer anywhere near the end zone. The buzzer hit zero.

FINAL SCORE:
WARHAWKS 16 MUSTANGS 13