Gladiators of the Gridiron

‘Timeout! Timeout!’ Coach Otsen was already hurrying onto the field as he signalled to the nearest official to call for a break in the game.

Bodies converged around where Fred had crumpled on the field. The officials were trying to stop any fights before they could start, while the Coyotes were rubbing salt into the wound, and the Titans kept those mangy mutts back and checked on their fallen teammate.

Coach Otsen pushed himself through the crowd, just as Fred was picking himself up.

‘Whoa, stay down kid. Are you alright?’ one of the worried officials said.

‘I’m fine… I’m fine,’ Fred mumbled as he staggered to his feet and looked up at Coach Otsen. He pushed the ball out towards him, still holding it in shaky hands.

The coach took the ball and quickly passed it to an official before pulling Fred close, taking his helmet off and looking him over.

‘Come on, Frederick. You did good, real good, just come on over and sit down.’ He started to lead the boy away as the crowd parted for them. The Coyotes headed back to their bench, while the Titans followed behind their coach.

‘How are you feeling, Frederick? Be honest now, I don’t care if we have to forfeit, but I’m not gonna let those nasty shits hurt one of you boys. There’s no point playing if it’s just gonna do more damage to you rather than help you grow.’

Fred sat down on the bench, still feeling a bit dizzy, but he looked at Coach Otsen and shook his head. ‘I told you I’m fine. Please! I won’t let you down or hold any of you back, I promised I wouldn’t get in your way. Don’t… I can keep playing.’

The other coaches looked him over closely as well.

Coach Knight put a steadying hand on the boy’s shoulder. ‘Son. When were you born?’ he asked.

‘Huh?’ Fred looked at him, confused for a moment before answering, ‘November 26th, 2008.’

‘Luckily, he might not have a concussion,’ Coach Otsen said.

A doctor soon came over to check on Fred personally, flashing a light in his eyes and having him visually track a finger back and forth, running him through standard procedure for when a player was suspected to have a concussion.

Coach Otsen, meanwhile, spoke with the head official as an extended pause was called for the game, due to Fred needing the medical examination, as the Titans didn’t have the necessary amount of players without him.

Jackson’s mother turned to him, concern painted across her face. ‘You should go check on your friend.’

Jackson bit his tongue and stayed firmly planted in his seat. He looked like he’d seen a bird get run over on a highway. That injury would’ve been his fault. It should’ve been him out there, not Fred, and he’d almost gotten that boy seriously hurt.

But Fred was given the all-clear, and was okay to return, he THANKFULLY hadn’t suffered any lasting damage, though this didn’t admonish Jackson from his guilt.

Before the team was sent back out onto the field, Coach Otsen called them together again for another quick word.

‘Listen up. I meant what I said about forfeiting this game. These bastards aren’t playing real football, and if this is gonna be more harmful to you than it is good—if another stunt like what just happened with Frederick happens—I’m pulling the plug and I’m taking this before the association to get Combs banned for this dangerous behaviour.’

There were grumbles from amongst the players. Fred spoke clearly and said: ‘I don’t want them to win.’

‘Yeah,’ Pete said, ‘we can’t let them get away with this shit, Coach. We have to beat them. I’m not gonna let one of them bastardos hurt one of my teammates and get away with it, especially if they think they can WIN because of that.’

Most of the boys added their voices in agreement to this statement.

Kenny looked at Fred, staying silent for a moment before finally saying: ‘Right. We’re tougher than this. We can’t back down now. This is what we’ve trained for—to be the best, to survive any situation, and to win no matter what. We’ll crush them.’

‘Without falling to their level,’ Coach Knight reinforced.

‘Yeah!’ The boys nodded.

Fists met in the centre of the huddle. Coach Otsen looked around at all his young players, smiling wide.

Coach Vasquez sniffled, tears filling his eyes. ‘You boys are maximum inspiring and maximum brave. Let’s give it maximum effort, and get a MAXIMUM win!’

‘3, 2, 1, TITANS!’ the players roared and stormed back out onto the field, though Kenny pulled Fred aside.

‘Huh, um… is everything okay, K-Ken?’ Fred looked him over.

Kenny stared at him, and then patted Fred on the shoulder. ‘I was wrong about you. You deserve to be here, and I’m glad to have you on the team. Let’s win this, together … Freddy.’

Freddy slowly grinned and then quickly hugged Kenny. ‘Yeah! Let’s do it!’

‘Okay, okay! Let me go, we gotta get in position,’ Kenny whined, patting Freddy on the back and trying to pull him off.

Eventually, the two broke apart and got into position, as they did so, Isaac came over to Pete. ‘Hey. Give me the ball. Let’s do a power run, right up the gut, trust me,’ Isaac said.

Pete looked into his eyes, never having seen such a fiery look in the bottom-heavy boy before. He nodded and grinned. ‘Alright, güey. Hit ‘em hard for me.’

The Coyotes came out, still barking at the Titans’ players opposite them, though their taunting did nothing to change the hardened expression on any of the Titans’ faces.

When the ball was snapped for the first play after Freddy’s scary fall, the Coyotes’ yapping was silenced.

Isaac led the charge, ramming the ball right down the middle of the field with a powerful, angry run. The Offensive Line of the Titans steamrolled over their opposition, and then Isaac came face to face with number 51 of the Coyotes.

Number 51 was a wild-looking beast. His irises were tiny black dots in his wide, bloodshot eyes, and his mouth was always set in a sadistic grin. A deep, old scar ran down the right corner of his lips and across his chin, leaving a large cleft in it. He was huge as well, with muscles rippling across his large frame, and looked too old to still be stuck on the JV team.

But the smaller Isaac wouldn’t be intimidated. He stared this huge, “scar-faced” beast down, then lowered his helmet and smashed right through him.

As heads collided, there was a crack like a thick tree branch had just snapped, and then Scar-Face lay flat on his back, with Isaac charging right over him before eventually being dragged down for a total gain of 21 yards.

Already the Titans were past midfield, and even with the Coyotes still trying to foul them, there wasn’t much they could do to stop this juggernaut they had awoken.

Isaac continued to spear ahead with determined runs, bringing the Titans ever closer to the endzone and a touchdown.

Kenny was the one to cap off this drive, not one to be outdone by his teammates, he shook free of the ghostly spectre that was the Coyotes’ CB, number 21, shrugging off those cloying hands and spinning away from his dirty adversary to get into the open field.

Pete zipped the ball into the small gap—it was only a short and quick pass, they were already within 10 yards of the goalline—and Kenny caught it securely on his chest, dropping to the ground just as a Coyote went flying over him, trying to take his head off with a big hit.

The officials signalled the touchdown and whistles blared. The scoreboard ticked over, and the crowd erupted into cheers. The Titans celebrated before taking their time to get set up for the extra point attempt, while the Coyotes kicked at the grass and stomped off the field to swap with their special teams unit.

The kick sailed through, and the score was 10–0.

Once again, on the kickoff, the Coyotes’ returner waited for the last moment to down the ball in the endzone for a touchback, and then their offence started from the 25-yard line.

Spider still had his eyes locked on Freddy. “He just needs to crash one more time, and then he’ll crack for good,” Spider thought.

The ball was snapped, and again Tank went for a deep post route over the top of the defence, with many intercrossing routes from other Receivers underneath him.

Lonnie stepped forward, forced to cover the routes underneath. Spider grinned, and let a long, looping pass fly, heading right for where Freddy was.

Lonnie smirked. As soon as Spider had started his long catapult of a throwing motion, he turned and sprinted back. ‘Move!’ he shouted at Freddy, frantically motioning for him to get out of the way. ‘I’ve got it!’

Freddy stepped aside, and a confused Tank looked between the two defenders before glancing up to find the descending ball.

Lonnie leapt up, and Tank tried to drag him back down, out of the way, but even with the big brute draped all over him, Lonnie’s hands still latched around the ball and raked it in for an interception as he tumbled to the ground on top of Tank.

Again the crowd cheered, Jackson’s voice loudest amongst them.

Lonnie shoved Tank back down as he stood up, leaving the ball on his chest. Tank growled and stood up, piffing the ball at the back of Lonnie’s head as he walked away.

Lonnie barely flinched as the ball bounced off his helmet. He turned and laughed as officials guided Tank off the field and gave him a strict warning.

The Titans swarmed around Lonnie, slapping him on the back and on the top of his helmet as they laughed with him, congratulating him on his interception and for riling up that dumbass Tank.

‘H-Hey, thanks for looking out for me, gr-great catch, too,’ Freddy said.

Lonnie shrugged. ‘They’re the dumbasses who kept doing the same thing over and over.’ He then extended one of his long arms out to Freddy. ‘Thanks for listening. I’ve got your back, so don’t worry… they won’t hurt you no more.’

Freddy grinned and bumped his fist against Lonnie’s gently.

They got set up in their offensive formation, and Pete looked over to Kenny, giving him a nod. Kenny smirked and looked straight ahead, staring right through the “Ghost” in front of him.

Ghost sneered, his gloved fists closing and opening over and over.

‘Hike!’ Ghost’s hands shot out, but Kenny batted them away before they could sink their claws into any part of him.

Kenny bolted to the outside, Ghost turned to follow, and that’s when Kenny stopped on the spot and crossed back inside, leaving Ghost all twisted inside out.

Ghost even kicked a leg out to try and trip Kenny, but he deftly skipped over it and dashed away.

Pete fired out another pass, a little high, but Kenny could still catch it with a small hop, reaching his arms out and grabbing onto the rapidly spiralling ball, his hands squeezed around it tight.

And then Scar-Face’s shoulder slammed right into Kenny’s ribs before the larger boy grabbed him and hammered him into the grass.

It was a rough hit, and again Kenny felt all the air being forcefully ejected from his body, but this hit was surprisingly “clean”.

At least Kenny held onto the ball and made the catch.

Titans players quickly ran over, shoving aside Scar-Face and helping Kenny onto his feet. He thanked them in between gasps, and then looked to the scoreboard. Time slowly ticked down to 0, and the 1st quarter was over.

The Titans made their way off the field in high spirits and sat down on the bench, sucking in as much air as they could, and those who had been on the receiving end of the most hits and punishment were already rubbing at their sore bodies.

‘Great job out there, team. Keep it up,’ Coach Otsen said. ‘See? They’re no good, there’s a reason they had to resort to cheap tricks and such dirty tactics. We’re the better team, they can’t compete with us. We just have to hold out and this game is ours.’

‘That touchdown was maximum amazing, Ken!’ Coach Vasquez slapped Kenny on the back.

While Coach Knight nodded to Isaac, the man’s bushy lips lifted into the faintest of smiles.

Over by the Coyotes bench, the air was much heavier, tension and animosity weighing it down, but even while trailing by double digits after just one quarter, they were still eerily calm.

The 2nd quarter started after a short respite, and when the Titans took the field to continue their offence, Kenny was no longer being marked by just his Ghost alone, there was now another nuisance waiting just a bit further down the field, watching him like a hawk.

Number 23 now stood just a few yards behind Ghost and favouring the inside of the field. 23 was a bit bigger than Ghost, with long legs but stockier, thicker arms. Everything about him was sleek and he kept himself low in his stance, ready to burst out in any direction with great speed. He never took his eyes off of Kenny, always watching.

Kenny scowled. It was 23 who had tried to injure Freddy. That tackle could’ve broken his neck and killed him, and yet, it was a normal thing for 23 to do.

What a dirty villain.

The rest of the Coyotes’ defence had sunk down lower to focus harder on the run, putting more bodies, and bigger walls in Isaac’s way.

‘Hike!’ Kenny rushed forward, and again started his swift, precise dance to shake Ghost loose, but when he got around the first Coyote, the second was there to grab a hold of him and hold him up just long enough for Ghost to recover and pincer him in place.

Getting around two sets of grasping hands and bumping bodies was nearly impossible.

But the rest of the team would not be denied. With Isaac continuing to give it his all and drawing plenty of attention alongside Kenny, Lonnie could find gaps in the distracted defence for his own catches, and even Nick caught a few passes here and there as well.

This drive was a much tighter, back-and-forth struggle, with the Titans only slowly progressing before they got to a 3rd down while they were yet to pass half-field.

Kenny was growing more and more frustrated after each play that he was taken out of the game by the ferocious, dirty double team. His jersey had been pulled on so much that he was surprised it hadn’t ripped yet, though it was stretched out in places and already a looser fit than when the game started.

He stared down his two opponents, huffing like a bull before it charged a matador.

‘Hike!’ Again, Ghost and this “Villain” closed in upon him. He pushed through as best as he could, but their arms and hands closed around him firmly.

He lashed out, smashing an elbow across Villain’s helmet, spinning it around so the side covered his face. Kenny shoved away their arms and ducked under groping hands, one got caught on his own helmet and tore it right off his head as he pushed through.

Whether the officials somehow missed Kenny’s blatant elbow, or they let it go because of all the dirty shit the Coyotes had been doing up until that point, no one but them would know.

Kenny didn’t care, the wind whipped at his hair as he sprinted away and raced down the sideline. He stuck an arm up, looking back to Pete and calling for the ball.

Just as Isaac’s block got mowed down by a charging Scar-Face, Pete threw the ball high into the air, way out in front of Kenny.

Kenny stretched his legs, pushing them to their limits as he ran as fast as he could under that ball, diving with outstretched arms, bouncing and sliding across the grass into the endzone.

He made the catch, gripping the ball tight as he turned over onto his back and held it aloft.

The second extra-point attempt of the game was also good, and the score was now 17–0; the Titans continued to pull away.

The Coyotes changed up their offensive game plan, though they were still more focused on beating their opponents down rather than threatening the scoreboard.

Now they were aiming to do that by wearing down the Titans’ Lineman with repeated runs, smashing into them like a battering ram.

But the Titans wouldn’t crumble or fold easily, and their line held up under all of the abuse.

Ghost and Villain got a lot more energised with their efforts to hold Kenny back, and while they gave up more fouls—no longer trying to hide their dirty play—the Coyotes defence did succeed in at least slowing the Titans down, and for the rest of that half they only gave up one more field goal.

The Titans jogged into their locker room for the halftime break with their heads held high, and applause showering down on them. The score read 20–0, and the home team seemed well on their way to a comfortable victory.

During the break, Kenny, Freddy, and all of the Linemen received some light massages from the coaches and trainers as they were the ones most banged up by the Coyotes' dirty and rough play—though everyone was worse for wear than when the game had started.

‘I am so proud of ALL of you for what you’ve done out there in that first half,’ Coach Otsen said. ‘The way you’ve banded together, like brothers to fight back and push through this bullshit, it’s incredible, and you’re all winners in my book already. So, that’s why I want to remind you, that you don’t need to push yourself beyond your breaking point. The last thing I want is for any of you to get injured out there.’ He looked around at every player.

Each boy took his words to heart, but that didn’t put a damper on the fire in their eyes, they were going to play this game out no matter what.

Coach Otsen took a deep breath. ‘Alright, get your legs and breath back. There’s still another half to go. I’m just gonna step out and go talk to the officials.’

Kenny looked around the room. His eyes fell upon Freddy, and he couldn’t help but chuckle. All of this had started because the replacement had gotten hit so hard, and that tough, scrawny nerd had gotten back up without complaining at all.

“I really was wrong about him… we all were,” Kenny thought.

Coach Otsen met with the head official back out on the field.

‘Look, Roger,’ the official said, ‘I’ve had a talk with Coach Kelly. We’re going to be a lot more strict on what constitutes targeting in the second half, and I warned him that if the constant fouling continues I’ll start throwing out more players, and even this whole game if it gets bad enough.’

Coach Otsen nodded. ‘I don’t care if it ends in a draw or a no contest or whatever, I only want to look out for my players.’

‘Hey, you and me both. No one wants to see any of these kids get injured. Let’s just get back out there and have a good, clean game in the second half.’

The Titans emerged for the 2nd half, just as fired up as they had been when they came off the field. The crowd showered them with cheers once more, and then boos poured out when the Coyotes crept back out onto the field.

The Titans’ kickoff to start the 2nd half, ended just like every other one had in the previous half—with a touchback.

The Coyotes’ offence skulked onto the field once more, a deathly calm over each and every player.

The Titans focused up as well and the crowd went silent as they anticipated the first play of this new half, and what changes may come with it.

‘Snap!’ Players swarmed across the field. Spider handed the ball off to the RB. No! It was a fake, Spider still had the ball firmly in his grasp.

Pete’s eyes darted to Tank, the big TE rushed across the field like a freight train in the route of a shallow cross, cutting across the middle of the field only a few yards beyond the line of scrimmage. Pete gave chase.

Kenny matched his man closely, shifting to the side and sliding across towards the middle of the field as he tried to keep the mousy Receiver in front of him. He was totally blindsided as another Receiver and his own teammate came crashing into him.

As Kenny crashed to the floor under the two other bodies, his man was free to rush down the sideline.

Only when Spider unleashed his catapult did Lonnie realise he had fucked up. Another Receiver had streaked across his face and drawn him away to the opposite side of the field from where the pass was headed.

No one was there to stop it.

Kenny’s man easily caught the pass—there wasn’t a Titans’ player within 20 yards of him—and strolled in for a touchdown.