Book 1-Can You Keep a Secret?

Ty saw Darnell go down and not get up and suddenly, his brain went into overdrive.  Darnell's down!  Oh my God, that means me.  I'm taking over the team with less than three minutes to go against Eastern.  Oh my God, it's up to me now.  Oh no!  But, as soon as Ty touched a football and started throwing to Johnny Thomas who stood on the sidelines with him, he began to calm down.  After a few throws, the confidence was back, the same confidence that left him as soon as Darnell showed up nine weeks ago.  It was a few more minutes before Roscoe and the team doctor got Darnell off of the field, and Ty went over to Coach Fisher. 

"You o.k., Ty?" Fisher asked.

"Never been better, Coach." 

"That's what I like to hear.  Now don't lose this game.  Get us as far as you can and we'll see if Phil can hit one.  Don't take any chances, and we’ll play this one in overtime."  Ty nodded and headed out onto the field. 

He felt everybody's eyes upon him, but that didn't seem to matter.  Something had clicked inside of him, as if relieving Darnell late in the fourth quarter against their biggest rival was the most natural thing he could be doing at that moment.  He felt natural, he looked natural, and performed like a natural.  He felt his dad’s gaze upon him as he got to watch his son play for at least one more series of football.   

"Hey, Ty," Steve said as Ty came to the huddle, "welcome back."

"Thanks.  Coach wants a 42 counter trap on two.  Ready?  Break!" Ty was all business as Steve took the handoff and broke it for twelve yards.  With 2:45 left, the Western High offense was starting to get into gear.  On third and three, Ty scrambled out of the way of the pass rush and sprinted towards the sidelines for the first down where he stopped the clock at 2:31.   From the forty-one, he hit Thomas on a five yard slant pass who then ran another eight yards until he was in Eastern territory.  The clock read 2:20 and counting. 

In the back of his mind, Ty was saving the timeout for Phil so he could set up the game-winning field goal.  But he'd use it if necessary.  Ya still got two minutes left.  In the hands of a pro, that's an eternity, he thought.  He knew he wasn't a pro, but he sure felt like one at that particular moment. 

The next play was a handoff to Steve who barreled his way for another six yards.  1:57 and counting.  From Eastern's forty on second down, Fisher called for a deep post to Thomas.  Ty called the play and went to the huddle.  He looked at the coverage and saw the free safety cheating over towards Jayson, so he knew it would work.  He took the snap, dropped back seven steps, and let the ball fly.  A lineman knocked him to the ground so he couldn't see how good the pass was.  It wasn't a great pass so the defender knocked it away from Thomas before he got his hands on it.  1:50 remaining. 

Ty shook off the bad pass and called the next play.  It was a tight end dump pass to Bill Wheaton for third down.  He needed to get at least four yards for a first down, and when Bill caught the ball, he saw the thirty yard line coming up quickly.  When he was hit, he stretched out his hands and the ball came down on the other side of the thirty.  But, the referee marked it just short, about the thirty-one, so it was now fourth down.  Fisher cursed his bad luck (and the bad spot) and had Ty call timeout.  1:27 left.

When he had the offense on the sidelines, Fisher said to them, " Let's play smart out there.  We can get this one into overtime if we don't make any mistakes.  Ty, I need you to draw the defense offsides.  Use a hard count, and Tom, don't hike the ball until Ty gooses you.  No one else moves until then.  Got it?"  Ty nodded and the team headed back out onto the field.