Two Minutes

'Hey! Just cause there's only two minutes left doesn't mean the offence is gonna let up,' Coach Hoang said. 'Things are only gonna get faster from here on out. Don't expect any breaks once you're out there—they won't give you any time to stop.'

He looked at all of his defenders as they huddled around him during the short break of this two-minute warning.

'Don't let it get to you though, they're in the same boat. They won't be able to stop either, so we gotta hit them first, the clock is our friend, remember that. Hit 'em hard and take the initiative from them. Make them hurt, make them slow down, make them wanna stop as they second guess themselves. Whoever hesitates first here loses.'

Coach Long stepped forward and clasped his hands on the shoulders of two players standing in the huddle. 'You're doing good out there, boys, keep it up! Remember, we're all here with you.'

Once the break was over, the defence stormed the field again, with the bench and the crowd cheering them on.

Ty took up his position in front of Patty; Deshaun stood opposite Bastion. No one said anything, they were too focused on what was ahead.

The ball was snapped, and it looked to be a run. Though when the HB and QB parted ways, the QB still had the ball in his hands—it was play-action, a fake.

Both Patty and Bastion charged forward, shoving Ty and Deshaun back as the TE streamed out under the gap made by their two blocks and caught the ball.

Ty grit his teeth but couldn't get away from the block in time to do anything about the play, it was only a short gain, but the TE was free to step out of bounds and stop the clock after he'd gained all the yards he could.

There was no need for the Pirates to pick up the pace with the clock stopped just yet.

'Don't fall for any bait!' Coach Hoang screamed out. 'They won't run it! Just play for the pass and protect the sideline!'

The next play, the Pirates tried something similar, just to the opposite side with the single WR out there to block for the QB.

This time, after the catch was made, another defender got out there and made the tackle before the TE could get out of bounds, keeping the clock running.

NOW the Pirates went without a huddle, just like Coach Hoang had predicted.

The Dons were ready for the speedy snap of the ball.

'Hut-hut!' Patty lurched forward and sidestepped to take Deshaun on with a block this time, trying to push the bigger, older CB into Ty's path as Bastion slipped away around them.

Ty saw this though, and thrust his hands out, roughly shoving Deshaun away, but keeping himself freed up to pursue Bastion.

He couldn't stop him from catching the ball, but after he caught it, Ty dragged him down from behind. Whilst he didn't stop him before he passed the shortened first down marker, he did—more importantly in this situation—keep Bastion in bounds when he took him down.

With the clock running down further, the Pirates decided to take their first timeout, stopping the clock, but giving EVERYONE a breather.

There was a short reprieve for all the players out there during the minute of the timeout. The next play after it, the Pirates again attacked the opposite side of the field to where Ty was stationed.

The WR on that side did make the catch, but he barely got any gain at all, though he did make it out of bounds to stop the clock again at least.

There was no rush, but for the next play, they went back to Bastion and Patty. Patty was the one who slipped away to make the catch this time, as Bastion threw himself in Ty's way and tangled up his legs.

Deshaun was free to make the tackle and hit Patty before he could reach a first down, shoving him out of bounds.

The Dons' defence was locked in on the sidelines, and it was hard to come by any yards while also looking to get out of bounds and stop the clock.

So, the Pirates attacked the middle of the field where things were more open with their TE. And though this did get them the first down they needed, it resulted them in using their second of three timeouts after the Receiver was dragged down in bounds.

Again everyone could catch their breath for a minute, though Ty didn't take his eyes off of his enemies over on their sideline; they were cooking something up in their huddle for when play would resume.

Still, none of the four rivals said anything to one another when they were all lined up together on their side of the field again.

For the play out of their timeout, the Pirates tried to pull off another trick. At first, the QB dropped back, looking to throw the ball like a regular passing play.

But the HB rushed forward and took the ball from him instead, charging up the guts of the defence to try and catch them unaware with a "draw" play—a hidden run.

It was the wrong play to make.

JJ was all over it. He crushed the HB with a bone-crunching tackle.

The ball spilled free.

Whistles were already blowing as Dons players jumped all over the ball and smothered it, but the officials were running in, waving the play dead and saying that the ball only came out AFTER the runner had hit the ground.

There was no fumble. It was still the Pirates' ball.

JJ didn't look upset about it, so no argument was made against the judgement of the umpires.

After the ball was taken away from the Dons players, the Pirates hurried forward, electing to save their final timeout, keeping the clock running.

They rushed into their formation, and the Dons matched them.

They snapped the ball, and Deshaun overwhelmed Bastion for once, holding him back just enough so that he was able to stretch out a hand and knock down the pass that was intended for Patty.

'Yeaaaah! That's what I'm talkin' 'bout! Get that weak shit outta here.' Deshaun puffed out his chest, taunting Bastion up close.

Patty pulled his friend away, but even Ty could see the two WRs weren't as confident as they had once been. The momentum was switching to favour the Dons.

'Don't let 'em throw anything this way again, it'll be a pick,' Ty warned them.

Patty and Bastion had no response.

'Let's go boys!' JJ cried when everyone made it into the short huddle allowed by the incompletion stopping the clock.

'Keep it up! Not much longer now, they're starting to feel the pressure and make mistakes. Not even one more minute boys, that's all we gotta hold out for.'

The spirits of each defender out there were at an all-game high, whereas the Pirates were jittery and overwhelmed.

The ball was eventually snapped just before the play clock ran out, and something bizarre happened.

Without even communicating, Ty and Deshaun were perfectly in sync with one another.

For once, Deshaun didn't get blindsided by a block, or run into Ty, and none of that happened for Ty either.

When Patty came towards Deshaun, Deshaun stepped back, and switched onto the Receiver without a word.

And when Bastion streaked across Ty's face, he passed Patty off with full confidence and chased after his new target, covering him completely and offering no chance for a pass.

Everywhere the Pirates' QB looked, his targets had a Dons player draped all over them. There was nowhere to throw the ball to, and before he could even fully register that, his line had crumbled and a DL was barrelling down on him.

The QB dropped down and curled into the fetal position, protecting the ball but surrendering himself to the hit—the sack—and the loss of yards.

The Pirates were forced to use their last timeout, but even more damaging than that, it was fourth down and they'd have to settle for a field goal as well.

The crowd erupted in cheers, and even Coach Long was hollering and making a scene at the great team effort his defence displayed to get that stop.

Coach Hoang breathed a sigh of relief, believing Ty and Deshaun were finally on the same page and their problems were over.

The Dons' defence was warmly welcomed back to the bench, showered in praise and pats on the head and back.

Now all that was left in this first half was this last field goal attempt.

The Pirates' kicker took the field. Both sides were in position.

The ball was snapped, it looked fine. There was no fumble on the catch or placement either, and the kicker made good contact too.

But as the ball sailed, it drifted to the right, and thudded off the goalpost heavily, as if a giant bell had been rung. The mighty pole swayed like it might topple over.

The kick was no good—no score would be added.

Again the crowd erupted in jubilation, and as the officials signalled for halftime, the Dons flooded off the bench and to the locker room, completely reinvigorated and riding the high of the last few moments.

They were still down 3–10, but you never would've been able to tell that from the way they were acting or the smiles on their faces.

'That's the kind of energy I love to see!' Coach Long said after he entered the room. 'Give yourselves a pat on the back for that great turnaround.'

'Hey! And don't think that we just got lucky with that missed kick,' Coach Hoang added. 'If it wasn't for that sack pushing them back and making it a longer kick, it would've gone through. So give the defence the love they deserve.'

There was some whooping and clapping for the defence as things settled down.

Ty looked around, noticed Bella's eyes on him as she was clapping. She moved closer.

'You two numbskulls finally working together out there?' she asked him, her eyes flitting over towards Deshaun.

Ty shrugged. 'I guess he finally decided to stop getting in my way.'

Bella rolled her eyes. 'Uh-huh… I'll take that as a no then. Well whatever you two did out there, it worked, so keep it up for the next half too.'

'Sure thing, Coach—' her glare stopped him short and he cleared his throat instead of finishing his sentence.

Bella walked away, and Ty looked over to Deshaun. Their eyes met, but they didn't say anything or even make a gesture to acknowledge that they were looking at each other, or what had happened out there on that last defensive play.

Ty sat back and took a deep breath, soon putting his headphones in and flicking on his music again to stay in the zone.

Jay was off in one corner of the room with the WRs, drawing on a whiteboard as they crowded around him. Stephen towered over them all, his arms around the shoulders of two other Receivers as he kept them hemmed in and paying attention.

'Look guys, I don't wanna cramp your style or whatever, but like, their zone is really weak, okay?' Jay said, slowly drawing it out for them.

'They don't like to move around a lot, and look, I totally get that, why do you think I play QB? I just gotta stand there and throw a ball.' Jay laughed. 'But you can see it, right here where two zones close together, they both expect the other guy to cover it. So neither of them really move out to the edge of their zone that much, and you can just stop in the middle for an open pass, okay? Just trust me, find the open spot, and I'll find you.' He smiled around at them and set his marker down.

Coach Norman and Coach Long could be seen talking with Chris as they brainstormed ways for the run to get going again.

'If the NT is trying to make up for his weak first step going right, he's gonna be leaning that way since we've attacked that side for all of this half. So a counter would get him really bad, then he won't know which way he needs to protect,' Chris explained.

Coach Norman laughed and ruffled the boy's hair. 'You've got a coach's head on your shoulders, Chris. I bet you'll make a great OC one day.'

After the break, the Dons came charging back out with even more energy than they had started the game with, and the crowd showered them in cheers.

As the team ran in front of the bleachers, Ty found Megan in the crowd again, though AGAIN he ignored her even as she screamed out for him.

'You're the best, Tyrese!'

He took his seat on the bench as the Dons received the opening kickoff for this second half. Chris got things started off with a bang, almost breaking completely free and taking the return to the house, though he was tripped up by the kicker as the last line of defence around midfield.

The Dons' offence took over, and everyone was in high hopes. If they rode this wave of momentum and crowd support, a touchdown seemed inevitable.

For the first play, Chris slipped out of the backfield and caught a dump-off pass in the flat. He burst forward behind a block, and when he was finally tackled, he spun and struggled in the arms of the defender, his legs never stopping as he pushed forward for as much yardage as he could get.

More defenders swarmed, hitting the pile hard, and yanking at the ball.

The hopes of the Dons came crashing down in an instant when that ball popped out into the air, only a moment before Chris's ass hit the turf.

Chris's shocked face said it all, he knew it was a fumble. He tried to crawl after the ball, but more defenders fell over him at the end of the tackle, while others chased down the bouncing ball and threw themselves onto it.

Stephen launched himself at the loose ball as well and desperately tried to claim it for himself.

Officials rushed over again to check on the situation and see just who had reclaimed the ball, though they didn't have to deliberate on that outcome for long. Just a quick glance told them all they needed to know.

The Pirates had recovered.