First to Miss

'Hey, Rudy! If you try to take this kick return, I WILL sit your ass on the bench for the rest of the game,' Coach Otsen shouted as the Titans set up for the kick-off.

Rudy grumbled but moved in front of Kenny, letting Kenny return the kick.

After a return of 25 yards, the Titans were back on offence, looking to make a statement—they wouldn't be the first to blink.

When Rudy lined up, the tiny CB, number 24, was no longer in front of him. The all-too-small kitten had been replaced by a much more ferocious Wildcat wearing number 82.

Number 82 was still an inch or two shorter than Rudy, but they weren't frightened at all by a larger opponent. They were more mature, both in body and demeanour. They stepped closer to Rudy, ready to Press him upon the snap, but this gave Rudy a real look at them. Streaks of black paint stretched across just under their pale eyes, and smudged down their cheeks, giving their face a hollow and dark appearance. Those small eyes, still had some worry in them, however. It wasn't the fear number 24's eyes had held, it was more the kind of worry you had when you were trying to figure out a difficult puzzle, and time was running out.

Pete snapped the ball and number 82 immediately lunged towards Rudy. Rudy pushed back, locking the defender into a stalemate.

Pete turned and handed the ball over to Isaac who slashed his way forward for a gain of 4 yards; decent, but not great.

On second down, 82 continued his fierce press and Rudy struggled to slip away from it. Pete looked Rudy's way, 82 was draped all over him; there was no room for a pass. Pete looked elsewhere, though had missed the most obvious passing windows. He forced a short pass over to Freddy, who caught it, but was tackled almost immediately and the play only resulted in the gain of a yard.

The Titans were facing third down, and still had half the distance to go before earning another chance.

Pete looked for another pass. Rudy was still kept well in check by number 82, but Pete wasn't looking that way, his eyes were locked on Kenny instead.

Kenny ran across the field with a rather shallow Cross. Pete's eyes followed him the whole way, however, as the MLB drifted out of place, trying to keep Kenny in front of him, Pete whipped back around and fired the pass into the space the MLB had left behind, where Lonnie was waiting.

Lonnie caught the ball on his chest, then backed his way into the first down and more, picking up 8 yards total on the play.

Rudy stalked to huddle, glaring a hole into the back of 82's jersey.

The Titans tried Play-Action next. Rudy tried to push his way through to the inside past 82, though he wasn't giving it his all, he was just testing the waters.

82 kept on Rudy, but he didn't try to prevent Rudy from moving inside. 82 didn't care if he went side to side, as long as he wasn't going forward.

Pete threw the ball in Kenny's direction, but it was well over his head and ended with an incompletion.

Next, the Titans went with a Jet Sweep to Freddy, but the Wildcats were all over it, and Freddy could only pick up 2 yards on the ground.

Rudy and number 82 broke away from their shoving match a couple of seconds after the whistle, when an official moved forward to separate them.

Rudy came to the huddle with a smile this time. 'Are you all useless if I can't get open?'

'You're the one getting clamped,' Kenny said.

'We have to work as a team … we're all failing right now,' Lonnie said.

'Hah, we'll see about that.' Rudy shook his head. 'Clamped.' He laughed as he returned to his position.

After the snap, just like always, 82's hands shot forward and thrust into Rudy's chest. Rudy turned and stepped towards the outside. 82 followed, keeping both hands on Rudy's shoulders. Rudy gripped his wrists, then pulled him forward and aside before springing back to the middle.

82 stumbled, thrown off-balance and out of position, he threw his hands up at the official before chasing after Rudy.

Rudy zigged through the middle of the field and caught the ball on his chest 12 yards downfield. He bounced off a hit from the first Safety who met him and charged forward for another 7 yards before the second Safety tripped him up.

Rudy sprung back to his feet, grinning as he flipped the ball to an official. 'How's that for clamps?' he shouted. On his way back to the huddle, he and 82 bumped into one another.

'There ain't nothing to celebrate, you cheating bitch. You know I was locking your ass up,' 82 said.

Rudy turned, still grinning widely. 'You ain't locking up anything but a spot on the bench!'

'Forget about it, Kev. Next play, next play.' It was Tiny, number 24, who came to "Kev's" defence and pulled him away from the confrontation.

Rudy laughed his way back to the Titans' huddle. 'Hey, get me the ball. I've got this bitch right where I want him. He can't stop me.'

'That was a good grab,' Freddy said.

'Yeah, nice run after it.' Lonnie patted Rudy on the back.

Rudy shrugged the hand off. 'Yeah, yeah, whatever. Just get me the ball.'

'You don't gotta be an ass about it,' Pete said, but Rudy was already walking away.

Kev didn't lunge forward after the snap following Rudy's big play. During the hesitation, Rudy slipped past his outside shoulder and streaked away down the sideline. Kev gave chase, one hand pushing against Rudy's shoulder, trying to drag it back subtly.

Rudy looked back. As he saw the ball spiralling towards them, he swatted Kev's arm down and grabbed onto his wrist again. Rudy waited until the last moment, until Kev looked away to find the ball as well, then he let go and shoved a forearm into Kev's chest, giving himself just enough separation to make the catch.

Rudy stumbled forward for a few more yards before Kev shoved him out after a 16-yard gain.

The damage was done, the Wildcats shifted their defence. The formations and scheme didn't change much, it was the players themselves who drifted over to Rudy's side of the field, giving Freddy and Kenny much more room to work with.

There wasn't any stopping the Titans, and soon enough they punched in another touchdown thanks to a powerful Off-Tackle run from Isaac.

However, when the Titans lined up for the extra point, they didn't take a kicking formation. It took a bit of on-field directing from Pete, but eventually, the Titans lined up in an unusual (for them) formation. Lonnie was in the backfield positioned as a FB in front of Isaac; Rudy was pulled in as a TE connected to the left side of the O-Line; Kenny was also acting as a TE on the opposite side; and Freddy was left on his lonesome stretched far out to the fat side of the field.

Pete stood under Center. He took the snap and whirled around. He passed Lonnie who charged ahead without the ball. He passed Isaac he cut to the outside, heading to the side of the field opposite Freddy. Freddy faded towards the back corner of the endzone. Kenny stayed back, blocking fiercely alongside the rest of the Linemen. Rudy darted to the middle of the field and planted himself in an empty space within the endzone. Of course, the ball was going his way.

Pete flung the ball high. Rudy stretched up, sunk his fingers into it, then curled around it protectively as he fell to the ground. The Wildcats had been in disarray from all the moving parts of the offence, and in their rush to attack the run, they'd left a space open just beyond the Line, which Rudy and the Titans exploited to perfection.

The two-point conversion was successful, and the Titans pushed the score out to 7–14 as they took a proper, full touchdown lead.

'Yep, it's definitely going to be a shootout,' Tommy said. 'Now it just comes down to which offence has the most firepower … or, though this is less likely, which defence can adjust first.'

'Then we CAN'T lose. There's no way the Wildcats can outlast this new superpowered offence,' Jackson.

'Haha, yeah, on paper it looks that way, I reckon. But these kinds of battles aren't so much about physical endurance, they're more mental. Which team is going to hold it together the longest? Which team can bounce back from a mistake? The first team to get frustrated in a game like this is the team that loses.'

Jackson frowned, looking to the Titans as they had a brief respite on the bench before the next kick-off. His eyes locked onto Rudy. There wouldn't be any frustration if they just kept scoring, right?

Coach Carson, standing alongside Coach Otsen, addressed the boys about the defensive adjustments for this upcoming drive. 'Ken. You'll be guarding number 18. He was the focal point of their last drive, stop him, and we stop them.'

'What? No way, that's MY man,' Rudy interjected.

'He was,' Coach Otsen said, 'and while he wasn't the one who scored the touchdown last time out, he sure as hell put the Wildcats in the position to score, no thanks to you, Rudy.'

'That was a fluke! I…I didn't take him seriously. It's different now! I won't let that happen again, so just give me another chance. Let me stop him and we'll win this game right now.'

Coach Carson shook her head. 'Ken's our best DB, he's our best bet to stop 18, we'll put—'

'Hold on,' Coach Otsen interrupted. He didn't take his eyes off Rudy. 'You think you can do it?'

'Of course I can. And if I couldn't, there's no way he could either.' He gestured to Kenny.

Kenny rolled his eyes.

'Alright, this is on you now,' Coach Otsen said. 'Don't let us down. Get out there and prove yourself!'

The Titans took the field once more.

'Sir, are you sure about this?' Coach Carson asked.

'Not at all.'

'Well, if things start to go wrong, we should move to a full Zone instead of this hybrid defence.'

'Maybe, but that's not what Rudy needs right now. Playing Zone won't help him, and frankly, I don't think it'll help this game either. Rudy needs the challenge, he needs to grow.'

'Understood, sir.'

It was another short kick-off, and the Wildcats returned it to the 33-yard line to start their next drive.

Rudy took his position before number 18, though neither boy said anything to one another. 18 smirked, watching as Rudy amped himself up with more slaps to his helmet.

The Wildcats wasted no time in testing Rudy's resolve. At the snap, 18 hopped forward, freezing Rudy momentarily. 18 burst forward, brushing right by Rudy who grabbed onto his hip and spun around to keep up with him. 18 shook towards the outside, his head snapped back, looking for the ball. Rudy turned his head, body drifting outside.

It was a feint. The ball was still in the QB's hands, and 18 raced forward as Rudy slowed. Rudy clung to 18's sides, pulling on his jersey. A flag flew, and while 18 broke away from the hold, his timing was messed up and the ball soared past his outstretched hand.

The DPI penalty still pushed the Wildcats ahead 10 yards, and 18 still had his smirk as he returned to Rudy. 'You gay or something? Grabbing on my waist like that. Hahaha. You know, I was really worried you were like, their secret weapon or something, seeing as you weren't in the last game, but, you're actually their weakness, aren't you? Shit, I don't know why they haven't cut you yet.'

Rudy shoved him. 18 laughed harder and an official hurried forward to separate them and prevent things from escalating.

For the next play, Rudy stayed back a few steps, giving 18 more space to start. However, that was exploited as well, and off a one-step Slant, 18 darted out for another catch and even fended off Rudy's tackle for a second longer to squeeze out another few yards, bringing the reception to 6 yards total.

The Wildcats caught the Titans off guard by going with a Draw after that. The RB broke free for a 9-yard gain. Though the reprieve it gave Rudy was short-lived, and the Wildcats went right back to torching him the next play.

18 continued to get open at will. Rudy felt as if there was nothing he could do. Despite Jackson's muttered prayers and encouragements, Rudy couldn't get a stop, not even if his life depended on it.

Reception after reception, 18 racked up the yards. 11 yards, 8 yards, 14 yards—the Wildcats were at the goal line.

Rudy was on an island. It was just him and 18. This was where he made his stand. He knew what was coming—A corner fade; a jump ball. It would be a contest of strength and athleticism. It's what he would've wanted if he was in 18's shoes. But, if he knew what was coming, he could stop it!

The ball was snapped. 18 came forward. He drifted to the outside, just like Rudy expected; like he hoped. Rudy stuck with him, then turned to run ahead of 18. He had to secure the best position, that's what these kinds of aerial contests came down to, who had the best position.

But as he turned to run back to the corner of the endzone. He was running alone. He stopped when it was already too late. He looked back. 18 had curled around, right at the edge of the endzone. Rudy watched as 18 dropped to a knee, scooped the ball up from just above the ground, and held it tight to his chest.

The crowd roared as the touchdown was announced. 18 popped back up and launched the ball into the stands. The crowd chanted: 'AARON! AARON! AARON!'

Aaron turned to Rudy. 'You hear that? The crowd chanting my name? You could only dream of this shit.'

'Don't act like you're winning. The game's tied, asshole. I don't see you defending me. Are you fucking scared or what?'

'Whatever. We're not pathetic enough to only have eleven players.' Aaron jogged back to the Wildcats' bench whilst Rudy was left to stew in his anger as the Titans set up for the kick defence.

The Wildcats evened the score as the extra point was good, and the game soon moved into the second quarter.