Grit and Grind

'Woo! Good shit, Ty.' Ty accepted the hand that reached out to help him to his feet. Standing, he came face to face with Cole. Cole had been filling in since Deshaun wasn't playing and the DBs had been shuffled around to make up for that.

'Hm… thanks.' Ty's eyes narrowed slightly at the slaps on his helmet and back, but he made his way to the bench, a small smile on his face.

He sat down, praise from the other players and coaches welcoming him as he took his spot on the bench. This was how things were supposed to be. "If only I had been able to take it back for a touchdown."

Over with the Panthers, things weren't as jovial. 'Bro, what the fuck kind of pass was that?' Sean glared at Malik, who glared right back.

'The fuck are you talking about? That pass was perfect. You're the one who got beat by that scrawny shrimp.'

'You threw it right to him! You're supposed to throw the ball OVER little shits like that.'

'Hey! Cut that shit out, dumbasses.' Anthony got between them. 'We're not going to get anything done with you two fighting. It doesn't matter whose fault it was, it's over now. We move on. If we wanna win, we stick to the ground.' He shoved Malik away. 'First, we gotta lock up on D, so sit your ass down. We'll get the ball right back.'

Malik grumbled but made his way off the field. 'I ain't throwing shit to you again this game, man.'

'Good! I don't want shitty passes like that, anyway,' Sean replied.

Anthony pulled Sean away. 'Shut the fuck up and focus on D.'

As the Dons' offence took the field, Coach Hoang called his defence together. 'Good work out there. Especially you, Samuels. That was a hell of a pick. But, aside from that, we need to focus on shutting this Read Option down.'

'I need to be more in the middle of the field for when they go to the other side,' JJ said.

Coach Hoang raised a hand. 'No. You stay where you are, Jones, I don't want you sliding over to the middle. You and Samuels are defending the fat side of the field well. But when they go to the skinny side, we need to do things a bit differently. I want us sealing the outside when they go that way, cut off the RB and force the QB to keep it. Then, Snyder,' Coach Hoang addressed the other MLB who played alongside JJ, 'you need to drag that QB down. At least hold him up, but I need you to make those one-on-one tackles.'

'Yes, Coach.'

'Alright. And everybody, watch those counters, don't overcommit and let them come back across the field for free yards.'

'Yes, Coach!' the group answered collectively.

Not to be discouraged or outdone, the Panthers' defence played with greater intensity, and the struggle between them and the Dons' fired-up offence was a great one after Ty's interception.

Sean gave it his all to make up for the interception, even though he still wouldn't take responsibility for it, and battled fiercely with Cole who was pushing himself as hard as he could to make up for the hole Stephen left behind.

They were locked in a stalemate, which favoured Sean as Cole barely couldn't shake him off, no matter how hard he tried.

Benny was trying his best to break free from the tight defence, but even though he had a few inches on Anthony heightwise, he couldn't break free from the smaller, younger boy. While he could position his body and make use of his height to get SOME catches, they never went very far.

Cameron and JJ on the ground were the main driving forces so far, and while they were managing to push the Dons forward bit by bit, the Panthers' defence soon tightened up and threw more bodies down low to prevent the run, bringing a halt to their momentum.

Thanks in large part to starting with a shorter field after Ty's interception, the Dons found themselves in field goal range, however, but now they were on third down.

Coach Norman looked at Coach Long, asking if they should try the Jet Sweep now, but Coach Long shook his head. He said it was too early to reveal that card.

They went for a run up the middle with Cameron instead, but when the Panthers stuffed that, they settled for the field goal.

The ball sailed through the uprights, and thanks to the successful kick, the Dons took the first lead of the game: 3–0.

The Panthers returned the following kickoff to the 22-yard line, and then Ty and the rest of the Dons' defence took the field again.

With their new plan in mind, they were eager to see how the Panthers would respond.

The Panthers came out, looking unshaken by Ty's earlier pick. Sean said nothing as he stood in front of Ty, not even looking at him.

'Hah, I reckon I could go to sleep now and I wouldn't even miss anything, right? I doubt you bitches are brave enough to try and challenge me in the air again.'

'Shut the fuck up.' Sean shook his head. 'Annoying little shit. You don't even know anything.'

Ty grinned, keeping his smug expression throughout the Panthers' short drive. First, they tried the Read Option towards the right side, hoping for as much success as they'd been getting with it on previous plays, but they hardly got 2 yards.

Next, they tried a run up the gut, hoping to catch the defence spread too thin and leaving the middle open as they worried about the outside runs, and while it worked better than their first play, they only got 4 yards and were now on third down.

On third down, they returned to the Read Option, this time to Ty's side. Ty jumped down, ready to take out Malik, as was his assignment, but once again, Malik handed the ball off to Sean on the reverse.

'Counter! Watch it!' Coach Hoang shouted.

The Dons were ready for it this time. They hadn't overcommitted, and when Sean tried to come back against the grain, he was swarmed this time and taken down behind the line of scrimmage.

'Yes! That's what I like to see!' JJ got around his teammates, smacking them on their pads powerfully, a grin beaming on his face.

Ty smirked, moving over to Sean. 'Knew it—you're scared. You might as well run back home. We've already won.'

'You ain't won shit, bitch.' Sean glared at him and then stalked back to the bench.

Ty chuckled, making his way back to the Dons' bench.

Cole tried his best to evade tackles on the punt return and gain a few extra yards for the Dons, but he didn't get far despite his efforts.

Then, when the Dons' offence was in control again, Cole and Sean's duel resumed. Thanks to a mixture of Cole wearing him down, and Sean's frustrations getting the better of him, Cole was able to draw a couple of holding penalties from Sean, and helped the Dons march down the field, past the halfway mark.

They were on the verge of field goal range, and only needed a couple more yards to pick up the next set of downs after a couple of decent runs from Cameron.

To give Cameron a small breather, and try to catch the defence off guard, Coach Long called up a Play Action pass on third down.

After Jay faked the handoff, he looked in Cole's direction. Cole had sold a block at the beginning of the play, and then when Sean overcommitted, he blitzed right by him and shot towards the centre of the field on a Post route.

He had the step; he was in the open. Jay lobbed the ball over, but as Cole stretched out for it, he felt a tug on his hip, being pulled back slightly. At the same time, Sean pulled himself forward and lunged across Cole's body, knocking the ball out of the air.

Cole tumbled to the ground. He sprung to his feet, hands in the air, calling for a flag from the officials as he angrily looked around. 'Hey! Come on, that was pass interference!'

But no flag came. The crowd booed and made their voices heard, clearly disagreeing with the no-call from the officials.

It was fourth down. Coach Norman looked at Coach Long again, but Coach Long was already motioning for the punting team to get out there.

'I would've gone for it, Coach.' Coach Norman said.

'Maybe I should've. But I'll stick with my gut and trust our defence. Today'll be a low-scoring game.'

The ball was punted out of bounds within the Panthers' 15-yard line, and when it was their turn to attack, their offensive woes continued.

They only got one first down before they had to punt again. They didn't try another counter from their Read Option, nor did Malik force another pass into Sean. But even when they only ran the ball up the middle or away from Ty and JJ, and even with a couple of short passes to other Receivers sprinkled in, they still couldn't get far at all.

It wasn't long before they had to punt the ball away. Even so, they soon got it right back, as their defence tightened back up, and the Dons failed to break through.

The struggles between both teams would continue throughout this first half, and neither team was able to pull away or get past those stalwart defences. After that first field goal, not another point was scored in the first half, and both teams went into the major break frustrated and tired.

Coach Long was still yet to use the Jet Sweep, though even he was annoyed that they hadn't been able to break through the defence without it.

Ty looked at the scoreboard. The Panthers were still at zero, which was the perfect result and something he hoped to see at the end of the game as well, but the Dons hadn't scored since that field goal right after his interception.

"Without those two they really are struggling… I didn't think I'd have to do THIS much work myself…" But everything was fine. As long as that zero remained right where it was, it didn't matter how little his offence scored, they'd still win.

Cole was the most relieved when the long break came around. He guzzled down his Gatorade, and was panting the hardest. With the extra reps on defence, combined with how much punting there had been in the first half, he was feeling the burn. He couldn't remember the last time he'd been worked this hard in a game, but he wasn't about to complain.

'Good work out there, boys,' Coach Long said. 'Defence, I can't ask any more from you. You shut them out in the first half, and even forced a turnover. All I want is for you boys to keep that up in the second half. Do that, and the win is ours.'

'Good stuff hermanos, but don't get lazy now, the job's only half done.' JJ walked around the locker room, patting each of his fellow defenders on the back.

'Offence, you're doing great work too, just be patient, your time will come. This game will be decided on who can stay focused and keep pushing. Don't be the first ones to give up in the second half.'

'Keep it up, don't stop giving your all,' Chris said, standing by the door and watching over all the boys.

Coach Long smiled. 'Remember who you're doing this for. Bring it in.'

The team gathered around him, fists in the air.

'For family. One, two, three—'

'Family!'

The boys charged out of the locker room, rejuvenated and ready to take on the world in the second half.

Coach Long pulled Coach Norman aside as the two jogged out behind the team. 'We'll do it for the first play, surprise them with the Jet Sweep. It's time to make a statement and blow this game open.'

Coach Norman grinned. 'Right away, Coach.'