We were down by four points, 21-17, with just 51 seconds left on the clock and 47 yards to get to the end zone. Things were looking rather desperate.
It had already taken us almost three minutes just to move the ball 30 yards to the 47 yard line and it didn't look like the Palisades Christian Academy Panthers' stout defense was about to give us a break.
"Red 36, red 36, green 21, down, set, hike!!" hastily barked my senior classmate, Amos Burns, our team's quarterback.
Abruptly finishing his loud cadence, Amos signaled to the offense and set the play into motion.
As I heard the audible, I dryly swallowed my nerves, knowing that my number was about to be called. Before I could get to full stride, a lineman headed straight fire me, I faked left with a strong sudden shoulder lean.
Despite wearing my trusty ace bandages to hold breasts the size of mine in place and conceal them, I could still feel the mass of my chest pulling from one side to the other. I even felt the weight of my thick auburn hair bounce up as the ponytail whipped across the back of my neck due to my violent direction fake.
Now, before I go any further, I must tell you there's a story behind the ponytail.
It was last December and our team, the Pacific Park Dolphins, had just won the Division Six California High School State Championship.
Tragically, two days after the championship game, Nate Sunders, our star quarterback, was killed in an automobile accident caused by an underage drunk driver.
Now Nate, he was the superstitious type and every football season he wouldn't cut his hair at all, once summer practice started. Then he kept it growing until the season was over.
No haircut the entire season and he wore it in a low ponytail. A ponytail he called 'our good luck charm.'
The night he was in the accident and died, he had gotten a hair cut earlier in the day.
So, the day of his funeral, the team made a pact, we all decided we would not cut our hair from that moment until the end of the next season and would wear it in a ponytail as a good luck charm, in honor of Nate.
Today's game was the last game of the regular season and as felt my ponytail swipe my neck I knew I had to make Nate proud.
Immediately after shifting my weight I made a counter move thrusting my derrière under my shoulders, powering my lithe athletic body in the opposite direction.
After a short ten yard burst straight up field, I broke right over the middle as our tight end Dave (who also happened to be my brother) rubbed off both a linebacker and strong safety in one move preventing them from covering their assignments in the center of the field. This left me wide open just long enough for Andy to throw a perfect pass to me, in full stride.
Once the ball was secure in my hands, I had an open field and a clear path to the end zone and the making of one of the best memories of my young life.
That ponytail really was a good luck charm.
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Who Is Lucas Ryker O'Riley?
ChickLitThis is the story of a child, born with both male and female genitalia, and raised as a boy for several practical reasons. As he grows into a young teen, keeping this secret from his brother and all of his friends, becomes increasingly difficult. K...
