Telegraph Ave: Oakland High

Chapter 36: Final Drive

Xavier POV...

It was now fourth quarter, 4:03 left on the clock. The rain was calming itself down, now turning into small drizzles that glued itself to our helmets. Both sides of the stadium never seemed to calm themselves down, fore we were now in a close game.

| Home 55 — Visitor 58 |

Oakland Tech was in the lead, and the defense was now on the field trying to make a stop against there offense. They were placed on the 35-yard line still in their territory, only 10 more yards till they can pass the 50-yard mark, which will not happen.

We could tell that they were beaten up, wounded, and tired from the physical match up that we had tonight. But that never allowed us to turn down a notch, cause the clock was still running and the game isn't over.

We were now in cover 0 man, and I had my eyes on the RB. Back into our Big Nickel/4-3 formation, with 4 D-Lineman and 2 other linebackers ready to rush the passer, As for the rest of us, we need to keep our eyes on our opponents that we were assigned to cover.

My opponent was the running back, so my eyes stayed on his hips till the play began. I tightened my gloves around my wrist and stayed on the tip of my toes waiting for the QB to start the play. Markus was deep in the backfield, but not too far from where we were.

"Ready, Hut!!!" The QB shouted his cadence, commencing the beginning of the play.

I shuffled with the RB's motion, as the wide receivers ran past the line of scrimmage going out for a route. Using my peripheral vision, out of the corner of my eyes, I saw the QB about to pass the ball to Michael. He was at least 15 yards away from where I stood to my right, and I knew I wasn't going to get to him on time.

But running downfield was the man himself—Markus, ready to knock Michael out of his shoes once again. So I began to run to the chosen target, while the QB released the ball flying into Michael's direction.

The ball flew into Michael's hand and Markus was there. Only... I wish I could say that he made the tackle, but he slipped on the damp turf and got off balance, causing him to fall face-first onto the ground. Markus reached his arms out to Michael, but Michael was already loose.

Jordan POV...

"Oh shit." August, Arron, Damion, and I said at the same time.

Xavier POV...

There was a drastic change in Oakland's crowd, as I was now chasing Michael down the field. Tech's crowd continued to rise the more he ran downfield, and our sideline became quiet.

Stacy POV...

Tiffany jumped out of her seat and screamed "Noooooo!!!!"

"Lord, he missed the tackle." Candace shouted with a worried look on her face.

I just stood there with my hands on the rails, bewildered. No longer grasping onto reality hoping it isn't true, but this isn't a movie... and I wasn't dreaming.

"Get em, X!!!" Miss D shouted.

Xavier POV...

The Defense and I chased Michael 55 yards downfield. Our other safety finally brought him down, but he was brought down exactly at the 5-yard line from the end zone.