Chapter Fourteen
Mojo Comeback
Darla stood on the sidelines, along with the other trainers. She stared out onto the field and licked her lips.
She watched as Ivory tackled down a Cowboy who had the ball.
"Let's go offense!" Coach Gaines yelled out.
Darla groaned with frustration as she watched Don catch the ball, then get tackled to the ground. "They're killin' us with their size." She said, standing next to her dad. "Don't I know it." He put his hands on his hips.
"They're playing some hard-hitting football."
Darla smiled as she watched Brian tackle a Cowboy, taking him towards the Panther's sidelines, knocking down all the water and even a cheerleader. She laughed loudly, but immediately covered her mouth when her father shot a glare at her.
Whitaker caught the ball as it was snapped to him. He stood and looked for someone to throw it to. Number 28 of the Permian Panthers jumped in the air, screaming a battle cry as he tackled Whitaker down the ground.
"Did you see that?" Coach Gaines asked one of his coaches. "That's the way to play ball."
"After the blowout of the first half," The sportscaster called out. "We've see a showcase of defense here in the third quarter. The score closing with Carter on top, 26-14."
Darla looked around and noticed all the football players who were holding up four fingers to indicate the fourth quarter. One more quarter, She thought to herself. One more chance to win.
"10:25 remains in the fourth quarter. It's third and ten for Carter as Whitaker is pinned and hit Drake for six. Tackled by Thomas. It's gonna be fourth down."
Darla licked her lips as she watched a Panther tackle down one of the Cowboys.
"You know Carter's going for it on fourth."
"Unbelievable! James is not even gonna consider a punt!" The announcer said as he talked about Dallas Carter's head coach. "So now Whitaker on fourth down as Carter will go for it. He's gonna look for Graf. Graf's the main receiver, and this one bounces off the turf."
Darla smiled widely as the ball hit the ground before the receiver had any time to catch it. The pass was incomplete.
"Oh, incomplete." The other announcer said.
The referee blew his whistle and waved his arms around. Signaling a touchdown.
"No way." Coach Gaines said.
"Got that touchdown." The referee said.
"Look, did you see it?" Coach Gaines asked angrily to the head referee.
"I'm gonna talk to him." The referee said and turned to go talk to the one who made the call.
"Well, I wanna talk to whoever did see it!" Coach Gaines yelled out as his assistant coach held him back. "I wanna talk to whoever did see it!"
The referees all huddled together. "This is big, man." The main one said. "Anybody get a better look? Gary?" He turned to the main on his left. "Did you turn? Jason?" "I turned and looked, but I was lost." "I couldn't see it." Said another ref. "Are you sure he caught that football?" He asked the referee who had made the call. "His was a catch, Ref." He said positively.
"Lee, Mack, set 'em up. We got first down." He blew his whistle and pointed his finger in the air.
"What!?" Darla exclaimed angrily.
"What are you talkin' about!?" Coach Gaines screamed out to the referee.
Booing and shouting erupted from the Permian fans.
"That's a bad call!" Boobie yelled out. Darla put her hands on her hips and fumed with anger.
"This man has it." The ref said. "This man had the catch."
"There's no way. The ball came off the turf." The sportscaster said.
"That's crap." Darla said and Don nodded next to her. "Probably bein' paid." Don said about the ref. "Wouldn't be surprised. Being a referee isn't exactly something to be proud of." Darla said and Don nodded again.
"Alright! Defense, get on the field!" Coach Gaines yelled out irritably.
"Here's the pass." The sportscaster said. "Whitaker has found Graf. And Graf makes a one-handed phenomenal catch for another Carter T.D."
Brian ran up and tackled Graf down to the ground.
"Chavez in frustration levels him in the end zone."
"Personal foul on the defense." The ref called out as he threw up a yellow flag.
"And that's gonna cost Permian 15 on the kickoff."
Brian cursed to himself as he walked off the field.
"Called on the Carter two-point conversion. They now lead 34-14."
"These Panthers are getting' beat physically. They're gettin' beat mentally. They're really down. We've seen games like this before, but Permian's always been on the other end."
Darla took a deep breath as she watched Chris take the ball from Don and run down field.
"Comer got across the five. Comer, to the 30, to the 35. Comer could go all the way, folks. Comer, 25, 20, 15, 10, 5! That's a Mojo touchdown!"
"Yes!" Darla screamed as she jumped up and down repeatedly.
"Chris Comer has brought Permian back one more time!"
"We're in this ball game now." Coach Gaines said walking around his cheering players. "We're in this ball game."
"5:27 to play. Carter still leads 34-21."
"Come on, Chavo!" Don screamed out at his best friend.
"They will pitch it to Grande." Brian ran over and tore the ball out of Grande's hands. "Ripped away by Chavez!" Brian ran away with the ball until he got them a down.
Brian ran back to the sidelines, screaming with joy. "Let's go!" He screamed towards the offense.
Coach Gaines turned to Mike. "Now strong right. 81 Trojan horse." He patted his helmet as Mike ran out to the field.
Mike looked at everyone in the huddle. "All right. Here we go, fellas. Let's shock these punks. Strong right, 81 Trojan horse." He turned to Don. "Me and you, baby. We got it. Throw it deep." He looked back at the other players. "On one, ready, break!"
"Mike Winchell to Don Billingsley will go right." Darla stood up straight and licked her lips. "They're on the run, but stop, wait. Instead he's looking for a receiver."
"Winchell's open!"
Don threw the ball towards Mike as Mike raised his hands in the air.
"Winchell's open in the end zone. Winchell makes a tremendous catch! Winchell, with a touchdown reception scores the Mojo touchdown!"
"Whoo!" Mike screamed out as he clenched the ball between both of his hands.
"One more, one more!" Coach Gaines shouted out, holding his index finger up.
Darla smiled widely as Don ran back to the sidelines.
"But is it too little, too late for Coach Gary Gaines? Mojo defense is really gonna have to step it up if they have a prayer of winning the state championship."
"Grande, across midfield." Brian ran over and tackled him down. "Dropped at the 40. The clock now has to be a concern for Coach Gary Gaines and the Permian staff."
"Come on, Preacher!" Boobie yelled out. Darla clapped as she stood next to him.
"First and ten now for Carter from the Permian 30. Less than two minutes to play. One more Carter first down, folks, and that will be it."
Whitaker snapped the ball and tossed it to Grande. Grande ran past the players. Ivory ran towards him and slammed him down onto the ground, knocking him back.
"Grande hit!"
"Yeah!" Darla screamed.
"Second down and long. Promptly falls back."
Cheers of joy rang out from the Permian Panthers as their players pushed back the Cowboys. They would do whatever it took to keep Dallas Carter from winning.
"The clock continues to roll. This will set up third down. Permian desperately needs a stop to get the ball back."
"Grande right up the gun over Chavez."
Darla took a deep breath in as number 24 for the Dallas Carter Cowboys ran over Brian. She licked her lips as Brian caught onto his legs and brought him down to the ground. Don, whom had been standing next to Darla, raised his helmet to get a better look to see if Dallas made their first down.
"Maybe just doing what he needs for a first down."
"First down here, and the game's over."
"It didn't make it." The ref called out, holding up his thumb and index finger showing how short the ball was from making a yard. "It's short.
"It's short. By inches!"
Darla smiled and playfully hit Don's pads. He smiled down at her. "We're gonna win." He said. "We're gonna win." She agreed with him.
"James immediately signals he's goin' for it." Darla looked over at the head coach of Dallas Carter. "He's very persistent isn't he?"
"More so then your dad." Don said and Darla looked up at him.
"James is gonna gamble. He can get these for inches and win the state championship, right here, right now."
Coach Gaines called his players into a circle."Okay, here's what we're gonna do. We're gonna do a Texas stunt. Now, Ivory, you and Steen, I want you to twist."
"Yes, sir." Ivory said.
Coach looked over at Steen. "Steen, you go first." He looked over at Ivory. "Ivory, you come off his butt into the "A" gap."
"Yes, sir." Ivory nodded.
"Lucas, you crash the "A" gap, too. Let's shut these cocky son-of-guns down! Now let's go! Let's shut 'em down."
"Go, Donnie, go!" Charlie screamed from the stands for his son.
"Whitaker comes to the line. Looks across. Calls the cadence."
"Hut!" Whitaker calls out and tosses the ball to Grande.
"Hands to his running back, Grande!"
Ivory and Steen run up and tackle Grande down, taking him back a foot from where he needed to be to make the down.
"Yeah!" Boobie screamed with a smile on his face. "Yes!" Darla punched her fist in the air with excitement.
"Mike, I want you to show 'em who we are." Coach Gaines said to Mike.
"Yes, sir." Mike said as he ran out onto the field with his offense.
"As Winchell gathers his teammates up into a huddle, he can see on the big clock down in the end zone one minute and 40 seconds to play. One time out left, and he has 75 yards of Astrodome turf to go."
"Green, 12! Hut, hut, hut!" He yelled out, turns, and throws the ball to Chris Comer.
"Winchell wings it off to Comer. Comer has it, picks up a block."
Chris groans as he gets up from the ground. He looked up and glared at the Cowboy that tackled him.
"Hut!" Mike called out, turned, and passed the ball to Don.
"Off to Billingsley."
"Come on, Donnie!" Darla called out to Don.
"Billingsley breaks out a big event."
Don groaned as he pushed off the Cowboy.
"We got a first down."
"Way to go, son!" Charlie screamed down.
"Winchell adds time as he drops back. He's looking to the right. Payne is wide open down the right sideline. The pass is in the air!"
Payne caught it his hand for about half a second before he felt himself go flying towards the football turf.
"This Tennessee-bound tracer comes halfway across the field to know the ball loose."
"Payne had it."
Mike groaned as he rolled over the ground, struggling to get up.
"I'll tell you, Mike Winchell, folks, showin' how tough he is."
"Come on, get up." Darla said to herself. "Get up."
"Hang in there under unsurmounting pressure. Winchell appears to be okay, folks. He's one tough dude. He's back on his feet."
"Let's go, baby! We need you, Mike!" Ivory called out.
Mike breathed deeply as he looked at his players. "'I' right. 90." He said.
Chris looked over at his captain. "Mike, you all right?"
Mike looked over at him and took a deep breath. "Yeah, I'm all right, man."
"Under a minute to play—52 seconds—Winchell will scan, pick it to Comer. It's a bootleg pass!"
Mike threw the ball downfield; number 41 jumped up and caught the ball.
"He's latched onto it. It's Wyles, down to the Carter 25."
"Hut!" Mike called out, he turned and shoved the ball into Don's hands.
"Permian showing what a tough out there are."
"Come on, Donnie!" Darla screamed out. "Go!"
Don pushed past one Cowboy, but ran right into two. They wrapped their arms around him, but Don just pushed out of their grasps, and tried to run past them, only to be caught and slammed to the ground by another large Cowboy.
"That's a first down!" Boobie cried out.
"Whoo!" Darla smiled and clapped her hands together.
"Clay, he's hurt! He's hurt. He grabs his shoulder."
Darla froze as she watched Don roll on the ground in pain. "Donnie . . ." She whispered to herself as Trapper ran out to the field. Coach Gaines looked at his daughter's horrified face and put his hand on her shoulder. "He's gonna be all right." He tried to reassure her.
"Trapper helps him off the field."
"Feels like he dislocated his shoulder." Trapper said to Coach Gaines as he walks Don back to the benches. Darla quickly followed behind him.
"Shake it off." Charlie said. "Get back out there."
Trapper laid Don on the blue medical table so he could examine his arm.
"Donnie." Darla said and kneeled down in front of him "How to you feel?" She asked and grabbed his hand.
"Like I just got beat to the ground." He said and she couldn't help but smile. "You're gonna be all right." She said and kissed his forehead and stood back up.
He tightened his hold on her hand and pulled her back down. "You aren't gonna leave me are you?" He asked her.
She smiled at him and shook her head. "I'm not gonna leave you." She leaned forward and gave him a small kiss as Trapper began to massage Don's shoulder.