Soon evening came. The Pre-season Fall Classic was about to start. In the locker room, Jason suddenly got very nervous-not about the game, but about what he had planned for after the game. He texted Lyla to tell her, "Meet me on the field once the game is over and the stadium has cleared out."

Lyla got the text. She thought that the request was a little weird, but she texted back, "Okay."

After a pre-game speech from Coach Taylor, the team came out on the field. They saw the Brant players, and the Brant players saw them as well.

"Hey, look!" called one, pointing to Jason. "It's Dead-End Street!"

"Can't you even gain a single yard on two attempts?" said another.

Tim Riggins was about to say something back to them, but Jason jumped in front of him and said, "Just keep walking. They're not worth it. We're better than that. We'll show them on the field that Dead-End Street is so last season."

Jason came out on the field and looked up in the stands. He saw his parents and Lyla's parents, and then he saw Lyla holding Maddie, who was wearing her mini Panther jersey. It was still a bit too big for her, but at least she wasn't swimming in it anymore. Jason waved to them, and Lyla waved Maddie's little hand back at him.

Soon it was time for the coin toss. The captains of both teams went out and the referee called, "Dillon makes the call. Heads or tails?"

"Heads."

The coin was flipped. "It is tails. Brant gets the ball. Best of luck."

Dillon kicked off. After a quick three-and-out by Brant, Dillon got the ball back. Jason stepped into the huddle and called the play.

"Let's see how Dillon will do," said the announcer.

Jason got the snap, threw the ball, and their receiver caught it for fifteen yards.

"That is a first down for Dillon!"

"Smash" ran for five more yards to bring them out to the Dillon thirty yard line, bringing up a second and five.

"Street drops back, takes the snap, pitches it to Tim Riggins. Will that be enough for a first down? It is! They needed five yards and they got six."

After two more quick throws by Jason, the Panthers had moved to midfield.

"Second and six at midfield for Dillon. Street hands it off to 'Smash'...no, it's a fake! Street throws the ball, caught by Dolia at the Brant thirty-three yard line for a seventeen yard gain!"

Another run by "Smash" got them to the Brant twenty-seven, and Tim managed to grind it down to the twenty-two.

"Dillon is now at the Brant twenty-two yard line. This has been an easy drive for them. Street drops back, takes the snap, caught by Tim Riggins at the thirteen. Second and one."

Jason ran a quarterback sneak to get them down to the twelve. Although it felt good to know that he could get one yard on a quarterback sneak, he still didn't have a sense of closure. The next play, he threw a touchdown to Dolia.

"Touchdown! Touchdown! Dillon marches ninety yards on their opening possession, and just like that, the Panthers take a 7-0 lead!"

Dillon's easy touchdown drive seemed to put some life back into Brant, and they came back to kick a field goal, making the score 7-3. Both defenses clamped down, and neither team could move the ball much through the rest of the first half. But Brant hit a field goal as time expired in the first half to make the score 7-6.

After halftime, both offenses still had trouble getting in rhythm. There was no scoring in the third quarter.

"And once again, the Panthers have been completely shut down. Neither team has produced any offense in the third quarter. Both defenses are winning their respective battles. Brant has zero total yards in the third quarter. Zero. This game is turning out exactly as we expected: a defensive struggle in which every yard is hard to get."

Late in the fourth quarter, Brant suddenly seemed to wake up. "If Dillon can hold on just a little longer... But Brant completes a pass for another first down! They are down to the one!"

The next play, Brant punched it in to take a 13-7 lead with two minutes left. "What a dagger to the Panthers! Brant now leads by six with two minutes left, and so far, Dillon has not shown much life here in the second half. If they have any life left, they need to show it right here and right now."

Soon, Dillon had the ball at their own twenty, and the final drive began.

"'Smash' gets it to the twenty-seven with 1:45 left to play. Timeout, Dillon."

Soon, two more quick passes and a run had the Panthers at midfield. "It looks like maybe Dillon's got a little something going here."

Before long, Dillon had third and one at the Brant thirty yard line.

"Dillon needs one yard for a first down to have any hope of winning. And they have to go for the touchdown here. A field goal will not be enough. They were in a similar situation in last year's playoffs against this same team."

Jason had been given the play: quarterback sneak. But when he looked at the defensive line formation, he recognized it. Then he looked downfield.

"What's he doing?" asked his mother.

"He's calling an audible. He sees something," his father answered.

"Street takes the snap, dives for the quarterback sneak...no, it's a fake! Street takes it himself! He's in the open field! At the twenty-five! The twenty! The fifteen! Ten! Five! They're not going to catch him! Touchdown! A thirty yard touchdown run by Jason Street to tie this game up! I have never seen him run like that ever! And with the extra point, Dillon takes a 14-13 lead with only seconds left!"

The man sitting next to Jason's parents said, "That's your boy."

"We are so proud of him," said his father.

"Both on the field and off," his mother added.

The kickoff floated harmlessly to the ground, and time expired.

"This is incredible! This preseason classic had a classic ending! I don't believe what I saw! Dillon wins 14-13!"

Reporters were soon surrounding Jason. "That was quite a run!"

"It sure was!" said Jason, still trying to catch his breath.

"Your life has changed pretty greatly this summer. Care to talk about that?"

"They've all been good changes, though," said Jason.

"I know your daughter Maddie is in the stands tonight, watching."

"Yeah, she is!" said Jason. "I love you, Maddie!"

"I'm sure she loves you, too. You do not act like you're only seventeen years old, that's for sure."

"That's fatherhood for you," said Jason. "Maddie made me grow up quickly, because I had no other choice."

"I'm sure it did. Thank you, and go Panthers!"

"Go, Panthers!" said Jason, heading to the locker room. Lyla met him there and said, "Jason, that was amazing! How did you pull a run like that off?"

Jason picked up Maddie and said, "I called an audible."

Lyla said, "I'll be out here. We've got to wait until the crowd clears."

"Don't forget to meet me on the field!" said Jason.

"I won't forget!"

Once the field cleared out, Jason came out of the locker room. Lyla met him on the field.

"Where's Maddie?" asked Jason.

"My parents took her home," said Lyla.

Jason said, "Okay, good." Then he said, "A couple of weeks ago, Tim Riggins brought something up, and it made me think. It made me think about how much I love you, and Maddie, and how we're a family now. I want you, me, and Maddie to always be a family, and I want the three of us to be together forever." He got out a small box and said, "My dad gave this to my mom, and now he's passing it down to me. I hope it brings us as much luck as it brought them. Lyla, will you marry me?"

Lyla started crying and said, "Yes!"

They hugged, and Lyla said, "Is that what you were talking with our parents about the other day?"

"Yes, it was," said Jason. "Tim brought it up right after Maddie was born, and it made me think. It made me realize that Maddie needs her mommy and daddy to be together. I had fears about doing this, because I thought, We're so young. How could I put Maddie through this if it doesn't work out? But then I realized that if we avoided doing things out of fear, nothing would ever get done."

"That is so true," agreed Lyla.

Jason and Lyla went home. It had been an absolutely perfect day.