Middleton's drive stalled out at the beginning of the fourth quarter. Stan tried to pass to Ron but had double coverage on him. The pass was tipped by Deangelo and Middleton was forced to go three-and-out again.

David's 42-yard punt was returned by Deangelo, but was immediately stuffed by the backup fullback, Troy Bolton, for a 6-yard loss to the Tiger 20.

--SP Ball--

It didn't take long for South Panola to move again. With 11:35 left in the game, Deangelo handed it off to Darius on a counter play. Darius picked up some good blocks and picked up 16 yards on the run, another Tiger first down. Ron, bruises and all, made the tackle.

On first down from the South Panola 36, Darius rushed up the middle for a meager gain of 3 yards before Eugene, the heart of the Mad Dog defense, stopped him.

On 2nd and seven, Evan tried to go through the middle again but was instantly taken down from behind by TJ for a 2-yard loss. Coach Woods then went to the air to strike at the Middleton secondary.

On 3rd and 9, the ball was snapped from Dudley. Deangelo scanned the field and found Karl wide open. Karl made the reception as Token Black came up with the stop for a 14 yard gain and another first down for South Panola. It also moved the ball into Mad Dog territory. Now the Mad Dogs have to make some sort of a defensive stand against the Tigers.

On first down from the Mad Dog 49, Deangelo called his own number and picked up 7 yards to the 42 as Jimmie Hopkins stopped him cold there. 9:54 remained on the game clock.

The Tigers need to waste as much time on the game clock as possible. Deangelo waited until the play clock dropped to 2 and ran another play again. This time, Evan went through the middle and picked up 6 yards to the Tiger 36 and another first down. Ron was credited with another tackle on Evan.

On the next play, Deangelo again waited until 3 seconds showed on the play clock and gave the ball off to Darius and picked up another 8-yard gain to the 28. TJ made yet another stop. There was now 8 minutes and 51 seconds left in the game

. On 2nd and 2, Darius again wore down the play clock to 4 seconds and gave the ball off to Evan. This time, TJ hit Evan so hard that the ball popped out onto the turf at the Mad Dog 25-yard line. A sea of Mad Dog defenders dived over it. Ron and the Middleton players that weren't involved in the dog pile pointed that it was Mad Dog football. The referee pointed into the direction of Middleton. Mikey was the first Mad Dog to get to the football. The Mad Dogs had recovered a fumble! The visiting crowd cheered on the defense, chanting the Mad Dog grunts that Ron used to do as the mascot. There was still hope for an upset!

--MID Ball--

The game clock now read 8:19. The Mad Dogs need to strike fast. The good thing is that they have all three of their timeouts. However, they do not want to suffer any turnovers at the hands of the Tigers.

Their drive from their own 25 started as Ron got the counter handoff again from Stan. He fought his way for a 4-yard gain to the 29 with Damon bringing him down.

On 2nd and 6, Coach Barkin wanted a post route. With the play clock at 1, Stan dropped back to pass and found a wide-open Carver Descartes for a 12 yard gain to the Middleton 41 as Dontrell Avery made the stop. There was only 7:36 remaining.

Coach Barkin then swapped out Brian as fullback for Dashiell Baxter as a second tight end and put Ron as the single back. Ron only picked up 2 yards before Grover met him at the 43 on first down.

He tried again up the middle but picked up only 1 yard to the 44. Roger Klotz for the Tigers made the stop.

After an incomplete pass from Stan to Carver, the drive quickly stalled and Middleton had to send in the punting unit with 5:57 left in the game. Their chances of winning now became very slim. David punted the ball to the Tiger 21 where Deangelo was waiting for the return. Deangelo made one man miss before going out of bound to the Tiger 32, an 11-yard return

--SP ball

South Panola, sensing that it was below six minutes on the game clock, continued to milk time off.

On first and 10 from their 32. Deangelo handed it off to Evan up the middle for a 6-yard gain to the 38 as Token made the stop.

The next play, Coach Woods wants his star quarterback to run the highly effective QB option. Deangelo did so. With 5:09 left in the game and the play clock dwindling to 3 seconds, Deangelo kept the option himself and got 14 yards into Middleton territory again, at the 48. Ron, badly bruised through the entireity of the game, made another stop but not before another Tiger first down was added to the stats.

The next play was a simple fullback handoff by Evan to the 46 for a 2-yard gain as Greg Goldberg made the stop.

Evan, again, got the handoff on second down and picked up 3 more yards as Eugene brought him down. The clock now read 3:54. Coach Barkin then called the first of his three timeouts for the Mad Dogs.

He huddled his starting defense together "We must make this stop here." Then he said to his offense "We cannot afford any turnovers or mistakes." The huddles then broke and the defense took to the field.

On third down, Evan carried on another fullback handoff but picked up only 1 yard to the Mad Dog 45 before Ralph got him. Three minutes and 46 seconds remained on the clock. Time for South Panola to go three-and-out

Ash punted to the Mad Dog 15. Ron then broke through two tackles and got to the Mad Dog 47 before being stuffed by Viktor. A 32-yard punt return from a 30-yard punt put Ron at over 250 all-purpose yards for the night.

--MID ball--

On the visiting side, Kim looked on at the defensive struggle going back and forth. Middleton had fought tooth-and-nail against the Tigers. Now, with 3:38 left on the clock, the chances of winning are slim. Hopefully, we don't screw up she thought to herself. She had been cheering for her beloved Mad Dogs team all night long. She wished she would try and pump up the crowd in this sitch but she couldn't. Only the cheerleading captain can pump up the crowd and, right now, the Middleton crowd seemed to be out of it because of two reasons. One, South Panola has been dominating in the second half and two, Veruca has controlled the Middleton squad with her iron fist.

Then Veruca gestured to a spot on the track. Kim knew that gesture meant only one thing to her. It was pyramid time. She shuddered and went to the position that Veruca ordered her to on the track.

The Mad Dog cheerleaders got into their usual positions to do the pyramid. London and Camille, being the co-captains, were to the left and right of her as they went first. The two co-captains went of top of the pyramid, extended their pom-poms into the air and flew the usual five five feet in the air before landing back into the arms of the other Mad Dog cheerleaders. Now, it was Veruca's turn. Kim was to the left of Veruca as she held her up. Veruca extended her pom-poms, flew five feet in their air and came back down. As she did so, she protruded her right hand, the one that had the two irregular sharp fingernails on it, and swiped "lightly" at Kim on her right cheek. She landed on her feet. It all happened within a split-second

Kim didn't realize that Veruca slashed at her with those fingernails until she felt the contact on her cheek. "OOOWWWW" Kim screamed at the top of her lungs, feeling the little drops of blood coming out her damaged cheek. Her scream was felt on the visitor's side of the field. She started to cry. The two cuts that Veruca inflicted on Kim were eight centimeters long.

Veruca, always only thinking about her, laughed to herself. Heh, take that Possible. You won't be a threat to me anymore. This will remind you of your submission to me, you red-headed coward. She had done what she wanted to, humiliate Kimberly Anne Possible in front of the Middleton fans in order to preserve her position as the captain. It also came with a terrible price.

At the same time as the altercation, Ron carried the ball from Stan but a hard hit from Bart forced the football loose. All Ron could hear on the turf was his long-time red-haired half of Team Possible screaming. The cheers of the Tiger crowd drowned out Kim's scream. Damon pounced on the football and recovered it for South Panola at the Middleton 42 with 3:25 left in the game. Ron couldn't believe it. He had lost the game for the Mad Dogs. Coach Barkin was screaming in his ear. "What the hell is wrong with you, Stoppable. You have committed two mistakes against this team. I believe that this mistake has cost your team the game." The Middleton crowd gave a loud goan and fell silent. It seemed like that South Panola was going to win again and Middleton would go down in defeat.

What Veruca didn't know was that James Possible, her father, caught everything on his high-powered digital video camera. This camera had frame-by-frame stills and zoom in abilities that would eventually begin Veruca's fall from grace. James was shocked when he saw how Veruca and her two sharp fingernails harmed his Kimmie-cub. Anne, who was sitting next to her husband of 18 years, looked at the slow-motion of the "dirty-blonde brat", as the Possibles usually call her, inflicting bodily harm on her daughter. She was in a complete state of shock.

"This abuse to my Kimmie-cub by that dirty-blonde brat has gone on far enough." James confirmed. "It's time, once and for all, to get rid of that Veruca hellspawn from the squad. And I think I know how." Knowing from Kim's constant text messaging lessons, James took out his cell phone as he began to text-message to a few of the other families in the crowd. The first people that James sent a text message to were the Broflovskis, Gerald and Shelia. "It's time to get rid of veruca from the squad, JP" the text said. Shelia was especially shocked by a crying Kim, still trying to stop the bleeding drops from her cheek. James then sent that same message to the Stoppables, the Stotches, and the Marshes. As those spouses looked at Veruca, which showed no emotion over Kim's dilema, they knew that the time for a captain change was now.

Bonnie, who heard her friend's scream, immediately came to Kim's aid. She looked at the damaged right cheek. "Manager, we need a couple of bandages," Bonnie ordered.

The Middleton team manager gave Bonnie a box of Band-Aids for Kim's cheek. "Hold on, K. Just hold still" Bonnie whispered.

"IT HURTS, IT HURTS" Kim wailed as her emerald eyes were starting to water with tears again. A flood of conflicting emotions came over her. She thought back to the fateful day of the cheerleading captain incident. Veruca's "red-headed coward" taunts, and Camille and London laughting at her. Then she remembered the words of her father earlier in the afternoon on her cell phone: Go ahead and do what's right in your heart and you will fail at nothing. These words gave her a new sense of determination and course, something that has been present when facing against Drakken but not against Veruca. Kim dried up her eyes and saw her parents, the ones that she looked up to when times were down. The Possible spouses nodded their heads at her. Kim, in response, nodded her head back to them. Bonnie gave Kim a nod as well, and Kim nodded back. It was time for the red-haired cheerleader to do something that she has not done in three years: oppose Veruca Darling Salt and her iron will.

Kim, now bandaged, then observed the defeated looks of her fellow cheerleaders. It seems like that every time that Middleton falls behind at the end of the game, the Mad Dog cheerleaders just stand there in a mode of defeat. This was another trait that Veruca has imposed upon the team because of her tendency to wimp out when things aren't going her way. Kim knew in her heart that the game was not over yet. She had to reignite the dying flame of Mad Dog spirit within the fans and the cheerleaders. Three minutes and nine seconds wasn't much time to think. Kim had to act now.

With quick thinking, she noticed her discarded golden pom-poms that were just laying there on the track floor. She took the pom-poms in her hands and then motioned her left hand in the air. The Middleton crowd, which was beginning to disperse, suddenly caught notice of Kim's gesture of raising her pom-pom in the air. Then the fans looked at the clock. The visiting Mad Dog fans then stood on their feet and stomped on the steel bleacher stands, with 2800 voices chanting "Here we go Mad Dogs, here we go. Here we go Mad Dogs, here we go." Then Kim, like a cheerleader who wanted to pump up the crowd at a home game, traveled across the visiting stands with her arm motioning the crowd to get back into the game. Middleton fans then started to make loud noises, louder than that of the South Panola crowd.

Veruca, who was witnessing these stunning turn of events from her rival cheerleader, insisted to Kim angrily but quietly, "What the hell is going on, Possible? Face it. We lost the game."

Kim confidently answered, "I'm trying to install school spirit. This game isn't over yet." She then mouthed the words, "Screw you" in Veruca's sight. Although she didn't say those two words verbally, Veruca knew what it meant. She was in a state of shock at this considerable breach of her seniority. A junior cheerleader mocking her senior cheerleading captain is offensive to the Middleton Cheerleader's Code, Veruca thought to herself, her look changed from satisfied to angry Possible is stealing my show. She wanted to punch Kim in the face so hard right now that blood would run down her mouth. Yet, she took her time. Certainly she did not want to punch Kim in front of 10,000 witnesses. She wanted to do so in private. All the dirty-blonde cheer captain could do right now was to witness Kim pumping up the crowd with three minutes left in the game.

-- SP ball --

Kim's newfound courage also made its way to Ron on the football field. The dejected tailback suddenly felt a surge of determination and strength within himself when he heard the Mad Dog fans cheering and stomping their feet simultaneously. On the first play after the fumble, Evan carried up the middle for a 1-yard gain to the Mad Dog 41 as he was stopped by Mikey. The clock now drained to 3:09.

The next play changed the momentum and the tide of the game. Darius got the handoff and proceeded to go up the middle to the Middleton 34. Suddenly, he felt a hard hit by Eugene. Then, a split-second later, the ball fell to the turf at the Middleton 34. Ron, sensing that the ball was on the turf, picked the pigskin up. He swerved by one Tiger defender and was suddenly out in the open field. All Ron could hear down the Middleton sideline were cheers from the players, the fans chanting his name "Unstoppable", and Kim cheering him on "Go, Ron." Ron crossed into South Panola territory before Deangelo made the touchdown-saving tackle at the Tiger 40. It was a 26-yard fumble return for Ron Stoppable. Sensing that the Middleton offense now has the football, Kim motioned her pom-pom downward to quiet down the rambunctious crowd. Veruca, now reduced to a spectator, seethed with even more hatred towards Kim. Even the cheerleaders, whom she instructed to go into a cut and run mode after the fumble, came back to life to cheer on. They were cheering not for Veruca, Camille, or London, they were cheering for the Mad Dog school spirit.

--MID ball--

It was now first and 10 for the Mad Dogs at the Tiger 40, but only 2:48 still remained in the game. Coach Barkin, called for 4 Eagle One, a pass play. The play clock reached 8 seconds before Devon snapped the ball to Stan. The junior quarterback scanned the field and spotted Carver. He threw the pass in his direction. Carver made the reception and was stopped by Jermaine Carr, but not before he picked up 14 yards and a Mad Dog first down with 2:39 left in the game.

The next play saw Stan hand the ball off to Ron. Russell Northrop hit him first at the line of scrimmage, and as an extra bonus, he tackled him again when Number 7 was down. This prompted the referees to throw the flags. Tiger fans could not believe their eyes when the call was heard.

PERSONAL FOUL ON THE DEFENSE, NUMBER 43 ON THE PLAY, IT'S HALF THE DISTANCE TO THE GOAL AND ADDED TO THE END OF THE RUN, FIRST DOWN.

Tiger fans booed at the call but it was true, Russell did hit Ron after he was tackled. It moved the ball from the Tiger 26-yard line to the Tiger 13-yard line.

Two minutes and seven seconds read on the scoreboard and 23-21 was still the score in favor of the Tigers. Coach Woods called the first of the three Tiger timeouts at that time. He discussed with his tired-out Tiger defense on how to contain Stoppable.

On first and 10 from the Tiger 13, Coach Barkin called in 7 Burst. This means that Ron would take a burst up the middle. The battered Number 7 jersey took the handoff up the middle, picked up an excellent block from Ben, and gained 9 yards to the Tiger 4. Only 1:47 separated the Mad Dogs from doing what 89 teams could not have done, break "The Streak."

The next play that Barkin wants to run was "7 Left Counter". Ron, who had excelled over 100 yards on the ground, knew that this play was for him. He lined up as the singleback behind Stan. Once again, Stan barked the signals "Hut, Hut." Stan handed the ball off to Ron and the star tailback went to his left. Damon tried to bring him down, but Ron dived his way into the end zone for a 4-yard touchdown. The referee shot his hands up in the air.

TOUCHDOWN, MAD DOGS.

The Middleton crowd exploded with shouts of applause, cheers, chants of "Unstoppable, Unstoppable", and airhorns. Bonnie said to herself, Yes. For the first time in the second half, the marching band came to life by playing the fight song, and Kim Possible carried the white Middleton HS banner across the track and back again. The Mad Dogs were on top. Charlie's PAT went through the uprights. The score was now: Middleton 28, South Panola 23 with 1:31 remaining in the game. Both Middleton and South Panola have two timeouts remaining.

--SP ball--

Charlie kicked off to Karl at the Tiger 3; Karl returned it to the Tiger 27 as Oliver Oken, a backup defensive back, made the stop.

Ron, almost worn out from his experiences, rejoined the rest of the Middleton defense. He then looked at the game clock: 1:23 left. Deangelo and the Tigers' offense went back on the field. Coach Woods instructed Deangelo to run out-of-bounds to stop the clock and preserve the remaining two timeouts. On the first play on this crucial Tigers' drive, Deangelo went to the left side. He picked up 18 yards to the Tiger 48. It cut off only 7 seconds from the clock: 1:16 remaining.

The tension was mounting for both sides. Kim and the rest of the cheerleaders, excluding the three captains, raised the roof to pump up the 2800 faithful Mad Dog fans. The marching band was playing the Rocky theme. Even the backup Mad Dog football players, such as Troy Bolton, Jimmie Zara, the Tweebs, Jonesy Garcia, Oliver, and Jackson Stewart raised the noise level of the visitors.

On the next play, Deangelo then found Karl on a pass for an 5-yard gain to the Middleton 47-yard-line, but he did not get out of bounds because Lee prevented him from reaching that point. The play was taking too much time off of the clock. The clock now approached 57 seconds. Coach Woods signaled that he wanted to take his teams' second timeout.

TIMEOUT IS CHARGED TO SOUTH PANOLA, THEY HAVE ONE TIMEOUT REMAINING.

Coach Barkin warned his leaky Mad Dog defense to defend against anything the Tigers throw at them. It was now 2nd and 5. Deangelo took the snap and dropped back to pass, trying to find an open wide receiver. What he got instead was a hard-hitting welcome from Eugene Thompson, the senior Mad Dog Linebacker. Eugene dropped him for a sack of 6 yards to the Tiger 47. The play was again taking up too much time: 38 seconds remain. The Middleton fans were as loud as they can be. Tiger fans were confused Hrmm. Why hasn't Coach Woods called in that last time-out? Mrs. Simpson wondered in her head.

The clock now showed less than 30 seconds and ticking. Deangelo quickly got off a play on 3rd and 11. He found Willie for an 8-yard gain to the Mad Dog 45 yardline. Lee was credited with the stop. Coach Woods signaled in his final timeout, with 22 seconds remaining. It was now 4th down and 3 yards for the first. This was South Panola's last chance for not a field goal, but for a touchdown.

THE TIMEOUT IS CHARGED TO SOUTH PANOLA, THAT IS THEIR LAST TIMEOUT.

Coach Barkin, sent in a couple of backup cornerbacks: Dean Thomas, Wyatt Williams and Jamie Davis. There was only one reason to bring in these extra defensive backs: the Hail Mary pass. The Tigers, instead of the I Formation, now lined up in a 5 Wide receiver formation. Dontrell Avery, Willie, Karl, Tristian Gray and Anthony Butler were the wide receivers. Twenty-two seconds separated Middleton from victory or defeat. The Middleton crowd has now reached its peak in noise. The ball was snapped from Dudley. Deangelo dropped back to pass. The clock was ticking down and he felt pressure from his right side. He released the ball 20 yards in the air into the direction of TJ.

And the catch is made ...

by Ronald Stoppable of the Middleton Mad Dogs in front of Dontrell. An interception at the Middleton 27 with 17 seconds left in the game!!!! He advanced to the Middleton 29. It didn't matter. The Middleton High Mad Dogs have done the impossible: they broke the Tigers' long winning streak on their home turf. The Middleton crowd exploded into a bedlam of wild cheers, screams of "Unstoppable", and the white Middleton HS banner flag carried by Bonnie made its trip across the track and back again. Of the 22 cheerleaders on the Mad Dog cheer squad, Kim cheered the loudest for Ron. Her strength and courage brought the Mad Dog spirit back into Middleton High when things got rough. Oh, how much I want to hug Ron, she thought to herself.

The Mad Dog victory formation came in for the remainder of the 17 seconds. A stunned, defeated South Panola defense came out. Ron, Ladario, and Brian stood behind Stan. Stan proceeded to take a knee to the Middleton 27. The game clock wore down to zero seconds as the final buzzer sounded throughout Dunlap Stadium. John, in the pressbox, could not believe his eyes. He predicted that the Tigers would win by 31 points in Game 1. Instead, the Mad Dogs won by five points. For the first time since the Olive Branch, the stats lied to him. Felix, still in his seat for the last three hours, put his laptop in the bag. Then he grabbed his heavy crutches and was guided out the stadium by John.

Final Score for Game 1: Middleton Mad Dogs 28, South Panola Tigers 23.