Chapter 29
Morning came and Croco was fired up. It was like he was reliving the homcoming game of his senior year in high school as an all-county running back. Croco was the center for his team, called the "lead" and he took it upon himself to cover the whole field, which was four necks wide through the center and rounded off towards the rings at about one hundred feet away. These were the "attack zones" that most of the scoring would be done from. Just moments before the game was to start, Croco gathered his team in for a pep talk.
"Guys," he said, "you are about to make history. People will look back on this a hundred years from now and remember that you participated in the first ever ringball match. Whether we win or not doesn't matter, it's that we're doing this together, although it would be cool to win." He went over some last minute strategies with his team before leading a pumped up Treetown team onto the field. At Croco's suggestion, they shook hands with the Chandara team before taking their positions. Just before the opening face-off, which was called a "roll ball," everyone took time out to remember those they loved the most. There were about a couple thousand spectators present, and the head official, called the Head Judge, rolled the ball along the center line to Croco and Darren, the leads for the two teams. They fought for possession and the first ever ringball match in history was underway.
Chandara had won the roll ball and Darren led the charge into the Treetown end of the field. He looked for someone to pass the ball to and threw it over to a boy named Sam Donnelly, who lined up next to Darren as a "wing." Sam dumped it back to Yoshi Yamamoto, the grandson of a Japanese dolphinback who was playing the "flank" position.
"Watch Yoshi!" Croco yelled, knowing that he could do as he please with the ball. Yoshi spotted Darren charging to the rings and threaded a perfect pass over to him. He made no mistake in putting the ball through the large middle ring, as the Treetown keeper was powerless to stop it. The goal judge extended his arm forward, signifying that he had scored in the middle ring.
The score was three to zero in favor of the Chandarans as Kevin Keller, the keeper who had just been beaten, took the ball and got it forward to Michael Strauss, the "back" who was the primary defender in front of Keller. Croco came over and whispered something in his ear and when they broke, Michael came up to about the center line and passed it over to Tommy Madison, the flank who was opposing Yamamoto, who set up the first goal. He charged forward, penetrating the Chandara zone when he passed to Croco. He then made a quick pass over to Vince Romano, the flank opposite of Madison, who got a shot off. The Chandaran keeper was able to stop it, but couldn't catch it as the ball rolled through a sea of legs before Croco picked it up and found the upper ring on the right. The goal judge raised his left hand and Croco had earned five points for his team. Treetown had taken a five to three lead as the hourglass at the center position bled away the time in the period. It would run out after thirty minutes and when it did, the score was 52 to 48 in favor of the Treetown team. There was a quick intermission for the teams to refresh and go over new strategies.
When the second of four periods started, the Chandarans came out with an extra vigor and scored the first nineteen points of the period. This made Croco upset and he got on his team, telling them they needed to keep on giving it their all. The Treetown team responded and came back on a 38 to 11 run to regain the lead. Then the Treetowners settled in on defense, not allowing a goal for a good ten minutes. However Chandara came close, as Darren had found a streaking flank on one rush. But he was in ahead of the ball and the line judge raised a red flag, signaling that he was offsides and that Treetown would get the ball back. They would score twice to extend their lead to 101 to 78 with about five minutes left. Seeing this unfold, Darren called his attackers up and told them to go for the outer rings, which were worth five points each. They were able to get three goals and draw within eight, but Keller shut them down for the rest of the period, although they got two middle ring goals. When the horn sounded to end the period, the score was 109 to 99 with Treetown still leading.
Both leads were somewhat pleased with their team's efforts in the first half, with Croco noting that his defenders were aggressive in clearing the ball and Darren was lucky that his team wasn't losing by more than they were. However, he did like the way his flanks were setting up the wings, who were the primary scorers. The third period did see a reduction in scoring as the teams were starting to get tired. They were sluggish while bringing the ball through the Middle Zone, but Treetown looked more tired and the Chandarans were able to hold them to only 25 points. They also led for the first time since it was three to nothing at the end of the period with the score being 135 to 134. Croco gathered his exhausted team in before the start of the final period.
"C'mon you guys," he said, "We've got only one more period to go and you're starting to give up. We've been playing excellent ball out there, now we have to put them away! We're Team Treetown and we are going to win this game...and if not, then my name ain't Croco Hallaway!" That seemed to uplift them and Treetown went out and scored the first thirteen points in the fourth. However, Chandara responded and it stayed tight throughout the period, with no team jumping out to a lead of more than six points. The score was tied at 170 when Croco motioned to Juan Morales, one of Treetown's 'ends,' who were primarily defenders responsible for guarding the wing on their side of the field.
"Juan," he quietly said, "you come up to the center line and when you see me pass the ball to Madison, you're gonna get the ball and a clear shot at the rings. I've already told him about it." The plan was in work as Treetown worked the ball around to Croco. Morales came charging in as soon as he released it on the way to the flank. Madison's pass was perfect and Morales' shot found the upper left ring for five points. However, Chandara responded with three consecutive middle ring goals, thus making the score 179 to 175 in favor of the Chandarans.
With time running down, the Treetowners tried desparately to get a score to draw closer to or take the lead from Chandara. And every time, they were stopped by Dana Eviska, the Chandaran keeper. Getting more and more desperate, the Treetown players were taking shot after shot with the same result. However with under a minute left, Eviska had stopped a shot and tried to clear but Morales stepped up to intercept. He wasted no time in getting a shot off which the keeper thought was going to the upper left ring. But the ball ricocheted off a Chandaran defender to the right. Eviska had already dove to block the original shot and was helpless as it bounced to Croco and he was able to put it through the upper ring only a few seconds before time expired.
The horn sounded and the final score was 180 for the Treetowners and 179 for the Chandarans. Players on the Treetown side started to celebrate as many of the Chandaran players lied on the field stunned that they had lost. Darren was waiting at the center line for his opponents and finally they came, with Croco being the first to shake his hand.
"That was quite a game your team played," Croco said. Darren smiled as he put an arm around the winning lead's shoulder.
"Yeah, it could've gone either way," Darren replied. "Congratulations on your victory, but we'll get you guys next time." All the players shook hands at midfield as Melanie came onto the field to address the young men.
"Bravo!" she said ecstatically while clapping, "You guys were magnificent! Croco, Darren...this is an amazing game you two have created. With all the people cheering you guys on, this will be a hit in no time!" They smiled as they walked off the makeshift field, knowing that their sport was well on its way to becoming a part of the Dinotopian culture. But most importantly, they all returned to the trees still friends and that was all that mattered to an exhausted Croco as he went to bed for a much needed rest.
Morning came and Croco was fired up. It was like he was reliving the homcoming game of his senior year in high school as an all-county running back. Croco was the center for his team, called the "lead" and he took it upon himself to cover the whole field, which was four necks wide through the center and rounded off towards the rings at about one hundred feet away. These were the "attack zones" that most of the scoring would be done from. Just moments before the game was to start, Croco gathered his team in for a pep talk.
"Guys," he said, "you are about to make history. People will look back on this a hundred years from now and remember that you participated in the first ever ringball match. Whether we win or not doesn't matter, it's that we're doing this together, although it would be cool to win." He went over some last minute strategies with his team before leading a pumped up Treetown team onto the field. At Croco's suggestion, they shook hands with the Chandara team before taking their positions. Just before the opening face-off, which was called a "roll ball," everyone took time out to remember those they loved the most. There were about a couple thousand spectators present, and the head official, called the Head Judge, rolled the ball along the center line to Croco and Darren, the leads for the two teams. They fought for possession and the first ever ringball match in history was underway.
Chandara had won the roll ball and Darren led the charge into the Treetown end of the field. He looked for someone to pass the ball to and threw it over to a boy named Sam Donnelly, who lined up next to Darren as a "wing." Sam dumped it back to Yoshi Yamamoto, the grandson of a Japanese dolphinback who was playing the "flank" position.
"Watch Yoshi!" Croco yelled, knowing that he could do as he please with the ball. Yoshi spotted Darren charging to the rings and threaded a perfect pass over to him. He made no mistake in putting the ball through the large middle ring, as the Treetown keeper was powerless to stop it. The goal judge extended his arm forward, signifying that he had scored in the middle ring.
The score was three to zero in favor of the Chandarans as Kevin Keller, the keeper who had just been beaten, took the ball and got it forward to Michael Strauss, the "back" who was the primary defender in front of Keller. Croco came over and whispered something in his ear and when they broke, Michael came up to about the center line and passed it over to Tommy Madison, the flank who was opposing Yamamoto, who set up the first goal. He charged forward, penetrating the Chandara zone when he passed to Croco. He then made a quick pass over to Vince Romano, the flank opposite of Madison, who got a shot off. The Chandaran keeper was able to stop it, but couldn't catch it as the ball rolled through a sea of legs before Croco picked it up and found the upper ring on the right. The goal judge raised his left hand and Croco had earned five points for his team. Treetown had taken a five to three lead as the hourglass at the center position bled away the time in the period. It would run out after thirty minutes and when it did, the score was 52 to 48 in favor of the Treetown team. There was a quick intermission for the teams to refresh and go over new strategies.
When the second of four periods started, the Chandarans came out with an extra vigor and scored the first nineteen points of the period. This made Croco upset and he got on his team, telling them they needed to keep on giving it their all. The Treetown team responded and came back on a 38 to 11 run to regain the lead. Then the Treetowners settled in on defense, not allowing a goal for a good ten minutes. However Chandara came close, as Darren had found a streaking flank on one rush. But he was in ahead of the ball and the line judge raised a red flag, signaling that he was offsides and that Treetown would get the ball back. They would score twice to extend their lead to 101 to 78 with about five minutes left. Seeing this unfold, Darren called his attackers up and told them to go for the outer rings, which were worth five points each. They were able to get three goals and draw within eight, but Keller shut them down for the rest of the period, although they got two middle ring goals. When the horn sounded to end the period, the score was 109 to 99 with Treetown still leading.
Both leads were somewhat pleased with their team's efforts in the first half, with Croco noting that his defenders were aggressive in clearing the ball and Darren was lucky that his team wasn't losing by more than they were. However, he did like the way his flanks were setting up the wings, who were the primary scorers. The third period did see a reduction in scoring as the teams were starting to get tired. They were sluggish while bringing the ball through the Middle Zone, but Treetown looked more tired and the Chandarans were able to hold them to only 25 points. They also led for the first time since it was three to nothing at the end of the period with the score being 135 to 134. Croco gathered his exhausted team in before the start of the final period.
"C'mon you guys," he said, "We've got only one more period to go and you're starting to give up. We've been playing excellent ball out there, now we have to put them away! We're Team Treetown and we are going to win this game...and if not, then my name ain't Croco Hallaway!" That seemed to uplift them and Treetown went out and scored the first thirteen points in the fourth. However, Chandara responded and it stayed tight throughout the period, with no team jumping out to a lead of more than six points. The score was tied at 170 when Croco motioned to Juan Morales, one of Treetown's 'ends,' who were primarily defenders responsible for guarding the wing on their side of the field.
"Juan," he quietly said, "you come up to the center line and when you see me pass the ball to Madison, you're gonna get the ball and a clear shot at the rings. I've already told him about it." The plan was in work as Treetown worked the ball around to Croco. Morales came charging in as soon as he released it on the way to the flank. Madison's pass was perfect and Morales' shot found the upper left ring for five points. However, Chandara responded with three consecutive middle ring goals, thus making the score 179 to 175 in favor of the Chandarans.
With time running down, the Treetowners tried desparately to get a score to draw closer to or take the lead from Chandara. And every time, they were stopped by Dana Eviska, the Chandaran keeper. Getting more and more desperate, the Treetown players were taking shot after shot with the same result. However with under a minute left, Eviska had stopped a shot and tried to clear but Morales stepped up to intercept. He wasted no time in getting a shot off which the keeper thought was going to the upper left ring. But the ball ricocheted off a Chandaran defender to the right. Eviska had already dove to block the original shot and was helpless as it bounced to Croco and he was able to put it through the upper ring only a few seconds before time expired.
The horn sounded and the final score was 180 for the Treetowners and 179 for the Chandarans. Players on the Treetown side started to celebrate as many of the Chandaran players lied on the field stunned that they had lost. Darren was waiting at the center line for his opponents and finally they came, with Croco being the first to shake his hand.
"That was quite a game your team played," Croco said. Darren smiled as he put an arm around the winning lead's shoulder.
"Yeah, it could've gone either way," Darren replied. "Congratulations on your victory, but we'll get you guys next time." All the players shook hands at midfield as Melanie came onto the field to address the young men.
"Bravo!" she said ecstatically while clapping, "You guys were magnificent! Croco, Darren...this is an amazing game you two have created. With all the people cheering you guys on, this will be a hit in no time!" They smiled as they walked off the makeshift field, knowing that their sport was well on its way to becoming a part of the Dinotopian culture. But most importantly, they all returned to the trees still friends and that was all that mattered to an exhausted Croco as he went to bed for a much needed rest.