I want to apologize for taking so long to update this story, When Squirrel Girls stand alone story took off last year, I wanted to write that more than anything, but now I'm back with this, and I'll try and update more frequently.
"So mind telling me what the problem was yesterday?" Joseph asked as he and Ish could currently be found in the locker room while the rest of the team was already on their way the field for their opening game against the Vikings.
"Nothing bad, basic surveillance blitz bots, we took 'em down in less than ten minutes." Ish said with a smile as he adjusted his white number 17 jersey, while Joseph didn't need to adjust his number 26 jersey.
"Wish I could have joined you guys, I was stuck in the simulation room while your of their kicking bot." Joseph said with a joking tone, and that made Ish laugh lightly.
"Trust me Joseph, RZ told me you aced the training simulations, so you could be called in at any time, but enough of that for now, let's beat the Vikings." Ish said as he picked up his helmet and walked out of the locker room, as Joseph grabbed his helmet and did the same, and soon they where in the tunnel that lead unto the field, where Coach Jones and his son Jackson where waiting for them.
"Alright Bulldogs, Joseph gave us the rundown on Vikings team cpatain Bruno Boston, but the real threat on offense is Quarterback Jamar Francis, he's a rising star in the league, and he's a dual threat QB, meaning he can ran and pass," Jones said as h paused to take a breath, "offense let's put six points on the board, defense, let's force some turnovers, do I make myself clear?" Jones asked with a smile.
"Yes sir!" the entire team said at once as they raced out of the tunnel to the thundering crowd in the bleachers and took their side on the field, as the Vikings thundered out of their tunnel, lead by Bruno Boston wearing his purple and black number 83 jersey, followed by Jamar's number 11 jersey.
"Joseph, Ish, Carlos and Ash, your captain today, head to the middle of the field, and Ish, you decide if we go on offense or defense." Jones said as he pulled out his play book and began looking at the Bulldogs game plan, as the team captain made their way to the fifty yard line and shook hands with the Vikings team captain, all but Joseph and Bruno who where glaring at each other from under their helmets visors.
"Alright Vikings, call it in the air." the referee said as he tossed the coin in the air.
"Tails." Bruno called out as the cone flipped and then landed on the field.
"It is heads, Bulldogs, you want to defer or receive the kickoff?" the ref asked Ish.
"We'll defer until the second half." Ish answered, to which the ref nodded and the team captains made their way back to their sidelines.
"I decided to go on defense first to see how good their offense is, we have a great offense, let's show them our doomsday defense, right Joseph?" Ish asked with a smile as Joseph gave him a fist bump in response, as Ash lead the special teams unto the field and shortly there after she kicked the ball end over end into the air, and the new season was underway, as the Vikings kickoff returner caught the ball and took a knee in the end zone, bringing the ball out to the 25.
"Let's get out there and stop 'em defense!" Joseph yelled as he, Carlos and Marty jogged unto the field and took their positions, as Bruno lead the Vikings unto the field, as the Vikings got into their huddle, ans shortly there after, broke the huddle and lined up.
"Blue nineteen, blue nineteen, set hut!" Jamar yelled as he took the snap from the shotgun and dropped back a few steps, and did a quick pump-fake to his left, and then fired a dart to his running back out of the backfield, only for Marty to get their quickly and tackle him after a four yard gain.
"Good tackle, Marty." Joseph said as he gave Marty a fist bump as the duo lined back up at their respective positions.
Jamar again took the snap and threw a short pass to Bruno, who caught the pass and tried to take off down the sideline, only to be met by Joseph who took him down at the knees, be it after he had passed the first down marker.
"Try and stop me!" Bruno snarled as he got up and headed back to the huddle.
"Try and stay away from me!" Joseph yelled back as Marty got in front of his teammate to stop Joseph from going after his rival.
A few seconds later Jamar handed off to his running back, only to have Carlos break though the line and tackle him for a loss of two.
"Good tackle." the back said as Carlos helped him to his feet.
"Just doing my job." Carlos said as he got back with his defense, as the Vikings where forced to punt two plays later, as Ish came unto the field with Tua, Troy, and Marty as well.
"Let's have some fun, handoff offside to Marty, ready, break." Ish said as his team lined up and a few seconds later Ish took the snap and handed off the Marty, who used his skinny frame to find a small hole and take it for a gain of seven, only to be tackled by the horse collar by Bruno, who slammed a fist into the ground as a yellow flag was thrown for the horse collar tackle.
"You kidding me ref, that was a clean tackle." Bruno argued with the referee.
"Hardly, that was an illegal tackle, and a fifteen yard penalty." the referee said sternly as the Bulldogs accepted the penalty, and the ball was moved forward an additional fifteen yards.
"We are taking a deep shot to Troy down the sideline, since Troy has the size advantage, it might be a dream match up." Ish said as he broke the huddle and the team lined up in the pistol formation as Ish took the snap, and lobbed one deep down the right sideline, where is landed in Troy's hands and a few seconds later he found himself dancing in the endzone.
"That's how you play football." Carlos said as he celebrated on the bench with the rest of his teammates.
The game was now in the late forth quarter and the Bulldogs held a commanding 31-17 lead, with five minutes left on the clock, and it was third and twenty five, and with this stop, the Bulldogs would start the season with a win.
"I'm blitzing here, Marty, cover my man." Joseph instructed in the defensive huddle, which earned a thumbs up from Marty.
"I've shut down my man all day, 'aint going to stop now." Marty joked as he and the defense headed back unto the field and took their positions, with Joseph disguising his blitz by lining up with his man, but as soon as the ball was snapped, Joseph took off towards Jamar and a few seconds later hit the QB who was looking to his left, resulting not only in a sack, but the ball coming loose, and Joseph falling on it and running it back all the way to the endzone for a defensive touchdown, making the score 38-17, essentially game over.
"Offense, way to go today, you put up 38 points in your first outing of the season, defense, five sacks and three turnovers, that's exactly what I want to see," Jones said as th whole team was smiling, "everyone enjoy the rest of your afternoon, and let's get ready for practice on Monday." Jones said as the team dispersed and met up with their respective families.
"Hey Joseph," Ish yelled as Joseph was walking back towards the locker room to gab his stuff, "the rest of the team is meeting up at the bowling alley, care to join?" Ish offered, to which Joseph responded by giving a thumbs up and a smile, for life was good today, but it would not stay good for long, as the young Guardians where about to find out the hardway...