Eyeshield 21: SoCal Style
Chapter 1: The La Brea Grizzlies
When you build a team, everyone brings something unique to the game. I was like that when I first joined up. My name is Gabriela Fujimori. I play quarterback for the Grizzlies of La Brea High School in Torrance, California. You might think with me being a girl that no one on the team took me seriously. When you are 5'10 and 205lbs, it changes quickly.
My long and fluffy black curls, being both strong and beautiful, and my ability to play football as the dual-threat quarterback along with being a good presence in the huddle and pass pocket earned me the nickname 'Wonder Woman' on the team, but I'm more Lynda Carter than Gal Gadot. The 'strong and beautiful' part comes from my Brazilian mama
My dad Kenji met my mom over spring break. Mama says my papa was the shy one, and she thought it was so cute. I started playing football in middle school. My mom and dad are big Rams fans, and got real excited when they returned to Los Angeles. Not only are they proud of me, but I'm proud to wear the copper, black, and teal with my teammates
"So this is it?" I said to my best friend,
"Yep, we win this, we play ball in Japan" said Devin
Devin Nguyen is the starting tailback, and about the same size as me. Maybe 20lbs heavier. He is a half-Vietnamese and half-African American, and I'm a half-Japanese and half-Brazilian. You really got to love America. He has those sharp Asian eyes just like me, but has more tint to his tone while I just have a tan. I call him a 'bash and dash' tailback.
He always one for some playful teasing "Always a pleasure to line up behind you"
It's all in good fun, "I'm Brazilian, I know I have a big butt"
We wear teal Xenith Shadow XR helmets with a black facemask. Our logo is three black claw slashes and a roaring grizzly bear head. We wear black jerseys with white numerals like the 2017 Jacksonville Jaguars with a copper border, and three big teal claw slashes on the shoulders with a white and copper border which form an 'X' in front of the jersey
The three claw slashes are also on the sides of the jerseys and the lycra metallic black pants. Regular black socks and black cleats finish off our look. When we play away games, the black is switched out for white. The numerals turn teal with a black and copper border, and so do the slash designs. We have a really cool look. Kind of like an XFL team
I can say my linemen are the best in Southern California. They call themselves 'The Three Bears'. All three are 6'3 and 325lbs. From Garden Grove comes our left guard Jayvon 'Big Bear' Rogers. The center is from Santa Monica, Tyler 'Polar Bear' Bandon. And from Compton came our right guard Samson 'Kodiak' Brown. They can bench press over 620lbs
"I always wanted to go back to Japan" I said looking out at the field
"So you can go back to your roots?" asked Samson,
Our coach is Mr. Miller. His name is Derek, but don't call him that otherwise you're spending half a practice running laps. This is our big game against the NASA Shuttles. This is the 'Southwest Classic'. We were gathered around our coach for his speech "You know what Coach Apollo is saying about you all? Apollo says you're nobodies, scabs, and castoffs"
"That's not what I see, I saw passed everything he looked over, and with that, we made a winning team, this is our time, right here and right now, you want immortality? It's waiting for you out on that field" Coach said to us, that's what makes him such a good coach in my opinion. He doesn't insult us or bully us. He will push us to do our very best
After taking a knee for the Lord's Prayer, we got up and put our hands in "Grizzlies, on three, one-two-three!" after breaking the circle, we got led out onto the field led by our Grizzly Bear mascot 'Archie'. Our families and friends from California came down to Houston to watch us play. I went out onto the field for the coin toss with the defensive captain.
He is Stefon Haven, a hard-hitting middle linebacker "Ready, Cap?"
"Let's do this" I said, grinning as both went out to midfield
On this team, I'm number 10 and Stefon is number 42. The guy is a trash-talker, and an all-around ass-kicker. He backs it up with his playstyle. When he hits you, you'll be feeling it all week. He has cornrowed black hair, and wears a black durag just like Devin. We all have our facemask preferences. I go for the XRS-21. The linemen prefer the XLN-22.
Devin and my 5'10 and 190lbs receivers in Trey Robinson and Ian Woodley wear the XRS-21SX facemask. Linebackers like Stefon go for the XRN-22. Like Jayvon Rogers ands Samson Brown, he wears a black iridium eyeshield. Devin wears a gold iridium eyeshield. We met Homer Fitzgerald at midfield "We're sorry for what we'll do to you" I said to him
"Blame your coach for shooting his mouth off, it ain't personal, but we're gonna give you an LA County ass-whoppin'," said Stefon, we shook hands and the ref made the toss. The Shuttles elected to receive. Our 5'7 and 150lbs South Korean punter and placekicker Jin-Ho 'Johnny' Kim got on the field with special teams. Alright, let's get this party started
(Note: Gabriela is slightly modeled after Natsumi Asaoka from 'The Kabocha Wine')