Flyers vs. Panthers, December 21st

[Rudi MacKenzie]

PRE-GAME

Jeff Waters hadn't planned on saying anything. He didn't sit in his office wondering how to motivate the team like usual. This time he meant to speak from the heart, hoping he could find the right things to say when the time came. Father Shane had come in to offer a quick prayer and a blessing, with Sister Mary Thomas by his side. She added a quick wink to the team and a wave of a foam finger before the two headed into the stadium to take their seats. The coach sat down on one of the locker benches as the team remained on one knee, looking to him for words of inspiration.

"You know the situation," he began with a brief smile. "It's do or die time people. The Panthers are nine and zero. They're going to fight us for a perfect season. They're tough, tougher than anyone we've faced this season. But you are just as tough.” The coach paused and looked around at his team, new faces mixed with old. It had been a rough year. Losing the State championship in the final game the previous season, against the very same Prescott team they faced today, no less, then having to begin this campaign with four straight road games. All the optimism built over the summer crushed with a horrible start and a rash of injuries. Despite all that adversity, or perhaps because of it, they’d gelled into a team at least as strong as the one he’d taken into the playoffs the year before. Suddenly, Coach Waters knew what he needed to say.

“I realized something when I woke up this morning. Something I need each of you to hear, so listen up. No matter what happens out on the grid iron today? I'm proud of each and every one of you. Every high school is full of kids who are capable of memorizing plays, learning offense and defense. But not many of them are committed to the program, to forming a team, to understanding the bond that makes a team. The sum of the parts is greater than the individual parts themselves. I see that in you, all of you. That attitude of never quitting no matter what the circumstances. Not only has it given us a successful season, but it'll carry over into everything you do. So now, when you go out there, you take that field and you know that I am proud of you. I want each of you to do whatever it takes to make yourself proud too. Ask yourself that." The locker room was silent.

"Beat the Panthers!" Noah Ryder called to break the silence.

"BEAT THE PANTHERS!" Stephen Reed called back. A war cry emerged from the back of the locker room and the team was on their feet, surrounding the coach. Nearby fans from outside could hear the battlecry from inside.

"BEAT PRESCOTT! BEAT PRESCOTT! BREAK!"







- The Saint Joseph's Flier sports desk

[Blitzen]

Sam and the rest of the Flyers came out of the locker room to the deafening roar of the crowd. Not since Homecoming had she seen the stadium so full of people. She easily spied Sister Mary Thomas in her habit and booster club t-shirt, waving her foam finger and blue and white pom-pom on a stick. Not too far off were her friends. She laughed to herself and thought back to Ves at homecoming with her blue and white painted face. Her friends were always there, and the guys on the team? They were awesome. All of them. Even Frank.

There'd be time to think about it later. Right now? It all boiled down to this one game.

[Rudi MacKenzie]

FIRST QUARTER

The Prescott Panthers flexed their muscles early, taking Bill Harrison’s opening kickoff and putting together a 16-play, 89 yard drive that bit a nice chunk off of the first quarter clock. Stephen Reed watched stoically from the sidelines as Prescott quarterback Dave Tybalt threw nine passes during the drive, while nearby Frank Argillo cursed as he completed eight of them. Tybalts’s 35-yard strike to Kyle Grimalkin moved the ball to the St. Joe’s 43 before the tight end was taken down by Noah Ryder. Quick passes to Tom Sylvester and Sean Bastet placed the ball at the Flyers’ 10. Two attempts to move the ball on the ground actually lost a few yards, but the Panthers weren’t done. The home crowd booed as "Syl the Thrill" danced clear of his man for another reception, almost making it to the end zone before being pushed out of bounds.

That brought up fourth-and-goal from the one. Confident in his offensive line, Tybalt waved off kicker Lionel Jones and instead lined his team up in a short-yardage formation. On the other side of the line of scrimmage, William Briggs stood ready. He cracked the knuckles of his right hand systematically as he waited somewhat patiently. That patience would pay off. The second the ball was snapped, the veteran linebacker spotted an opening and broke through to the backfield, sacking Tybalt for a five yard loss, and more importantly, forcing a turnover on downs.

“Flyer pride!” he screamed, pumping his fist as the fans leapt to their feet cheering.

"Let's go, let's go, our time, our time!" Reed called, clapping his hands as the offensive team took the field. They were starting from their own six, and had a long way to go. He wanted to make a strong statement with his opening drive, and maybe, just a little, to one-up his Panther’s counterpart. For any and all of these reasons, he sent three receivers deep on his first play. Baxter and Aiken drew the tightest coverage, so Reed looked to Ty Cloud, streaking down the left sideline. The pass was a little long, but “Dollar Short” put on a burst of speed and made a shaky but fair catch, managing to pull the ball in tight as he was downed at the 40 by Panthers’ free safety Lorne Garfield. Fighting back an urge to smirk at Tybalt on the sidelines, Reed hurried downfield and lined up for the next play. There was still a long way to go, and he wasn’t finished yet.

"Red Sixteen, Red Sixteen!" he called. Bryan Baxter nodded in response. The wide receiver found an opening and collected Reed’s 18-yard pass for a first down. Quickly calling his team back to the line, Reed called for a running play, trying to keep the defense off-balance. Frank Argillo managed to break through and gain 24 yards to set up first and 10 from the Prescott 18, but that's as far as the Panthers would let them get. Baxter was tackled on the next play, and both Anderson and Argillo were taken down without gaining any yards. With the drive stalled, Samantha Douglas was called in to open the scoring, nailing the field goal to put the Flyers up 3-0.

The lead didn’t hold up for long. Two plays into their next possession, Sylvester found some open field and legged out an extra 42 yards after the catch before finally being run down by Flyers’ cornerback Nigel Barlow. In spite of the big play, the Panthers were once again unable to penetrate the end zone. This time, Jones was brought in for the field goal, tying the score at three apiece.

Taking some advice from the injured Scott Sanders, Reed kept the ball on the ground for most of the Flyers’ next drive. Progress was slow, but establishing the run now would pay dividends later in the game. Someone forgot to tell Frank Argillo though, as he bulled through the Panthers’ defensive line again and again, working the ball ever so slowly into Prescott territory. The drive eventually stalled at the visitors’ 23 yard line, and Douglas kicked her second field goal of the game to put St. Joe’s back on top with 47 seconds left in the quarter.

SCORE: FLYERS 6 PANTHERS 3


- The Saint Joseph's Flier sports desk

[Rudi MacKenzie]

SECOND QUARTER

The first few plays were stalemates, neither team willing to give the other an inch. The St. Josephs’ defense was spot on, Nigel Barlow deflecting a pass meant for Sylvester and Noah Ryder managed to chase down Grimalkin before the tight end gained much yardage.

On the Flyers’ first possession of the second, Reed spotted an opening and hit tight end Miguel Rodriguez for a nine-yard gain.

"Good hands, Good hands!" Reed called, lining up for the next play.

With the Panthers defense closing in, he fired a bullet to Zack Aiken for 14 yards to advance the ball to the Prescott 48. The Flyers’ quarterback smiled to himself. Running the ball in the first had opened things up for his passing game. On third-and-nine he hit Baxter on a screen pass. Bryan put on his game face, tunnel-visioning into the field in front of him. Holding the ball tightly against his midsection and pumping his free arm, he was able to out-race the Panther defenders, running 37 yards straight into the end zone with 8:22 remaining in the half. Still expecting a show, the crowd was just slightly disappointed when Baxter waved to someone in the stands before handing the ball off to the referee. Samantha Douglas tacked on the extra point to up the St. Josephs’ lead to 13-3.

The Panthers showed their claws when Tim Mancuso broke through to knock a punt off the foot of Bill Harrison, giving the visitors possession at the Flyers’ 12-yard line with 5:46 left in the half. It took Prescott three plays to cover the distance, with the pay off coming on a 10-yard TD pass from Tybalt to Sylvester. Jones’ extra point was good and the Panthers had pulled to within 13-10. They wouldn't stop there.

On the Flyers’ next possession the Prescott defense dug in deep. Facing a third-and-nine from his own 26, Reed stepped back into the pocket but was hit hard by John Brassel as he attempted to throw. The errant pass found the hands of Greg Morris who returned it 16-yards for a major with 3:54 left before halftime. Jones' extra point gave the Panthers’ their first lead, 17-13.

Ty Cloud received the following kick-off, running the ball back to the Flyer 46 before being stopped. Tensions were starting to run high with both teams now unwilling to give another inch.

Reed called for "Red ninety three, Red ninety three!" Baxter nodded. He managed to stay two steps ahead of his shadow, running for 19 yards. Panthers’ cornerback Ted Robinson became a little too aggressive in trying to down the receiver, bringing out flags from the officials. Reed clapped his hands together, blowing into them for some warmth as the personal foul penalty was called, advancing the ball to the Prescott 14. On third-and-ten from that same position he found Zack Aiken with a short pass that the receiver was able to carry into the end zone with 43 seconds left in the half. Douglas' kick was successful and St. Josephs’ held a 20-17 lead at intermission.

SCORE: FLYERS 20 PANTHERS 17


- The Saint Joseph's Flier sports desk

[Stephen Reed]

Stephen stood up and shook off Brassel's hit. Despite the frustration of not making much progress up the field, he was enjoying the game immensely. Prescott was tough... Which would make a victory so much sweeter. Plus, the thrill of competition was taking his mind off Brianna and JD... "Let's go Flyers!" he called as a couple of people checked to make sure he was alright. He brushed them off and kept clapping. "We can win this!"

[Nigel Barlow]

It took a massive effort for Nigel to make his way back to the bench without stumbling, determined not to let the Panthers see how dizzy he was. He was learning first hand today that Tom Sylvester's reputation as the top receiver in the league was more than justified. It wasn't even that he was fast, although he was, it was the way he could change direction on a dime, and his routes were totally unpredictable. Unpredictable to everyone by Dave Tybalt, who always seemed to find the Thriller no matter where he went.

Fortunately, Nigel wasn't covering him every play. Lucas was getting his share of the pain too. They'd contained him pretty well so far, but the young cornerback wasn't sure how much longer they could keep it up. Either his legs would give out, or his patience would. The last thing he needed to do today was take a stupid penalty.

"Make yourself proud," the coach had said before the game. That wasn't something Nigel was good at, but damn, he was going to try. He knew he could run with Sylvester, he'd proven that already. The rest of it was mental.

"Don't let him beat you before the play starts," he muttered to himself, louder than he intended.

"You're learning, Barlow," the coach said approvingly from behind him. "Now get out there and show me you mean it."

[Rudi MacKenzie]

HALF TIME

The coach gathered the team around him at halftime. They'd had time to hydrate and thump each other on the back, but now it was time to get serious. He drew back to something his coach used to say to motivate his team back when he was in college. A faint smile crossed his face at the memory. His coach always knew the exact words to say to them. Jeff Waters would swear if his coach told them they could move a mountain, the team would jog right over to it and start pushing. He drew a deep breath, and began.

"212 degrees! Does anyone know what this represents?"

Bryan Baxter was the first to answer. "Boiling point, coach?"

"Bingo! Boiling point. Now... 211 degrees! What is that?"

"Uhm, hot water?" Miguel Rodriguez asked.

"Correct! Listen to that, ladies..."

"And Sam!" from Frank Argillo, but the coach continued around him.

"One degree. One SINGLE degree is the difference between boiling..." He paused for a second, looking around the room. "And hot water. Think about this: Boiling water produces steam. AND STEAM POWERS LOCOMOTIVES! And what does hot water do? Nothing! Two hundred and eleven is nothing! In everything you do, everywhere you go, no matter what your heart's passion is... you must always give that EXTRA degree of effort. I guarantee you it will pay off. You have to live your lives 212! You have to play this game Two-hundred and Twelve. Now you get back out there, and you show me some steam!"







- The Saint Joseph's Flier sports desk

[Ty Cloud]

Ty leaned against the wall in the locker room starong out into space, listening to every Cpach Waters had to say. He had to step up, everyone had to. "LETS BEAT THESE PANTHERS!" Ty screamed out of nowhere once the Jeff Water's speach was done.

[Double-Cross]

Noah sat in the lockeroom, his whole body was hurting. These guys were fast, and unfortunately tough too. Noah reached in his bag for a little inspiration. He pulled out his favorite gloves, the black ones with the skull and crossbones on the back and strapped them on.

They were going to have to give it everything if they wanted to win this one.

"Let's go guys!" Noah shouted, "You all didn't bust me out of solitary for nothing, lets go win this one!"

Noah had a picture of the Panther Mascot taped to one of the lockers. He turned and punched the locker hard, leaving a large dent across the Panthers face.

[Erika Raeder]

"C'mon you humps, skin those cats!" Erika screamed at the top of her longs. She'd been firing a string of expletives at the field all day, but inside, she was loving this game. It was just the distraction she needed from her legal troubles.

"Hey Hanny! I tought I taw a putty-tat!" she yelled to the linebacker, directing her attention to the sign her teammates from the Field Hockey team were holding up. In addition to the words she had just called out, it featured an image of a smug looking blue and white bird with what appeared to be a cat's tail hanging out of it's beak.

"Hey, I think he saw it, B. I swear he pointed and laughed." Erika punched her friend in the shoulder, nearly causing her to drop her cellphone. "Hey, who you trying to call?"

"I've got a friend over at Mt. Peon. I'm trying to find out the half-time score there."

"Bah, forget them. We're going all the way. GO FLYERS!!!"

[Rudi MacKenzie]

THIRD QUARTER

The cheer squad was on their feet when the Flyers came out of the lockers, with Kat and Ingrid leading the cheers. Brianna Landers was notably absent, but Jade Rooster's enthusiasm was enough for an entire squad on his own. He and Franky held up huge blue and white flags as the team once again took the field.

The Panthers were determined to avoid falling further into a hole on St. Joes’ first possession of the second half. Their half-time adjustments allowed them to come on strong, keeping their rivals well out of field goal range.

The Flyers’ defense came on just as strong in turn, shutting down the vaunted Prescott passing game after Harrison’s punt. Lucas Alexander managed to swat away a pass meant for receiver Brendan Hart, and the combined efforts of Nigel Barlow and Noah Ryder even managed to twice stop "The Thriller" as he tried to break free for the end zone.

The struggle continued until late in the quarter, when the Flyers were forced to punt after being stopped at their own 40. Starting the drive from his own 25-yard line, Tybalt handed the ball to Bastet who managed a first down. On his next play, the Prescott quarterback saw a small opening when Tom Sylvester managed to break free of Nigel Barlow’s coverage. Coolly receiving the 29 yard pass, Sylvester made it to the Flyers’ 28 before Kasim Moamber shoved him out of bounds. Tybalt's next break came when Kyle Grimalkin found himself in the open to make a 16 yard catch, putting them at first and goal at the eight.

"STEP IT UP DEFENSE!" Sister Mary Thomas called from the stands, as the crowd began a De-Fence chant. But that only seemed to fuel the Panthers more. Tybalt handed off to Bastet who did the rest, running 8 yards into the end zone with under a minute left in the third. The extra point by Jones put Prescott ahead once again, 24-20.

SCORE: PANTHERS 24 FLYERS 20


- The Saint Joseph's Flier sports desk

[Gravwarp]

Coming out of the locker room for the second half, Jason, a second string running back came up to Bryan as the teamed moved out to the bench.

"Bryan! Hey man, what's up?" he asked number 88.

"Huh? Whatdya mean?" Bryan laughed as he answered, "Just trying to win this game."

"Yeah but you're not showin' off you skillz!" Jason accented the sarcastic reply with a thump on Bryan's shoulder pads. "The girls are gonna have look for a new heart throb soon if you don't show 'em your hip work." The last comment got a big laugh from some of the gathered offense players.

"Listen, it's just like Coach said. We gotta do what makes us proud of ourselves. To do that I gotta go out here and pour it all into playing not showboating." Bryan put his helmet on and quickly snapped the chin strap on.

The receiver started to make his way back out onto the field and called back to the younger player, "Besides, beating Prescott is the hard part... wooing your girlfriend that's EASY!" A broad smile spread across Bryan's face as he heard the collective "Ohhh's" and laughter came from the bench.

[Frigid Ingrid]

Ingrid did her best to keep the crowd pumped, but inside she felt weird being out there without Brianna. Fortunately, the Flyers' fans needed little encouragement, even when the Panthers appeared to be dominating the game for stretches at a time. She hadn't seen this much energy in the stands since the homecoming game.

"I'm sure she'll be fine," Maureen whispered from her left, reading her mind. "She'll be back for the playof... OOO! Look at Biff go!" The beautiful raven-haired girl was distracted as Flyers' captain Biff Hannigan levelled yet another Panthers' player. He was a one-man wrecking crew out there. Dangerous on a bad day. Even more dangerous on a good day.

"Ouch!" the crowd cried practically in unison as another rushing attempt was stopped cold by the big linebacker.

It looked like Biff was having a good day.

[Vesper Fiend]

"C'mon, Flyers! You've got it all over those guys!" Ves yelled from the stands. She knew this game was an important one, so once again she was sporting the blue and white face paint. She barely felt the cold as she jumped and stomped about in the stands, cheering for the team and yelling encourangement.

"Crush 'em, Biff!" she called through cupped hands. Though it looked like the team captain needed little encouragement.

[Rudi MacKenzie]

FOURTH QUARTER

A knot formed in Samantha Douglas's stomach as she watched the defensive plays from the sidelines.

"Go get 'em, Big Guy!" she said, punching Bryan Baxter on the arm for luck.

"25 more quarters!" he shot back. "That's this one plus the six championship games! I know you're bad at math!" Sam laughed and picked up a nearby hand towel, throwing it towards the receiver. The blue piece of terrycloth missed its mark but connected with Stephen Reed instead. Douglas smiled apologetically. Stephen was always so serious at game time, almost to the point of looking like a soldier heading into battle. Reed dropped his game face and flashed a good nature smile to the placekicker before using the towel to wipe away a few beads of sweat which had collected on his brow despite the chill in the air.

Once again, the St. Joe’s defense was spot on, and soon Reed was calling the offensive line back to the field. Ty Cloud received the ball at the 20 but was quickly shoved out of bounds before gaining any significant yardage. Keeping with the momentum, the Prescott defense stopped the next two plays dead in their tracks.

"Blue Forty Four! Blue Forty Four!" Reed called.

Baxter slipped on his game face, as did fellow receiver Zack Aiken. As soon as the ball was snapped, they each sped to opposite sides of the field, splitting the Panther’s secondary. Reed spotted his opening and fired a bullet straight downfield to Miguel Rodriguez. Taking advantage of the hole in the defense, the Flyers’ tight end was able to run for additional yards, finally being tackled at the Panthers’ 46.

"Blue Thirteen! Blue Thirteen!" Reed fell back and faked a handoff to Richie Anderson before hitting Baxter with a 31 yard long rocket, giving the Flyers a first down at the Prescott 15-yard line. Twice the defense held him at bay, the quarterback taking two hits after handing off the ball to Anderson. But the third time was the charm. Reed took Leed’s snap and faked a throw to Baxter before tossing the ball laterally to Frank Argillo. The running back muscled his way the final six yards into the end zone with 8:00 still left in the game. Reed took the snap and set the ball on the ground, then patted the helmet of Samantha Douglas as the extra point sailed through the uprights, giving St. Joseph’s a 27-24 lead.

"Don't get sloppy!" the Coach called from the sidelines. "Keep them at bay then hit back hard!"

Alexander, Barlow, Moamber, Ryder, Briggs and Hannigan took his words seriously. The combination of Hannigan and Briggs made for an unstoppable linebacking duo, keeping Prescott behind the midfield stripe on their next possession, eating time off the clock.

"That's it." last season's quarterback Scott Sanders agreed from the bench. "Run it down, just run it down!"

The Panthers hit just as hard, but the Flyers were prepared. After being stopped on the next two driving plays, Zack Aiken found himself in the open, and a 33 yard pass sailed into his outstretched arms. The receiver tried his best to side-step the Panthers to stay in bounds and keep the clock running, making it all the way to inside the Prescott 30 yard line before finally being taken down. The Flyers were once again in scoring range. Two failed hand-offs and a deflected pass later, Reed had no choice but to once again call in special teams, and Samantha Douglas took the field. The snap back was perfect, Douglas trained her eyes on the ball, sending her foot back in motion. Seconds after the kick left the ground, it was deflected by Prescott's linebacker Tim Mancuso, keeping the score 27-24 in favor of the Flyers with under five minutes left in the game.

Harrison lined up for the kick off, sending the ball sailing back to Prescott's 30 yard line.

"Keep them at bay, guys, keep them at bay." Reed muttered from the sidelines. Sister Mary Thomas prayed for the same from the stands.

But Tybalt was determined. His team was 9 and O. No way were a bunch of transfers and second stringers going to keep his team from an undefeated season. Not if he had anything to say about it. Sure they had the championship slot cinched. They could give the game away to the Flyers and simply crush them in the play-offs, but no, this was different. They were undefeated. They would remain undefeated. Syl the Thrill had the same attitude. A no-loss season would be the final jewel in his crown of a high school football career. They still had 3 minutes. And the silent agreement between the two teammates paid off.

Sylvester fell back quickly, with Nigel Barlow hot on his heels, but a crossover with fellow receiver Brendan Hart created some separation, and that was all Tybalt needed. He fired a 12-yard pass to the Thriller, who lived up to his nickname and then some. Ducking low, he ran the ball down the Flyers’ side of the field amidst the shouts of the crowd. He crossed midfield, then the 40 with Ryder and Moamber hot on his tail. He crossed the 30, stepping over a diving tackle attempt by the free safety. He barely made it to the twenty when Ryder finally brought him down. Though it wasn't a touchdown, Sylvester still stood up and hiked the ball hard.

"TWO-ONE-TWO!" Stephen Reed called from the sidelines. "TWO HUNDRED AND TWELVE!"

"STEAM!" Ryder called back, the cry catching on and being shouted by the entire defense. Hannigan mimed pulling a train whistle, giving a resounding "Chooo Chooo, Baby!" across the field, and a repeat of "Two Hundred and Twelve!" from Barlow. They dug in deep.

The Panthers tried a running play to Bastet which was quickly thwarted by William Briggs. Their second attempt would be another short pass to Sylvester, but this time Barlow was clear for the deflection. Tybalt scowled at the incompletion, but maintained his focus. More determined than ever, he'd take care of this himself. No one was going to take his perfect season. He took the snap and managed to side step a hard charging Briggs, the end zone in sight. The quarterback smiled to himself. No way could St. Joe’s recover this late in the game. The perfect season was in the bag.

Biff Hannigan had other ideas. The Prescott quarterback never even saw the big linebacker coming.

"STEAM!" Hannigan shouted as he downed Tybalt at the two yard line.

The rest of the team kept up the chant, making locomotive references.

"Block that kick!" came from the crowd. Briggs and Hannigan nodded to each other. The snap went back, a bitter Tybalt setting it on the ground for placekicker Lionel Jones. Jones started his run, winding up and focusing on the ball for the short kick. Hannigan took to the air.

The ball flew just above his reach, passing through the uprights as the clock ran out.

The score was Flyers 27, Panthers 27.

Reed began to gear up for overtime.

SCORE: FLYERS 27 PANTHERS 27







- The Saint Joseph's Flier sports desk