34-33
That was the final score of the game with the orange team taking the victory in the end by only a one-point difference, something that caused a stir and furor among all the students and people who witnessed the game, especially because of the last play.
Minutes before
The white team's offense entered the field again once the orange offense managed to add another 7 points with the conversion of the extra point kick, putting the score at 34-26, placing the white team at a clear disadvantage.
Wyatt, while adjusting the helmet on his head, couldn't help but notice how his team's morale was down because there were only 2 minutes of gameplay left and they had to cover a 45-yard journey to score again, something that was very complicated considering that the orange team's defense had become more serious and aggressive so far in the game.
Forming a circle among them, Wyatt knew it was the moment to say a few words or the game would already be considered lost. "Listen," he began to say, looking at each of his teammates with a serious gaze through the slit of his helmet. "The game is not decided yet, we still have time to win." With energy, Wyatt began to speak with each of his teammates. "So what we must do is score another touchdown and make the other team see that they haven't won yet," he finished saying, causing the spirits among his teammates to return.
Placing his hand in the center, the rest of his teammates did the same so that once the hands of all of them were in the center, "Tigers on three!!" Wyatt shouted while he started counting out loud. "TIGERS!!!" shouted all the players of the white team, drawing the attention of the defensive players of the orange team who witnessed all that and saw how the white team's offense put themselves in position and threw fierce looks in their direction.
"Set, Hut," Wyatt shouted at the top of his lungs, receiving the ball from his center while retreating a few steps back and quickly scanning the situation across the entire field, seeing how his 2nd wide receiver had gotten ahead of his cornerback, giving him enough space ahead, so without hesitation, Wyatt threw the pass in his direction.
Under the attentive gaze of all the spectators and players who were sitting on their respective sides of the field, the ball traced a perfect parabola, heading directly toward the direction where the wide receiver was going, who, upon lifting his head and seeing that the ball was heading where he was going, increased his speed seeking to reach the optimal point to receive the ball.
But the orange team's safety, seeing how the wide receiver was shaking off the cornerback, made a signal to the outside linebacker, who nodded in confirmation for both to head in his direction, seeking to pressure him and prevent him from catching the ball, aiming for it to be an incomplete pass.
The wide receiver, unconscious of that, immediately put himself in position ready to catch the ball which was falling toward where he was located, and as soon as his gloved hands felt the rubber of the ball, he was immediately tackled by the 2 players who headed toward him.
Immediately after, the referee blew his whistle, pausing the game while the 2 players immediately stood up, getting off the receiver who still held the ball firmly against his body despite the clear grimace of pain that was on his face.
Upon seeing that, the referee signaled to the medical personnel present in the stadium, who did not hesitate to enter directly onto the field to begin checking the player who was still on the ground and holding his elbow in a clear sign of pain.
The doctors, observing more closely, realized that it could indeed be a slight fracture of the elbow, which is why they signaled to Coach Dabo while a stretcher entered and they put the player on it to leave the field directly to the university's medical room so they could analyze the impact of the injury more closely.
"It seems to be a shoulder injury, ladies and gentlemen," said the game commentator through the microphone while on the stadium screens the play was seen again in slow motion with the receiver catching the ball between his hands before both players tackled him, causing his elbow to impact fully against the hard grass of the field.
Wyatt, along with the rest of the white team, couldn't help but approach toward the player who had already been put on the stretcher and the personnel were preparing to take him off the field of play. "How is he?" Wyatt asked one of the members of the medical staff holding the stretcher, wanting to know if the injury was something serious or not.
The person in charge simply shook his head in a clear sign that his situation was reserved. "We won't know anything until we take an X-ray of the elbow," was the last thing he said before continuing forward toward the stadium exit.
Following with his gaze as the stretcher slowly disappeared from his sight, Wyatt clapped loudly with both hands, calling the attention of all his teammates. "Don't let his exit have been in vain!!" Wyatt shouted quickly while he, along with the rest of his teammates, put themselves back in position ready for the game to restart.
Wyatt's last pass had been for 15 yards, gaining another opportunity immediately and another 30 yards to cover before the clock reached 0, and seeing the orange team's defense, Wyatt knew he couldn't try another medium-distance pass like the last one, and a long-distance one is also very risky in a situation like this.
"Red 28!! Red 28!!" Wyatt shouted quickly, his voice resonating in the ears of all his teammates who simply put themselves back in position ready for the start of the play.
"Set!" as soon as he said that, the line of scrimmage immediately put itself in position while the center held the ball firmly between his hands. "Hut!!" with the cry of Hut, Wyatt received the ball between his hands while the line of scrimmage held back the defensive team, giving Wyatt enough time to throw a pass.
This time Wyatt tried a short pass toward another receiver who was right by the tight-end, who was in charge of interfering with the cornerback who was in front of them to thus give the receiver the opportunity to advance a few more yards before being tackled by the orange team's defensive linebacker.
8 yards was the distance he covered before being tackled, making it necessary to cover another 2 yards to obtain a new opportunity while the clock clearly marked 1:08 minutes remaining in the game, so standing up quickly, the receiver threw the ball to the center so the game could restart in the shortest time possible.
For the last two yards remaining, Wyatt didn't waste time and passed the ball to the runner who was behind him, who ran with all his strength directly toward the hit zone, colliding against the entire orange team's defensive line.
Tackled by a large crowd of players, the referee quickly saw that the runner had covered 3 yards, which is why he blew his whistle and gave a new opportunity to the white team, who wasted no time in celebrating and put themselves in position ready to continue with the rhythm they had maintained in these last plays.
With a new opportunity, Wyatt threw a medium-distance pass of 12 yards, seeking for the receiver to control it, but unfortunately, the safety was also attentive and on the prowl, interfering with him and causing the pass to be an incomplete one.
On his second opportunity, Wyatt decided on a solo run, leaving the hit zone and dodging the cornerback while one of the receivers interfered with one of the safeties, giving Wyatt a clear path as he already saw himself reaching the endzone.
What he didn't count on was that the safety managed to break free from the receiver and ran directly toward him, and with his back to Wyatt, he ended up tackling him to the ground, causing one of the game's referees to blow his whistle while throwing a yellow flag to the ground.
"Illegal block in the back," the referee announced through his headset to all the spectators while seeing how he made a signal with his hands. "10-yard penalty," was the next announcement under the attention of the spectators, who became frenetic upon hearing that and seeing how the game had a dramatic turn in the final seconds.
Wyatt had covered 8 yards before he was tackled from behind, and if you add the 10 yards of advancement he received for the penalty, they were only one yard from the orange team's endzone, a nearly perfect situation.
Now then, a situation like that could be seen as an easy situation, but for the experts, they knew how complicated it was to be only one yard from the endzone since in those cases there were no clear passing lines because the endzone was crowded, and attempting a run with the runner could cause a direct collision against the entire orange defensive team.
Standing up, Wyatt approached the circle his teammates had formed while thinking mentally about what would be the best option in this situation, whether to force a pass or trust the ball to the runner while his line of scrimmage held back the entire defensive unit of the opposing team.
Having an idea, Wyatt immediately told his plans to his teammates, who nodded in agreement, and with a clap, he broke the circle so that all the players put themselves in position while the defensive team also broke its circle having discussed their strategy for this play that would possibly be the most intense of the game.
On the first attempt, Wyatt tried a pass toward the right corner where the receiver was in position, but it was interrupted by the rival cornerback, causing the ball to stay out and wasting the team's 1st opportunity.
On his second attempt, he passed the ball to one of his runners, but the line of scrimmage was more saturated than other times, causing him to be unable to advance and ending up tackled at the one-yard line, wasting the second opportunity while the people watching all this didn't look away, afraid of missing any sequence.
On the third opportunity, Wyatt held the ball firmly while the line of scrimmage collided against the defense, and against all odds, Wyatt ran toward there, but instead of running in a straight line, he gathered all the strength in his legs, jumping as high as he could and crossing the line of scrimmage through the air before falling into the endzone.
"TOUCHDOWN!" was the commentator's cry, drowned out by the shouts of the crowd at such a scene.
Getting up slowly, Wyatt saw how the crowd celebrated, so caught up in that, he threw the ball to the ground while letting out a cry into the air, releasing all his frustration from the game while his teammates surrounded him in a clear sign of celebration.
34-32 was the current score.
Leaving the field, Wyatt along with the rest of the offense made way for the special teams, which converted the extra point and gave way to the defense, while the orange team was now on the offense, but with the clock about to end the time, the quarterback simply asked for the ball before the clock reached 0, ending the game.
Once the game ended, Wyatt let out a slight sigh of disappointment; he had done everything possible but still didn't get the victory, but despite that, he couldn't have asked for a better performance, having scored 5 touchdowns in the game.
"You played well," said a voice behind Wyatt, being Tajh, who had watched the whole game from the bench. "Still, it wasn't enough," Wyatt murmured with a slight grimace in an attempt to smile, but what he didn't know were Tajh's thoughts, which became more frenetic thinking about Wyatt's performance playing with the substitutes and not with the starters.
Of course, Tajh would still be the starter at the beginning of the season, but if he didn't get his act together or got careless, he had no doubt that Dabo would change him for Wyatt in the blink of an eye.
With those thoughts in his mind, he simply gave Wyatt a few pats on the shoulder while joining the rest of the players.
Once that happened, Wyatt immediately headed to the players' tunnel looking for a shower so he could go to rest as soon as possible.
Authors thought's
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