The successful extra point pushed the lead out to 7–0, and reignited the crowd's cheers.
Ty's hate-filled stare had turned to the scoreboard. He'd ignored the pats on the back, the words of encouragement, and even the few quick scowls he'd received from teammates and coaches. (Zayden and Deshaun were the ones scowling, of course.)
The Dons looked to put the touchdown behind them. Chris made his first return, rather than fair catch, of the day, taking the kick-off out from the end-zone to the 22-yard line.
Coach Long's plan was to slow things down. He didn't want the boys to panic; there was still plenty of time to grind the lead down and earn control of the game. The worst thing they could do would be to turn the ball over again.
The Trailblazers expected the Dons to play more conservatively after the score; they were more of a possession offence, wanting to control the play rather than going for big flashy plays.
Lennox had expected that proving his worth on both sides of the ball, and showing just how far out of the Dons' league he truly was, would've struck enough fear into their hearts that they'd avoid him for the rest of the half, if not the game.
Which was why he was surprised by Jay and Stephen attacking him on the first play of the drive. Lennox was playing back, and was slow to react to the Curl Stephen ran. The catch was good for 9 yards, as Lennox recovered enough to tackle Stephen immediately.
Lennox couldn't help but laugh after the fact. Either these Dons were fearless, or their skulls were too thick. He'd have to reiterate why he was the best player in the state. He looked forward to beating the lesson into them.
Chris picked up the first down, struggling his way forward for a couple of yards. It was tough work even for just that, and Mason made him earn every inch.
It ended with Chris face-down in the grass, but at least he was going somewhere. The Dons picked him back up, brushed him off, and prepared for the next set of downs.
If the Trailblazers were watching the run game so intently, and Chris was struggling to get going on the ground, the Dons decided they'd stretch the defence and implement Chris in the passing game instead.
Chris's first catch came in the flat, before he scrambled ahead for 7 yards, catching the Trailblazers unaware after Play-Action.
Feeling like they had a down to spare, Jay looked Stephen's way again, though Lennox wouldn't be caught sleeping twice. The pass, intended for Stephen's Slant, was spiked into the ground by Lennox, ending in an incompletion.
Going forward, Jay would keep looking Stephen's way when they had the chance—making sure not to leave the ball up in a vulnerable spot for an interception—but Lennox covered him well, and disrupted every attempt.
The primary way the Dons progressed, marching up to half-field, was thanks to Chris and Benny. They worked in unison, whether they were attacking the same side of the field, or splitting to opposite sidelines, they pulled the Trailblazer LBs around and attacked the gaps each other created.
Even Cole got in on the action, dragging the Dons past the halfway mark with a shallow Cross. Another run from Chris kept the defence honest and pulled them away from focusing entirely on stopping the passes. It only earned another 3 yards, but the Dons felt it was worth it—it was a fine result on first down, and they didn't want to get predictable.
They went back to the air next. Jay found Benny in a pocket of space, hitting him at the end of his short hook Curl. When the ball reached Benny's hands, Mason slammed into his back. Benny fell to the ground with a crunch, dropping the ball. An incompletion rather than a fumble.
Still, the Dons were pushed to third down, but they weren't discouraged. They rallied around Benny, who was sore, but okay, and stayed in the game.
With 7 yards to go for another first down, the Dons felt forced to pass again. Even with a Draw they wouldn't get that many yards on the ground, not with the way the game had been going. But Jay's usual third-down relief was being watched too closely.
After the snap, Benny charged ahead, a distraction more than anything. Chris leaked out to the flat, always a chance to scramble for the first down if left alone, so Mason edged over to cover him if need be, and while Lennox matched Stephen, that left Cole as Jay's primary target.
Cole dashed across the field, his Cross route just a step beyond the distance needed to move the chains and give the Dons another first down. A successful catch would push them to the edge of field goal range and keep the drive alive for even more.
Jay saw the opening, loosed the ball. Cole steadied himself for the catch, but the ball never reached his hands. Another LB sprung up before him, deflecting the ball with an outstretched hand, fingertips barely grazing it. The deflection altered the course just enough that the ball fell harmlessly to the turf, just out of Cole's reach.
The incompletion pushed the Dons to fourth down and brought out the punting unit.
Jay's shoulders slumped as he trudged back to the bench, apologising for another poor throw. Again, he'd failed the team. All he'd wanted was to help them, to give them another chance, to give them more time together. But he was the one holding them back.
The rest of the boys gathered around him. It wasn't his fault, they said. In truth, that's what they believed. It was looking like a team issue. They shouldn't have expected anything different; the Trailblazers were just better.
The punt resulted in a touchback, and then was followed by another rushing attempt by Spike. The struggles on the ground continued for both teams as Spike only earned 2 yards, but as the clock ran down, the first quarter ended, and both teams returned to the sideline for the first brief break.
Ty sat back down, restless from the blue-balling of that single play. He needed to get his revenge. His leg bounced up and down as he stared across the field at Lennox.
"How?" he asked himself. The touchdown had been running in his mind on repeat, most prominent among all of Lennox's catches. Lennox was such a hard opponent to read, and that failure to comprehend, the unknowable aspect, put Ty on the back foot of every encounter. Add that to how quickly and cleanly Lennox cut across the field, and there was no time to react. Ty HAD to predict what Lennox would do before he did it … but how could he predict the unpredictable?
Coach Hoang glanced Ty's way, but that's all the interaction the two had during the break. The rest of the defence needed attention as well. They needed to worry about themselves and focus on what THEY could control. They were doing well so far, but Coach Hoang could tell the Trailblazers' big TE was getting wound up. Nobody on that side would allow Lennox to take ALL the spotlight, and Sierra Canyon were a strong enough team to get what they wanted on the field, even if they had to brute force it.
Coaches Norman and Long were talking amongst themselves by the offence. They struggled to find a way to keep the ball moving consistently. The Trailblazers' defence was tough, and all-encompassing from what little they'd seen of it firsthand.
Over the course of the short break, they only settled for continuing their current plan of action. They had to keep grinding it out, and find their rhythm that way. It was working. They just needed to pass that final hump into scoring territory. If they did that, cracks would form in Sierra Canyon's armour.
Jay sat, hands folded together in front of his face. He did his best to ignore the gaze boring a hole into the back of his shaven head. The one downside to the Dons making it this far was that his father suddenly had a renewed interest in his football career.
He tried to tell himself that there wasn't any added pressure from those sets of eyes. They were just another two amongst the thousands already watching … but they weren't. They were different. Even if Jay wouldn't admit it, his father's expectations were another weight to the pile atop his shoulders.
As Ty returned to the field, Bella watched him, worry filling her eyes. Her hands clasped together, she recited prayers under her breath, wishing blessings upon Ty and the rest of the team.
During the break, the Head Coach of the Trailblazers, Coach Heenan, had first spoken with the offence. He knew Lennox was comfortable and already in control of his match-up, but the rest of the team had struggled to find their rhythm. That was to be their focus going forward, getting everyone else involved and flowing.
Defensively, there wasn't much to go over, but Coach Heenan had more of an edge to his voice when addressing them. They needed to be more proactive, more energetic! They needed to stop letting the Dons dictate the game.
Then the break was over, and the Trailblazers marched out to meet the Dons to start the second quarter.
The Trailblazers started how the first had ended, with a run. This one came off the back of a Draw, and was there best of the day; 4 yards was technically their best, but still not great.
On third down, the Trailblazers made use of Play-Action before looking to the air. Ty felt something off with Lennox as he kept in front of the wild Receiver. There wasn't that unpredictable spark. It was like he was just running through the motions, like he knew the ball was never coming their way.
In fact, it went to the opposite side of the field, where big Barry Bundy was the target. The Play-Action had held the LBs' attention just long enough for the TE to slip away and build up a head of steam. His catch resulted in a gain of 8 for the Trailblazers.
They called Barry's number on the next play as well, even had him go straight against JJ as if to prove a point. The TE curled around, sealing JJ out of the play, and caught the pass, which was good for another 8 yards, and set up Spike to earn the first down on the ground.
That was how the Trailblazers moved the ball down the field to start the second quarter. Sometimes they'd run to open the set of downs, sometimes to finish it. Whilst Spike frequently gained only 2 or 3 yards, it was never less than that, and when they called upon him to get a first down in a short yardage situation, he did. The short boy had a remarkable talent for squeezing out another yard just before he crunched into the ground, burrowing ahead even when he was already horizontal.
They moved within field goal range, a slower, more Dons like drive to open the quarter. Still, Lennox hadn't been targeted, and still Ty felt as if he was holding back.
"He's not trying, so I can't get a read on how he gets open," Ty thought. "There's no point giving his secrets away if he knows he's not getting the ball."
Ty's impatience only grew the longer he was forced into the role of spectator. Earlier in the season, he would've done something reckless. His impatience would've boiled over and he would've left his post, charged down on an improvised CB Blitz, switched to a Zone over the middle, anything to stop the bleeding, anything to wrestle some sort of control back.
But that would've been disastrous. Against a team like Sierra Canyon and a Receiver like Lennox, it'd mean an immediate touchdown.
Even if he tried to fake that sort of thing, drift away from Lennox before the snap, make it look like he was leaving him unguarded, he doubted the Trailblazers would fall for it … even then they might actually avoid his trap and punish him instead of throwing a pick.
But now, Ty knew he didn't need to. Deshaun was holding his ground, rarely challenged, but that's because there were little openings in the Zone encompassing that side of the field. And Ty trusted JJ to barricade the middle of the field; JJ would bend, but he wouldn't break.
The Trailblazers looked to start another set of downs with a run. Spike weaved through a gap in the Line, and ran head-first into JJ. Ty saw the ball pop free, but before he could even start towards it, Kieran dove on it. The Trailblazers recovered, but they hadn't gone anywhere. It was second down and 10.
Only passes would get the Trailblazers forward, but even then they weren't panicking enough to look Lennox's way. Yet.
Barry ran that same Curl over the middle, backing up into JJ, holding him in place without making it obvious. Kieran whipped the ball across. JJ grit his teeth, but waited.
When Barry's hands came up to snare the pass, JJ pounced. Able to move more freely, he lunged around the thick Great White Ape and jutted a hand between Barry's massive paws. JJ knocked the ball loose, and it fell to the ground before anyone else could lay a finger on it.
The Trailblazers were pushed to third down. The hairs on the back of Ty's neck stood on end. He knew what was coming. Lennox's smirk as they parted ways only confirmed his hunch. There would be no half-assing the next play. Ty's chance was finally here. It didn't matter that the Trailblazers were in field goal range—they wouldn't reach fourth down, he'd snatch the ball away in one swoop.
Ty paid little attention to what was said in the Dons' huddle. He knew his assignment, he didn't care where the "help" would be—he didn't need it.
As the huddles broke away, Ty strode back to Lennox. The two had said little during the drive. Idle threats, pointless banter. They settled into their stances, Ty hunkering even lower, glaring up at Lennox.
'It feels like one of us is going to get a touchdown this play, doesn't it?' Ty said.
Lennox chuckled. 'You make it sound like it's a fifty-fifty. We both know you don't have a chance.'
'You sound like you're more focused on stopping ME. Tell me, which one of us is supposed to be playing defence?'
Lennox's eyes gleamed, both boys flashed fangs. The ball was snapped.
Ty feinted. Lennox's hand came up defensively, but he powered through after realising Ty's fake. Ty rushed back, eyes locked on Lennox. There had to be a sign, some sort of tell. He looked for anything that would hint at what Lennox intended.
"Inside or outside?" The question looped around Ty's head. He needed to jump the play early if he had any hope of intercepting the pass. But as they neared the breaking point, Lennox just kept charging ahead. Ty couldn't keep backpedalling, he'd be overtaken. He turned to continue the race. Lennox stopped as if he'd hit a wall.
He curled sharply. Ty stopped, and twisted back around. The ball was already in flight. By the time he'd lunged towards Lennox, the ball was already in Lennox's hands.
Lennox tried to shrug off the tackle, but Ty wrestled him to the ground. The catch had been good for 12 yards; the Trailblazers had another first down.
Lennox stood, shrugging his shoulders. He looked down at Ty, even after Ty scrambled to his feet. 'I told you. No chance,' Lennox said, turning his back on Ty.
Ty stalked back to the huddle. Again Lennox had gone outside of his expectations, and again Ty hadn't noticed his intentions until it was too late. "He's pulling me around like I'm on fucking strings." Nobody was madder with Ty than himself; the faces back in the huddle were all too pleasant.
Back out of the danger zone, the Trailblazers looked away from Lennox on the next play, even if it was another pass. Actually, it was a play that caught the entire Dons' defence off-balance.
Spike sprinted out to the sideline, and most of the O-Line went with him. Even Barry peeled away from any blocking or route of his own. It was a Screen, and it almost worked to perfection.
With Barry leading the charge, Spike stormed across the field, and was only tripped up by Zayden just before the goal-line. Once again, the Trailblazers were knocking on the door of the Dons' end-zone.
The chanting from the crowd wasn't as loud as the Dons prepared to make their stand again. JJ was still resolute. The Dons pressed closer, readying themselves for war.
Ty stood before Lennox, the two as still as statues, eyes locked on one another. 'Does it still feel like both of us could get a touchdown?' Lennox asked, his voice the smuggest Ty had heard it.
Ty only growled in response.
The ball was snapped. Lennox darted inside, exploding from a standstill. It was another Slant, but Ty wouldn't be late again. He'd snatch the ball away this time.
He lunged forward, barely catching himself at the last second as Lennox changed course and shot upfield, aiming for the back of the end-zone. Lennox bumped past Ty. Ty spun, fighting instinct to grab Lennox; a foul here and the Trailblazers could walk the ball in with another QB Sneak.
Lennox didn't turn, only his head looked back. His hands reached up. Ty dove as the ball completed its rainbow and dropped perfectly over Lennox's shoulder into his hands. Lennox dragged his feet just before Ty crashed into him and both fell out the back of the end-zone.
A whistle shrieked loudly, cutting through the hesitant cheers from Trailblazer fans. An official stormed over. Ty couldn't look, couldn't watch as their arms raised and signalled a touchdown.
The score jumped up to 13–0 for the Trailblazers. The crowd roared, and Lennox stood triumphant once more.