The second quarter started with Serra getting the ball, and I could see their whole sideline was heated. Their defensive coordinator was drawing up new schemes on his whiteboard, and Watson was getting an earful from their secondary coach.
"Keep that same energy, lil boy!" I yelled across the field as their offense took the field. "Twenty-one to nothing!"
Watson flipped me off, which got the me going even more.
But as I looked closer at Serra's lineup, I started noticing something. Their starting middle linebacker wasn't out there - some backup was wearing his number. Their starting safety was on the sideline in street clothes with his arm in a sling.
"Yo, Tyler," I said, jogging over to him. "You notice Serra's missing some dudes?"
"Yeah, I heard Coach talking to the other coaches earlier," Tyler said. "They got like four starters out with injuries. Plus they lost a bunch of seniors to graduation."
That explains why they're looking a little off. But still, they're projected third in the state for a reason.
Brady and our defense lined up against Serra's offense, which was about to get desperate. Their quarterback Justin Kendrick was a different type of threat than most - 6'3", 205 pounds, with legs that could hurt you just as much as his arm. Kid was committed to Ohio State and had that dual-threat ability that reminded me of Justin Fields.
"Come on, defense!" I yelled from the sideline. "Keep these bitches off the board!"
Kendrick lined up in pistol formation with their running back Davis Jr. behind him. On first down, Kendrick kept it himself on a designed run, using his speed to get to the edge for twelve yards.
"Shit," I muttered from the sideline. "Dude's fast as hell."
Our defense had to adjust quickly. Kendrick wasn't just a pocket passer - he could beat you with his legs, and Serra's offensive coordinator was clearly going to use that to try to get back in the game.
Second down and ten, Kendrick dropped back and immediately looked for Kendrick Brooks on a comeback route. But Brady was right there, breaking up the pass with perfect timing.
"INCOMPLETE!" the ref called.
Brady got up and clapped, staring down Brooks. "Not in my fucking house!"
Third down and ten, and this was a big moment. Kendrick took the snap and immediately felt pressure from our pass rush. Instead of forcing a throw, he tucked the ball and ran, using his athleticism to scramble for nine yards.
That's what makes him dangerous. Dude can extend plays with his legs.
Fourth down and one, and Serra decided to go for it. They were desperate now, knowing they couldn't afford to punt down by three touchdowns. Kendrick lined up in shotgun formation and took the snap. It looked like a passing play, but at the last second, he pulled the ball down and ran a quarterback draw up the middle.
But our linebacker Trevor Lewis - one of the freshmen - read it perfectly and met Kendrick at the line of scrimmage, dropping him for no gain.
"FOURTH DOWN STOP!" the crowd yelled.
"THAT'S MY FUCKING FRESHMAN!" our defensive coordinator yelled.
We got the ball back at Serra's forty-two-yard line with 12:43 left in the second quarter.
"Let's fucking go!" Cameron yelled as our offense jogged back onto the field. "Time to put this game away!"
I strapped my helmet back on and jogged out with the offense. Watson was still talking shit from across the field.
"You got lucky last quarter, Chicago!" he yelled. "This quarter belongs to me!"
"Keep talking, tall boy!" I yelled back. "I'm about to make you famous on this camera!"
But I could see the frustration building on Serra's sideline. Their head coach was animated, pointing at players and yelling about missed assignments. The lack of their veteran leadership was showing - without their senior captains who'd graduated, the younger players were making mental mistakes under pressure.
Coach Rivera called a different play this time - "Four Verticals" - all receivers running straight up the field to test their secondary. It was a power move, basically saying we could beat them deep whenever we wanted.
"Alright, y'all," Cameron said in the huddle. "Four verts. Jakari, you got the outside route against Watson. Show this four-star why stars don't mean shit."
"Bet," I said, adjusting my gloves.
We lined up in spread formation. Watson was about eight yards off me now, clearly scared of getting beat deep again. Their safety Williams was cheating toward my side too.
They're giving me too much respect. Time to make them pay.
At the snap, I released with a hard vertical route, selling like I was going deep. Watson started backpedaling, trying to stay on top of me. But at fifteen yards, I suddenly broke the route off into a deep comeback.
Watson was caught completely off guard. He was still running backward when I made my break, and I had about four yards of separation when Cameron's pass arrived.
But this wasn't going to be a simple catch. The ball was thrown slightly behind me and low, forcing me to adjust my body mid-route. I had to reach back with my left hand while turning my body, snatching the ball out of the air with my fingertips.
I immediately turned upfield after the catch. Watson was scrambling to catch up, but I already had too much of a head start. I made it to Serra's twenty-yard line before their safety finally caught me from behind.
Thirty-five-yard gain, and our sideline was going crazy.
"THAT'S MY FUCKING RECEIVER!" Cameron yelled, pumping his fist.
I got up and clapped right in Watson's face as he was getting up from the tackle.
"What was that about this quarter belonging to you?" I said, laughing.
"Fuck you, Chicago!" Watson yelled, shoving me again.
This time, the ref threw a flag.
"Personal foul, defense, number seven!" the ref announced. "Unsportsmanlike conduct! Fifteen-yard penalty, automatic first down!"
"YEAH!" I yelled, dancing a little bit. "Keep losing your cool, big boy!"
The penalty put us at Serra's five-yard line. First and goal.
"Red zone, baby!" Tyler yelled. "Let's punch this shit in!"
Coach Rivera called "Smash Concept" - me running a corner route, Tyler running a speed out underneath. It was designed to put two receivers in Watson's area and force him to choose.
"Same play that got you last time, Watson!" I yelled as we lined up. "Which one you gonna cover?"
Watson was heated now, talking to his coaches on the sideline and pointing at me. Their defensive coordinator called a timeout.
"TIMEOUT SERRA!" the ref announced. "That's their third timeout of the half!"
"They burning timeouts like crazy!" Derek laughed as we jogged to the sideline. "We got them shook!"
During the timeout, I could hear Serra's coaches yelling at their players.
"WHERE THE FUCK IS THE HELP?" their defensive coordinator was screaming. "Johnson, you're supposed to be rotating over!"
"Coach, I thought Martinez was supposed to—" one of their players started.
"MARTINEZ IS INJURED!" the coach yelled back. "He's been out for two weeks! How do you not know this?"
These dudes are lost without their veteran leadership. No communication, no chemistry.
Coach Rivera gathered us around during the timeout.
"They're gonna try to double you, Jakari," he said. "If they do, Tyler's gonna be wide open underneath. If they don't, you beat Watson one-on-one in the corner."
"Either way, we scoring," I said confidently.
When we came back from timeout, Serra had made an adjustment. They had Watson in press coverage on me with a safety rolling over the top. Double coverage.
Perfect. That means somebody else is open.
At the snap, I released hard and took both defenders with me toward the corner of the end zone. Cameron immediately looked to Tyler on the speed out, and he was wide open.
TOUCHDOWN!
Tyler caught it clean and walked into the end zone untouched.
MALIBU PREP 28, SERRA 0
"EASY MONEY!" Tyler yelled, doing his own touchdown dance.
I ran over and joined him in the end zone celebration, and we both started dancing together.
"That's what happens when you double me!" I yelled toward Watson, who was standing there looking frustrated as hell.
But Serra wasn't going to go down without a fight. Their coach made some halftime adjustments, putting in their backup linebacker who'd been getting schooled and switching to a more aggressive defensive scheme.
On their next possession, Kendrick showed why he was a five-star recruit, even with a depleted team around him.
He started the drive with a twenty-yard scramble, using his speed to get to the outside and outrun our linebackers. Then he hit Brooks on a fifteen-yard comeback route, finally getting their offense moving.
This dude's dangerous. Can't let him get comfortable.
Kendrick was starting to find his rhythm now, mixing runs and passes effectively. He hit their backup tight end for twelve yards over the middle, then kept it himself for another eight-yard gain.
Suddenly, Serra was at our thirty-yard line with real momentum for the first time all game.
"Come on, defense!" I yelled from the sideline. "Don't let them score!"
On third down and six, Kendrick dropped back and immediately felt pressure from our pass rush. But instead of panicking, he stepped up in the pocket and fired a perfect strike to Brooks in the corner of the end zone.
TOUCHDOWN SERRA!
MALIBU PREP 28, SERRA 7
Their sideline erupted, finally getting on the board. Brooks did a little celebration dance, and Kendrick was pumping his fists. You could see the relief on their faces - they'd been getting embarrassed on national camera.
"About fucking time!" Watson yelled from their sideline, clapping at me. "Now it's a game!"
Good. I like when they get a little confidence back. Makes it more fun to crush.
We got the ball back with 6:24 left in the second quarter. Coach Rivera was animated on the sideline.
"Don't let up!" he yelled. "They scored one touchdown! So fucking what! We're still up three touchdowns!"
Cameron was focused as we got into the huddle. "They want to make it a game? Let's show them it's not."
The next drive was all about making a statement. Cameron found me on a twelve-yard slant where I had to make a contested catch over Watson, using my body strength- fighting through the contact and securing the ball even with the defender draped all over me.
No matter how good these corners are, they can't match up with the physical strength and experience I'm getting from this system. It's like having Jerry Rice's knowledge in my head.
Three plays later, Cameron found Derek in the end zone on a fifteen-yard crossing route.
TOUCHDOWN!
MALIBU PREP 35, SERRA 7
Derek did his salsa dance again, which got our whole sideline cracking up.
Serra got the ball back with 3:30 left in the half, and Kendrick was clearly feeling the pressure to score again. But their inexperienced offensive line was struggling without their senior captain who'd graduated. Our pass rush was getting home consistently now.
On second down, Kendrick tried to hit Brooks on a deep post route, but Brady was waiting for it.
INTERCEPTION!
Brady picked it off at our thirty-five-yard line and returned it to midfield before getting tackled.
"PICK TWO!" our entire sideline yelled.
Brady got up and did the "crown" gesture, putting his hands on his head like he was wearing a crown.
"THAT'S MY FUCKING FRESHMAN!" I yelled, running over to celebrate with him.
We had two minutes left and great field position. Time for one more score before halftime.
Cameron was feeling it now, and he started putting the ball up for me to make plays. On second down, he threw a fade route to the corner where only I could get it. I went up over Watson, using my vertical and timing to snag the ball at its highest point.
TOUCHDOWN!
MALIBU PREP 42, SERRA 7
I held the ball up as I crossed the goal line, then broke into my touchdown dance. Watson was on the ground behind me, looking up at the scoreboard.
"FORTY-TWO TO SEVEN!" I yelled, pointing at the scoreboard. "Y'all thought y'all were ready!"
As we walked into the locker room for halftime, I could hear the Serra coaches in the tunnel.
"This is what happens when you don't take teams seriously!" their head coach was yelling. "You think because they're ranked twelfth, they can't play? You think because we're missing Johnson and Martinez, we can just mail it in?"
So that's what this is about. They came in here thinking we were going to be easy because of our ranking. Didn't prepare for us like they should have.
The camera crew followed us into our locker room, getting shots of the celebration and Coach Rivera's halftime speech.
"Listen up!" Coach Rivera yelled. "This is what happens when teams sleep on you! This is what happens when you prepare right and play with passion!"
The whole team was hyped, clapping and yelling.
"But we're not done yet!" Coach continued. "They thought we were gonna roll over because we're ranked twelfth! Let's show them what happens when you disrespect Malibu Prep!"
"MALIBU PREP!" the whole team yelled in unison.
As I sat in my locker during halftime, I could hear Serra's coaches still going at their players in the next room. Missing key players, young team, lack of leadership - all the things that could derail a season if you weren't careful.
This hype video is gonna be legendary. Time to finish what we started and show everyone that rankings don't mean shit when you come to play.