“Let him run it”
“Give it to him”
Screams I heard from both sides of the stands. The down was 3rd and 5 at the 45 yard line of the opponent’s side. Coach McDougal flipped viciously through his playbook for the perfect play. As for me I am hustling over to coach to receive the next play. He stared at me for a while and slowly said “Iso 3:5.” The first thought that came to me was the last time I fumbled the ball last week after running for 25 yards. Due to that fumble we lost the game by 3 points. “It’s my time,” I said optimistically. I trotted on the field with a hand full of confidence and I told Luke, the quarterback, “run Iso 3:5.” Luke repeated the call, and gave us a two count. As everybody lined up in their normal stance, I got back in my unorthodox fullback position. Luke quickly shouted his 2 count, “down, set, hit…hit.” The ball was snapped poorly and Luke picked up the ball instantly and handed the ball to me. As soon as the ball touched me I scanned the gaps in the defensive line and shot through the 5 gap. Arms were pulling against my jersey, and 5 yards from the line of scrimmage I was face to face with a 5’6” linebacker. A clear mismatch considering I was less than 5’0”, but without hesitation I faked to the left and juked hard to the right. From there on it were just I and the safety sprinting towards the sideline. I had to be at the 30 yard line of our side of the field, when the safety started to angle up for a tackle on me. I had several options at this moment, in which I could spin off the tackle, juke him out, out run him, or go out of bounds.” Keep running,” my coach said as I bolted down the sideline. Simultaneously the safety dove at my legs and missed as I leaped over them. I regrouped my feet, and began to run, all alone, at the 20 yard line, 15, 10, 5, touchdown. The stands went crazy, so did the team, jumping up and down screaming. My teammates ran over to me giving high fives, chest bumps, and helmet taps. Coach called me over and said, “About time, I knew you had it in you.” I then trotted over to the water bottles with a huge smile on my face.