Junior Year Box Set

They ended up having to take care of another player. Their defensive end hadn’t learned his lesson, and I had taken him out. It turned out their safety had only had the air knocked out of him and later returned to the game. Their defensive end was checked for a possible concussion. Before I could go congratulate Ty, the white-hat referee stopped me.

“I understand your need to protect yourself, but if you start hurting their players, I will kick you out of the game. Are we clear?” he asked.

“Yes, sir,” I said.

Washington was able to move the football on our defense. They scored on an eleven-play drive to tie the score at seven each.

Washington turned out to be better than we’d anticipated. Their six new players made a big difference in the game. It was apparent that our defense had a long way to go. By the end of the first half, they had scored on three of their first six possessions. Coach Zoon and the rest of our defensive coaches had gone to the video room with Alan and Coach Hope to try and figure out how to stop them.

On offense, Coach Diamond had them so confused that just about anything we ran either picked up big chunks of yardage or scored. We had scored on three of our six possessions also. Wolf had caught one touchdown pass, to add to Ty with one, and Mike had the last one to make it 21–21 just before halftime.

I’d been hit on almost every play, as their coach had promised in his video. It had slowed down towards the end of the half when the referee had started to flag them each and every time they hit me late. Giving up fifteen-yard penalties back-to-back-to-back was a recipe for disaster. I’d gotten my licks in too, but felt the abuse my body was taking. Our training staff had made me take my gear off so they could check me out.

I would have some bruises come Monday, but nothing was injured. Coach Diamond came in to check on me and got a full report from Mr. Hasting, our head trainer, before he came in to talk to me.

“We need to make some changes in the second half,” Coach Diamond said.

I was about to jump on him for taking me out of the game—that was always the fear when you were on the trainer’s table—when he continued.

“I got a voicemail from Coach Styles. Listen to what he has to say,” he said, pulling his cell phone out and playing a voicemail.

“You’re going to kill him if you keep letting them hit David,” Coach Styles said. “Move him into the shotgun so he can see the field better. All your plays can be run from the gun, but he’ll be able to avoid the worst of the contact.

“While you’re at it, cut him loose and throw the damn ball! They can’t defend that Tams kid. If David gets in trouble, then flair out Herndon and he can pick up some yardage. If Washington has to cover the pass, they can’t sell out and run-blitz and hit our boy. I need him in one piece when he comes to Kentucky. Talk to you later,” Coach Styles said, and hung up.

“What do you think?” Coach Diamond asked.

“Do you even need to ask? Any quarterback would love to throw the ball on every down. What’s Coach Hope going to say?” I asked.

Coach Hope was more a defensive-minded coach. In his perfect world, we would be like the old Big Ten teams and gain three yards on each play and grind it out. Then they would win the game six to three on a last-minute field goal. The mindset was to keep their opponent’s offense off the field as much as possible to allow your defense a chance to be fresh come the fourth quarter. If I went pass-happy, we would be scoring quickly.

“Coach Hope has bigger issues right now. I wouldn’t be surprised if he played you on defense on spot plays in the second half.”

Could this day get any better? If I could be on the field for every play, it would make me a happy boy. I got dressed, and we walked out to start the second half. I looked in the stands and found Coach Styles and Don Berta, the recruiting coordinator from Kentucky, there and waved to them.

The second half started, and Washington began to drive on us again. We had made adjustments, and their five and six yards-per-play dropped to three and four; still not great, but better. They crossed our 50 yard line, and we finally had them in a third-and-four situation. If Coach Diamond hadn’t warned me, I would have missed the call. Coach Zoon sent me in to play strong safety. I’d never played the position before, and the only advice Tim gave me was not to let any of them get past me.