Page 68 of A Game as Old as Time

“Bailey!” Ty’s voice brought him out of his trance. “You got this, Bailey! You hear me? You got this!”

There’s my best friend.

Everything else dissipated as Gunner watched Ty limp toward the young cornerback who was about to take the field.

“I watched you in practice, and you are ten times the corner I am! You understand the position, baby. You were born to play it.” Bailey seemed to be in shock. “They have no timeouts, and they have no kicker. They’re going to try and win this game.”

A loud shriek from the referee’s whistle sent the Maple Grove team into position.

“One of these plays, he is going to try and beat you to the endzone. Trust your feet, watch his hips, and explode.”

Ty glanced over at Gunner and smiled.

“You got G behind you. Trust him, and let your moment come to you.”

Perfect.

The two friends locked eyes until the second whistle blew.

“Get it done, boys!” A final slap to Bailey’s helmet sent them on their way. Gunner could not help but smile as he made his way into the defensive huddle.

Absolutely perfect, Ty.

“Well, strap in Pioneer fans because here we go. Maple Grove has twenty-eight seconds and no timeouts. They can run a play and kick a field goal to tie the game or run two plays and try to win it. What a time for young Malcolm Bailey to get his first snap of the season. The sophomore will replace Tyquan Carter, who looks to be cramping on the sideline.

Derr, the Maple Grove quarterback, gets behind his offensive line and calls out the cadence. He takes the snap and tries to run around the right side again! Derr dives for the endzone and…WHAT A PLAY by Malcolm Bailey! He stopped Derr short of the endzone and kept him in bounds!

The clock continues to run! Derr is scrambling to get his offense set. He gets behind the center and looks at the clock. This will be the last play of the game! The Racers get the snap off in time. Derr rolls to his right. He is going to throw to the endzone! Cortez is putting pressure on him, but he gets it away. The ball is fluttering to the endzone and…”

Gunner never had to help Bailey. It was perfect coverage, and the quarterback threw it right to him. Gunner never even had to leave his own endzone---Bailey took off down the sideline all alone.

Sure, he could have just run out of bounds. The game was over; they had won. But Bailey was going to take this one back for a touchdown, no matter what.

That was close.

Gunner could feel the pain setting in from the hits he had taken earlier. The adrenaline that had been pumping through his body began to flag, and even the crowd noise was no longer helping.

“Hell of a game, Weston.” His coach was grinning ear to ear as they met on the sideline.

Nice smile, Coach.

The rest of the team was already mobbing the young cornerback in the endzone, and Gunner paused to watch the moment unfold. Bailey deserved to be happy; it was only going to get better for him once he got the chair treatment from Emilio tonight at Tony D’s.

Good luck, Bailey.

Exhaustion was taking hold, and as Gunner removed his helmet, he once more glanced over to the bleachers to find Hailey.

Beautiful.

Her face was glowing as she waved her arms with Juelz. The sheerexcitement of her celebration returned some of his flagging energy. He hoped he was not too obvious every time he found her in the crowd. He was having a tough time keeping his eyes off her.

Come on, Gunner.

He quickly glanced away, making sure her father was no longer nearby.

Pull it together.

Coach Bianchi had just begun trusting him with his offense, and he was sure that doing anything with Hailey would break that trust. The bigger problem, though, and what scared him the most, was what he saw every time he looked into Hailey’s eyes during musical practice. They were gentle and poised but also held a strength that he knew he could never match. He would never be able to be the person she deserved, and as he stood by himself on the sideline, he knew exactly what that meant.

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