Page 70 of Off the Clock

“This is what it’s all about.”

“This is indeed what it’s all about, the sights and sounds of a winning season. While the rest of the state was recovering from turkey dinners and shopping, the Oregon high school football championships happened this weekend in Hillsboro. Tonight, we bring you the story of a remarkable small town, a first-year coach taking over for an ill Oregon high school sports legend, a young quarterback with something to prove, and a team that’s captured national media attention.”

“That’s us, that’s us.” Cosmo wasn’t alone in cheering. The slick twentysomething news anchor standing in front of the stadium in Hillsboro paused for another montage of our team and its pregame rituals, this one set to dramatic music.

“Oh my God, I know how it ends, and I still have chills.” Angel shook her hands in front of her face. We’d had to movethe watch party from her living room to the school cafeteria to accommodate everyone.

In this case, everyone seemed to mean the whole damn town, as the team, the parents, assorted boosters, band members, cheerleaders, and alumni were clustered around the big-screen TV at the front of the cafeteria.

“Shush, this is the part where they show homecoming.” John nudged Scotty who chortled.

“Look at Elliot dancing.” None of Cosmo’s crew had taken dates to homecoming, instead going in a pack in matching tuxes in school colors.

“We all lookedsweet.” Elliot gave a live-action review of some of his best moves. “And I see Coach Capo sitting in a tree?—”

“Okay, okay.” It wouldn’t do to blush, but the screen did show Caleb and me dancing at homecoming. Sedately, plenty of daylight between us, but still enough for whoops and hollers from the kids who loved seeing any teacher on the dancefloor. The TV didn’t show my aching instep, but it did show the huge smiles on our faces.

“Out coaches are still a rarity, especially at the high school level, but Coach Capo is quick to bring the attention back to his team and their undefeated season,”the young anchor continued as the screen showed headlines from several LGBTQ+ publications and sports sites around the country.“And what a season it was.”

“Here comes the playoffs montage.” Scotty yelled the loudest as winning plays from various games were shown. He and John were in almost all the highlight clips, an unstoppable duo. But Cosmo, Elliot, and all the others had made it in as well.

“Hey, there’s the caravan of moms,” Cosmo called out as the TV showed a clip of the buses loading for one of our playoff games on the road. The band required more buses than theteam. By the time the cheerleaders and dance squad were added, five buses headed out on I-84, followed by dozens of minivans, SUVs, pickup trucks, and more, all adorned with signs and waving the school colors.

“Hey, don’t exclude the dads and Caleb, who drove too,” Elliot’s mom, Joann, yelled at Cosmo.And Calebhad been a frequent refrain all season as he wasn’t merely the coach’s boyfriend. He was also a big part of the parent club, despite not being a parent, and thanks to his involvement, we had our first two foster family members of the booster club. His and Scotty’s story was a big win for nontraditional family structures, and their mom, who was in town for a visit, clapped loudest.

“And it all came down to this past weekend as the little team with the big fan base arrived to take on the Safe Harbor Herons.”

“Birdies!” The cafeteria erupted in a symphony of bird noises, complete with impromptu trumpet and flute solos from some of the band kids. Safe to say, despite the family connection for Elliot, Safe Harbor was hardly popular around these parts.

“Might as well be seagulls,” Scotty scoffed.

“Pelicans. Ostriches,” Elliot threw out a few more suggestions.

“Boys.” Angel held up a hand. “Your mascot is literally a mythical being.”

“Don’t insult our sasquatch.” Scotty shook a finger at her as the room laughed. It was extra funny because Scotty had laughed himself sick when he first saw our mascot, who was beloved for its hairy costume and giant rubber feet.

“Come on, watch the segment,” Angel urged. Next to me, Caleb took my hand under the table, and I shot him a smile. He and Eric were both in uniform, having rushed to the viewing after a shift.

“The Mount Hope Sasquatch arrived at the stadium with big feet and bigger dreams, but they were down twenty-one to fourteen at halftime.”

The TV flashed to a clip of us at halftime, Scotty standing up on a bench to implore the defense to dig in. Luckily, the station had edited out all his F-bombs. The clip did, however, include John’s speech, which had been heavily borrowed from several war movies. And me telling the team that they’d made it this far.

“Let’s finish the job,” I said on the screen, and the crowd in the cafeteria cheered. What the TV program didn’t show was me saying that the team was already winners and should be proud no matter what. Upping the drama for the sake of a good segment was a TV sports classic.

“The second half of the game, though, was an all-out running game battle as Mount Hope charged back to tie things at twenty-eight even. And then, with under a minute on the play clock?—”

“Thirty-seven seconds!” half the team barked the correction.

“Coach Capo cooked up a Hail Mary for the ages, complete with an Oscar-worthy fake-out.”

“Thank you, thank you.” John stood, or rather, was pushed to stand by his friends and took a mock bow for his acting efforts.

“Mount Hope missed the extra point but went on to win it, thirty-four to twenty-eight, for the first championship in school history.”

“We are the champions…” The team burst into terrible singing amid much laughter and cheering.

“You’re a star.” Caleb leaned in so I could hear him over the team.

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