greatest truth of all. He grabbed his clipboard and called for his assistant coaches. His focus became so great over the next minutes that nothing could’ve distracted him. But even so — with all the preparation they’d done and the way they’d come together and the strength of their belief in each other, after two quarters Lyle was down twenty-one to seven.
Quiet filled the locker room during halftime, and Cody wanted it to be that way. The guys were outmanned for sure. Their smallest linemen were the size of Marcos, and they executed plays with machinelike precision. But with all that, Cody still believed his team could compete with Herron High. The guys were nervous, hurrying their plays, panicking. Trying to prove themselves too quickly.
When the team had gotten drinks and come together once more, Cody kept his talk short. “Nothing has changed, men. You are capable of great things if you relax.” His tone rang with sincerity, but he didn’t yell, didn’t shout at them. That’s not what they needed. “All summer we’ve asked one question. Whose way?” He hesitated, looking at the eyes of his men. “And what’s the answer?”
“His way.” They sounded discouraged, but still strong, still together.
“Okay then … let’s not force anything. We have two quarters to prove that we mean what we say when we answer that question.” He motioned for them to stand and as they did, they came together, arms around each other, a fresh determination dawning in their expressions. “Whose way?” “His way!”
Cody walked alone as his team took the field. God was with them … regardless of the score. Heavenly Father, these are Your guys. He kept his pace slow, his eyes on the sky beyond the stadium lights. Lord, they don’t have to win tonight, but let them play the game Your way … please … until the final whistle.
From the opening second-half kickoff, it was obvious something had changed. As the Lyle offense took the field, the guys carried with them a sense of strength and determination that was otherworldly. Arnie Hurley connected on passes to Joel Butler three plays in a row sending the Buckaroos to the Herron twenty-yard line in less than a minute.
The cheers from across the field were deafening, but Cody blocked them out. If he expected focused reliance on God from his players, he had to ask it of himself. Each play, every play breaker — all of it had to be thought out and carefully conveyed. The guys needed that sort of leadership for every series. By the end of the third quarter, Herron was up by just a touchdown, twenty-eight to twenty-one. Midway through the fourth quarter, Arnie found Larry Sanders for a seven-yard touchdown pass that tied the game and brought the entire Lyle offense into a celebratory huddle around Sanders in the end zone. Cody glanced up at the stands and found Larry’s parents. They were holding up his little sister, the three of them celebrating. Cody loved this, the feeling of community in this small town. Larry had told them yesterday after practice that his sister was responding to the new medication.
The team lifted Larry on their shoulders and celebrated like they’d won the state championship. Cody understood their reason for savoring the moment. They weren’t only on the verge of an upset, but they’d helped save the life of Larry’s little sister.
Four minutes remained on the clock, and Herron made a run that took them from their twenty-yard line to the Lyle forty. Coach Schroeder was Cody’s defensive coordinator. He called a timeout and Cody let him handle the moment. Schroeder had played linebacker in college but he’d never coached before. He’d learned much about motivating kids since joining Cody’s staff. Whatever he told the guys, they returned to the line of scrimmage and proceeded to dismantle Herron’s offensive attack. Three plays later Herron punted with little more than a minute left in the game.
The Lyle fans could smell a possible upset. They were on their feet, rattling the bleachers and sending up a shout of support that Cody figured could be heard to the city limits. All through the game Cody had kept his eye on DeMetri Smith. His star running back was capable of great things this year, but so far he had maybe sixty yards rushing in the entire game. He was tackled for a loss on his last carry, and he’d fumbled twice this half. Cody wasn’t sure why, but DeMetri’s confidence seemed