the seat next to Amelia. With how discrete Lincoln is, if he were asking me that it’s because he wanted to make sure she wasn’t alone. My job is to make sure my quarterback has nothing but winning on his mind.
“Are you ready to throw some dimes my way?” I ask him.
He nods. “You’re in a good mood,” he tells me.
“You’ll see it out on the field today,” I reply cockily. Because that’s the kind of mood I’m in, a showing off one.
Lincoln shakes his head. “Good!”
“You’re going to miss my talent on this team,” I tell him.
Truth is, despite how much I wanted to rush the process, I’m glad Dad forced me to stay the extra year. I mean, for one, it gave me Amelia. It also gave me the chance to be my own person, without living in my brother’s shadow. This will be the first championship without my brother playing on the same team.
“I sure am,” he responds.
“Are you ready for this?” I ask him. This is the biggest stage he’s ever played on. I’ve been here before. I’ve won this before.
He nods. “I’m done losing.” I know he had a winning record at least for his last two years of high school, so when he says he’s done losing, I know he means in more than just football. I don’t question him though; a winning mentality is what we need right now.
Just as we’re all done getting ready, Coach Wilson walks in. “Huddle up,” he announces. My mind wanders to Christmas Eve dinner where I actually got to see him outside of football for the first time ever. I mean, I guess he wasn’t really out of football since he spent most of the time talking about the upcoming game, but still he seemed more relaxed. The guy loves football more than the rest of us do, which is unbelievable. I’m going to miss getting on his nerves, though I’m sure if things between Zack and Emma go well, I’ll be seeing more of him in the future.
My teammates are silent as we surround Coach and wait for him to give us marching orders. He looks around the room at each of us, the tension rising as we all wait eagerly. “Tonight isn’t just another game,” he starts. “Tonight is the game we’ve been working toward since the last time we found ourselves on this national stage. It’s up to us to win. Make every play count. Make every second count. WHO ARE WE?” he shouts.
“LIONS!” we all answer in unison.
Coach signals to me and I know that’s my cue to say something. I’m the captain after all and this is my last game. “How are we feeling right now?!” I ask, and the guys all scream in response. “We’re ready for this. We’ve got this. We’ve come this far and we won’t leave without that trophy!” I tell them. I’m not about to give a sappy speech about this being my last game and whatnot. We don’t have time for those emotions. We need to stay focused.
“He misses a wide open Hunter,” the announcer says. I don’t usually listen to them announce the plays, but as I walk back over to the bench, I can’t help but notice.
I watch Lincoln as he reaches the bench, his posture defeated. The offensive coordinator walks over to him and tells him a few things. Lincoln nods, taking it all in. I turn around and look at the sea of people. Then, I look at the scoreboard. It’s the second quarter and we’ve got 3 points on the board from a field goal kicked in the first four minutes of the first quarter by Rodriguez. I look at the opponent’s score: 21.
Our kicking team kicks the ball and I watch from the sideline as the opposing team moves the chains. The drive takes six minutes off the clock and is sealed by yet another touchdown. 28 to 3. That’s the new score.
With a minute left in the second quarter, we finally take the field. Lincoln calls the play and the moment the ball is snapped, I run. I run left and right as I try to dodge the two defenders guarding me. I turn to watch as Lincoln throws yet another incomplete pass to one of our wide receivers.
We get back in the huddle. Another play is called. The ball is snapped and I focus on tackling my man as our running back tries to push the ball enough