37 - Ethan
Ethan
The locker room had a nervous kind of energy that was unlike anything I had ever felt before.
It wasn’t something we had in any of our other games, and it wasn’t like anything I felt at Stanford either.
Those times were tense. This didn’t feel the same way.
It was the last game of the season. Our last chance to prove that the months of losing, the brutal practices, and the endless film sessions actually meant something.
I took a seat on the bench in front of my locker and slowly turned my brand-new helmet in my hands.
It was the first time I could actually look at it, and it still seemed too good to be true.
The deep Havenport blue was polished so well that the overhead lights gleamed across its surface.
The golden stripe was sharp enough to cut through our opponents.
And the crest on the side left no doubt about who you were dealing with.
It had been a while since I felt this good in a team uniform, and that excited me. Across the room, Cam was already fully dressed. He was absently tugging at his gloves while admiring himself in the mirror above the sink.
“Okay,” he announced as he turned to face us. “Be honest. Do I look terrifying or handsome?”
Lucas didn’t even look up from lacing his cleats. “You look like someone who’s about to drop a pass.”
Cam’s mood instantly dropped. “That’s just rude.”
Dylan snorted from the next bench over. “They’re new uniforms, man, not superhero outfits. Don’t let them make you cocky.”
Cam spread his arms dramatically to show off his jersey, and I had to admit that I was impressed. The deep blue fabric looked sharp against the bold gold number on his chest.
“Tell me these don’t make us look like a real team,” he said proudly.
“They make us look expensive,” Lucas scoffed.
“That’s the same thing,” Cam countered.
I smirked as I finally set the helmet aside and started pulling my shoulder pads into place.
The fabric felt stiff and clean, proving that the pads weren’t broken in.
And everything smelled so new. The pads, the jersey, even the helmet still carried that faint plastic scent.
It wasn’t something you wanted to break in during your final game, but for the first time in the entire season we didn’t look like a leftover team. We looked like the Highlanders.
Coach stepped into the locker room, and the noise instantly faded. He looked around for a moment and then took a deep, steadying breath.
“Helmets on,” he said.
Plastic snapped and buckles clipped into place. It only took a moment for each of us to stand there, ready for what was about to come.
Harris folded his arms. “You know what everyone expects today. Another loss. A score to add to the list. They expect WestConn to walk in here and hand us our asses like they did last time.”
The name hung in the air, and I shifted uncomfortably. WestConn had absolutely destroyed us earlier in the season. They had embarrassed us like no one else could, and it still stung.
Harris nodded slowly. “But I’ve seen something none of them know about. I’ve seen what happens in practice and you’ve built something.”
He paused and made eye contact with me, Cam, and Lucas. He held it for just a moment before moving on.
“This is your chance to show them what you’re made of.”
The doors to the tunnel opened wide, and suddenly the noise from the stadium flooded in.
We burst onto the field, and the lights overhead made us feel like kings.
The sight of the stand drew me in, and I blinked in surprise.
It was fuller than we had ever seen it, and not all of them were there for our competitors.
Students wearing blue and gold packed the bleachers, waving homemade signs and banners that fluttered in the cool evening air.
Encouraging sentences like ‘Go Highlanders’ and ‘You can do it’ flooded my vision, and I finally understood what people meant when they said they had butterflies in their stomach. Those people had come out to support us, and that added more pressure on our already sagging shoulders.
The band played loudly while the cheer squad launched into its opening routine.
Elizabeth stood tall and proud, leading the team like never before, but even from across the field I could see that she was scanning the sidelines.
She was looking for me because in all this excitement we hadn’t been able to do our little ritual.
It sucked big time, but unfortunately, there was nothing I could do about it.
Lucas jogged beside me. “Don’t screw this up.”
“That was a really fantastic pep talk,” I teased.
“I’m just saying, man,” he shrugged. “We need your head in the game this time.”
WestConn won the toss and took the ball first. From the very first play, it was clear they hadn’t come to make it easy for us.
Their quarterback dropped back and fired a quick pass to the sideline that moved the chains immediately.
And then just a few plays later, their running back found a gap in our defensive line and exploded right through it.
“Malik!” someone shouted from the stands.
Malik answered the call by chasing him down and dragging him to the turf, but he had already gotten a thirty-yard gain.
The damage had already been done. Two plays later, the WestConn quarterback lofted a pass into the corner of the end zone.
Touchdown. The visiting sideline erupted as the scoreboard flashed WestConn 7—Havenport 0.
I jogged onto the field with the offense as the crowd murmured nervously. It was the same start as every other game we’d had, but this time it felt different.
“Hey,” Elizabeth waved as she waited near the sideline.
She held up the familiar fruity wrapper, and my heart skipped a beat. It was a granola bar. I jogged closer and took one quick bite.
“Remember, one play at a time,” she whispered, but for the first time she sounded rushed.
“Trips right,” I said as I rejoined the team. “Quick slant.”
Cam clapped his hands eagerly. “Let’s do this!”
The ball snapped, and I dropped back to scan the field. Lucas cut across the middle, and I fired the ball just as a linebacker lunged toward me. Lucas caught it cleanly and spun away.
“Go!” Cam encouraged.
Lucas managed to sprint for fifteen yards before he got pushed out of bounds. First down. Our side of the stand erupted.
“Let’s go!” Dylan shouted eagerly.
For the next play, the hand-off went to Dylan. He plowed through the two defenders, dragging one with him before collapsing at eight yards.
“Keep pushing,” Cam shouted.
The drive kept moving with short passes and hard runs. The offensive line held strong. I stood inside the red zone and glanced at Cam.
“Corner route,” I mumbled.
Cam grinned. “It’s about time.”
There was a snap. I rolled left, drawing the defense toward me, and Cam cut sharply toward the back corner of the end zone. The ball left my hands in a tight spiral, and Cam leaped. He caught it midair and landed with a touchdown. The stadium exploded as the scoreboard read 7-7.
Cam sprinted toward me and shouted, “That’s what I’m talking about.”
Lucas tackled us. “Finally!”
The second quarter turned into a full-blown battle.
WestConn answered our score with another long drive.
Their running back smashed through our defensive line again and again, inching them down the field until their quarterback could slip a quick pass into the end zone.
Another touchdown, pushing the score to 14—7.
Our sideline groaned, but Cam clapped his hands in the huddle.
“You need to relax,” he said calmly. “All we gotta do is answer.”
I nodded supportively. “We need a deep route.”
“I like deep routes.” Lucas grinned.
We had the snap, and once again I dropped back.
The pocket held just long enough. Lucas sprinted down the sideline, and the safety was trailing him by half a step.
I launched the ball high into the night sky.
Lucas stretched his arms and caught it at the thirty before tumbling hard into the turf. The crowd erupted.
“Let’s go!” Dylan shouted.
Two plays later, Dylan bulldozed straight through the defensive line and dove across the goal line. Touchdown! The score stood at 14—14. We were so close I could taste it.
The third quarter was absolutely brutal. The defense tightened on both sides. Malik crushed the WestConn quarterback with a massive sack that had the crowd roaring.
“That’s how we hit!” Malik bellowed as he got back on his feet.
But WestConn struck again a bit later. They had a long field goal drive that ended with them getting another touchdown. 21—14. The pressure was mounting.
I wiped the sweat from my forehead just as the fourth quarter began.
We had one last chance, and we were going to make the best of it.
Lucas hauled in a sharp crossing pass that broke open the defense.
Cam fought through two tackles to get extra yards, and then Dylan powered through the middle for another bruising touchdown.
The stadium shook with cheers as the score evened out again.
I took a moment to admire the scoreboard and the 21—21 that was glowing brightly.
It was the first time in the season that we scored so high.
It was the first time that we kept up with our opponents in such spectacular fashion.
And the best part was that there were only two minutes left on the clock.
The guys huddled around me, and Cam leaned forward. “This is our last drive.”
Lucas cracked his neck. “Let’s finish this.”
I took a moment to look at each of them.
We had spent the entire season working for this, but I had never seen them so determined.
It felt good, and at that moment it didn’t matter if we won or lost. Coach was right.
We had truly become a team I could be proud of, a team that was worth so much more than a score.
“Break,” I said, earning a few wicked grins.
The ball snapped, and there was a short pass to Cam, but he only made it five yards.
In the next play, Dylan fought through the pile for seven more.
We got our first down, but the clock kept ticking.
Tension began building in the air. The crowd had gone dead quiet.
It was the moment of truth. We would either make our coach proud, or we would lose everything we had worked so hard to build.
Lucas streaked down the sideline, and I launched the ball high over the safety. Lucas caught it at the twenty and the crowd exploded. My breath caught in my throat as I pulled my helmet off and just watched, hoping he would be able to pull it off.
“Go!” someone called from the sidelines.
There were thirty seconds left, and the ball was on the ten. Cam looked at me.
“You call it,” he said.
I pulled my helmet back on and grinned. “Let’s end this.”
There was a snap, and I faked a hand-off to Dylan.
The defense bit hard, but Cam cut across the end zone.
I fired the ball and Cam caught it clean.
My heart thundered against the wall of my chest as he landed the touchdown.
For a moment, the entire stadium froze. None of us were sure if we actually got the points or not.
What if we were too busy to hear the final whistle? What if we had just run out of time?
Then the scoreboard lit up. Havenport 28, WestConn 21.
My heart stopped beating, and I fell to one knee.
We had done it. The final whistle blew, confirming our win, but I just stayed there, frozen in place.
My eyes were still locked on the scoreboard, hoping it wouldn’t magically change.
But it was true; we had done it. We had gotten our first ever win as a team.
It was the best day of our entire season.
Lucas tackled me from the side. “We fucking did it!”
Cam ripped his helmet off and screamed at the top of his lungs.
The sideline flooded the field, and the cheerleaders rushed forward, sending blue and gold pom-poms flying through the air.
But I didn’t worry about any of them. My gaze moved to Elizabeth, and she was running toward me like we had been reunited after twenty long years.
Unable to contain my excitement any longer, I met her halfway and lifted her into the air.
“You won,” she said breathlessly as the glitter on her face reflected under the stadium lights.
I let out a strangled laugh. “We actually won. Can you believe it?”
“I have always had faith in you.”
The stadium roared around us but after those words left her mouth, I could no longer hear them.
I was lost in the pride I could see in her eyes because no one had ever looked at me like that before.
Without thinking about the hundreds of people who surrounded us, I pulled her close and kissed her deeply.
Right there on the field in front of both our teams and all the fans, but she didn’t stop me.
Right there under the bright lights, while the Highlanders celebrated their first ever victory, we exposed our relationship to everyone who mattered. And as we finally broke apart, I realized that the cheers had become even louder. The guys were no longer just celebrating our victory.
They were also celebrating the relationship they had anxiously been waiting for.