5. Will
CHAPTER 5
WILL
“ C ome on, guys, let’s run it again! We’re never going to beat Mills Corner tomorrow night looking like this!” I yell as I blow my whistle and shake my head at the other coaches beside me.
The team lines back up and runs the new trick play again, but the ball whizzes past the receiver’s head before he’s in position just like it has the last four times we’ve practiced.
“Blake, you’ve got to make sure you’re hitting those outside passes! That’s an interception waiting to happen. And, Drew, why aren’t you getting there in time?” Marcus, one of my assistant coaches, yells above the groans of the other boys.
I blow out a frustrated breath at the scene in front of me. Marcus isn’t wrong. Mills Corner is currently undefeated, and several of their players are being recruited by teams in the SEC. Plus, they have one of the loudest student sections in the state along with home field advantage tomorrow, so we have no room for error if we want to come away with a win.
“Okay guys, grab some water and hustle back! We’re gonna keep running this until it’s right.” I groan with a frustrated breath before turning my attention to the four assistant coaches beside me. Once the rest of the team is on the opposite side of the field, I ask, “Anyone have any ideas? Because if we play like this tomorrow, we’ll get our asses beat.”
The men beside me start offering suggestions, and after talking through a few options, I feel myself starting to relax. “Okay, Jason, I like your suggestion of shortening the route, and Theo’s right that Wesley’s a bit faster than Drew. Why don’t we swap them out and show them the new route so he isn’t getting held up and see what happens?”
Everyone nods at my suggestion, and after calling the team over to implement the suggestions, they set up again to run the play. As soon as the ball is snapped, I know they’re going to hit it this time. Sure enough, Blake gets set and throws the ball right into Wesley’s waiting hands before he runs it into the end zone. A few of the boys on the team let out a loud whoop while Marcus throws his hands in the air like he just won the Super Bowl.
“Okay, guys, good job. Now let’s run it about a hundred more times,” I yell before blowing my whistle again.
After another hour of running through our plays and working with special teams to be sure we’re prepared for anything Mills Corner could throw our way, I signal for the team to gather around before we end practice.
The team jogs over to where I’m standing beside my coaching team before taking a knee and waiting for me to wrap up practice. I gesture for the other coaches to go first, and Marcus does his usual job of hyping the boys up while Theo, Kent, Jason, and I watch on with amusement. Marcus is in his late thirties, but I’m pretty sure he’d put on a jersey and take the field tomorrow if he could. His love of the game makes him a great coach, and his enthusiasm always gets everyone ready for game day.
Once he’s finished, I look at my team seriously before saying, “Good practice today, Saints. You have all worked hard, and I’m proud of what I saw out there. We’re gonna need every bit of that hustle tomorrow if we want a chance at beating Mills Corner. Y’all know this is a region game, and this is a pretty big stop on our road to state. And you know those boys have a reputation for having some short tempers, but I expect y’all to keep your head on straight and make sure we don’t give the refs anything to call us on. We’ve got a long day tomorrow, so get some rest and be on the bus after school ready to dominate. See you then.”
The team turns and makes their way to the locker room with the other coaches while Theo and I pick up the little bit of equipment left over from practice. We work in silence getting everything put away before he finally starts. “So, I talked to Seth and we’re going to get started on the fence on Saturday. Are you going to be able to help around Hannah’s farm without the two of you ripping each other’s heads off?”
“Aww, you big softy. I didn’t think you’d care if we tore each other to shreds,” I say with a chuckle.
“Oh, I don’t, but my woman would, so that makes your shit my problem. You two can barely stand to be in the same room with each other. Has it always been like this? I asked Caroline, and she said she just remembers it getting really bad when you both started working here a few years ago,” Theo asks skeptically, not making eye contact but clearly still curious as to what I’m going to say.
I think back to the younger version of Hannah from high school and the girl I once shared so much with all those summers ago. And while I can’t tell Theo about it, all I can think is—no, we definitely weren’t always like this.