the Spartans are knocking at the door!
Neely: 'After every play, Mabry sprinted back to the huddle and said, 'Gimme the ball, bro, just gimme the ball.' So we did.'
Paul: 'And afterNeely called every play, Silo would say, 'You fumble it, and I'll break your neck.' '
Silo: 'I wasn't kidding, either.'
Blanchard: 'Were you guys aware of the clock?'
Neely: 'Yeah, but it didn't matter. We knew we would win.'
Mabry has carried the ball twelve times already in the second half, for seventy-eight yards. Here's a quick snap, right side again, not much there. The Spartans are really hammering away at the left side of the East Pike defense. Mabry just follows Durston and Vatrano, and of course Silo Mooney is always around the pileup.
Silo: 'I loved Buck Coffey.'
Neely: 'Didn't you date his youngest daughter?' Silo: 'I wouldn't call it dating. Buck damned sure didn't know anything about it.'
Second and eight, from the sixteen, Mabry again off the right side, for three, maybe four, and it's a dogfight down there in the trenches, folks.
Silo: 'It's always a dogfight, Buck, that's why they call it the trenches.'
In the semidarkness, the fraternity had quietly grown larger. Other players had eased over or slid down the bleachers, close enough to hear the play-by-play.
Third and four, Curry wide, full backfield, option right, Crenshaw keeps, is hit, falls forward for maybe two. He really got nailed by Devon Bond.
Neely: 'Devon Bond hit me so many times I felt like a punching bag.'
Silo: 'He was the one player I couldn't do anything with. I'd fire off the ball, have a perfect shot at him, and he'd just vanish. That, or he'd hit me a forearm that would rattle my teeth. He was one bad dude.'
Donnie: 'Didn't he make a roster?'
Paul: 'Steelers, for a couple of years, then some injuries sent him back to East Pike.'
A fourth and two that is beyond huge, folks.Spartans must score here, because they have a lot more scoring to do. And the clock is really moving now. Three minutes and forty seconds. Full house, now Chenault in motion left, long countby Crenshaw . And they jump! East Pike jumps offside! First and goal Spartans on the five-yard line! Crenshaw gave it the old head fake and got by with it.
Silo: 'Head fake my ass.'
Paul: 'It was all in the cadence.'
Blanchard: 'I remember their Coach going crazy, charging the field.'
