By the time Bret returned to his hotel room and had retrieved Lori Hayes's sexy message, it was too late -- rather early -- to call her. He got a bit of sleep and placed a mid-morning call to her room, waking her up. Still horny from her session with Monique but wanting Bret's hard cock, she invited him down, but the coach opted out. It was championship day. She hinted that maybe they could hook up after the game, but Bret changed the subject to what happened with Lori and Monique the night before.
"Your message said you had a high school surprise waiting for me," Bret said. "I assume it was Monique."
The college cheerleader just said, "mmmmmmm" into the phone and then giggled. Bret fought the urge to go down the hall and fuck Lori Hayes. "We'll see about tonight," the coach said.
As gametime approached, the coach became more and more nervous. He had played in big games in high school and college, but coaching was a different story. He was putting the game in the hands -- literally -- of 15-to-18-year-olds. One never knew what to expect.
With the game scheduled to begin at 4 p.m., Bret gathered the team after a light noon lunch and went through a walkthrough in the parking lot of the hotel. Passers-by who didn't know what was going on must've thought these kids were crazy. It was cold outside, but there they were, in shorts and T-shirts, running plays even without a football.
The walkthrough concluded at 2 p.m. when the bus pulled up. The equipment was loaded, and the players and cheerleaders followed.
But this was no time for flirting with Monique, and the senior seemed to realize it. Everyone had their games faces on, even the large bus driver, who had reviewed the map to the Robertson Dome over and over, even though he'd driven the team there just the day before. This was not the time to get lost.
It was a quiet locker room as the players and coaches prepared. There were hushed conversations between Bret and some of the coaches. Bret liked to be reminded of little nuances of the opponent, even though he knew most of them already. When an assistant coach reminded Bret of something he already knew, it reaffirmed to the head coach that his thinking was right on target.
The team gathered around Bret for what would be the second-to-last pep talk in the locker room. After initial exercises and drills on the field, the team would again adjourn to the locker room for final verbal preparations.
Bret had read and heard many fire and brimstone type speeches but never really bought into that philosophy. He knew he had two speeches left to give, so at this point he simply outlined what the team would do.
"We'll head out, take our side of the field and go through our exercises and drills like we always do," he said. "Let's keep it simple. We're not changing anything now. We'll come back in here 20 minutes before kickoff."
While the team went through drills with the assistant coaches, Bret surveyed the crowd. Monique Sellars was in her cheerleading outfit. Tamica Roberts and Carrie Kemp were among the student body rooters. Alumnus Lori Hayes was in attendance. Sisters Kara and Cindy Morgan were sharing a soda. Monique's mother, Michelle Sellars, had made the trip. Josh Barlow and girlfriend Sara were in the crowd. Pamela George was across the way on the Valley Falls side, she, too, in her cheerleading uniform. Clarence Kemp and his cronies were in the best seats possible.
Bret turned his attention to the facility, the Robertson Dome at Curtis College. He'd been there before, and the scoreboard had always listed "Curtis" and "Guest." They had changed those tags for this game. Lakeville and Valley Falls. They would update the scoreboard for the teams in each of the four games this weekend.
Team banners of all eight teams participating in state final games hung from one end of the dome behind the goal posts. Large placards let rooters know where their section was in the seating area.
Bret smelled popcorn and hot dogs. Both Lakeville and Valley Falls had brought their bands, and they were alternating playing songs.
This was as big as it would get for Bret Harris and Lakeville High School. The coach looked at the score clock: 20:00, 19:59, 19:58 and counting. It was time to head back into the locker room for final instructions.
All eyes were on the first-year coach as he addressed the team before its final game of the year. He thought about the rivalry with Valley Falls and how the townspeople wanted this win more than anything. He remembered Clarence Kemp hinting about throwing the last game of the regular season to keep Valley Falls out of the playoffs.
Maybe Bret didn't hate Valley Falls enough. Maybe Pamela George had something to do with that. Yes, he wanted to win more than anything, but he wasn't going to fire up his team by trashing the opponent. He didn't care how big the rivalry was.
His speech on this day was more calm and measured. "It's a long game," he said. "Forty-eight minutes. A lot can happen in a short time."
The coach was trying to impress upon his team that a deficit or a lead could disappear in a short amount of time. "Don't panic if we get behind. Don't celebrate if we get ahead. Let's act like we've been in big games before. Because, the truth is fellas, we have."
And with that, the coach headed for the locker room door, his players close behind. Onto the dome floor the Raiders streamed; Valley Falls was already there; the Trojans had already been given their final instructions.
Bret shook hands with the Valley Falls head coach near the 40-yard line as the Raiders made their way to the sideline. The waiting would continue. Player introductions, the National Anthem and other festivities would take place before kickoff. It seemed as if 4 o'clock would never come.
The scoreboard clock ticked down to 0:00 several minutes before the scheduled 4 p.m. kickoff. This gave the Public Address announcer plenty of time to welcome everyone to the game, talk about sportsmanship and introduce the players from each team.
Since it was the first of two games, the National Anthem was played. In a show of sportsmanship and good will, bands from both schools marched onto the Robertson Dome floor and performed the National Anthem together. It wasn't the best performance on record, Bret thought, as he listened to the Anthem with his hand over his heart, but it was nice that Lakeville and Valley Falls could at least put their differences aside to perform the song together.
Captains from both teams then met at the 50-yard line for the coin toss. Lakeville, as the higher seed in the playoffs, was designated the home team and wore its black jerseys and silver pants. Valley Falls was in white pants and white jerseys with black numbers and orange trim.
Valley Falls won the coin toss and elected to defer its choice to the second half, meaning the Trojans would get the ball to begin the third quarter. The Raiders then chose to receive the ball to open the game. Bret didn't mind that result. He wanted to see what his offense could do against Valley Falls early in the game. He had an inkling the Raiders would be able to move the ball, but he was concerned over whether or not they could score.
He gathered the Raiders around him one final time.
"This is what you play for," he said over the din of the crowd and the noise of both marching bands. "This is why you lift weights all summer and sweat all fall. To play on this stage, in this game. Don't leave anything out there."
After one of the longest weeks of his life, it was finally time. Game time. The referee blew his whistle, and the Valley Falls kicker made the run forward and booted the ball down the middle of the field. It was finally under way.
And for all of the buildup to this game, it was a complete bust. Valley Falls was simply overmatched.
Lakeville took the opening kickoff and drove 63 yards for a touchdown, mixing running and passing plays. They scored on an 8-yard run. Mike Dean's extra point was straight and true. Lakeville 7, Valley Falls 0.
The Trojans were unable to muster a first down before they lined up to punt. The punt was promptly blocked by four Lakeville Raiders and returned for a touchdown. Dean's extra-point kick made it 14-0. Barely 5 minutes had elapsed.
