Angel Stadium of Anaheim
7:31 p.m.
The stadium was packed. The lights were fully on, ESPN's cameras sweeping across the field, and both teams still in their locker rooms. Halftime had begun about five minutes earlier.
The atmosphere was electric. The crowd's energy, the murmurs, the cameras focusing on the marching bands performing their numbers, everything reflected the magnitude of the event.
And it was no surprise: the final was living up to every expectation. In the days leading up to it, predictions had been split.
On one hand, many expected total domination from Mater Dei, like in previous games where they often went into halftime with leads of eight to fourteen points.
Others, more cautious, believed Long Beach Poly could hold their own thanks to their defense, the best in California, though they doubted they could survive four quarters against the most explosive offense in the country.
And a third, more skeptical group insisted that Mater Dei would choke in the final, that nerves would betray them, and that Poly's winning DNA and greater experience in recent decisive games would make the difference.
During the first quarter, it looked like that last group was right. Mater Dei, although far from playing poorly, only managed six points, two field goals, something unusual for an offense averaging over 40 per game.
Meanwhile, the Jackrabbits shocked everyone with two touchdowns. The first was a long, methodical drive, nearly flawless, packed with runs and short passes. The second was a deep shot that completely caught the Monarchs' defense off guard.
Poly finishing the first quarter with a nine-point lead was unthinkable. Yet the story changed the moment the second quarter began.
Mater Dei's defense adjusted, and Andrew struck like lightning: a single play, a pass totaling over 90 yards, just eight seconds of drive time, silencing the entire stadium.
From that moment on, the momentum shifted. Poly managed only one more field goal, while Andrew led another flawless drive, finishing with a rushing touchdown of his own and a two-point conversion.
When the buzzer sounded to end the second quarter, the scoreboard read: Mater Dei 22 – Long Beach Poly 18.
The comeback was complete. The favorite was ahead, yes, but only by four points.
The game was still completely up for grabs.
And even though both quarterbacks' touchdown stats were identical, Andrew's impact was far more dominant. His two touchdowns were born from pure individual brilliance, and his previous two drives had ended in field goals after advancing long distances. On top of that, he secured the two-point conversions on both TDs.
"We're alive! We're alive!" shouted Cam, already going hoarse from screaming so much.
"We understood that five minutes ago, Cam, calm down!" Gloria yelled back, turning toward him with little patience. Unlike him, her voice was untouched, yelling wasn't exactly a strain for someone who practically lived doing it every day.
Cam's face was entirely painted red and white, as were his arms. He had decided to stay in the preferential family stands, with a better view of the field, instead of sitting among the students like in previous games, where the atmosphere was a nonstop mix of smoke, drums, and waving flags.
Since Mater Dei had started the game on the wrong foot, Cam hadn't stopped shouting for even a second, trying to lift the team's spirits as if his lungs could influence the score. Now, he was paying the price.
Mitchell, seated beside him, held Lily in his arms. He looked down at the field where the marching bands and cheer squads were performing, but most of his attention was on keeping calm rather than watching the halftime show.
"It's okay, sweetheart," he whispered gently to Lily, rocking her softly, "Andrew is winning, see? Everything is fine…"
The school band played at midfield, the cheerleaders performed their synchronized routines, and ESPN's cameras moved from section to section, capturing the spectacle.
"That pass was insane," said Brian De Palma, who had come with Willa and was watching the field with his arms crossed, cap on, his expression much calmer.
Beside him, Jay nodded with a serious look. The euphoria from the touchdowns had already passed, now he watched everything with the calm of an old man who understood momentum and keeping a cool head.
"Probably a CIF record," Jay said confidently.
"Yeah… and a national one too," Brian replied, without taking his eyes off the field.
Claire, seated next to them, nodded with a mix of pride and nerves, her hand partially covering her mouth.
"Yes… I think he beat his seventy-two, yard air pass record from Palisades," she murmured. "But why would he even think of doing that now?"
She said it with the trembling voice of someone who still hadn't fully processed the play. Just thinking about that ball flying from one end of the field to the other, for what felt like three eternal seconds, made her heart race again.
She remembered that 72-yard pass at Palisades perfectly: it had been in the third quarter, in a game that was already decided, against an opponent that was being crushed. The context couldn't have been more different.
Back then, the score was just a formality. Now it was the Southern Section final, broadcast nationwide. And Mater Dei was behind, needing to recover.
And her nephew, in the middle of all that pressure, had had the audacity to attempt it, and pull it off.
"The run was the best part! He made that defender eat grass!" shouted Luke, waving his arms wildly, completely euphoric.
Before anyone could answer him, he turned to Phil. "Dad, food!"
Phil looked at him with that enthusiastic, slightly nervous smile he always wore at games, "You're right, it's hot-dog time, son! It's tradition!"
They both stood up almost at the same time, but Claire stopped them with a hand raised in the air, "Don't eat too much, okay?"
"But Mom…" Luke protested, dragging the syllable as if that might soften her. "I'm hungry."
Claire watched him for a few seconds before saying, "I know, but if you eat too much now… you won't be able to have dinner with Andrew after the game when we celebrate. Do you want that?"
Luke went quiet, thinking. Then he nodded slowly. "You're right… I'll just have one hot dog."
"That's my boy. There'll be plenty of time to eat later," Phil said proudly, winking at Claire.
"One hot dog. Extra-large, with everything, of course."
"Phil…" Claire warned.
"Alright, alright. Just a normal one, nothing extra," Phil said as he walked off with Luke toward the food stands.
In the row behind them were Willa, Haley, Leonard, Manny, and Alex.
Manny was watching the halftime show with intense focus, perhaps more than the game itself.
"The cheerleaders' level is way higher than at Palisades," he murmured to himself, nodding slightly, impressed.
He looked around for Howard or Luke, with whom he might have commented on the topic, but they weren't nearby.
Not that it mattered much, he figured it wasn't the best idea anyway, whenever those two talked about cheerleaders, it tended to be in a tone he found somewhat vulgar.
His attention drifted to Alex, who contrasted completely with the euphoric stadium environment. She was sitting there, serious, phone in hand, fingers typing rapidly.
"What are you doing?" Manny asked, leaning slightly toward her.
"Checking Twitter comments about the game," Alex replied without looking up. "Especially from the people who were celebrating when my cousin was losing."
Manny raised an eyebrow. "I also see you're typing. Are you replying to them? I didn't know you were an Andrew defender."
Ever since Manny and his mother had joined the Pritchett-Dunphy-Tucker family about four or five years ago, Manny had learned how the family dynamics worked.
He knew Alex was the cerebral type rather than a sports fan. And given their age difference, she and Andrew weren't nearly as close as Haley and Andrew were.
Even so, he could tell Alex and Andrew didn't have a superficial relationship.
Alex lifted her eyes from the phone, raising an eyebrow, "Yeah. Any problem with that?"
Manny smiled softly and shook his head, "None. I just… didn't picture you arguing on Twitter over a football game."
"I'm not arguing," Alex shot back, returning her gaze to the screen. "I'm educating people. There's a difference."
Manny watched her for a moment, smiled faintly, and turned his attention back to the halftime show.
A short distance away, Haley was standing, recording with her phone to upload it later to her social media. Willa beside her was watching impatiently, wanting the third quarter to start already. She couldn't care less about the band or the cheerleaders' routines.
Willa turned her head to the left and looked at Leonard, sitting with a deep frown, his forearms resting on his knees, hands clasped in front of his face.
She raised an eyebrow when she noticed a bead of sweat sliding down his forehead.
"Nervous?" she asked with a slight teasing smile. "You look like you've been jumping around, and you haven't moved from that seat."
Leonard looked at her and let out a small laugh, "Yeah… the game's been intense and I haven't even stood up. I think I'm experiencing secondhand stress."
Willa couldn't help but laugh, he wasn't wrong. For the first time, they had seen Andrew start a game trailing in the first quarter.
This time she had chosen to sit in the family section for the view. There weren't students jumping around, flags waving, smoke everywhere, blocking your vision just when you wanted to watch a play clearly.
"And where's the emo?" Willa asked suddenly, turning her head and scanning the crowd.
By emo, she meant Howard. A nickname she'd started using after his girlfriend broke up with him.
Ever since that breakup, which was barely a week old, Howard had become gloomier and dramatically moody.
"He went to record crowd reactions from the different sections, I think," Leonard replied with a shrug. The truth was he hadn't paid much attention to his friend, Howard had been dramatizing the breakup for a week straight, and it was exhausting even by their group's standards.
"Mm… at least he's still trying so Andrew doesn't fire him," Willa said with a frown.
Leonard glanced at her sideways. He knew exactly what she meant but chose not to comment.
Andrew had told Willa about what happened between him and Howard, that exchange of words after Alison dumped Howard.
And to Willa, Howard's behavior had been childish and filled with envy. She thought Andrew was way too soft for letting the issue go so quickly. If she had been in his place, she wouldn't have forgiven him. She wouldn't have even allowed him to keep working as the cameraman for his YouTube channel.
After all, Andrew's games were now broadcast nationally, with professional cameras capturing every angle and every play in pristine quality. Highlights of those games were available almost instantly, and Andrew could use them freely on his channel.
Howard only contributed crowd reactions, closer shots, and post-game interviews, things that could easily be done by someone else if Andrew wanted a replacement.
"He's lucky Andrew is much softer than I am…" Willa muttered.
Leonard stayed silent. He had learned not to contradict Willa when she defended Andrew, it was like arguing with a steel wall. He nodded slowly, without saying a word.
At the moment, things between Andrew and Howard were more or less fine. Thanks in part to Steve, who had brought them together that same night at his house.
Even so, Willa could sense there was still a slight distance between them, the kind of mild tension that only time eventually erases, or a sincere conversation that neither of them seemed in any hurry to have.
Although, being men, the first option was far more likely.
Finally, halftime came to an end. The players ran back onto the field to a deafening ovation.
The third quarter was about to begin.
"Come on, Andrew! Destroy those pussies!" shouted Willa, standing up and cupping her hands around her mouth to amplify her voice.
The opening whistle sounded. Long Beach Poly started with possession.
The drive began slowly. Three minutes passed and they had barely advanced thirty-five yards. Their run-heavy offense was trying to control the clock. For Mater Dei fans and neutral spectators, the progress was painfully tedious.
"Move faster, you turtles! You suck!" yelled Willa irritably. She wasn't the only one shouting comments like that.
Jay turned when he heard her and looked her way with a raised eyebrow while Willa continued hurling increasingly unrefined insults.
"What a refined young lady," he said, dripping with sarcasm.
Brian, beside him, let out a small laugh without taking his eyes off the field, "Yeah… she's intense about the things she cares about. And trust me, Jay, right now she's in calm mode."
The Jackrabbits' drive kept inching forward, partly slowly to avoid mistakes during such a crucial stretch of the game, and partly to burn as much clock as possible. Even though they were trailing, if they managed to score, they would put pressure right back on Mater Dei.
Finally, after more than six minutes of possession, six minutes and five seconds, to be exact, Poly found the opening they were looking for: a short pass from the twelve-yard line that ended in a touchdown.
The Jackrabbits' section of the crowd erupted, waving their green and gold colors.
[Touchdown Long Beach Poly! The longest drive of the night ends successfully!] shouted Will from his booth.
[This is their offensive style, slow and physical, and it's working. They take the lead again, and now they'll go for the two-point conversion…] added Dave as the camera showed Poly's players lining up at the two-yard line.
The snap was clean. The quarterback faked the pass, turned his body, and handed the ball off to his running back, who dove up the middle, helped by his offensive line, breaking the last tackle just as he crossed the plane.
[Conversion is good!] announced Will, raising his voice over the roar of the crowd.
[And with that, the Jackrabbits retake the lead! Score: Long Beach Poly 26 – Mater Dei 22.]
The cameras focused on the Monarchs' sideline, where Andrew stood up slowly, helmet in hand. After a brief exchange with his head coach, he nodded and jogged onto the field, followed by the rest of the offense.
The stadium roar surged immediately.
Gloria waved a small red flag, "Let's go, mi campeon! Show them how it's done!" she shouted, ignoring the people around her covering their ears.
The rest of the family also stood up, clapping and cheering while Andrew, Victor, Thomas, Nick, and the rest of the unit gathered in the huddle.
Andrew looked at each of them and said in a firm but calm voice, "Listen, they think they're pressuring us by playing slow, but they're not."
He gestured toward the scoreboard, "If we score on this drive, next time they'll be forced to play fast or trust blindly in their defense."
The players nodded, some taking deep breaths, others clenching their fists. The tension from the start of the game had already faded, and now they were rediscovering the style of play that had shredded so many defenses.
"So, no panicking. We'll play calmly, just like they did. And we'll finish this drive with a touchdown and take the lead back."
A smile spread across Victor's face. "I like that plan."
"Then let's do it," Andrew concluded.
"Yes!" everyone shouted in unison as the huddle broke and they all headed to their positions.
The drive began with the same deliberate rhythm Long Beach Poly had shown minutes earlier.
Andrew didn't force risky plays: clean hand-offs to Nick, his running back, and short passes to the sidelines that slowly wore down the opposing defense.
The clock kept running, and now it was Poly's crowd that grew exasperated, while Mater Dei's side celebrated every first down.
With forty seconds left in the third quarter, it happened.
From the opponent's eleven-yard line, Andrew received the snap, handed it to Nick, and run through the gap right behind the left guard.
He ran with power, lowered a shoulder, and crossed the goal line.
[Touchdown Mater Dei! Running back #49 Nick Richardson powers it up the middle and the Monarchs take the lead again!]
The roar was deafening.
Without hesitation, Andrew called for the two-point attempt. A quick pass to Thomas sealed the conversion.
Score: Mater Dei 30 – Long Beach Poly 26.
And with that, the third quarter came to an end with a clear tactical advantage for Mater Dei. Beyond the four-point lead, the rhythm of the game had tilted in their favor.
The coaches' plan had worked: mirror Long Beach Poly's slow, methodical style. If the same pace held in the final quarter, the game would feature at most two possessions, one for Poly at the start, and one for Mater Dei in the final stretch.
That meant Poly had to choose: speed up their offense and risk a mistake, or stick to their identity and trust their defense to stop the best passing attack in the country.
As both teams prepared for the start of the final quarter, Will, sounding energized, asked the classic question:
[Dave, as we enter the fourth quarter… who's your MVP favorite so far?]
Dave didn't hesitate long before answering, analyzing the stats on his screen.
[For me, there are four clear contenders: first, Chandler Whitmer, Poly's quarterback. Three touchdowns and one drive that ended in a field goal. He's been solid, though he had one series that came up empty.
Second is Corey Waller, Poly's defensive leader. Two sacks on Andrew Pritchett-Tucker, both in the first quarter when their defense was dominating. He hasn't brought him down since, but his early impact was huge.]
[Third is Kevin Brown, Mater Dei's edge rusher. He didn't start well, but he bounced back and in the last two quarters he recorded two crucial sacks that shifted the energy of the game.]
Dave paused as the screen showed highlights of the three players mentioned.
[And in fourth place, and the one who gets my vote: Andrew Pritchett-Tucker. Three touchdowns, every drive he's led has ended in points, two field goals and three scoring plays, and each of his touchdowns came with a successful two-point conversion.]
[Meanwhile, Whitmer's offense only converted two of three. And, of course, there's that historic pass, over seventy air yards that stunned the entire stadium. After those first-quarter sacks, no one has touched him again.]
[Great analysis, I agree as well. But we'll see if it holds up in this final quarter,] Will added, as everyone braced for the last stretch.
Twelve minutes left and a championship on the line.
-------------------------------------------------
You can read 15 chapters in advance on my patreon.
Link: https://[email protected]/Nathe07