Since his position overlapped with Mike's, Sam knew he'd have a tough time beating him out for the running back spot.
Right now, he desperately needed a standout performance to get back in Coach George's good graces.
Figuring out what the coach was going for, Sam locked eyes on the opposing team's No. 74 and said earnestly, "Trust me, Coach. Put me in, and I'll shut that big guy down."
Seeing the fire in Sam's eyes, Coach George nodded and warned him: "I don't need you to shut him down completely. Just contain him—got it? Contain."
In Coach George's view, with No. 74's massive build and raw power, totally neutralizing him wasn't realistic.
If Sam could even distract the guy a little and keep him from dominating, that'd be a win.
Having watched from the sidelines for a bit, Sam hadn't fully grasped how scary Oher really was. All he saw was that the big dude played like a total football rookie.
And bullying rookies? That was Sam's specialty.
When the possession switched again, Coach George—after getting Sam's repeated assurances—sent him in.
On the field, Sam's position shifted to offensive tackle, lining him up directly against the big guy.
Getting another shot on the field had Sam pumped. He stared down Oher's goofy expression and taunted, "Hey, big fella, you know what you're supposed to do out here?"
No response. Sam tapped his helmet, pointed two fingers at his own eyes, and kept trash-talking with a cocky grin: "I'm gonna be on you the whole game. All game. I'm your worst nightmare~"
Whistle!
Medford High's offense kicked off.
Captain Aaron snapped the ball from the center, didn't hesitate, and pitched it out to Mike on the edge again.
If there was one guy on the Medford football team you could count on, it was Mike.
The sweep play was perfect for letting his individual skills shine.
"Fall back! Fall back!!"
Seeing Medford's No. 21—Mike—gearing up for another rush, Coach Cotton on the sideline yelled reminders to his guys.
He'd spotted it from the very first drive: Medford's No. 21 was absolutely another core player.
Mike getting the ball again just confirmed it.
The field exploded into action...
St. Mary's players shifted their defense, swarming toward Mike.
Facing the wall of blockers, Mike didn't force a breakout this time.
Football's a team sport, after all.
He adjusted, handed the ball back to Aaron in the middle, then slammed into the St. Mary's defenders himself, tying them up in close-quarters battles.
With Mike pulling most of the defense his way, Captain Aaron suddenly had a clear path ahead.
As the team's quarterback and undisputed leader, Aaron didn't miss the golden opportunity. He tucked the ball and charged forward.
Amid the crowd's roaring cheers, Aaron punched in a touchdown.
After scoring, an pumped Aaron chucked the ball sky-high, then ran over to Mike for a huge bear hug.
This was the feeling—the rush that made Aaron want to go pro someday. He was loving every second.
On the other side, Sam—who'd been trash-talking before the snap—was sprawled flat on the ground.
Chest throbbing, he was starting to question his life choices.
"Sam, you okay?" Coach George, who'd been watching closely from the sideline, shouted over.
Hearing the concern, Sam swatted away Oher's offered hand, rolled up, and hopped a couple times like it was nothing. "I'm good, Coach."
In that play, sure, Oher had flattened him right off the bat—but Sam's yapping had drawn the big guy's focus.
In a way, he'd done his job.
Later, on Medford's two-point conversion, Mike and Aaron ran another coordinated play.
Mike drew the defense again, opening the lane for Aaron to stroll in untouched for another score.
Mild-mannered Aaron rarely had back-to-back touchdown games like this. Hitting two in a row, he was buzzing, hugging every teammate in sight.
It became the highlight of his whole high school career.
Whistle!
End of the first quarter—both teams headed to the sideline for a breather.
In the two-minute break, Coach George first hyped up the team's effort, then gave big props to Aaron and Mike.
He also nodded approval at Sam for containing No. 74.
Getting that recognition from Coach George, Sam felt a real sense of team pride for the first time.
Two minutes later, both sides lined up for the next kickoff.
Sam kept up the trash talk: "Big fella, I just slipped up last time. This time? You ain't getting past me..."
Whistle!
Now it was St. Mary's offense.
This drive, Coach Cotton learned from earlier and switched up the tempo.
Their quarterback took the snap and immediately plunged forward. The rest of the line collapsed in to clear a path.
Sam saw the big guy trying to bypass him to lead-block and sneered, "What's wrong, big fella? You scared of me~?"
Boom~
Sam ate another brutal hit and flopped to the turf—pointless again.
This time, Oher didn't pause. Shaking Sam off, he caught up to his quarterback fast.
Then, in the charging pack, Oher turned into the sharpest spear.
"Stop him... Stop him..." Things looking bad, Coach George forgot about Sam and yelled frantically at his players.
Over on the other side, Coach Cotton was hyped: "That's it, Michael! You're the best... I knew you had it~"
Clearly, in that moment, Coach Cotton had cracked the code on using Oher.
A beast like him just needed the simplest, most direct orders to dominate.
Through the noisy crowd, Oher bulldozed several Medford guys, escorting his quarterback all the way to the end zone.
And on St. Mary's two-point try, when Oher shoved defenders aside again to let his QB waltz in easy...
Coach George muttered bitterly, "Damn it, we can't contain that monster~"
...
Later, when possession flipped and the ball hit Mike's hands, he juked defenders with quick feet and punched in another six points for Medford.
"Thank God we've got Mike!"
Sideline-watching Coach George felt like he'd ridden a roller coaster—heart-pounding scares mixed with thrills. Losing his cool, all he could do now was trust his guys.
This game? It was gonna be a slugfest.