Champions
by Landon Martinez
Oregon City, OR
I looked up at the scoreboard in disbelief… My knees were weak and my head was spinning. I had just been drilled by Lake Oswego’s middle line backer. With less than two minutes left in the game and being down 12-14 we had to score quickly. I got up, shook my head and re-gathered myself. We were on our own 45-yard line. The clock was ticking. No time for a huddle.
We quickly set up in our “spread offense” as I barked out the play. “Green 23, Green 23!” I called. That’s where the wide-out runs a slant as the slot runs an “out” rout. I called the cadence and got the ball. I quickly scanned the field and threw to my open receiver. Incomplete. I couldn’t believe myself. The clock was stopped so the team huddled up and I went to the coach to get the play. “I want the ball”, I told him, and he nodded as if to say, “It’s up to you then”. On 4th and long you don’t really have a lot of options of plays to run. The defense expected a long pass down the sideline to get a first down and get out of bounds quickly to stop the clock. Our coach knew this. He looked at me and said, “Are you sure you can do this? Are you sure you want the ball? If we don’t convert, games over”. “Yes coach.” I answered definitively.
The play was “Pop Bottles.” That’s where we motion out our running back out to receiver to draw the middle linebacker out to open up the middle for me to run through. This time we were keeping our back in to block.
This was it. Championship game on the line. This is the moment in sports that I’ve dreamt about my whole life. If I mess up, I regret it the rest of my life. I get the job done, I’m going to remember it the rest of my life as a huge success.
The crowd was roaring and it sounded like I was at an NFL game. I called the cadence and received the ball from the center. The noise from the crowd shut off instantly. All I could hear were echoes of the other player’s voices as if I were in a sound bubble. Everything was slow motion as I looked at Louis the running back, as he plowed a hole for me up the middle by absolutely killing the middle line backer, who had sacked me two plays before. But as soon as the hole opened, it closed. There was no time to think. Instincts took over and I spun off the first defender. Before I knew it I was on the other 45-yard line. More people were coming to get me. Another missed tackle, then another. Finally I had made it to the 10-yard line and I was not going to settle for anything less than a touchdown. That was it. Game over. With 30 seconds left there was no come back for Lake O. The clock ran down and the T.V.Y.F.L champions were now The Oregon City Pioneers. It was one of the proudest moments in my life.
