“Shake it off, gentlemen,” Jake barked as the team gathered around him. “We’re in this hunt—new quarter, new mindset. Hurricane heart, right?”

Various responses proved the team agreed.

“We’re in a fight, a good one. But we’ve got this!” He turned to the offensive coordinator who’d help bring this team to the championship. “Shawn, call the play.”

“All right,” Shawn said, his green eyes glistening with excitement. “We’re going to kick it into high gear. First down, we’re going to run the Big Mac. Patrick, make sure Kareem has time to throw the ball. Justin, on second down we’re running the Hurricane Switch.”

Justin nodded, his heart pumping adrenaline like crazy, his hands clammy with nerves.

The boys took the field and ran the Big Mac. Patrick guarded his man but Kareem overthrew his receiver. Jake prowled the sidelines, a stoic, calming presence, while Shawn yelled orders and the line coaches waved their boys into position.

Second down. The boys took their places at the twenty-yard line. A subtle look passed from Kareem to Justin, who nodded slightly before crouching into position.

“One, seventy-seven, seventy-seven, hut, hut!”

The center’s toss to Kareem was perfect. Justin went straight for his man, blocking him to the left and taking him out of the play. Kareem faked a handoff to the running back while Justin came across the field. Kareem threw a short, five-yard dump over the tall defensive end to the even taller Hurricane tight end. Justin caught the pass, did a head shake on his defender, and started down the field. Thirty yard line. The offensive line was picking off their men. Out of the corner of his eye Justin saw the Panther cornerback heading his way. He put his head down and picked up speed. The wide receiver blocked the corner. Forty yard line. There was just one person between Justin and the goal. Jake’s words floated across his mind. Don’t be intimidated by anyone or anything. Justin ran right at the defender. Or, rather, he ran right over him. He hit his opponent square in the chest with his shoulder and made quick work of the remaining forty yards. Touchdown!

For the next ten minutes, the ball went back and forth—a fumble here, a missed pass there. Tension was high on both sides, nerves were higher, especially when the Panthers hit a field goal making the score 24–21.