A few members of the team had gathered in a far corner of the room to swap stories as they finished dressing, taking advantage of the fact that Coach Hickham had yet to emerge from his office since the heated meeting with Cole Logan a few hours before. The particulars of the meeting had already sent a flood of rumors and conjecture throughout the Jackrabbits roster.

“Fucked is what we are,” whispered Kevin O’Flannery, left offensive tackle. He squeezed his head through the hole of his shoulder pads. “Without Logan we’re toast. For two months we’ve been riding on an offense geared around that arm of his. So where’s that leave us? Everyone in the district knows we can’t always rely on our defense.”

“Eat me,” said Phil Meekin, middle linebacker, who had just rounded the corner.

Shane Butler, strong-side receiver, put a finger to his lips. “You guys want to keep your voices down? If the coaches hear us jawing on, it’s our asses.”

“I’m just saying,” Kevin continued, “we might really be screwed here. Logan says he wants to play, so why wouldn’t Coach at least let him try? Now we’re stuck with Teddy Smoot at QB. My sister can throw better than that limp-wristed pansy.”

“Fuck you and your sister,” Teddy Smoot said, joining the group. Wearing only a jockstrap and gym socks, the second-stringer looked more like a junior high towel boy than a varsity quarterback. “I don’t need to hear that kind of talk right now.”

Teddy had already thrown up twice since learning that he had ascended to the starting spot.

“Well, you’re gonna hear it,” said Sam Toony, tight end. He jammed a finger into Teddy’s chest. “I didn’t risk my neck all season catching passes across the middle just to get dog-assed in the final game because some freshman couldn’t get me the ball. I sure as hell hope you got your head and ass wired together tonight.”

“Don’t worry about me,” Teddy said. “Coach Tucker told me that Logan’s gonna be with me on the sidelines, keeping things in check.”

“My ass he will,” Phil said. “Butler and I were sitting right here this afternoon, listening to the spat in the coach’s office. No one knew we were in here, but we heard the whole damn thing. Last thing we heard Logan say before he stormed out the door was something along the lines of fuck all this!”

Teddy paled. “Well, where else would he go tonight?”

Shane shrugged. “Might go slip it to Kevin’s sister for all we know.”

Marvin Bumbgardner, deep safety, piped in. “I just don’t understand why Coach would do this to us. Not if Logan says he wants to play.”

“I bet y’all anything Logan ends up playing in the end,” Shane said.

Marvin asked what made him so sure.