Two Minute Drill (Bases Loaded Jam Series #2)

Ch. 53: Conference Championship Round (Gordon)

When I made my first appearance out of the tunnel being introduced as a starter, the crowd that was at that game cheered, but almost like a golf clap despite there being loud music. As I stood in the tunnel waiting to hear my name being called again, I could immediately feel the roar of the crowd get louder and louder. Each player who went before me and had their name called our received a cheer that was almost set to burst my ears.

All of a sudden, my name comes up on the public address announcer with the chant of "Henry" by the fans, I took a deep breath and ran out of the tunnel to a thunderous ovation. The Roman Coliseum was nothing compared to the support from the fans we got that day. I couldn't even see an empty seat in the arena. At least ninety percent of the stadium was surrounded by deep steel blue, battle red, and liberty white while the other ten percent were made up of navy blue for the Titans.

Running through a tunnel of players that patted me as I passed, I could feel the butterflies get more intense. In a few moments, I would play in front of the largest sold out venue in our franchise history. I had played in front of big stadiums before going back to high school and the University of Florida, but never one sold out. The stakes were as high as they were and I had to enjoy it while I could because I never knew if I would get back to this point. Then all feelings of taking in the moment were removed because once the whistle blew, it was game time.

After receiving the opening kickoff, the Titans ran the ball down our throats. It was a 13-play drive that ended up with a field goal from the 37-yard line and a three-point early lead. But, we responded instantly. It took five plays, three throws from yours truly along with two Kwame rushes, to reach the three-yard line before Kwame wasted no time getting us ahead with the lead. The rest of the quarter was a defensive struggle as we forced Tennessee to a pair of three-and-outs.

In the second quarter, our defensive Robert Wilkins tackled the Titans' runningback and forced a fumble. Albert Stover recovered the ball and we took over needing just forty yards for a score. Deciding to chance it, I fake the handoff to Kwame and launched a deep ball to Jermaine who made an incredible chance to get us three yards away from the endzone. I then decided to run myself into the endzone on the option play. Just like that, it was 14-3 in our favor.

Both teams would wind up going three-and-out on their next possession as I misfired on my next four throws with all leading to incomplete results. Wally Wilbert had another great punt that landed deep in Tennessee territory. On Tennessee's first play, our defense broke the offensive line and it was Preston King who sacked their quarterback in the endzone for a safety. We now led 16-3.

I looked up at the clock and saw that there were two minutes left in the first half. Knowing we would receive the second half kickoff, I decided we needed to create more momentum on us and apply pressure toward the Titans. If we scored a touchdown on this drive and then scored on the first drive in the second half, that would put us up 30-3. Not saying Tennessee was incapable of coming back from that deficit, but the momentum would be heavily in our favor so much that the way we had been playing till then would be consistent throughout the game and a Super Bowl was in our destiny.

I got the offense together at the line of scrimmage following a kickoff to us and said let's go. We put together another great drive that saw us go seven plays to the 16-yard line with just eight seconds to play. On third down, I dropped back and saw backup receiver Bobby Waters break free and I took a chance to find him. He turns and sees the ball coming ton him and I saw a touchdown coming before he catches it.

Only once he touched it, the ball fell to the ground and it was ruled incomplete. Are you kidding fucking kidding me? The ball dropped and fell incomplete. That was a bad break right there. I see Bobby put his hands on his helmet in disgust. I had my head on my helmet in disgust. It was like we thought the same thing. How the hell did that just happened? Bobby was a capable receiver who would step up when Jermaine or Otis would get in trouble. So, it was very surprising to see him drop a pass like that even though it rarely happens.