Two Minute Drill (Bases Loaded Jam Series #2)

Ch. 64: Third Quarter (Brett/Gordon/Scout)

Gordon

Making my way out of the locker room, I saw the crowd still trying to collect themselves after what was a wild halftime show. Ha, it sure seemed like the crowd really loved the all-star cast of Miley Cyrus, Drake, Taylor Swift, and Brad Paisley for the show to bring them on their feet.

I was over to the sidelines getting loose with a teammate when a trainer came to me.

"You doing good?" He asked for the millionth time.

"I'm great," I said.

"Good." Then he looked out at the field. "There sure were a lot of fireworks for the halftime show."

"There's going to be more in the second half. That I can promise."

Whether I was being serious or just trying to lighten the mood, I knew the game was about to get crazy. Knowing Brad, he was always a second half kind of quarterback. He might do decent in the first half. But then, he turns it up a notch. Of course, he did have one weakness as I knew. No quarterback had ever stepped up to challenge him in that second half. If we were going to beat Dallas, I knew I had to step up.

Scout

The news of the injuries we suffered came to me from a representative. I was relieved to hear that Troy would be able to return to the game even though he would have to sit out for some time. I was also disappointed to know that Jermaine was done for the night after suffering a broken leg. Gordon was now going to have to play the second half without one of his best weapons.

With the score tied at 17, Dallas would start the second half with the football. We kicked off to them and they had a return to their 23-yard line. Our defense stepped onto the field minus Troy. Seeing him on the sideline with his helmet off was tough because I knew he wanted to be out there. Yet, there he was shouting towards his teammates to make a stop.

And make a stop they did. Brad handed the ball to his running back only to be stopped for a two-yard loss thanks to Preston King. On second down, Brad threw a short completion to his tight end who picked up seven yards before Calvin Pitts brought him down. Brad then tried to go deep on third down. But Y Smith knocked the ball cleanly away for an incomplete pass.

After Dallas punted the ball to our 39, Gordon went back out there and I was hoping he would get going. Yet, he struggled on his first series. Two straight incomplete passes was followed by a sack of nine yards. Just like the Cowboys, we went three-and-out and were forced to punt the ball.

Brett

Dallas then drove down the field and reached inside our 30 in just four plays. I glanced over to the Cowboys' suite and saw Luke return. He was being tended to by some assistants after they saw his face. The bruise around his nose was probably the best site I had seen of Luke in years and I had a fist connect with his face prior to that.

The Cowboys then tried to get closer by running only for our defense to pick up some key tackles. Brad was sacked for a loss of five by Robert, who then followed with a tackle on Nick Tubbs for a loss of four. Robert then got in Nick's face and was barking at him, which almost got him a penalty.

After a false start penalty on third down moved Dallas out of field goal range, Brad was able to get 16 yards back with a completion. But Dallas was still eight yards shy of the first. This left them with no choice but to attempt a field goal. Their kicker, who was pretty accurate missing just one all season long, trotted to the field and practiced his kicking before the holder and special teams units got set for the kick.

The ball was snapped to the holder, who placed it down and the kicker struck the ball. I watched as I knew the kick had the distance towards the posts. The ball had no trouble sailing through the uprights. Suddenly, Dallas led 20-17.