A Tale Of Two Sisters
Chapter Fifteen: Selfish
Chapter Fifteen: Selfish
It had been a tumultuous last twelve or so hours for Mount Maris. The team had quickly learned of the news about why Kaden Moore and Arielle Russey had been arrested, and that it was for assaulting a group of RCAA investigators and trying to get back some info that had been taken by those men in the form of a hard drive from the computer of Francis Allan, and the team had also learned that the RCAA had broken and entered into the Arena of Light to get that information. The team had already known for the rumors that they were in trouble with the RCAA, but now, those were no longer rumors.
This was the reality that they were faced with, and as Kaden and Arielle returned on bail and the team continued to get ready for their hardest game yet, it was clear that the squad wasn't focused on what was in front of them and it was clear that they had their minds on things that weren't on the field at all. They all had their minds on the investigation because they realized that if they put the work into winning a title, there was a chance that they would lose it all in the end anyway because of sanctions and vacated wins.
Lazaga State had taken drastic measures because of their own scandal and they didn't even have a history of running into trouble with the rules. On the other hand, Mount Maris had almost been sanctioned themselves in the past and it looked like they wouldn't be able to duck punishment again, regardless of their prestige.Mount Maris had already barely dodged being sanctioned once in the past and they wouldn't be able to do the same thing again, especially with the allegations being against a head coach that supposedly had a checkered past in Castle, where the investigators had headed first to check out the source of the rumors and to find someone that would be willing to talk with them to confirm them. Was it fair? Maybe not. They had come into it thinking that Francis Allan was guilty and they had looked for someone to talk to them and confirm what they already believed, but the truth was the truth.
There were too many disconnected rumors coming from different sources for all of them to be wrong, and it looked like Castle had and maybe still did run a program that bended and broke the rules, and it also looked like Mount Maris was following in the same way when they made Francis Allan their head coach and made him the highest paid coach in the country. They had given him the keys to the program and made him the true successor to Diogo Reyes, the coach that was supposed to lead them into their golden era again or at least keep the recent domestic and international wins going and make sure they didn't regress after winning the Mineral Conference, and even though Allan had completed that tough task and had made his name as one if the top coaches in NSCF, the price of bringing him in had been risking the RCAA coming down on the program if they looked too far into the past and present of their new head man.
It looked like that price would be bigger than anyone had thought, based on some of the rumors that were swirling around in the media and on fan sites and on the radio shows and amongst the fans who spread the news by word of mouth in bars and in the classrooms and in the streets. When you were the biggest program in the county by a large margin and the one that was carrying the banner internationally for the country, news would spread fast, and it would be hard to find someone that didn't know or didn't care about what was going on. The players themselves had tried to get away from the news and keep themselves from dwelling on it, but it was the kind of news that one couldn't simply ignore. It affected them more than anybody, and they were the ones who had the most to lose with sanctions.
As the entire team started to arrive at the Arena of Light, there were already fans gathering outside the gates early and trying to talk to the players and see if there was any truth to the rumors, and while they had been told to not talk and not to give anything away about what had happened with the investigators and with the two backup quarterbacks that had been arrested, that was a hard task when the fans already seemed to know and were relentlessly questioning them about it as they headed from their bus to the stadium, where they would work out one more time before getting some final peace before the storm that would be the game.
Bryan Costas especially had a hard time keeping his mouth shut, because he was one of the main people in this case and he was the one that had taken things from the school that were now being investigated by the RCAA, and if it wasn't for his high profile recruitment coming out of Maris Coastal, none of this would probably be happening, or at least the investigation would be about Castle and not about Mount Maris. “I did absolutely nothing wrong. I'm just trying to play football, man… I don't know about all of this investigation crap or about what was up with Kaden and Arielle and those investigators,” he said to a fan who was questioning him by the gate to the stadium. In a way, he was one of the most pained in all of this, because not only was it almost his fault but it was also a reversal of his fate. He was supposed to be the hero that would be one of the most dominant linebackers that the school had ever seen, and that the country had ever seen, not the one that would lead to them getting sanctioned. Bryan wanted nothing more to become a legend on this campus, but he was becoming one for the wrong reasons and there was little he could do to stop it at this point.
“Did you take anything from the school, Bryan?” someone else asked, standing on the other side of him and causing him to turn around. “You've gotta tell the truth, dude. You're going to make millions of drachmas either way, but if you lie, they're going to bring the whole team down because of it.”
“Bryan, come on,” said Eke Kuhn, waving for the outside linebacker to come on and head to the inside of the stadium, where some of the players already were. There were cameras everywhere, both traditional cameras and cellphones that served the same purpose these days, and the defensive end knew better than to let his teammate stand around and keep talking, giving statements that would inevitably be used by the RCAA for the purposes of the investigation. If everything didn't stay consistent, they'd use that as a part of their argument. “We have a practice to get to, Coach doesn't want us to be late…”
“I didn't take anything from the school,” Bryan stated, Bryan stated, before starting to walk towards the door. “Whatever's happening, it's because of the past. Not the present. I didn't do anything to get us sanctioned and I don't think anything has happened under the current staff. Don't believe the rumors, everyone. They aren't always telling the truth,” he added, in a speech that would become infamous in the near future when those words came back to bite the school.
“Bryan, come on!” snapped Arielle, raising her voice and getting the attention of the linebacker to finally convince him to move on and follow the others inside. But the damage was done now and it wouldn't help to walk away, even though the players finally did get away from the crowds and they finally did head to the stadium for the practice session. “Whatever you say is going to get used against you, so come on!”
And so the players went into the stadium, and the crowds would leave disappointed that they couldn't get more info out of them. Even though everyone would still be worried about the investigation, they would have to shift their focus to the game that would happen in mere hours, however, and that was the true tough task in all of this. If they couldn't win the title or even make it to the title game, all the talk about what would happen to their banner afterwards would be pointless, after all.
~
In the middle of the fourth quarter, it was desperation time, as they yet again had a drunk crowd at their throats after a late kickoff and an early underperformance that would see them go down in the first three quarters to the tune of 14-7. Their sole touchdown had come when Inko Sheffield slashed open the middle of the Harbor College linebacking corps to jump cut his way into the end zone from fifteen yards out, but that impressive game hadn't energized their passing game in the harsh rain, which was making it hard to catch the ball and was ruining their plans of getting firsts downs and big gains with short catches and runs after the catch.
On defense, the big players had done what they needed to do and were making plenty of plays to keep the lead from getting out of hand. Eke Kuhn had sacked Cyril Peregrine twice and Bryan Costas had gotten a clutch fourth down and two sack after performing a swim move to the inside and blowing up a play action pass attempt before Peregrine could even complete his five step drop. But running back Nigel Cay was harder to stop than they had planned for, and he had rushed for both scores in the second and third quarters as the aggressive defense went for risky plays and found themselves getting beat more than they could in a game that they would win.
Cay had beat Ky Augustus in the middle more than one time, and the linebackers as a whole were having a bad game and slipping around in the rain instead of decisively making their tackles and closing down on the point of attack before the Harbor College running backs could get through. And it really didn't matter who they had at halfback, because the Maris defense couldn't keep up no matter what. But it did look like Cay was something special, and he had run all over the, before the rain eased up a bit and they began to close down in quarter number four.
Would it be an issue of too little, too late, though? Drago Morena was wondering that as he stepped out with about five minutes left in the quarter, faced with elimination from the playoffs if they couldn't produce at least a touchdown soon, and faced with overtime unless they somehow managed two scores in the minutes before the end of the game. They didn't have time any longer to go for the short pass and they also didn't have time to run the ball with regularity and take advantage of the game that Inko was having.
“I want the win. We're going with the plays that'll give us that, not overtime. You never know what's going to happen once the fourth quarter is over, let's not let it get to that point,” Francis had said, but that was much easier said than done. Anyone could talk about producing two or three big plays late to get a couple of scores with little time less. Few teams could actually do it, not against competition that was this skilled, on such a big stage in front of a crowd that was on edge because of the deficit.
“Stay calm but stay urgent. Being able to do both is what separates the men from the boys,” said Drago in the huddle, and then he broke it and stood in the shotgun as Eli Desjardins and Gerard Lopes loaded up the left side, with Inko taking up a position in the slot and using his skill as a receiving back to stretch the defense. And as a blitz was shown by the outside linebackers, Drago shouted the cadence and made them think twice about jumping early by dragging it out, before clapping and taking the snap as he began to drop back early.
The sound of helmets cracking together was a violent one as Rui Castillo charged forward to stop a blitzing Sisal Holycross, and Drago realized that he would have more time than he thought he would have in the pocket, and he remembered his advice earlier and stayed calm, hopping around and keeping his feet moving but not rushing to get the ball out. He kept his peripheral vision downfield even though his eyes weren't there, and when he finally did look downfield, he quickly read the situation and saw that it was the perfect conditions for a throw. Gerard Lopes was one on one with Sal Hurley, and Drago realized that he would soon be open in two or three steps when he pulled away.
As the pocket fell around him, Drago took a deep breath and hurled the ball downfield towards Gerard, aiming for the end zone and hoping that nobody else would come over to try to jump the route, even though he didn't think that was possible right now because of the speed of the ball and the distance that would have to be run. And Gerard, he was ahead of everyone, and as he was in mid stride, he was able to catch that ball and tuck it under his arm, crossing over the safety to jump into the end zone and give the Friars six more points that they needed dearly.
The sound of the crowd made any communication impossible, and Drago himself let out a cry of celebration as they scored, with fireworks shooting into the sky and the band going right into the fight song after Lopes flipped the ball into the air and waved to the crowd, taking a bow as a senior that was maybe playing in his last game in college. He'd waited seemingly forever to become one of their main receivers, but now that he was in that role, it was more glorious than he could have ever imagined.
“We going for two?” Drago asked Francis as the offense headed back to the sideline for their next orders, but the coach shook his head and waved the special teams unit out.
“We’re taking the points here and letting our stars on defense make plays to get us the ball back in a decent position,” Francis said, before showing his binder to Clarke Hunter and giving the defensive coordinator an idea of the series of plays that they would be running. They were going for an aggressive look on defense now, and that was because they had the crowd with them again and it was already proving to give them the advantage that the media had predicted it would.
They would make the extra point, and Petter Arseth would nail the opposing return man with a spearing tackle at the ten yard line that would make sure that Harbor College had it all to do on the upcoming drive. And at this point, the clock would be ticking down and both teams would be thinking of overtime, with Harbor College taking seven plays just to get to their own thirty yard line with a combination of runs and passes, the Marisian defense making sure to put the pressure on Peregrine and with their pass rushers bringing exotic blitzes that saw them changing sides and techniques every time.
The big play, however, would come when Harbor College finally completed one pass of fifteen yards and got confident to try another. They were in a single back formation, Peregrine took the snap and rolled out on a bootleg, but what he didn't expect was Bryan Costas running a fire blitz and bouncing off of the left tackle before dropping back and rushing through the other gap that Eke Kuhn was opening between the center and the left guard, and he didn't expect them to be in the backfield as soon as they were.
He let the ball go early, Eke Kuhn brought him to the ground once again, but there wouldn't be a receiver in the area. No, Arseth would be the one to get his hands on the ball, and he would have a good lane to return the ball to the Harbor College thirty five yard line. The crowd was once again wild, and now, the momentum had completely shifted with about a minute to go. And it was decision time for Francis Allan, who had to decide on risking a turnover by going for a touchdown. “Looks like that was the play you were looking for,” said Drago, and the offense went back out once again.
They would be stopped for three downs before they could get a first down on a power run from Inko Sheffield, however, and that would drain time from the clock and leave them with only a few more plays. One of those plays would be another run from Inko that would put them right in the middle of the field, and then they would use their second timeout with ten seconds to go. Decision time again, and once again, they went for a risk instead of going for a field goal that could be blocked.
“Ready… Go!” shouted Drago, in the pistol formation, and even with the opponent going all out to catch him in the backfield, he sidestepped the blitz and looked into the end zone for options. Nobody was open, and he instead tossed the ball to Inko underneath and let the running back step out of bounds with about three seconds left on the clock. Now it was time for the field goal unit to come out, and Erland Sagen finished warming up on the sideline and joined the best blockers on the field.
Carlo Foster was long snapping, Kaden Moore was holding, and Sagen felt like it was just him and the ball now as he stepped up for what had to be the biggest kick of his career. They were kicking towards the band and the rowdiest fans, which certainly added to the pressure, and the fans were already moving to the front rows and getting ready to rush the field if the kick was a success. Kaden got into position, and then gave the thumbs up sign and signaled for Carlo to make the snap.
The ball went into the air, Kaden caught it and turned the laces away from Erland, and the kicker struck the ball about as perfectly as you could, with it spinning end over end before flying through the goalposts and into the net, as the clock hit zero and the fans began climbing over the barriers and onto the grass. It was done, over, and once again, the giants from the north had escaped with a close victory that would put them closer to what they were hunting for: a title before it was too late to win one.
~
Amalie Russey had been somewhat disappointed to watch the playoffs from home while her sister was with the Friars as they had one of the best wins that you'd ever see in the playoffs, but as it turned out, she wasn't as unimportant as she believed she was. In a way, she had made a bigger impact on all of this than anyone, even if that hadn't been apparent to herself at first and hadn't been apparent to anyone else at first either.
She'd been lounging at home when she received a number of texts telling her to turn the sports channel on, and when she did look at the news, she saw that it was all about the situation that she had placed herself in. “It looks like the country may see its first international college football championship as the Mount Maris Friars eliminate Harbor College at the death to move on to the semifinals,” said the newscaster who was leading the segment. “But with both Redvali schools in the competition being surrounded by controversy in the past weeks, how long will the new success last?”
The newscaster paused, looking directly into the cameras. “It looks like Castle Valle Rojas University and by extension Mount Maris University will be in big trouble for actions committed by the Francis Allan led coaching staffs that are either currently at or were once at both schools, and that are being investigated by the RCAA for recruiting violations and impermissible benefits, the kind of thing that every school in the Super Twelve does and the kind of thing that's standard fare in football. Still, the suits at the RCAA want to make a point, and they're going to do that by potentially ruining everything for two of the biggest and best programs in our country. Why is this happening now, and not when Allan was winning with Castle? Well, it's all because of the RCAA finding their collaborator within one of these programs, a collaborator that happens to be a very selfish and stupid girl… For more on the story, stay tuned for the segment, in about ten minutes.”
And after hearing that, Amalie picked up her phone and called her sister, staring straight ahead at the TV screen. “Ari.. You're going to have to see this.”
