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We all quiet down and turn toward the flag at the back corner of the field for the Star-Spangled Banner. I don’t ever bother to look for anyone in the crowds during games, they aren’t on my team or on my field, which means for sixty minutes of football, they don’t exist to me.
But the sight that catches my eye has my heart beating harder than it was seconds ago.
Natalie Sinclair is standing on the sidelines, about 25 yards in front of the flag, next to her father.
Her back is turned toward me.
RYAN is printed across her small back in block letters. Where it is stretched shoulder to shoulder on me, it’s practically hanging off of her body, but it’s my jersey.
That’s when it clicks. At that moment, with my name on her back, I decide she is going to be the girl that wears my jersey for the rest of her life.
As the song ends and she turns back to the field, I catch her eye and don’t know that I have ever been so sure of anything.
* * *
We knew coming into this game it was going to be a battle. Our conference is full of powerhouse teams, and this game has been a bloodbath. There are ten seconds left on the clock. If we don’t score, we are going into sudden-death overtime.
The crowd is going crazy.
The marching band is playing our fight song.
Coach calls a time out. “Ryan! Get over here.”
Running over to him, I ask, “What’s the plan, coach? Are we throwing or kicking?”
“How’s the arm? Do you have that throw in you?”
“Yes, sir. I can throw that. Let me get it to Cooper. We can win this now, Coach.”
“You’ve got this, Ryan. Go win this game.”
Running back to the huddle, I relay the play. “You good, Coop?”
“I’ll be there, QB.”
The clock is running. I am on the 30-yard line.
Calling the play, I step back as Cooper sprints down the field. I shut everything else off.
The linebacker coming at me.
The fans screaming.
I find Cooper and throw the spiral right before I get tackled. He knocks the wind out of me for a second, but I still see Cooper catching the ball and crossing the end zone.
The clock runs out, and we win the game.
It isn’t until that moment that I register the roar of the crowd, and my eyes immediately search the sidelines for Nattie. She is jumping up and down, screaming next to her dad.
I watch Cooper run over to his dad and hug him.
One win down. Twelve more to go to get us to State.
27
Natalie
Ihave never enjoyed a football game this much in my entire life. Which is saying something since Cooper and I were two weeks old the first time my mom took us to one of my dad’s games. I never even went to sit with Chloe and Sabrina because I didn’t want to be that far away from the field. I understand now why my dad stands at the fence.
