Contrary to the rest of the stadium, Ty was welcomed warmly at the Dons' bench. Most fans had found their way directly behind the Dons, so even whilst being the minority, Ty heard them loud and clear. A hero's welcome.
He soaked in their cheers as readily as he had his haters' boos. Both were fuel to him. The same went for his teammates' praises. Coach Hoang beamed up at him, proudest of all.
'The more times I see plays like that outta you, Samuels, the more impressive they get,' Coach Hoang said.
'I'm the best, I know,' Ty said, grin splitting his face.
'The best at taking compliments like an ass. Careful with how big your head gets, it'll weigh you down soon. Sit down, Samuels. You've earned a break, however short it'll be.'
Ty was still grinning as he sat. If his grin could've got bigger it would've when he saw how irate Fale and the Eagles were on the opposite sideline. It was a muted reaction, nobody slammed a helmet or kicked a bench, but he could see them fuming. Even from across the field he could see Fale shaking with rage.
But where was the kicking team? Ty looked around, no-one from the Dons had moved onto the field, even if the Special Teams unit was ready. Coach Long was pacing, contemplating; they were only down by 2 points, why go for a kick when a two-point conversion could tie the game immediately? Coach Norman looked at him expectantly, awaiting his verdict. Bella was watching closely too, but she let her opinion be known.
'You gotta go for it, Da… Coach,' she pleaded.
He stopped and sighed as if removing a great burden from himself. 'Let's do it,' he finally said.
'You heard him!' Coach Norman shouted. 'Offence! Get your butts in gear and get out there!'
Jay groaned but stood and hurried onto the field, surprising more than a few of his teammates as he led them.
On the other sideline, the Eagles scrambled to match them; Fale stormed onto the field at the head of their flock.
Even if the Dons and Coach Long were normally conservative with their approach, this choice was a no-brainer. A failure here would practically be the same as a successful extra-point attempt anyway.
The Eagles' fans weren't happy with the decision, and raucous chants of DEE-FENCE rocked the building as the two teams hurried into their formations.
Jay covered the holes of his helmet, blocking out the noise as best he could, listening to the play call. It wasn't something they practised much, but the Dons had a few plays for just this exact situation. He took his place under Center, and relayed the orders.
'TWO FEET!'
He hoped they remembered the short code, but Coach Long's indecision hadn't left much time for longer orders. When everyone was in place, he took the snap, and turned instantly to hand the ball over.
Chris charged forward, the Line shifting left. He went to take the ball, but only mimed the action, leaving it with Jay. It was Play-Action, a fact Fale noticed when Benny pushed him aside and darted into an Out route.
Jay wheeled away from Chris, turning in a wide arc as he ran to the right, following Benny. It wasn't just any Play-Action, but a Bootleg at that.
Fale's fury drove him forward, then his gaze darted to Benny—if Benny ran a route, it fell to Fale to guard him. Jay was right there, but if Fale rushed in blindly, Benny would be wide open for an easy conversion, and Jay was already posturing to pass the ball off.
Fale scrambled back into coverage, chasing Benny. Jay pulled the ball back to his chest, tucking it under his arm as he ran forward and dove into the end-zone, leaving a hesitant Fale in no-man's land.
'NOOOO!' came the collective cry from the crowd as the two-point conversion was succesful and the scoreboard ticked over again. The game was all tied at 14 points.
Coach Norman pumped his fist. 'Woo! Just how we drew it up!'
Coach Long slapped him on the back, clutching his own chest. His heart was trying to break through his rib cage, and he could hardly imagine how Jay was feeling. He'd stared down a vengeful Fale and trusted in himself and his coach's plan. It was Jay who'd got it done … and Bella who convinced him it was the right idea. He looked across at his daughter—she was also clutching her chest—and pulled her into a tight hug.
'It's a team effort,' he said.
'Let's go, Dons!'
A jubilant cry came from the small section of Dons supporters as the offence returned. Jay received the king's share of the praise, taking it reluctantly as he kept his head bowed and quickly found his seat on the bench.
'The job's not done,' he said, settling the boys down.
Whilst the hard part was over and the comeback was complete, all the Dons had done, in truth, was bring the game back to its beginning. The score might as well have read 0–0. The game would begin again, and the angry Eagles would have the first shot at breaking the tie.
The following kickoff ended with a touchback, sending the Dons' defence back out to defend that tie. Ty strode ahead confidently. He was in Fale's head, and without him, the Eagles were wingless.
Fale shifted over to Elias's side as they took their formation. Ty stood behind Donte, just to the outside of him, awaiting the snap. Most likely the Eagles were signalling run with that formation, but he still had to be wary of getting tripped up if they went for a pass.
The ball was snapped and as Ryan handed the ball off, Fale launched himself at Ty. Donte crashed down as well, he and Fale colliding, glancing off one another before Donte engaged Elias, standing him up. Ty rushed forward, trying to slip through the gaps, but Fale buried him.
JJ weaved through, brushing by Fale and engaging Elias. When the RB turned the corner, trying to skirt by, JJ stretched out and snagged them, dragging them down after a gain of 2.
Fale picked the fallen RB up and quickly marched back to the Eagles huddle. JJ helped Donte and Ty back up, bumping fists with both of them. 'You good, you good?' Both boys nodded.
Ty glanced over his shoulder as they formed their own huddle. Had Fale fully cracked? It seemed like it. Either way, the Dons' offence only needed to score once more and the game was over. The Eagles were cooked.
The Eagles tried a pass, and the Dons stood tall. Fale went deep, but Ryan's faith was rattled once more, and he passed Fale over without a second glance. The rest of his options weren't much better, and he ended up throwing the ball away, pushing the Eagles to third down.
In the next huddle, Fale pulled Ryan aside, putting their helmets together. 'Don't waver,' Fale said. 'I let you down again, but it's different now. Trust me, Ryan. We can do this.' He slapped Ryan on the back of his neck, then turned away to take his position.
Ryan took a deep breath as he walked over to his spot behind the rest of the offence. He glanced Fale's way, who looked back and met his eyes, nodding. Tyrese Samuels was watching him too, and Ryan made the mistake of meeting his eyes too, even if only for a moment. It was like looking into the eyes of a shark right before they bit you.
He tried to shake the image out of his head before they had to snap the ball, but failed. He caught the snap, and stepped back another yard before bouncing forward into the pocket.
His eyes scanned the field. Fale was charging ahead on a Post route. Ty shadowed him, still backing off, watching everything unfold before him. Maybe if Ryan could squeeze the ball in on a lower throw, Ty should be too far back to reach it in time. But that's what Ryan had thought the last time, and not only did that throw end up as an interception, but one Ty returned for a touchdown.
"He's faster than the film. Too fast."
But Joseph was strong, and had practically begged for Ryan to trust him. He had to trust Joseph, right? If not, who else could he trust? He cocked back to throw. Those eyes. The shark's jaws closed around him. Ryan brought the ball back to his chest. And that saved him from fumbling.
Donte—who, knowing the Eagles had to pass, had lined up against the LT—raced around the corner. He attacked Ryan's blindside after wrong-footing the Tackle and batting aside his desperate block. Ryan never saw Donte coming, and Donte almost snapped him in half as he speared him into the turf.
For the Eagles, it seemed lucky the play only resulted in a sack rather than a fumble. Fale and Ryan knew better than that. They both knew it was Ryan's hesitation which had caused the sack.
Fale walked off the field, not even glancing his teammates' way as he sat on the bench. He was steaming. Ty walked off alone as the other Dons crowded around Donte, congratulating him. It was a shame the ball hadn't been thrown towards Fale—it would've been another pick for Ty. But it didn't matter. Fale, and the Eagles, were cooked.
The Dons' rise continued as Chris got around the first defender on his punt return and ran the ball back 13 yards, giving the Dons good field position to start their drive. By all accounts it looked like the Dons were well on their way to taking the lead.
Even with the first play of the drive—another run—the success continued for the Dons with a gain of 5. Even Elias could be pushed back with the help of overwhelming momentum. The Dons were riding high, the crowd getting on their side, more and more voices joining their cries. Sure, those new voices had to come from bandwagoners who not even five minutes ago would've been screaming for the Eagles to crush them, but they were welcomed voices anyway; their shouts added to the Dons' momentum the same as even the most loyal fan's.
Jay took the next snap, turning back to give it over to Chris again. A fake leading to Play-Action. With the good run on first down, they could look for something deeper on second without much risk.
He turned back around after the fake hand-off to scan the field, and his eyes lit up. Fale was right in front of his face already. It was like the huge Samoan had been shot out of a cannon. Chris threw himself in Fale's path, but it hindered Fale about as much as an insect hindered a semi-trailer when it splattered on the windshield. All Jay could do was curl up around the ball and try to lessen the impact before Fale crushed him with another sack.
The sack set the Dons back 6 yards, erasing Chris's run and then some. Thankfully, Jay held onto the ball. That fact did little to ease his woes as he lay under Fale in the immediate aftermath of the car crash called a sack.
Fale stood, and the Dons parted like the red sea as he walked through them and back to his own team. Jay was helped to his feet and dusted off. He was fine to continue, but it was obvious the tide had shifted.
"Just like that," Jay thought. "After all that work, when we're finally in control … that guy snatches it back with one play." Such dominance, without any regard to anyone else around them, reminded Jay all too much of the person he hated most.
'Bastard,' he muttered, staring at Fale's back.
The Dons lined up again, determined to work faster, and earn back those yards in one swoop. The drive didn't have to end just because of one sack. They still had a chance to earn a first down. But they'd have to be quick.
Fale was like a man possessed. At the snap he brushed past Benny with ease, barrelling through the Tackle. Jay had only take a single step back and already he was under pressure. He lobbed the ball high over Fale's head, dropping it into Benny's hands safely. Benny turned upfield, but had a long battle ahead of him as Eagles swooped in from all sides in front of him. It was too tall a task, and he only managed to claw out 4 yards before they dragged him down.
Fale had single-handedly disrupted the Dons' offence and caused them to falter. The wind was back under the Eagles' wings, and the Dons had to punt.
Coach Norman welcomed Jay and the offence back to the sideline with concern in his voice and eyes. 'How you feeling, Jay? You alright? C'mon boys, I thought we were gonna protect him. You're getting him killed out there.'
Jay waved him off, lying down on the bench. 'I'm fine, I'm fine. … Relax, Coach … it's my own fault.'
The others promised to do better. Sure, Jay was fine now, but he could only take so many hits like that from someone like Fale before something inevitably cracked. Benny sat nearby, jaw clenched.
A fair catch started the Eagles on their own 21-yard line. Ty took a last look at the Dons' offence on the bench before venturing onto the field with the defence. Fale had cracked, he was right about that. But under that righteous, pure exterior, lay something nasty. Something Ty suspected had been dormant so long, even Fale had forgotten he had it within him.
Ty studied him from up close as the two teams met again. Fale was different, he could feel it. Similar to how he could feel when Lennox shifted. "Does that mean he's special?" Though it was unlike Lennox. Rather than a sleeping beast now awoken and rampaging, Fale didn't have any kind of bestial aura. Looking at him, Ty didn't see a predator stalking its prey, or lying in wait, nor did he even see a prey trying to simulate a predator in order to mask its own weakness. No, it was much colder and indifferent than that. He couldn't quite put his finger on it.
Fale was still beside Elias at the end of the Eagles' Line. They were definitely stubborn. Ty narrowed his eyes, hairs on the back of his neck standing up. If Fale was different, how different would the rest of the offence act?
The ball was snapped and Fale slapped Donte down with Elias's help before he lunged for Ty. Ty went for his legs but Fale dipped lower and met him, crushing him and bowling him over. Elias ran forward, leading the way for the RB. JJ swooped in, but Elias met him head on, the RB still running freely as the rest of the Dons converged, only stopping the run after 11 yards.
The Dons picked themselves up, gingerly, most feeling like they'd tried and failed to stop a runaway truck with nothing but their own bodies. Ty massaged his shoulder as he walked back to the huddle. "They're just going to run us over? Is that all?" That didn't feel right.
JJ urged them not to worry and to prepare for another fierce encounter as they took their positions again. If the Eagles kept running at a brick wall, even if they broke it down once or twice, the Dons would just rebuild, stronger and stronger each time.
The ball was snapped and again Fale attacked Donte with Elias, shoving him further inside before lunging towards Ty. Another run, Ty could see the QB turning to hand it over. He dove at Fale's legs again, and was brushed aside as Fale skirted past him this time.
From the ground, peering through dozens of legs, Ty saw the QB come away with the ball. He struggled to his feet as Ryan whirled and heaved the ball towards Fale. It was an easy catch, and turning upfield, Fale ran right over Deshaun.
JJ sprinted over, fighting with Fale along the sideline. Fale held him off for a few seconds, gaining a few extra yards before JJ finally wrestled him out of bounds after a gain of 13.
Fale had found more strength from somewhere inside himself, and he'd quickly proved that strength wouldn't help just the run game. Ty chewed on his mouth guard, staring at a tricky and annoying puzzle. It shouldn't be his job to stop the run, but because of that bastard Joseph Fale it was.
But how was he to stand up to Fale in the run game AND still be in a position to cover his route if it turned out to be a fake? That was the puzzle he couldn't solve, yet it was one he needed to answer quickly, else the Eagles would take control again.
Play after play the Dons were shoved back, whether by a pass or run. Fale led the way, bulldozing the Dons on the ground, and slipping away from a conflicted Ty through the air. The Dons were in no-man's land, unable to stop the Eagles no matter which way they chose to move the ball.
Fale led the Eagles across half-field without breaking a sweat, and they seemed well on their way to the end-zone when the third quarter ended. The final break was the Dons' only saving grace, giving them a desperately needed reprieve, as well as more time to put the pieces of the puzzle together.
There was a lot to reassess, and the coaches already had their heads together, figuring out what exactly needed changing in the final quarter.
As Ty slumped onto the bench, panting hard, he understood what Fale was. His movements weren't wild or beastlike. They were precise, almost rigid. Fale was an unstoppable machine built to run through and over whatever lay in his path.