Free Hail Mary by C.C. Galloway Page A

advice to his beleaguered quarterback. No one would see the tension or hear the words that demonstrated how far from encouragement they were.
    “We’ll do our job. You do yours.” The only noticeable sign Murray’s words had any effect was the tightening of Johansen’s jaw as he watched the defense take the field.
    Michael followed Murray out onto the field and lined up on the right side of the defensive line.
    ~ * ~ * ~
    It was the Eagles’ first down on their own thirty-four yard line. They had four wide-outs and one running back, no fullbacks and no tight ends. Higgins, the Tide’s defensive coordinator, called for a full penetration blitz on the Eagle’s quarterback.
    As a defensive end, Michael played on the outside edge of the defensive line. He was prepared to attack Harrison or stop any offensive runs to the outer edges of the line of scrimmage depending on the call. Campbell, the veteran defensive end, took his place on the left side. The Tide had drafted Tamar Johnson to replace Campbell within the next couple of years, but until then, Campbell showed up every week with everything he had. That was the only kind of intensity Michael respected.
    As soon as Ball, the Philadelphia Center, flipped the ball to Harrison, Michael took off like a rocket, blasting around the right side of the offense to penetrate and sack Harrison. He loved this. The rush. The fight. The blitz. None of their offensive linemen could stop him and he nearly succeeded, but narrowly missed at the last second as Harrison was able to get the ball off and aim it towards his running back, Tyrese Bradshaw, who let it slip through his fingers.
    Fuck, fuck, fuck .
    There was no excuse for letting that happen. A rookie mistake he’d never even made as a rookie.
    On Second and Ten, same play, but this time, Michael flew around the offensive line, and sacked Harrison for a loss of seven yards. The play quieted the crowd and all around him, his teammates congratulated themselves. DiPalma was clapping his hands enthusiastically on the sideline and the other coaches were nodding their heads, trying to maintain the optimism generated by the play. There were momentum-changing plays that electrified the team, energizing them. This qualified as one.
    Even so, no one approached him to congratulate him, slap his ass, or chest bump with him. They knew better. Murray was the only one who dared comment.
    “Now, that’s what I’m talkin’ about. Let’s go rip off the rest of Harrison’s nuts.”
    On Third and Seventeen, Santiago penetrated the offensive line and caused a fumble that Campbell immediately recovered. Johansen converted the fumble into a touchdown and the Tide ended up pulling it out, twenty-four to twenty-one in the final three minutes of the fourth quarter.
    “Helluva game, Santiago,” Murray congratulated him as they headed towards the locker room.
    “I should have had that last interception.”
    “Look. Every game has one or more plays that could have been improved on. We won and that’s all that counts. Enjoy it.”
    Michael’s icy silence was his only response.
    ~ * ~ * ~
    After the conclusion of the Tide’s game against the Eagles, Mary laced up her sneakers and searched for Max’s new leash. She’d had it earlier in the afternoon, but seemed to have misplaced it. Calleigh had called and was on her way over for an evening walk. Knowing Calleigh, it would be more run/walk than walking, but Mary was looking forward to it. She’d spent the afternoon with her rear glued to the couch. It wasn’t her fault one of the four televised football games was the Tide’s game against the Eagles, was it? She’d practically been forced to watch it. In her deepest heart, she knew it wasn’t so much the Tide that held her interest captive, but the Tide’s right defensive end. At least that was what she told herself as she found her eyes focused on the sidelines whenever the station would cut over to the uniformed players in grey pants and