SCREAMING BATFISH BLUES #7

SCREAMING BATFISH BLUES #7

JUICE

NEW RICHLAND

Pumped up wasn’t the description for it. Jake played on special teams and on the opening kickoff was flagged for being five fucking yards offside.

When Madison Lake did get the ball, they ran up the gut for the first two plays with little or no gain. On third down, their receiver caught the pass after a short button hook, laid his head down and knocked Jake flat on his ass, and then ran untouched for a seventy yard touchdown.

On the ensuing kickoff, New Richland fumbled on their thirty yard line and Madison Lake recovered. On the very next play the Madison Lake coach called for a reverse and the wide out once more put his head down and bulled over for Jake for a score. Within three minutes the score was 14-0. The New Richland coach asked Jake if he was all right and if he maybe wanted to sit the next series out to regain his composure, but the young defensive back refused.

New Richland’s next series was three and out and the defense returned to the field. Jake’s instincts told him that the opposing team felt he was vulnerable and decided to take matters in his own hands. The speedball that he had snorted made his heart feel like it was ready to beat out of his chest.

At the snap of the ball he rushed the QB on a blitz but was picked up by the Madison Lake tight end who gave Jake a shot to the chest, knocking him to one knee. But the tight end didn’t follow up and Jake sprang to his feet, rolled around the end, and charged the quarterback who had faked a handoff and rolled out to the right side of the field.

The QB threw a long pass down field to a wide open receiver and didn’t notice the oncoming rusher until he caught a flash of the opposing team colors out of the corner of his eye and turned directly into the hit.

Jake had been a good five yards away when the QB had thrown the pass and had plenty of time to hold up. But whether it was the speed, or the accident, or just all the shit that had followed it, he didn’t. He would

never really ever know why he did it.

He had left his feet and the crown of his helmet hit the quarterback straight on the chin, knocking him down and out. You could hear the collision from the top row of the bleachers.

Both benches cleared and in the ensuing melee fans from both towns spilled out of the stands and brawled in the middle of the field like it was an English soccer final. Over a dozen players and fans were injured.

One player from Madison Lake was stabbed in the rib cage. Jake always suspected his Uncle Jake in that incident.

When order was finally restored with the help from more level headed fans and a few police officers in attendance, the opposing team’s quarterback was still laying stone cold unconscious in the spot where he had been hit, his condition forgotten about during the fight. He would be diagnosed with a severe concussion and would require over twenty stitches in his chin. The game was called and forfeited to Madison Lake.

The following Monday, Jake attended a hearing in the office of the school principal and was informed of his suspension for the entire football season by the school board and the Minnesota High School Athletic

Commission. Next season he would have to reapply for a hearing with the board to determine his eligibility.

Jake walked out of the principal’s office and the front door of the school and would never return.