Chapter 7: Football and Cheerleading

           Saturday, 4 o’clock in the afternoon, the day when the Wisconsin Football High School Championship was set and everyone in their team could not seem to breathe. The air seemed to thicken as everyone was on edge. This would be the first time that the school’s cheerleading team would showcase their newly accomplished routine.

“It’s our field. Nothing could go wrong,” Eric said encouragingly to his teammates while they were in the dressing room.

Kent grinned at Eric’s encouragement to their teammates. He slapped his back in a friendly manner. They were all ready to go now. Their headgears, pads and white uniforms, with blue BELMONT BRAVES printed in front, were all set and checked individually by their coach. He ensured that they were worn and placed correctly for the player’s ease while at play.

The game commenced; each team was announced and each player was named by the commentator. Then, the referee tossed a coin to start the game, while each captain of the two teams was at either side of him. The other team won.

Kent glanced in Elise’s direction before the game officially started. Dressed in her blue-white skimpy cheerleading uniform, Elise smiled and waved at him. He was inspired enough with her beautiful smile. He took a deep breath as his heart hummed in a steady pace. Then the cheerleading team started their chant as their team’s encouragement.

Zoe and Aidan were among the spectators and supporters of Eric’s team, naturally. They never missed a single game or activity of their son and daughter. As parents, they were truly a model and they were proud of their offspring.

Aidan held a camera and focused it on Eric and Elise one at a time. After a few minutes, Zoe spotted Mrs. Summers not so far away from the bench where they were seated. Her expression changed, and Aidan happened to see it.

“What is it?” he inquired with curiosity. His slightly bushy brown brows were slightly drawn together.

“Oh, nothing. Just that I saw someone I don’t want to see.” His wife merely shrugged her shoulders and made a face.

Aidan spotted Mrs. Summers and understood the change of his wife’s mood. But he smiled at her and offered the video camera to her.

“You get focused on this instead. My hand seems numb,” he said instead.

Zoe had no choice but to oblige even though she knew it was just an alibi.

There were only twelve minutes each quarter of the game. But it seemed that it was taking forever because of some call outs such as time outs and substitutes.

The ball was currently possessed by the other team. Eric was very energetic to follow the one who had the ball. And just a fraction of a second, he snatched the ball from the opponent and rushed to their goal, running in zigzag, jumping and evading. He saw the other team’s member on his heels. He noticed that Kent was nearer to the goal. He bluffed before he did the lateral pass to their quarterback and Kent rushed to their goal, his teammates protected him, including Eric.

The cheerleading team and spectators who supported and rooted for the team were so excited that they screamed at the top of their lungs. Their blue-and-white pompoms were shaken fiercely in their hands as they jumped up and down; their sweat ran down the side of their faces and necks.

There was a huge applause from the crowd when Kent made it to the goal, a touchdown. They scored six points! Then he kicked off the ball to the other team.

The other team got the ball, but then, Eric was there again to snatch the ball back like he was some kind of a pickpocket and he rushed back to reach their goal. He saw someone coming as if the guy was flying. He sidestepped, and the guy landed on the ground with his chest. The audience groaned “ooh” together with the poor guy.

Eric kept on running and avoiding the opponents. He looked for his teammate who was nearest to the goal. He spotted one and he hurled the football. Luckily, his teammate caught it and was the one who rushed to the goal. An oncoming tackle was on him and so he passed the ball to the nearest free teammate before he was down to the ground with three opponents on top of him.

Eric’s teammate propelled the football to Kent, and it was him again who dashed to the goal while his teammates protected him. He made it again and another touchdown!

By the end of the first half, their team was leading 24 to 12. It was the cheerleaders of the other team that were the first to perform in the middle of the field. There was a lot of screaming from the crowd when it was finished.

Next, Diana’s team came to take the center of the vast field. As it was their home field, the cheer from the crowd was louder than the first one. It was time to showcase their new routine. The exchange of flyers in basket toss was perfect! Aubrey was lower than Elise, who was slimmer than the first girl.

Her parents’ jaws dropped when they witnessed it. The fly in the basket toss was not the only highlight but also swinging the flyers before they were tossed high in the air. Zoe almost did not catch it in the video, so Aidan moved her hand just in time when Elise was so high up in the air, and she was caught by the other set of bases.

Kent swallowed when he saw that Elise was tossed higher than usual. He was relieved that the bases were able to catch her. He smiled with a feeling of pride when the cheerleading team finished with a large crowd whistling and screaming as they were entertained. It appeared that they could not get enough of the performance they had just witnessed.

By second half, the other team also scored twice, making it a tie. A few minutes left and the game was more heated up compared to the beginning of the game. Everyone seemed tense while the crowd stomped their feet or hooted. Eric was heavily guarded by the other team’s members that he could hardly run to assist his other teammates. He closed his eyes for a moment, inhaled deeply, and charged at the two men who were right in front of him. He tackled them single-handedly. He sprinted to his teammate who held the football and snatched it from him to race to their goal.

He moved so fast that Elise could not seem to believe that her brother could be that agile and strong. Then her eyes searched for Kent on the field. A wall of opponents hindered him but he was also able to tackle down two of their opponents. They fell hard to the ground and he went after Eric to assist him as there was one more opponent on his heels. He got hold of him and landed on top of the other on the ground. They rolled twice before Eric barely made the touchdown as there was another one that came out of nowhere, trying to stop him. But he was able to jump up in the air and twisted his body. When he landed on his feet, he made his first touchdown in that entire game.

The game was over, and their team won the championship.

Everyone in Belmont High School was so impressed and happy of the end result in spite of the heated game. Their opponents congratulated them, showing their sportsmanship. Eric’s and Elise’s parents came rushing forward to congratulate the siblings for their excellent performance. The pride in their faces was shown by their ear-to-ear smiles.

“We’re so proud of you both!” Zoe was smiling widely.

“Good job, son!” Aidan congratulated and hugged Eric for a second, clapping his back.

Eric’s grin was so wide as well. He was so wet with perspiration because of the game. Kent, who was in the same state, came together with his mother at his side. He slapped Eric’s back so hard.

“That was really cool back there, my friend!” he commented to his friend with admiration in his blue eyes.

“Thanks, Kent! I told you we’ll win this game!” Eric happily returned.

“And you were great, too,” Kent said to Elise.

Diana rolled her eyes with a grin. Elise just smiled her thanks to him, turning a little pink.

“How about a celebration?” Kent’s mom suggested. She wore a casual clothing like the Helmrick couple and was about the same age, around in her early forties.

“Oh, Aidan prepared earlier for a barbecue party later. Win or lose,” Zoe informed her excitedly.

“Wow! That’s great, Mom.” Elise hugged her father tightly and kissed his cheek.

“Thanks, Dad!” Eric chided.

“Then, we’ll head home!” Elise turned to Diana and Kent.

“We’ll go even though you haven’t invited us yet,” Diana chimed in and called out the other girls in their team, saying they were going to celebrate.

Everybody wanted to come, and so, a convoy of cars and trucks was heading toward the Helmricks’ home at around 7:45 in the evening.

When they arrived, Zoe and Aidan put on their apron right away to start grilling the pork meat that the latter had already prepared. Hotdogs and pizza were already set on the backyard table and everyone helped themselves with all the food served. Almost all of Eric’s buddies in the team were also there, including Kent and his mother, who also helped out in cooking the meat while talking with the Helmricks.

Kent talked with their buddies but his eyes strayed in Elise’s direction now and then. She was also busy talking and smiling with her co-members in the cheerleading team. And she, too, looked at Kent now and then. Sometimes their eyes met and held. With that, they would just smile at each other with mutual understanding.

It was already nine in the evening but more food and non-alcoholic drinks were served. The music was loud but the neighbors understood that it was a once in a blue moon party at the Helmricks’ house so they were not making a big deal out of it. 

The sick Mrs. Dorset just smiled and closed her eyes to sleep. Mrs. Helmrick already gave her some food earlier and explained that her son and daughter were going to have a football game at around 4:30 in the afternoon, so she sent the food earlier. Her niece would be home from work late at night and set the alarm so that she could take her medicine on time. But Mrs. Helmrick also made sure she took the medicine on time by checking in on her at the right time. She was thankful that her neighbor was very thoughtful of her. No wonder she was so blessed with a good husband who was working as a judge in their town, and a son and daughter who were very good to the elderly and performed well in school. She gave them her good thoughts before sleep snatched her consciousness.