Tyrone’s neck snapped back. His eyes rolled up into his head. His arms and legs fell slack. The body that had been hurtling forward just seconds before came to a dead stop. Tyrone Hill crumpled to the ground, motionless.

  12

  Ejected and Dejected

  Colt was laid out flat on the turf. Stunned.

  He got up slowly, steadying himself on one knee. He looked around, dazed from the crushing blow. The players from both teams had formed a ring around the injured pair. Somewhere he heard a whistle blow. The referee waved at the Panther bench for help.

  “Someone call an ambulance!”

  It was all a blur.

  A voice called out next to him. “Put your arm around my shoulder, bro.”

  Colt leaned on Bulldog and trudged woozily off the field. The two players walked towards Coach. Colt expected a high-five, a smile, or at least a nod. He had done what he had been told. He had taken out forty-four.

  “That was a mean tackle,” Coach said, shaking his head. “I don’t know why you hit him like that.”

  Colt’s jaw dropped. Coach knows exactly why I did it.

  An ambulance drove onto the grass with its lights flashing red and blue. Colt sat on the bench and watched two paramedics rush onto the field. Tyrone Hill was carried off on a stretcher. His head was strapped down so it wouldn’t move. “A safety precaution,” one of the paramedics said, “just in case his neck is broken.”

  The Panthers clapped for their injured teammate as he was whisked off the field. The Warriors did the same. They all knew it could be one of them next time.

  The paramedics weren’t the only ones paying attention to the injured player. The reporter for the school newspaper was waiting for them on the sideline. Andrea ran beside the stretcher asking the medical team questions about Tyrone’s condition.

  “Was he knocked out?”

  “He was unconscious for a minute, but he’s awake now.”

  “Can he talk?”

  “He doesn’t know where he is.”

  “Is it a concussion?”

  “Could be. The doctors will have to examine him. We’re just trying to get him to the hospital as soon as we can.”

  The paramedics carefully placed Tyrone into the back of the ambulance. The white emergency vehicle roared away, siren blaring into the late afternoon air. Andrea stood watching the ambulance disappear. She shot a glance at Colt and shook her head. She wrote a few more notes in her book. Then she walked away.

  The referee blew his whistle, signalling the game to start again. But first, he had to make a call on Colt’s tackle. He tapped the forearm of his striped jersey to indicate a penalty and pointed towards the Warriors. “We’ve got a personal foul against the Warriors’ number fifty-five,” he said. “That’s a fifteen-yard penalty for spearing.”

  A fifteen-yard penalty isn’t so bad, Colt thought. He’d be back in action just as soon as he recovered from the hit. But the ref wasn’t finished. “And number fifty-five is ejected from the game.”

  Colt slumped on the bench. He had been kicked out. His game was over.

  The penalty moved the Panthers fifteen yards down the field, but that was as far as they got into Warrior territory. Without their star running back the Panthers had lost their number one weapon. They had no fangs to bite into the Warriors’ defence. Bulldog and Gunner shut down their second-string halfback every time he carried the ball. Their passing attack was grounded. Sanjay and Jamal covered their receivers like a blanket on every play. The Panthers had to keep punting the ball back.

  The Warriors could sense the momentum was shifting. Suddenly, the game was going their way. Keegan guided the offence to two more touchdowns. The Warriors had closed the gap and now only trailed

  24–21. It was late in the fourth quarter. The Panthers were running out of gas. Just holding on. No one could see that more than Coach.

  “We’re only down by three points!” He paced in front of the bench waving his hands wildly. “We can win this game! There’s no stopping us!”

  Coach called Keegan to the sideline. “I don’t want any excuses! We’re going in for the score.” He shouted out a series of plays for the Warriors’ quarterback to call and shoved him back onto the field.

  Colt sat silently on the bench. Gunner was next to him on one side. Bulldog was on the other.

  “I didn’t think you had it in you, man,” Gunner said. “You crushed that guy. It was awesome.”

  “I did what I had to do,” Colt said. “Tyrone Hill was killing us.”

  Bulldog narrowed his eyes at Colt. “Yeah, but that didn’t mean you had to kill him.” He stood up from the bench and walked away leaving Colt behind.

  Colt wanted to tell Bulldog why he’d done it. How he wanted to do what his dad told him to. But also how his dad couldn’t remember telling him to make the hit. He wanted to do what was right. But he didn’t know what was right anymore. It was all too hard to explain. No one would understand. Not even Bulldog.

  With less than a minute to play Keegan tossed a thirty-yard pass to the Warrior flanker. Anthony made a fingertip catch at the ten-yard line and dashed into the Panther end zone for a touchdown. The comeback was complete. The Warriors had won 28–24. They were going to the championship.

  13

  Trapped

  Colt knew the drill.

  Andrea would pace outside the locker room like a hungry pit bull waiting for a bone. She had questions about the game and she wanted answers — now. She had to meet the deadline for the Woodside Weekly.

  Colt knew she’d be fuming. She had been working on her story about head injuries for weeks. How they were happening more and more in high school football. And now this. She was an eyewitness to a helmet hit that sent a star running back to the hospital. Worst of all, she had seen her boyfriend do it.

  The rest of the team was celebrating the victory, but Colt wasn’t in a partying mood. He was still feeling a little woozy from the hit. Plus, getting kicked out of the game meant he didn’t see any more action. Bulldog and Gunner had to work extra hard to make up for him not playing.

  Even though the Warriors won, most of the players were concerned about the injured Panther.

  “You nailed that dude,” Sanjay said. “I hope he’s all right.”

  Jamal nodded. “I’ve never seen a hit like that. I thought his head was going to pop off.”

  Sanjay and Jamal bumped knuckles with Colt, but that didn’t make him feel any better. He had never wanted to hurt another player. He hated that. He hated Coach for making him do it. And then acting like he had nothing to do with it.

  He shot Coach an angry glare. He was all smiles, laughing it up with Gunner, who had become his favourite player. He would do anything Coach said. No questions asked.

  All Coach wanted was the win so the team could go on to the championship. He didn’t seem to care about injuring the other team. Or that Colt might have been hurt from the dirty tackle as well. He could have been carried off the field just like Tyrone Hill.

  Colt took his time getting dressed. He even spent two whole minutes tying up his kicks. If he had been on the field the referee would have given him another penalty for delay of game. He secretly hoped that if he waited long enough Andrea would give up and leave so he wouldn’t have to face her. He was wrong.

  By the end, it was just Colt and Coach left in the locker room. They had been avoiding each other the whole time. Bulldog, Gunner, Sanjay, Jamal, and Keegan had all split a long time ago.

  Coach came out of his office and motioned to Colt. “Let’s go,” he said, walking to the locker room door. “Mom will have dinner on the table.”

  He swung the door open and came face to face with Andrea. Just like the players in the game, she hadn’t given up. She didn’t waste any time in hitting Coach with her first question. The words came flying out sharp as knives. “Is that the only way the Warriors can win, Coach?”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “I think you do,” she shot back. “The Panther running back was taken out on purpose. You went headhunting.”

  “Headhunting? Listen you, pint-sized princess, you don’t even know what that means.”

  “Don’t I?” Andrea asked. Her eyes were narrowed in suspicion. Her nostrils flared. Now she was in full pit bull attack mode. “Maybe no one else knows about you getting suspended for headhunting back in 1989 with the Steelers. But I do!”

  Colt watched the blood drain out of his father’s face.

  “How do you know about that? That was a long time ago.”

  “I’m a reporter. It’s my job to know.”

  “That’s the way we played in the pros,” Coach growled. He clenched his jaw so he wouldn’t yell. “It’s a man’s game. People get hurt all the time. You wouldn’t understand.”

  “The only thing I have to understand is a fifteen-year-old boy is lying in a hospital with a head injury.”

  “We’re all sorry forty-four got hurt. It was an accident just like the quarterback hurting his knee in the other game.”

  “It sure didn’t look like an accident,” Andrea said. “It looked like Colt went out there to get him. Like he used his helmet as a weapon.”

  “Sometimes teenagers don’t know what they’re doing,” Coach said.

  Andrea’s eyes blazed with anger. “So you’re saying Colt did it by himself. That he went out there to hurt the Panther on purpose? That you had nothing to do with it?”

  Coach nodded. “That’s what I’m saying. I don’t remember telling him to hit anyone.” He pushed past Andrea and kept walking.

  Colt felt like the walls of the hallway were closing in. On one side, his dad wasn’t admitting to anything. Coach was acting like he’d never even talked to Colt. On the other side, Andrea was ticked off. She had a right to be. Colt also knew he was next on her attack list. She wouldn’t go easy on him. She had no mercy when it came to reporting the truth. Andrea narrowed her dark eyes further and fired her next round straight at him.

  “Tell me you didn’t spear the Panthers’ player on purpose, Colt. Tell me you believe in playing fair like you always say you do. Tell me your coach, your father, ordered you to hit Tyrone Hill in the head. Tell me he’s the headhunter, not you.”

  By the end of Andrea’s speech her eyes had started to glisten.

  Colt was trapped. He couldn’t reveal the truth to Andrea. Coach was standing just down the hall. He could hear every word. If Colt ever wanted to play football again, or have his dad trust him again, he couldn’t blame him for the tackle. He couldn’t admit that it was all Coach’s idea. That his own father had ordered him to take out the Panther. Andrea would hate him. His father would hate him. Neither one might ever talk to him again.

  Colt was at a complete loss for words. So, he looked straight ahead and walked right past his girlfriend.

  “Hey, we’re not done here, Colt. Where do you think you’re going?”

  “Home.”

  It was his only way out. Even though he knew things would be no better at home.

  14

  Alone

  Colt sat on the edge of the chair. His leg bounced up and down like a jackhammer.

  The Edmonton High School Football League had called an emergency meeting. They had to decide if Colt should be suspended for his hit on the Panther running back. The trial was to be held in their office in five minutes.

  He had taken a bus downtown after his last class at school. He didn’t want to ride in the car with Coach. There had been nothing but dead air between them during the drive home after the game.

  They had stayed out of each other’s way at home, too. Colt ate dinner watching TV while Coach sat with his mom at the kitchen table. Then, when Coach came into the living room to watch a detective show, Colt disappeared into his bedroom. He wanted to finish some homework and then chill playing a video game. When Coach zigged, he zagged.

  Colt was shown into a meeting room. A half-dozen black chairs were spaced around a table. One by one the chairs were filled by the league president, the referee, and other league officials. After a few minutes there was only one empty chair. Coach still hadn’t arrived.

  Colt kept his head down and stared at the table. He was worried about the meeting. Should he say Coach ordered the hit? Or should he say he did it all himself? He knew it must look bad. But he didn’t know how he could blame his dad, even though his dad had been blaming him.

  Coach finally walked in. “Sorry I’m late. I got lost driving over. I thought I knew the address, but I guess I forgot.”

  Colt watched him give the president a big smile like he had nothing to hide.

  The president shook his hand and sat down to start the meeting. “I want to thank you all for coming on such short notice. This is an important matter and it deserves immediate attention.”

  “I couldn’t agree more,” Coach said.

  “First things first,” the president said. “How is Tyrone Hill?”

  A woman sitting beside Colt checked her notes. “The medical report from the doctor says he’s got a concussion and will be kept in the hospital another day for observation.”

  “A concussion?” Coach asked. “That’s serious.”

  “Very serious,” the president said, narrowing his eyes at Colt. “Spearing with your helmet is a dangerous play and we can’t allow it in this league.”

  “I couldn’t agree more,” Coach said.

  Colt’s eyes grew wide with shock. Coach was acting like he didn’t believe in spearing. Like he had never done it in the NFL. Like he had never told Colt to do it. But Colt felt powerless to say anything. Who was the league going to believe, after all? A head coach who used to play in the National Football League, or a fifteen-year-old kid?

  “Let’s review what happened,” the president said.

  “Here’s the way I saw it,” the referee said, looking across the table at Colt. “The middle linebacker for the Warriors went straight for the head of the Panther running back with his helmet.”

  “Did it look like an accident?” the president asked.

  “Not a chance,” the ref said, shaking his head. “The Warriors’ player was on a mission. His only goal was to knock the head off of number forty-four. It was sickening.”

  The president folded his hands together on the table. “It seems clear the Warriors’ Colt Taylor was responsible for hitting the Panther running back and giving him a concussion. All that’s left to determine is if he was ordered to do it.”

  “I take that as an insult!” Coach roared, pounding the table. “Don’t you think I’d remember ordering something as awful as a spear to the head? I want my team to win as much as the next coach. But not at any cost. I didn’t even talk to Colt before the play.”

  “Please calm down, Coach Taylor,” the president said, holding up his hands. “We just want to get to the bottom of this.” He turned to Colt. “Is what Coach says true? Did you decide to hit the Panther running back all by yourself? Or did he tell you to do it?”

  Colt’s heart pounded in his chest. His hands started to sweat. He was confused. He didn’t know what to think. What if his dad was telling the truth? What if he really didn’t remember ordering the hit? He couldn’t blame his dad for something he didn’t even know he did. But the league could. What would happen if he told them what actually happened?

  “It was me, sir. I did it myself.”

  “You’re sure?” the president asked, giving Colt a chance to change his story.

  Colt hung his head. “I’m sure.”

  The president gave a stern nod. “Then you leave us no choice but to suspend you for the championship game next week. This hearing is over.”

  The meeting room door opened. Colt walked through it in a daze. He looked straight ahead like a zombie. Not left, or right, or at his dad. He had to escape.

  He could hear the league president talking to a reporter in the hallway. The reporter’s voice sounded familiar.

  Andrea had found out about the meeting. She had the president cornered and was drilling him with questions. “Will there be a suspension?” she demanded.

  “Yes.”

  “Will it be for the coach or the player?”

  “We’ve decided the coach was innocent, but the player was to blame. As a result of our findings, Colt Taylor will be suspended for the final game.”

  Andrea stopped writing in her notebook. Her pen dropped to the floor. She glanced at Colt with the saddest look he had ever seen.

  Colt walked towards her. He needed to talk to someone who believed in him like Andrea always did.

  “I had no choice,” he said, reaching out to her.

  “You always have a choice, Colt. And you made the wrong one. As far as I’m concerned you deserve the suspension.”

  “Let’s get out of here and talk about it, Andy.”

  “I want to leave too. But not with you, Colt. I can’t believe you did this. Not after everything we found out about your dad and concussions. From now on you’re on your own. We’re done.”

  Colt watched Andrea walk away and step into the elevator. She turned and looked right through him like he was a ghost. Then she vanished behind the closing doors.

  15

  The Buzz

  News spread through the school like wildfire.

  Did you hear? Did you hear? The best player on the Warriors has been suspended for the championship game! Yeah! The coach’s own son!

  The corridors buzzed with students and staff unable to believe what had happened. From the moment he entered school that morning Colt couldn’t take one step without someone throwing an insult at him.

  “We can’t win now,” a boy said, shaking his head as he walked by Colt’s locker.

  “I didn’t know the Warriors were such dirty players,” a cheerleader sneered in the cafeteria.

 

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