Robofootball: Doublespin

Friday, September 28th, 2018, a great night for football. There had been no rain for a solid week since the game with Meredith and the game time temperature was a balmy 69 degrees at 7 p.m., and would not leave the 60’s through the course of the contest. The bus ride down south was barely 20 minutes. Clare boasted as being the gateway to the North Country in Michigan since it lie in the center of the Lower Peninsula, but the same claim could be made from Ludington on the eastern shore of Lake Michigan in a line east just beyond the tri-cities of Bay City, Saginaw, and Midland. Clare would be tough from a football standpoint since the town and school for that matter was half again as large as Harrison, and in a higher Class B or Division 3 as opposed to Harrison’s old C or new Division 6 status. As a result, many of Harrison’s starters would be 2nd or 3rd string while Harrison’s back-ups would likely not have made Clare’s team at all during cut time.

Jess felt it on the opening drive as the Hornets won the coin toss, took the ball, and started play at their own 28-yard line. On his first play from scrimmage from the shotgun, the defensive nose guard overpowered the center and seemed to be in Jess’s face in 2 seconds. Jess deftly rolled right and hit his tight end for a 5-yard gain as the nose guard shoved him to the ground. Jess learned the hard way on that very first play how his game was going to go; yet, the play calling was good with quick hitters, hitches, and screens; in short, Jess was on despite tremendous pressure. He had to scramble like never before, roll out of the pocket continuously, throw the ball away here and there like a good quarterback does to avoid a sack, but through all of that, he pin-pointed his passes, many in double coverage while he was on the run. A nice flee-flicker trick play with Jess getting a return lateral threw Clare off guard and left one of the two running backs alone in the end zone for a 17-yard TD throw.

The problem was that Clare’s offense was even higher powered than Harrison’s. With a good athletic drop back passer similar to Jess, the Clare receivers were taller and faster than Harrison’s corners, and the quarterback had much more time to throw, particularly in the comfort of the pocket. As a result, it seemed like Clare could score at will, whether in the air or on the ground, it didn’t matter. Clare would rack up 600 yards of offense and score 7 touchdowns. They would punt once and stop themselves twice with a lost fumble and an interception.

Jess would actually have his first 300-yard passing game and finish at 301-3-1, with the one interception being a good throw that was tipped off of the outstretched arms of the receiver right into the numbers of a defensive back. It was also the first game that Jess, in the heat of battle, instigated a double spin move, more by instinct than with any preconceived notion. With a defensive end bearing down on his blind side, Jess caught the movement at the last second out of the corner of his eye, and spun clockwise a full 360 degrees to avoid the hit. The nose guard, who had been harassing him the entire game, followed up the center and Jess spun a full circle counterclockwise. Both defenders came up empty handed with nothing but arm grazes across Jess’s back. Jess actually ran forward scrambling for 6 yards before a zone linebacker dropped out of short coverage and put him down.

Despite the good offensive numbers, Harrison would lose their first game of the year, 49-31. Jess would be sacked 3 times, knocked down 7 more, tackled 3 times for fairly short gains when he had to tuck it and run, and hurried countless others. The chin strap housing that had been damaged against Meredith came unsnapped twice, once when he was sacked, and another when he was knocked down after completing a pass. It wasn’t the snap that was the problem, but the support itself. Although there was not an overall concussive blow, the sacks and knockdowns still rattled his head some. Though he would not remember this day as the starting point, he began to experience periodic dizzy spells after the Clare game, just one or two a day initially, but like a slow drip or leak in faucet or oil pan, they would never improve.

Jess’s performance in the next two games would have the college scouts descending on him like geese coming into Michigan to winter over from northern Canada, despite the threats to ban football. The Rosebush Warriors were similar in class and style as Harrison, but Jess would be the difference. He would go 20 for 26 on the road that resulted in an amazing 77% completion percentage, his best of the year. He added 2 touchdown passes and no interceptions to the mix. Harrison would win 35-21 and improve their record to 4-1 despite playing 3 road games in a row. Jess would get a chance to use what was becoming his patented double spin move twice during the game, and his loose chin strap support came undone 3 times, once on a sack, and twice on knockdowns. The helmet popped off once when he was already on the ground. The dizzy spells didn’t increase much after the game, but he would still get 2 or 3 per day and they weren’t going away or lessening in intensity.

The following week on Friday, October 12, 2108, Jess would have an even bigger night than the one against Marion. It was homecoming, and, as many schools do at both the high school and college level, they would schedule a cream puff to enhance the chances of a successful night. The Marion Mighty Mallards did not exude much in the way of fear with their somewhat less than ferocious mascot name, and even less so with their line-up of players. Similar to that of Lake George, they were a smaller Class D or Division 7 school and few players would have made Harrison’s 2nd or 3rd string. By half time, Jess would rack up nearly 200 yards in the air with 4 TD’s giving the Hornets a 28-0 halftime lead.

The half time was extended as the somewhat lame small town floats built upon farm wagons rounded the ¼ mile track that in turn surrounded the football field. Many of the floats were already in sad shape as they had cruised around and through town for a couple of hours before the game. In fact, the large cardboard and paper mache hornet mascot toppled as an old beater Buick Century painted in geriatric tan pulled it on a flatbed trailer. The car and trailer took the turn too sharply while it was rounding the end zone outer track. The giant paper hornet, in what could not really be considered a planned flying event, spun up from its moorings and face-planted in the grass outside of the track. The painted sheet plastic wings that had an inner stick frame like kites broke off first followed by the bulgy abdomen that had a long stick projecting out of its end like a stinger. The stick broke as the abdomen cracked in half. Since it was fairly lightweight, Carly and some of the band members following behind it, were able to throw the broken scattered parts back on to the trailer in order to get it moving again.

The beating the hornet float sustained was fortunately, not indicative of what was going on at the field for the home team. The Hornet team scored at will while punishing the much over-matched Marion team. The Mighty Mallards were little more than beat-up rubber duckies in a bath tub with holes in their exoskeletons. Like the Hornet float, they were sinking fast with irreparable damage. In the 3rd quarter, Jess led two more scoring drives with one touchdown pass and a nifty run after employing the double spin move. Harrison’s lead was now 42-0. Jess would finish with a remarkable 5 touch down passes with a 23 for 28 performance and 271 yards. His completion percentage was 82%, breaking his previous mark. He may have padded his stats further but was relieved of duty late in the 3rd quarter in favor of his backup.

Even with the 2nd and 3rd stringers, Harrison would score one more touchdown, but Marion did get close enough to score a late field goal to avoid the shutout, final score 49-3. Similar to the Rosebush game, Jess’s chin strap would come undone a couple of times, but his helmet did not come off though it was slipping each time. From a physical standpoint, it would be his lightest game as he was not sacked at all and only knocked down twice; however, the dizzy spells would not relent and occasionally, were leading into more sustained headaches of longer duration.

“How are we to conduct ourselves, lord, with regard to womankind?

As not seeing them Ananda.

But if we should see them, what are we to do?

No talking, Ananda.

But if they should talk to us, lord, what are we to do?

Keep wide awake, Ananda.”

Digha Nikaya, ii, 141, 3rd Century B.C.