[08.24.04]
Written by: Bob Pinter

For the Love of the Game, Part 5
Defense Sends Hoodlems, Green Packing

[08.24.04] (Somewhere in Hawaii) -- Come on, it's only a game!" Timbuktu Buccanneers linebacker Derrick Brooks called out.

"It wouldn't have made a difference anyway!" shouted Benton Harbor runningback Charlie Garner.

But it did. And as the PWFFL draft approached, the air began to fill with a bit of tension as Hoodlems quarterback Trent Green gave the finger to no one in particular, before climbing into his truck and driving away from the picnic.

It was supposed to be a day to relax, have fun with friends, and forget about the season. But the season was approaching, and the players knew it. And in this summer tournament, the bigger, better teams were waiting for the ones that didn't make the playoffs last year to finish beating up on each other.

And some players just wouldn't accept defeat. And Green was one of them.

It all began just before halftime of this fourth game. Benton Harbor was trailing Timbuktu, 17-7. With 15 seconds left, Bucs' kicker Martin Gramatica drilled a 52-yard field goal to stretch the lead to 10.

But Green was just starting to find his stride. After firing a 60-yard touchdown pass to Joey Galloway on the first play of the quarter, he connected with Galloway again on a bomb that probably should have been a score. But with one of the PWFFL's two best defenses on the field at any given time, Timbuktu cornerback Ronde Barber cut Galloway down at the 3.

Green spiked the ball, stopping the clock, and began to draw out the next play.

This is where things got complicated. With no coaches to speak of, the players pretty much let the quarterbacks call the plays. And until now, there was no reason to criticize.

But Hoodlems kicker Olindo Mare walked onto the sunny Hawaiian field with points on his mind.

Green wanted points, too, but more. And he wanted to be the man to deliver them. "What do you think you're doing?" he asked Mare just before he got to the huddle.

"I'm gonna close out the half, right?"

"Like hell you are," Green retorted. "Get your ass back on the sideline."

"Hey, Keyshawn, how much time left?" Mare turned away toward the sideline.

"10 seconds," Johnson yelled.

"You see that?" the kicker shot back. "We've got time for one play, maybe two, and there's no guarantee we'll get a touchdown. Their defense has been playing well all day."

He was right. Green had been sacked several times on five-doggie counts, and he'd thrown an interception that Brooks returned for a touchdown to boot.

"Not this time," the quarterback stood his ground. "Get back over there."

"Hey," Johnson yelled, "I'm gonna start the clock again if you two don't get going!"

"Hold the ball," Mare ordered, walking over to his kicking position.

"Get off the field!" Green yelled, as his teammates began to wonder what to do. "Get behind me!" he shouted to Garner.

"Hold it!" Mare yelled back.

"Six...five..." Johnson began to count down the seconds.

"Get off the field!"

"HOLD IT!"

"Four...three..."

"Aw, hell," Green yelled to no one in particular. Mare ran up and kicked the field goal as time expired.

Timbuktu 17, Benton Harbor, 10.

The players on the sideline began to move with a nervous energy. More and more this was becoming like the real thing. They could feel it. And they wanted the season to start. They wanted it to be for real. And maybe, just maybe, they hoped this would be.

On the field, Garner felt that way, too. His body ached from the blows he'd been taking from the strong Buccaneers defense. He had about six yards on eight carries as the third quarter began to wind down. But then, he found a hole in the coverage, going 18 yards to the Hoodlem 14.

"Everybody, stay sharp," Green commanded.

Green dropped back, watching the play unfold. He spotted his tight end, Anthony Becht, in the end zone. Barber had backed off and was looking at another part of the field. He cocked his arm and threw.

Barber, almost instinctively, turned around and got just enough hand on the ball to knock it away. But Becht had obeyed his field general. Running away from the goal line, he fell on the ball before it hit the ground at the 1.

"Catch! Catch!" Johnson yelled from the sideline.

Garner would find the end zone after that, tying the game. "You see?" he said. "This isn't over."

But as far as Kurt Warner was concerned, it was. The Buccanneers quarterback had found a new lease on life with his new team, throwing strikes all over the field to Keenan McCardell. He would do it again in the fourth quarter, connecting on a 35-yard pass to the Hoodlem 6. Two runs by Michael Pittman would put the Bucs ahead again.

And it was over.

Benton Harbor went three-and-out on the ensuing possession, forcing Mare to come on to punt. Warner proceeded to run out the clock with more runs to Pittman. And as the two sides walked off the field, gasping for breath, Green picked up his shirt and walked the other way.

And at that moment, it occurred to the players that someone else was missing.

"Okay, it's our turn," Johnson yelled to his Kalamazoo teammates. "Green Bay, get back here!"

And no one knew who said it, but then, they heard the question out loud.

"Hey, guys, where's...?"