Lin Wansheng stood on the sideline, the strap of his helmet digging painfully into his chin.
The starting position Hank had promised him had become a complete and utter joke.
Just before kickoff, when Lin Wansheng thought Spencer would be absent because of his “injury,”
Spencer had appeared in the locker room at a leisurely pace, right under Bob’s face, which was so dark it looked ready to drip water.
He did not even explain. He simply changed into his gear quickly and ran onto the field.
“Mother fu**er,” Lin Wansheng cursed inwardly.
“These white trash bastards—none of them can be counted on.”
He could only stand on the sideline and watch helplessly as that ridiculous scene unfolded on the field.
David fumbled the ball, and the Cheetahs’ linebacker was like a petty thief who had just found a wallet.
He scooped up the ball and sprinted madly toward the empty half of the field.
“Go!! Catch up!!” Coach Bob was as frantic as a caged beast on the sideline, roaring himself hoarse.
“Stop him!!!”
“Tackle him!!!”
In the stands, the smiles on the home fans’ faces froze instantly, and everyone rose to their feet.
On the sideline, the East River High Titans cheerleaders, under that suffocating tension, had their high-kicked legs frozen in midair.
At that moment, the only one chasing tightly behind that linebacker was the quarterback Mark, desperately running back because his position had been the farthest back.
And… for some unknown reason, Spencer, who had failed to keep up with the offense from the very beginning and instead ended up trailing at the rear.
Seeing that the Cheetahs’ linebacker was less than ten yards from the end zone!
At that critical moment, Mark finally caught up!
Like a cannonball fired from the barrel, he threw himself forward with all his strength, diving toward the opponent’s ankles!
It was a perfect diving tackle!
As long as it succeeded, it would stop the touchdown!
A faint, relieved smile had just begun to spread across Coach Bob’s face.
However, at that very same moment, Spencer, who had been following from behind, finally arrived as well.
Clearly, he wanted to snatch this crucial defensive play under the eyes of everyone. With a roar, he turned his entire body into a battering ram and slammed fiercely toward that linebacker.
But his angle of pursuit was completely wrong!
And so, an utterly absurd scene occurred.
Mark’s diving tackle was blocked by his own teammate.
Spencer’s full-force collision, heavy and powerful, crashed squarely into Mark!
“Bang!”
……
“Touch down!!!” The commentator’s roar was filled with unbelievable confusion.
“This… this is truly the strangest return touchdown I have ever seen!”
“Two players from East River High collided with each other at the most critical moment!”
“F*CK!!!” Coach Bob’s reason snapped completely at that instant.
He smashed the play sheet in his hand hard onto the ground.
Then he roared toward the field, “Spencer! Did your fucking brain get eaten by shit?!”
However, Spencer seemed not to hear the coach’s furious roar at all.
He clutched his leg and rolled back and forth on the ground in agony.
He let out wave after wave of wails, the sound even drowning out the boos from the entire stadium.
Mark, on the other hand, was fine. He quickly sat up from the ground.
But his helmet blocked his vision, and for a moment, he still had not figured out what exactly had happened just now.
The team doctor rushed onto the field at once. After a brief examination, he made a “nothing serious” gesture toward Coach Bob on the sideline.
But Spencer was still howling on the ground as if his heart and lungs were being torn apart.
As if his leg had already snapped into three pieces.
Lin Wansheng stood on the sideline, watching this absurd scene, dumbstruck.
There was only one thought in his mind.
“Wait. Didn’t Hank tell you to find an excuse not to go on the field?”
“You fucking… chose this way to leave the game???”
Supported by two team doctors, Spencer was helped off the field, limping.
Bob’s gaze swept around the bench before finally locking onto Lin Wansheng like an eagle’s talons.
He strode over, seized the face mask of Lin Wansheng’s helmet, and yanked him up from the bench.
“You!” Bob’s face was almost pressed against Lin Wansheng’s face mask, his tone rapid like a string of firecrackers. “How much of our playbook do you understand?!”
“Don’t worry,” Lin Wansheng said, his voice without the slightest ripple. “Cover to cover.”
Bob stared into his eyes for two seconds, then let go and instead slapped Lin Wansheng’s shoulder pads heavily.
“Go,” he said hoarsely. “Don’t let me down. Show me what you’ve got.”
With that, he turned toward the referee on the field and signaled for a substitution.
And just like that, Lin Wansheng finally walked toward the field he had been away from for so long.
At that moment, the Cheetahs’ special teams unit had already taken the field. They chose the safest method and easily kicked in the extra point.
The score on the field became 7–0.
There were five minutes left in the first quarter.
“The East River Titans have suffered a disastrous mistake right at the start,” the commentator said, his voice full of regret. “Their morale must be extremely low right now. I wonder whether their star quarterback, Mark, can lead the team out of this mire.”
The Cheetahs set the ball on their own 40-yard line, preparing to kick off.
Lin Wansheng and Brian, as the team’s returners, stood to the left and right near the 10-yard line in their own half.
He saw the Cheetahs players opposite them, like a pack of rabid dogs that had smelled blood.
They were staring covetously at this unfamiliar Asian face, their eyes filled with undisguised provocation.
Sure enough, the opposing kicker sent the ball in a high, floating arc, accurately toward Lin Wansheng!
The football spun through the air with a tremendous whistle, traveling at least over sixty miles per hour!
Just as the ball was about to drop into the end zone, Lin Wansheng stepped forward and caught it firmly in his arms.
At the same time, the ten Cheetahs players responsible for tackling had already swept in like a tide from beyond the 40-yard line!
Without the slightest hesitation, Lin Wansheng hugged the ball and began to sprint forward!
Avery charged at the very front like an enraged bull, using his own body to clear the way for Lin Wansheng.
“Bang!” With a devastating collision, he directly knocked the first opposing player who rushed up to the ground!
“Bang!” Another one!
Before falling, Avery even used his massive body to forcibly trip yet another man!
The remaining blockers also collided with the Cheetahs players one after another. For a moment, bodies tumbled all over the field.
Lin Wansheng used the precious space his teammates had bought with their bodies and charged all the way to his own 25-yard line!
Seeing this, Coach Bob had already nodded in satisfaction.
For a steady kickoff return, advancing from the 0-yard line to the 25-yard line was already quite a good result.
However, Lin Wansheng’s steps showed not the slightest intention of stopping!
At that moment, several Cheetahs defenders had already broken through the line, blocking his path forward like several moving walls.
Coach Bob was so anxious on the sideline that his heart nearly leaped out of his chest.
He kept roaring toward the field:
“Get out! Run out of bounds!”
“Protect the ball! Jimmy! Protect that damn ball!”
“Don’t force it! Go down!”
“Goddamn.”
“Go down for me already!”