1st SEASON #4
It was only her third play, but Harley was already feeling a lot more confident. It was feeling more regular and predictable. The Dragons had their lanes and the Jets had theirs. Even with the onside kick, there was a kind of order to the play. The teams were matched, player for player. Those in the middle had to go for the ball, the rest had to pick up blocks. There was really no opportunity for a planned double team. They couldn't cover one to one as it was. A lot of the uncertainty evaporated with the application of the math. She might have to avoid one block. It was unlikely there would be two. Once she was in the middle zone, everyone would be going for the ball.
As Heather passed her mark, Harley started forward. The kick drove the ball into the turf hard, causing it to bounce high. It seemed that all the Jets on the first line stopped to watch it go over. her new buddy, Zanda Crumb, rushed up to hit, but cut for the ball and he went by somewhere behind her. The ball hit turf again and, again, it went high. She was right there.
As if she was going from rooftop to rooftop, She launched up like rocket, catching ball on it's rise with with downward swipe of both her hands. She could scarcely believe she got to it first, but once her hands touched it, she pulled in tight. She wasn't sure there was anywhere to even go, but holding on to that ball was the most important thing, no matter what. Her feet touched and there was nothing but Jets coming in from all sides. She was going to get hit. They were going to try and strip that ball from her. for this play to end well, she had only one option.
Closing around the ball like a mama armadillo around her pup, she tucked and rolled forward to the turf. The ball was in her gut, with her arms around the ball, and her knees tucked up over her arms. They would have to peel off that ball layer by layer. And they tried. The first of them came down on her like a boulder with paws trying to dig past her limbs. The second skidded into her back, but his attempts at the ball were blocked by the first. The whistle blew, but only just before a third and then a fourth piled on. It was dark and she was buried under a pile of men. She could tell they were trying to get the ball, but they weren't getting through. It seemed like forever before the light hit her eyes and the whistles were still going. Finally, all the players were cleared away and a ref was there extending his arm in the Dragons direction.
Harley hopped up, but she still couldn't let go of the ball. In fact, she kept it tucked and ran to the sidelines on auto pilot. Coach Sims wanted the ball back, so she delivered it to him.
"Here you go, Coach" She put the ball in his hands. "You asked for this?" With the ball delivered, she squealed, jumping up and down and spinning. "Hell yeah! Go Dragons!!!"