Fifth Quarter: Part 2

Loxley

Disclaimer: This is a derivative work of characters created by Vince Suzakawa for his comic strip "The Class Menagerie" and as such is property of Vince, although I own the copyright on the story per se. It's complicated. Just go with it. Oh, and there's a bit by Shakespeare in here as well, but he's dead, and his stuff is all public domain anyway.

Game day.

Lisa could hardly sleep the night before. Tomorrow she was going to be on her field, with 60,000 screaming fans in the stands, two bands playing, and the hopes of a championship season were pinned on the game.

Coach Carradine had managed to integrate her as best he could. There were still some rough spots, but finally, Lisa and the other players found themselves accepting each other. Once Lisa had finally stopped making mistakes, and learned the finer points of her position, she earned their respect.

She dressed out in the ADA bathroom, and met up with the rest of the guys, once they had all finished getting ready. "Hey, Biff, gimmee a rubber band, so I can put my hair back in a pony tail. I don't think this scunci is gonna do the job." He handed her one of his rubber bands. "Thanks, big guy." She took her place, standing with Biff, Damon, Coy, and Vance.

"Okay, you pukes! It's time!" bellowed Coach Carradine from the stairs leading up out of the locker room.

"Time for what, guys? The game isn't for another couple of hours...?" asked Lisa, her pulse racing.

"Oh, right. We didn't tell you. We go over to the Stadium locker room, get warmed up, etc, until it's time for us to walk onto the field," replied Damon. "Things like stretching, exercises, stuff like that. It's important that we take good care of our bodies, because we are pushing them very hard."

Lisa followed as they walked out of the Athletic department and headed for the stadium. Along the route there were fans lined up, and not a few cameras. Everybody was shouting things like "good luck!" and "go team!" There were even some folks holding signs that said "We Love Lisa!" on them. There also some signs that said "Go Back To Your Dolls," but she ignored them.

"So, are Cindy and Tony and Kevin gonna make it to the game?" asked Damon as they entered the stadium.

"I don't think so, Damon. Cindy is really opposed to this, and Tony want's nothing to do with football period. Of course, Kevin couldn't possibly care less... not even to watch Kim over there shake her tail."

"Maybe he has taste... even a hard-up geek like him knows she's trouble," was Damon's only reply

"I think she and Scott may be an item, though," she whispered conspiratorially, making sure Biff couldn't hear. They arrived in the locker complex, and started their warm-up routine. She was nervous... scared as hell, actually. In fact, it felt very much like stage fright on opening night of a new production... and that gave her an idea.

Lisa began another warm-up routine of her own, on top of the one for her body... she started getting "into character." It was a trick she'd picked up in her theatre classes...

"I am a football player... I am an athlete... pain is weakness leaving the body... I am a fast running hard hitting defensive back..." No... it just wasn't quite... martial enough. "Okay... are there any parts or plays that could help me get into character for this?" she thought to herself, before inspiration struck. Of course! From Shakespeare's "Henry V." In her best stage voice, away from the general commotion of everyone else, Lisa started to speak...

"That he which hath no stomach to this fight,
Let him depart. His passport shall be made
And crowns for convoy put into his purse.
We would not die in that man's company
That fears his fellowship to die with us.
This day is called the feast of Crispian.
He that outlives this day and comes safe home
Will stand a-tiptoe when this day is named
And rouse him at the name of Crispian.
He that shall see this day and live t'old age
And say, "Tomorrow is Saint Crispian."
Then will he he strip his sleeve and show his scars
And say, "These wound I had on Crispin's day."
Old men forget; yet all shall be forgot,
But he'll remember, with advantages,
What feats he did that day. Then shall our names,
Familiar in his mouth as household words-
Harry the King, Bedford and Exeter,
Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Glouster-
Be in their flowing cups freshly remembered.
This story shall the good man teach his son,
And Cripin Crispian shall ne'er go by
From this day to the ending of the world
But we in it shall be remembered,
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers.
For he today that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition.
And gentlemen in England now abed
Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day."

Lisa hadn't noticed things getting quieter around her as she recited the lines, slipping into character of a fighter, several of the guys around her had stopped what they were doing to pay attention to her. She could see that the words had worked their magic on those around her, as feral, tooth-bared grins crossed the faces of her teammates... and she responded in kind.

At game time, with the band blaring, and the crowds cheering, the Gryphons took the field, whooping and hollering, jumping up and down in front of the crowd, and otherwise making a spectacle of themselves.

The opponents were the Oregon State Owlbears. It was supposed to be a tough team. Lisa was on second string, which meant that she wouldn't be seeing a lot of action until somebody got injured or something. With her "war face" on, she wanted to get a piece of the enemy team.

The first quarter started badly for the Gryphons, with a kickoff return deep to their own side of the field. The Owlbears were unstoppable as the slowly, but methodically marched the remaining distance to the goal, and scored a touchdown, as well as the point after kick.

Lisa watched from the sidelines as the ball was kicked off to the Gryphon's offensive team. Caught on the ten yard line, and with defenders bearing down on him, the reciever signaled a fair catch and downed the ball, so that the team could start on the twenty yard line.

It was a fight for every yard against the Owlbears. It was taking all four downs to make it to another first down. The Gryphons were running into a brick wall. Soon, the offensive line was no longer able to hold the Owlbears back, and Biff wound up getting sacked a couple of times.

Soon the Gryphons had to punt, and the Owlbears began their relentless march down the field again. Coach Carradine called a time-out, and switched out some players.

The change in players seemed to make the difference, as the Owlbears were stopped cold. In very short order, possession changed back to the Gryphons, and Biff was able to throw a long touchdown pass to Damon. The point after attempt was good, and Demontfort was back in the ball game.

No more points were scored, and the score remained tied while the game became a war of attrition. On the last play of the half, one of the Gryphon defensive backs went down and stayed down. The team doctor looked over him for a few minutes, and shortly he was taken away on a golf car. Then it was time for the halftime show for everybody else, while the team rested and tried to get their energy back.

Coach Carradine gave the expected inspirational speech, of course, and it worked, even on her. After all, she was still "in character."

Finally, it was time to head back for the second half. On the kickoff, the Gryphons returned the ball deep into Owlbear territory. However, their coach had apparently been giving a pep talk of his own, for they were stopped, and posession turned over to Oregon State. "Dodson! You're up!" shouted the Coach. "You're replacing Vasquez, so take his position, and cover his man!"

"You got it, Coach! He is so mine!" she shouted. She took the field with the rest of the team... just like in practice... line up... we few... we happy few.... The cheers of the crowd filled her ears... she smelled sweat, and churned up earth, and the cold November air. She matched up against her target... and then came the snap.

Instantly he was in motion, running a pattern. But just as quickly, Lisa instinctively matched him move for move. When the wide receiver she was tailing turned to catch the ball, Lisa reached up and swatted the ball away. Pass incomplete.

On the next down, it was the same story, except she knew she couldn't reach the ball, so she tackled him low and hard as soon as it had entered his possession. She nailed him so hard, that he lost control of the ball, fumbling it. It bounced down field until it was scooped up by Art, and run back clear to the twenty yard line before he was finally brought down.

The stadium was crazy with noise over the fumble recovery. It put the Gryphons into easy scoring range, and it was because of her!

"Good job, Lisa," said Coy as he and Vance walked onto the field. "You'd best head back to the sidelines till you're needed again."

"Thanks, guys. Hopefully we can stay on offense and kick their butts!" Lisa hurried of the field so she wouldn't violate any rules, and returned to her team-mates, where she received lots of backslaps and atta-girls.

The Owlbear momentum was gone, and Biff made good use of the opening. Coy and Vance gave him the time he needed to plant the ball right in Damon's hands as he stepped into the endzone. Another point after touchdown kick was made, and it was Gryphons 14, Owlbears 7. The Gryphons kicked off again to the Owlbears, who downed the ball on their twenty.

"Get back in there Lisa. This time you're on linebacker. Shake ‘em up a little."

"You got it, Coach!" Lisa trotted out to the field again, and faced off against an enormous offensive lineman.

"This is a joke... right?" The Owlbear player said incredulously. "Hey, guys, check it out. This is that girl from the newspapers."

"They actually let her play?" replied one of his team-mates. "They must be getting pretty deep to need to put her in. What's next, the band?" The whole offensive line laughed.

"You boys just laugh," she said, looking through the open face of her helmet. "I am about to sack your quarterback," she said matter of factly. Crispin's Day... we few... we happy few...

The quarterback started calling out numbers, and the ball was snapped. With lightning speed, Lisa had faked her opposing player, and deftly slipped right around him as if he weren't even there. The Owlbear's quarterback had barely even gotten the ball in his hands when he was flattened by Lisa. She landed on top of him, and gave him a brief snuggle as he lay there, shocked and stunned. "That was fun," she said looking into his eyes, and grinning toothily. "I think I'll do that again!"

The Owlbear quarterback called for a huddle, and her teammates congratulated her on her first ever sack. When the huddle broke, she once again lined up against the same player. "Okay, girl, no more Mr. Nice Guy."

"Bring it on, stud," she said from around her mouthpiece. This time when the ball was snapped, he was prepared for her. She still managed to get past him, but not as quickly. She couldn't get to the quarterback fast enough to sack him, but he was forced to throw the ball away before she and the others could get to him.

"Good effort, Dodson!" she heard her coach yell. "Keep the pressure on ‘em!"

On the third down, Lisa managed to duck under the lineman, and had a clear shot at the quarterback. He saw her coming, and thought he could get away from her by scrambling... he thought wrong. The downs had started on the twenty... her first sack had moved them back to the ten. And now the quarterback was perilously close the endzone... and Lisa was perilously closer. She wrapped both arms around him and hit him amidships with her shoulders, sending them both head over tail to the ground at about the two yard line. Suddenly the ball flew from his hands, and came to rest just inside the end zone... Lisa untangled herself from the dazed quarterback, and scrambled to her feet, and dashed to pick up the ball, because a loose ball had to be controlled!

That's when the whistles blew, and the crowd noise was deafening, and Damon had left the sidelines and picked her up in a big hug, and spun her around. "You did it, Lisa!"

"Wheee! Did what, Damon? I don't get it, that's just a recovered fumble, right?" That's when the PA announcer intoned... "Dodson, Lisa with the sack, recovery, and touchdown... Gryphons 20... Owlbears 7..."

The entire stadium was in pandemonium. The Owlbear players were dumbstruck. Lisa Dodson, five foot nothing, 110 pounds, english and theatre major, and sorority council member for petesakes had scored a touchdown in a PAC-10 college football game. Lisa trotted back to the sidelines.

"Dodson!" bellowed Coach Carradine. "Way to hustle. Good job!" Her entire team was congratulating her. "Keep that up." She watched as the point after made the score 21 to 7.

The Owlbears never did get their momentum back. They were in disarray. Lisa's lucky touchdown had put the game out of reach of the Owlbears. The Gryphon offense finally picked up speed, and marched down the field. Finally, the time came when it became possible to just run out the clock.

As the clock ran out, Damon turned to Lisa. "C'mon," he said, and followed the Coach and other players towards the midfield on the 50 yard line.

"What's going on?" she asked. "What are we doing?"

"Sportsmanship. Meeting the other players, telling them they played a good game."

"But they lost."

"You can lose and still play a good game, Lisa," replied Damon. "Hey, man. Good game."

"Yeah, we were really on you at first," said one of the opposing players that Lisa hadn't met. "So this is your ringer, eh? She really gave Sacco fits, and kept knocking Vanzetti flat on his tail. Good game, Dodson," he said, reading her jersey.

Lisa found herself at the center of a cluster of opposing players, all wanting to talk to her, to talk to this strange creature, the female defensive back/linebacker. "You're pretty fast.... Yeah, she ougghta stick to track it safer... Well, Vanzetti know's she can hit.... Dodson, I don't think you'll be able to take a hit. Be careful, okay?"

Everybody shut up as the two coaches approached. "So this is your secret weapon, Hank?" asked the Owlbear's coach. Coach Carradine nodded smugly. "Well, she's got more heart than I've seen in a lot of my players." He turned to face Lisa. "And Dodson... let me give you some advice; watch it with those fumbles. You don't want to pick up a live ball in midfield, surrounded by a bunch of guys this big intent on clobbering you, as opposed to you clobbering them. Be careful. And good game." He patted her on the shoulder. The two teams separated at last.

Lisa was mobbed by reporters on the way back to the fieldhouse, but she just ignored them, and rode Damon's shoulders all the way there. She liked being up so high, with her helmet off, so the breeze could cool her off. From every direction, she could hear nothing but jubilant Demontfort fans and honking car horns. Now she understood why Damon loved the game so much. After all of the hard work, and the dedication, and the sacrifice, forty thousand rabid fans were going nuts because of what she and her team had done, and they had beaten, together, stiff competition. The closest thing that Lisa could compare it to was like a standing ovation after a difficult play, with her teammates as actors. Not a bad analogy actually.

Damon set her down outside the ADA bathroom. Sounds of jubilation were coming from the locker room. Damon looked like he wanted to say something, but instead he just smiled, punched her in the shoulder, and ran into the locker room shouting "Woof! Woof! Woof!"

She looked in the mirror, and saw a drowned rat looking back at her. Her hair was a mess, her fur was matted. She took a shower for what seemed like ages. Finally clean, she emerged from the bathroom with her gym bag over her shoulder.

Damon, Coy and Vance were all waiting when she stepped out... and they were all wearing tuxedos. Lisa was speechless... the transformation from musclebound hunks to sophisticated sharply dressed hunks was amazing!

"Would the lady care to join us at a party?" asked Damon.

"But... um... I thought I would just go back to the dorm...?" started Lisa.

"From what you've told me, your friends don't really think much of you doing this," said Damon. "They don't understand what you've been doing. It doesn't make them bad people, of course. But we're your team mates. How did your poem go? ‘Whoever shall shed his blood with me this day shall be my brother?' We're all going out to a party. You are expected."

"But... I'm not dressed... where?"

"We'll stop by your dorm and you can pick something up. I'll wait downstairs. As to where, one of the boosters owns a fifty foot yacht at the Marina. This has been planned out in advance, but we sorta forgot to tell you about it when you joined the team," said Damon.

Lisa weighed her options in her mind... a party with her new friends after a spectacular hard-earned victory aboard a luxurious yacht, or eating crackers and peanut butter in stony silence with her room-mate, while listening to Brad try to kill Kevin.

"Let's go, handsome!" she said. Damon offered her his elbow, and he escorted her to a golf cart.

"This is the quickest way to get around on campus during a game day. Plus, the pedestrians give it a higher degree of difficulty. I like a challenge. Yeeehaahh!!!" He stomped the accellerator.

The party was awesome. The setting was fabulous. There was champagne in crystal glasses, imported german beer, caviar, shrimp, a quartet playing chamber music. The class-o-meter was simply off the scale. Lisa was wearing a party dress that she had bought for some sorority function, and never worn since... when she had changed in the room, Cindy had been gone, thank goodness.

But now she was having the time of her life. Everyone was happy and laughing and good looking and at least a little bit tipsy. Lisa herself had drained her second glass of champagne, and was going for a third when Damon stopped her, and detoured up some narrow stairs to the floor above. It was dark, but the large windows looked out over the bay, and the bridge was all lit up like a Christmas tree. There were tables and chairs up here, and they found a pair of chairs facing each other across a small table.

For the next couple of hours, they got to know each other better... with the lubrication offered by the alcohol, they opened up, and genuinely talked. They talked about where they came from, and what they wanted in life, and what they were planning for the future, and the other semi-philosophical things that the the very mildly intoxicated are prone to dwell upon. Lisa didn't know if it was the alcohol talking or not, but she knew she felt very comfortable with Damon. And as for Damon, he didn't feel the need to act all macho and manly around Lisa for some reason.

There was a crash of breaking glass, and a chorus of laughter coming from the downstairs area.

"And so it starts.... Lisa, I think it's time for us to leave," said Damon.

"But why...? The party's just gettin' ssssshtarted," slurred Lisa, who was smiling. Yes, she was gorgeous when she smiled like that, but Damon knew what the right thing to do was.

"You're right. And it's going to get a little more wild than I think you care to be a part of. Certainly wilder than I care to be a part of. So please. Let me take you back to your place. I've had a wonderful time here, and I'm sure you have to."

"Awww... do we have to?" she begged.

"Yes. Now, let's go find our hosts and tell them what a wonderful time we had." Damon helped Lisa to her feet, and wrapped a steadying arm around her. "C'mon, soldier, we're bugging out." He led her outside, where a group of older gentlemen were standing around, smoking cigars and drinking, reminiscing of their glory days at Demontfort.

"Ah, here come a couple of the youngsters now. Hello. Good show back there. The game and all."

"Thank you, sir," said Damon. "We were on our way home, but wanted to stop by and thank you for having us aboard, sir." Lisa leaned into Damon for support, and smiled at the yacht's owner.

"It was a great party. Thank for having us," said Lisa.

"Think nothing of it, son," replied the owner, ignoring Lisa. "Now, looks like you better run home and tuck that little vixen in." He laughed knowingly and winked, as did his drinking buddies.

Damon kept his smile on his face. "Of course sir. We'll be going now." With that, he held Lisa's arm as they navigated down the gangplank back to the docks. Damon muttered something darkly under his breath.

"What was that, muffin?"

"Nothing, sweetie. Here's our taxi."

"Where to, Mac?" asked the driver.

"Demontfort University. Richter Hall. I can direct you from there," replied Damon.

"Sure. No problem," said the driver, and they were on their way home.

Lisa was already asleep, nuzzled against his chest. Damon draped an arm over her, and the taxi drove off into the night. He was glad he had stopped her at two glasses of champagne. She wasn't extremely drunk, but she was by no means sober. He guessed she should have no trouble getting around in familiar territory like her dorm.

When they arrived, Damon paid the driver, and walked Lisa in, just to be sure she was going to be okay. Up the elevator and down the hall to her room... he waited on her as she fumbled for her keys out of her purse, and finally got the door unlocked.

"Okay, you're home safe. My work here is done. I can go now," said Damon. He turned, and started down the hall.

"Damon... wait..." said Lisa.

"Um.... Okaaaay?" responded Damon.

"I really, really, REALLY enjoyed this night, Damon," said Lisa. "I mean... this is the best night I've ever had. Ever. Thank you so much for taking me."

"You're welcome, Lisa. I... uh, I.... I'll see you at practice." He walked up to her and hugged her, and walked away, whistling a jodie. Lisa had never noticed how nice he smelled before.

"Yes... I think maybe you will," she said to herself as she let herself in. Cindy was snoring lightly as Lisa climbed into the top bunk, careful not to wake her. It didn't work.

"That you, Lisa?" asked her friend, sleepily.

"Yeah, Cindy. Go back to sleep."

"No. Wait. I have to tell you this first... I'm sorry for the way I've been acting. After the whole Tony thing, I have been really turned off towards American football. More so than normal."

"Um... okay. Then I'm sorry for avoiding you, and not telling you what's going on with me," was Lisa's response.

"So what's going on? How was the game?"

"We won."

"That's wonderful. Did you have a favorite part of the game?"

"As a matter of fact, I did," replied the dachshund/vixen, thinking of a particular tuxedo-clad bulldog. "Definitely the fifth quarter. Without a doubt."

Cindy was still trying to figure that out when sleep again claimed her.

Epilogue

Elizabeth "Lisa" Dodson played only three games for the Demontfort Gryphons (see timeline). But they were three very spectacular games, and she was one of the first women to play a field position in NCAA Division 1 college football. She was a natural athlete who was a walk on who, on a whim, decided to join the team after it lost several players for various reasons.

She claims that she was never trying to prove a point, and that she didn't really consider the implications of what she was getting herself into, She did finish the season, however, and did well for herself, earning quite respectable statistics for making sacks and tackles.

For a "whim," the consequences of her action were widespread. Most of the women playing football today cite reading about Dodson in the newspaper, or seeing her on TV as a very influencing factor.

Dodson never got involved in football again, but instead, pursued her major of English and Theatre. She married soon after graduation from Demontfort. She now teaches at an elementary school, and volunteers in her community.