American Football: King of the Bay Area

”Unbelievable! Unbelievable!” Kirk grabbed his head, jumping up and down as if his chair was covered in nails. He shot right up, his shrieks and cries piercing the sky and creating a burst of static in the microphone. ”Unbelievable!” No matter how many times he shouted it, it wasn’t enough to express the shock he felt.

”A forty-three-yard pass! In the final moments of the game, the Brown Bear Team’s number eleven was under heavy pressure from the opponent’s number ninety-six. Lu Ke decisively chose to scramble out of the pocket, creating an opening with his feet. At the very last second, he launched a forty-three-yard bullet pass! Not only did he display astonishing arm strength, but he also showed incredible accuracy while on the run! John Ward pushed his physical abilities to the limit, making the catch with a diving leap and a forward roll to complete the touchdown!”

”A forty-three-yard pass, like a bullet, ended the game! Incredible, absolutely incredible! In fact, the moment the football left his hand, Malik Jackson had already completed the tackle on Lu Ke. Unfortunately for him, he couldn’t disrupt the pass. They could only watch helplessly as the football flew through the air, and finally, John, like a member of an acrobatic troupe, made that unbelievable catch, completing the greatest comeback of this NCAA season!”

At this moment, Kirk looked as if he’d just chugged an entire bottle of hard liquor. His face was flushed crimson, his veins looking ready to burst. He’d rattled off the entire commentary in one go, without even taking a breath. Even so, it wasn’t enough to convey his excitement and exhilaration. ”Unbelievable!” Kirk repeated, at a loss for words, clutching his head. He couldn’t believe he had just witnessed such an epic comeback on an NCAA field!

Amidst Kirk’s machine-gun-like commentary, the entire Rose Bowl erupted.

Jeff’s mouth was agape, his eyes were wide, and his hands were raised high. He couldn’t make a sound. Every cell in his body was screaming, shouting, and jumping. He was so excited that all his reactions had vanished, leaving him to simply stretch his limbs and celebrate in silence.

Nate was like a madman, sprinting through the aisles between the seats, screaming and roaring, ”AHHHH! We won! We won! We won! AHHHHH!” Finally, he stood right at the very edge of the stands, furiously pumping his right arm and yelling at the top of his lungs, ”VICTORY! VICTORY! VICTORY!” The veins on his neck bulged, and spit flew from his mouth. He couldn’t control himself, but he didn’t care in the slightest, just kept on shouting his heart out.

On the UCLA side of the stands, fewer than ten thousand people remained. In the vast Rose Bowl, they looked lonely, like a single drop in the ocean, unable to hide the massive swathes of empty seats. But this small group of less than ten thousand erupted with earth-shattering energy, shaking the entire stadium. It felt as if the world itself was starting to tremble, the very ground splitting apart.

Everyone was roaring and shouting. A passion like a volcanic eruption ignited the sparks in the air, burning into a vast, rolling sea of flames. No, it was an ocean of molten lava! Jeff and Nate were merely two sparks within it.

One side, heaven; the other, hell. One side, a sea of fire; the other, a field of snow.

On the University of Southern California’s side of the stands, more than thirty thousand fans had stayed until the very end. They thought they were about to witness another victory, a victory that crushed their bitter rivals. But they were disappointed. They didn’t just fall into a bottomless abyss; they were frozen solid. The stands, holding thirty thousand people, were now deathly silent. The sudden shock had robbed them of all emotion—not even anger, just bewilderment and confusion, as if they were trying to process: What just happened?

This was UCLA’s second victory in the Los Angeles rivalry game since the new millennium, and it was a victory won through an epic comeback. The entire stadium exploded!

Lu Ke quietly watched the football. He quietly watched its arcing trajectory, its downward path, the force with which it landed in John’s arms, the moment it crossed into the touchdown zone, the instant the whistle blew. He thought he would be ecstatic, but he wasn’t. Instead, a wave of relief washed over him: He’d done it. He’d finally done it.

His tense muscles relaxed, and an endless soreness washed over him like a tidal wave. He felt completely drained!

A smile spread across his face, growing wider and wider. At this moment, he could finally let go, allowing the delirious joy to overwhelm him. From high school to college, from freshman to senior year, from a nobody to the leader of a comeback—his journey had been so arduous, but every single second was worth it! A sense of bliss exploded in his chest, slowly overflowing.

He was so captivated by this moment, so completely enjoying it.

”Hey, man.” A voice called out. Lu Ke looked up and saw Malik’s face, smiling, but unable to hide his disappointment. ”Remember, you won today, but that doesn’t mean you’ll keep winning forever.” It wasn’t a provocation, but a challenge brimming with confidence. ”Today, you’re the hero!”

Looking at Malik’s outstretched right hand, Lu Ke didn’t sit up. He just raised his own right hand and slapped Malik’s palm. ”Bro, trust me, the next time we meet, I’ll still be the one who gets the last laugh.”

Such confident words made Malik break into a brilliant smile. ”I highly doubt that.” After saying that, he turned to leave, but paused for a moment as if he’d remembered something. He turned back. ”I’m Malik Jackson.”

”Lu Ke.” The two fierce on-field rivals introduced themselves to each other for the first time after the game.

”Bambi! Bambi! Bambi!” The shouts rushed over like a hurricane, interrupting Lu Ke and Malik. Before Lu Ke could react, Logan charged over and was the first to dive onto him, causing Lu Ke to groan in pain. ”Ugh, you bastard! Get off!”

But before Logan had a chance to move, Marcus followed, and then one after another, everyone started piling on top of Lu Ke. Lu Ke felt like he was about to cough up blood. ’These damn guys!’

If the referee hadn’t come over to stop them, the celebration would have likely continued. Seeing the referee’s ashen face, they finally realized the game wasn’t over yet. The last touchdown drive had only taken ten seconds; there were still twenty-three seconds left on the clock.

The players from both sides cleared the field for the special teams. The Brown Bear Team successfully converted the extra point, making the score 35:28.

After the ensuing kickoff ran out the final twenty-three seconds on the clock, the referee finally blew the whistle to end the game.

The 2011 NCAA football season, the season for the Pac-12 Conference, officially came to a close!

In the final game of the season, the Brown Bear Team, after being down by three touchdowns and with their starting quarterback out with an injury, ultimately completed a super comeback under the leadership of their backup quarterback. They achieved UCLA’s second rivalry victory in a decade and brought the college football careers of this year’s seniors to a perfect close.

Incredible! Truly, absolutely incredible!

All the Brown Bear Team players were cheering and celebrating wildly. They even lifted Lu Ke high into the air, marching triumphantly towards the locker room as if they had conquered the world. It wasn’t just because of the win, but because they had beaten their crosstown rivals, and even more so because they had done it in a comeback. This victory was just too sweet, as wonderful as a dream.

”Who is he?” After the wild celebration, Jeff finally calmed down, his mind filled with questions. Even though he didn’t say a name, everyone who had watched the game knew who Jeff was asking about. But unfortunately, no one could answer. No one knew the number eleven player on the field; they didn’t even know the team had someone like him.

Danny Rice drove back to his dorm, but before getting out, he couldn’t resist turning on the radio to try and hear the game’s result. It wasn’t that he was expecting anything; he just wanted to know the outcome. And then he heard Kirk’s wild commentary from the radio, ”...the Brown Bear Team has pulled off an unbelievable victory! Led by backup quarterback Lu Ke, they defeated their crosstown rivals, walking over the bodies of their foes to finish fourth in the Alliance...”

”What?” Danny thought he had misheard and froze on the spot. His other buddies in the back and passenger seats had already started howling like wild animals. They stuck their heads out the windows, shouting, ”The Brown Bear Team beat the Trojans Team!” With that shout, several dorm windows were pushed open, and they could hear the sounds of celebration and music from the entire building. The party had started long ago; they were late.

Danny was completely stunned. ”They actually won!” he muttered to himself. Then reality hit him: that backup quarterback had actually won! Danny slammed his hand on the car horn and held it down, yelling nonstop, ”AHHHH! We won! We won!” The blaring horn seemed to awaken the entire campus. The sounds of music, horns, and shouting were endless as the whole university erupted.

It was a sleepless night. For the University of Southern California, it was a night of dejection from a humiliating defeat. For UCLA, it was even more so a night of thunderous celebration after a glorious comeback!

No one could have predicted the process, and no one could have predicted the outcome.

Once things calmed down, everyone was asking the same question: Who in the world was number eleven?

For Jay Fox, this was the most wonderful and glorious moment of his college career, because he could shout to everyone, ”Number eleven! That’s my roommate! That’s my bro! I know him!” All it took was that one sentence, and everyone would high-five him in celebration. It was just that simple.

But the celebration was only half-finished when Jay was pulled away from the stands by Emily Povor. They went backstage to the locker room to head off Lu Ke as soon as possible. Seeing Lu Ke being carried in by his teammates from a distance, Jay waved his hands frantically, ”Bambi, Bambi, over here! It’s me, Jay!”