The halftime break seemed to draw a line in the sand between the two teams.
Once the third quarter started, Saint Jude's High School came out swinging, their momentum completely shifted as they launched a massive counterattack.
On Medford's side, Captain Aaron and Sam managed to put some points on the board thanks to sheer individual talent, but looking at the big picture, the opponents were chipping away at their lead, point by point.
Finally, by the end of the third quarter, Saint Jude's had pulled ahead by a razor-thin margin.
Then came the fourth quarter. Aaron was running on fumes, his stamina drained, and he could only watch helplessly as the other team slowly but surely widened the gap.
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As the final whistle blew, the Medford players, finally released from their torment, walked off the field looking crushed.
Meanwhile, the Saint Jude's team was doing a victory lap around the field, cheering their heads off and soaking in the win.
You have to understand—this was a team that had been dead last in the state tournament before. Now, miraculously, they had just taken down a team that was in the top ten last year.
For the Saint Jude's players, that kind of upset was definitely something worth bragging about.
But unlike the celebration on the field, the crowd in the stands had gone dead silent.
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Actually, the vibe in the stands had been pretty grim since the end of the third quarter.
A lot of Medford students had even bailed early in the fourth quarter, leaving the school in frustration.
The higher your hopes, the harder you fall. It's never a good feeling.
Over on the Saint Jude's side, without any home crowd to hype them up, their celebration fizzled out pretty quickly.
They were playing an away game, after all. Being too cocky on enemy turf is a good way to get jumped.
The home crowd, having just watched their team choke, wasn't exactly in a stable emotional state.
Next up was the standard post-game formality: the handshake between the head coaches.
Of course, Coach Wayne wasn't in the mood for small talk. He gave a quick, perfunctory handshake and then stormed off the field.
The Saint Jude's coach was in high spirits because of the win, so he didn't make a fuss.
He rounded up his still-excited players and they hopped on the bus, leaving Medford High behind.
And with that, the invitational tournament was officially over.
"Need a hand?"
As the crowd filtered out, Mike stayed behind and walked up to Aaron, who was starting to clean up the field.
Coach Wayne had bolted, leaving zero instructions for the post-game cleanup.
So, naturally, the grunt work fell on Aaron and the team.
Normally, enthusiastic students would volunteer for this stuff, but the football team's performance today hadn't exactly inspired school spirit.
So, no volunteers were sticking around to help with the aftermath.
"Mike..."
Seeing Mike approach, Captain Aaron—fresh off the loss—had a complicated look in his eyes.
Then, looking like he'd made a serious decision, he said, "I'm going to find Coach Wayne on Monday. If he still won't fix your situation, I'm done being captain."
Medford had lost this game in embarrassing fashion.
Sure, there were probably a million reasons why, but compared to the powerhouse team they were last year, Mike's absence was glaring.
After all, everyone had seen how much Mike contributed to the team last season.
To get the team back on track, Aaron was ready to go all in.
"Don't be rash, Aaron. My situation isn't urgent. We can figure it out slowly..." Mike tried to talk him down.
Aaron was graduating in six months. Being the quarterback and team captain would give him a serious leg up when applying for colleges.
Quitting the captaincy now wasn't a smart move.
"No, this isn't just about you. Coach Wayne's current state is wrecking the team. If he can't change his attitude, there's no point in me being captain anyway..."
You could tell Aaron truly loved football. That was exactly why he was so fed up with Coach Wayne's negligence.
"Captain's right. This isn't just your problem. The team needs a change," Georgie chimed in, having been watching the situation unfold.
Since his dad was a football coach, Georgie had a soft spot for the sport.
Meanwhile, a lot of the veteran players who had been silently observing walked over and stood behind Aaron.
Their actions spoke louder than words.
Suddenly, the group led by Aaron looked like they were ready to stage a mutiny against Coach Wayne.
Honestly, Coach Wayne's recent behavior had lost him the locker room.
"Mike, I don't know what's going on with the football team, but I think their courage is worth encouraging," Paige whispered, standing next to Mike.
Even she could see how much the Medford players had struggled during the game.
They clearly had the talent to win, but they lost because of everything else going on.
That frustration, that desire to change things—it wasn't wrong. It was admirable.
"Alright, I hear you," Mike said, looking at Aaron and the others. "When you go see Coach Wayne on Monday, make sure you bring me along."
"Okay, it's a deal," Aaron smiled, sealing the pact.
After that, everyone split up to clean the field.
The scoreboard and sideline equipment needed to be packed away, and the trash left by the crowd needed to be cleared out.
Mike and Paige were busy collecting the support banners abandoned by the audience.
"Mike, did you know? I heard Coach Wayne is in the middle of a divorce lawsuit with his wife..."
Georgie, who had been picking up trash on the other side of the field, found a moment to scurry over to Mike and spill the tea.
"Is that so? No wonder he looks like a wreck," Mike said, surprised.
As far as he knew, Coach Wayne loved his wife.
From what the coach had said in the past, their relationship had always been rock solid.
He never expected it would come to divorce.
That explained a lot. Coach Wayne's terrible performance recently actually had a reason—one that made him kinda sympathetic.
There are no secrets in a small town. The mess in Coach Wayne's personal life had been circulating through the team grapevine.
Georgie, clearly in the know, continued the gossip. "I heard the reason for the divorce is that he accidentally caught his wife cheating... It's really sad..."
Georgie was about to dive into the juicy details but stopped himself when he saw Paige standing there. He skipped the graphic parts.
"Running into something like that... Coach Wayne really has bad luck," Mike nodded in agreement.
It made sense why Aaron and the others had been so patient with Coach Wayne's slacking off until now.
If they hadn't lost this game, they probably would have kept tolerating it for even longer.
I mean, what happened to Coach Wayne was devastating. Any guy would struggle to handle that.
"Sigh, I just don't know how long it'll take for him to bounce back." Aside from the professional negligence, Georgie showed some genuine sympathy for the coach.
"Alright, let's drop it," Mike cut the conversation short. Talking about this behind someone's back was rude, especially with a kid listening.
"Fair enough." Georgie, satisfied that he got to spill at least some of the beans, let it go.
The two of them picked a lighter topic and kept chatting as they worked.
Just then, a group of Student Council members walked out of the school building, heading toward the field.