Mohammad's+Story

Dragon Slayer

Although it seems like a blur to me now, I remember that it had all started when I was catching a bullet from Dylan on slant route. I could catch them all, from screens to bombs. Everyone on the team called me the hands man, because I barely ever dropped a pass. Everyone knew about our team, the Jackson dragons, but I was known as the biggest dragon fanatic. I had had helped the dragons to win three of their last five championships. “Noel! Come here!” coach Jackson yelled as he always did. “ Yes coach!” I replied as I ran toward him. “It hurts me to tell you this, but you’re off the team: “What? Why?” “You know that our Jackson Dragons have won five staigh stare championships, and I don’t want to risk ending that streak because of a small and weak receiver like you!” “But..” “I don’t wanna hear it, I don’t have time for this! Pack up your gear and get outta here!”

” I couldn’t understand it at all. Why would coach Jackson want to get rid of me? I was Dylan’s favorite target, and helped the dragons get to the championship that se them up as a dynasty, during my freshman season. I was praised all the time for being a two – time most valuable dragon. I loved the dragons; I lived for them. I took me a few weeks to make a final decision, but I decided to join a new team. I got in my car and started to drive around Mississippi, observing each school’s team and coaches. One school caught my eyes, Hattiesburg; their team was called the Hattiesburg slayers. I went in to go find the head coach. After about twenty minutes of walking around the school, I was able to find the coaches office. On the door of the coaches office was a large plaque, which read “ Coach Gerald Johnson”. I knocked on the door. “Come in!” and so I opened the door. “Coach Johnson?” “That would be me.” I knew he was talking sarcastically because of the huge plaque that read his name on the door. I was able to convince him to allow me on the team, and so he took me to the track in which he would time me on the forty-yard dash. I ran. “ Holy cow! A 4.3!” “Really? Coach Jackson claims I run a 4.9!” “ It was probably rigged as another scheme to get rid of you.” “ I still don’t know why he would want to get rid of me”. “ The world may never know”.

The next day I after school I went straight to Hattiesburg, I wet to the coaches office to ask about getting my pads. While waiting at the bench next to the bust coaches office, I overheard a conversation between coach Johnson and another coach. “ That bastard” Johnson said. “Who?” the other coach replied “Jerome Jackson” “Coach Jackson of the Jackson Dragons?” “Yes, he had apparently rigged Aqeel Noel’s combine stats to ruin his future as an athlete” “Why would he do that?” “Because he felt as if he should have been selected to be a pro football player, and now he takes it out on talented athletes that have a chance” “Pitiful” When it was my turn to talk with the coach I pretended that I never hear that conversation. He took me to the storage room and gave me my football pads. I put them on and sprinted out onto the field. From that moment to the championship was the best time of life. I can barely remember anything except that I was a big contributor as to why we had kept winning. I was the icon on the team, as well as being name the most valuable slayer.

We had a 9-0 record and were number two in the state heading into the playoffs. Number 1, though, was my old team, the Jackson dragons, who had seemed to have been doing fine with out me. We had a first round bye in the playoffs and we practiced hard all week for whoever out opponent would be. When game time arrived against Kiln, it was like I was in a different dimension, I ran my hardest, fastest, and eluded players. I had just scored a touchdown and had not even realized it until the announcer had yelled “ Touchdown!” The end result of that game was a 35-3 victory. This was followed by a 28-20 victory over Gulfport in the conference championship. As expected, Jackson won all of their games as well snd we were to face each other in the state championship. I practiced hard all week for this. I soon came to realize that this what why I lived. This is why I loved football so much. I knew what I had to do. It was time to go dragon slaying.