The Lakeside Conspiracy Read Online Free PDF

football there. Max couldn’t imagine what issue Jack and Donnie could possibly have with each other.

CHAPTER 10
     
    Like every head coach he’d ever known, Max adhered to a certain routine and rituals on game day. A local restaurant always catered the pre-game meal. Tonight’s meal was pasta with meatballs, bread and salad. The meal wrapped up at 4:30. Players started getting dressed at 5:15. Kickers and kick returners took the field at 5:45. Backs and receivers at 5:55. Linemen at 6:05.
     
    They stretched and warmed up as a team from 6:10 to 6:20. During the stretching period, Max shook every player’s hand and handed them a piece of gum. His high school coach had done that and he’d continued the practice with his teams. After running through their offensive plays and defensive alignments, they returned to the field house at 7:00.
     
    At 7:20, the game officials brought out the captains for the coin toss with the rest of the team following at 7:25 for the national anthem. Tonight though, Max had moved everything up ten minutes to allow time for the stadium dedication ceremonies. The school board, principal, athletic director and of course, Jack Murphy, as the booster club president would take their places on the field and be recognized.
     
    It wasn’t until half way through the Star Spangled Banner that Max glanced over his shoulder to where Michelle normally sat, but she wasn’t there. His heart sank seeing an empty seat where she’d sat so faithfully during every scrimmage and game over the last two years.
     
    Even as their relationship began to deteriorate, she never missed. It didn’t matter if it was hot and humid or cold and rainy. He could always count on her being at every game and staying until the end. Until tonight.
     
    The home stands looked to be about three-fourths full. For such a small town, Max thought it was a great turnout. They might have had an even bigger crowd, but Bentonville, who was ranked #1 in the state pre-season poll, was playing Bergen Catholic, one of the top teams out of New Jersey. And Northern Arkansas State had their home opener the following day against LSU.
     
    Jack Murphy wouldn’t be content with three-fourths. He was sure he’d hear all about in on Monday. If not before.
     
    The Fayetteville fans had certainly turned out. The visitor stands were full. Their student section was huge. Your fans don’t mind traveling when you win. It was what he wanted for his program. With a win tonight, it would be a major step in that direction.
     
    Fayetteville won the toss and deferred to the second half, so Lakeside would go on offense first. He gave his kick return team some last minute instructions and sent them out.
     
    He looked for Michelle again, but didn’t see her. He didn’t blame her for not coming, but it didn’t feel right not having her there. He looked around one more time. Maybe she was in a different section. But he still couldn’t find her.
     
    The referee blew his whistle and signaled the Fayetteville kicker to start the game. Kick-offs were always unpredictable when playing Fayetteville. Rarely did they give a returner a clean shot at the ball. Most of the time they kicked the ball short or some kind of line drive right at one of the linemen, which prevented big run backs. It usually meant starting with the ball no worse than their own thirty-five yard line, but with little chance of a big return.
     
    The Fayetteville kicker hit the ball square and sent it high and deep. This time unpredictable meant sending a normal kick-off down to the three-yard line where Joe Taylor stepped under it. Maybe it was the new stadium lights. Maybe it was first game jitters. Or maybe it was the inexperience of a sophomore, but the ball went through his hands and hit him on his facemask.
     
    Getting hit with the ball knocked him off balance enough that he stumbled and fell. He was scrambling around on his hands and knees trying to find the ball, but it had bounced off