Modern Family: New Life

Chapter 75 - State Championship II

The game continued. By the end of the first quarter, Palisades School was in the lead, winning 16-7.

Palisades' defense regained its usual confidence and didn't allow another touchdown throughout the first quarter. Liam did a great job leading the defense.

In the second quarter, despite Mission Bay's efforts, they barely managed to score a touchdown, while Palisades added two more. The gap only widened. Additionally, Andrew always opted for the two-point conversion—and never missed.

Mission Bay, knowing they had to go for two-point conversions or they would never catch up to Palisades, attempted one, but Ryan's pass failed, leaving them with no extra points.

When the whistle blew to mark the end of the second quarter, the scoreboard reflected Palisades' clear dominance:

Palisades 32 - Mission Bay 13

The gap kept growing, and Palisades' confidence increased with every play. Mission Bay, on the other hand, needed to find a way to shift the game's momentum if they didn't want the second half to turn into a crushing defeat.

Mission Bay's coach looked at the scoreboard, frowning. They weren't just losing, if the game continued at this pace, this wouldn't just be a defeat... it would be an embarrassment.

But what worried him most wasn't the score difference; it was the way it was happening. Andrew hadn't missed a single pass. Every time he threw the ball, it was practically a guaranteed touchdown.

The only thing that had stopped Palisades' offense were their running plays, where their ball carriers had been tackled before gaining significant yardage.

That meant one thing was clear: if they wanted any chance, they had to force Palisades to run the ball. They needed to shut down every passing option and make Andrew rely on the ground game.

The coach gathered his team on the sideline, knowing they had to make drastic adjustments.

On the Palisades bench, just before the third quarter began, Andrew sat, taking deep breaths. He wasn't satisfied with the score—he still had to complete that 75-yard pass.

If he wanted to push his limits in this fifth division, he couldn't be satisfied with just winning by a few touchdowns. He had to break records.

The second half had to be different—his goal wasn't just to maintain the game's pace but to take his play to the next level, holding nothing back and playing at his absolute best.

As the third quarter was about to begin, Andrew had already made his decision. 'Sorry, Mission Bay guys... nothing personal,' he thought.

Mission Bay went on offense, but they couldn't reach the end zone. Palisades' defense once again showed its strength, stopping Mission Bay near the 20-yard line on their final down.

'The 20-yard line...' Andrew thought as he stood up from the bench. He knew exactly what he had to do.

Taking his position at the center, his teammates gathered around him, waiting for his instructions.

"We're going for a 75-yard pass," Andrew declared casually. Everyone stared at him in shock.

"75 yards... are you sure?" Jason asked, frowning. "That's a deep throw, Andrew."

"Deep throw is an understatement... I've never even seen a pass that long, not even in higher divisions," Steve remarked.

"If we pull it off, we'll score a touchdown on the first down from over 70 yards away," Alan murmured excitedly.

"I know..." Andrew replied before giving instructions to his receivers and the rest of the team.

"The pass will go to Jason if the coverage allows it, but if not, Steve or Alan will be the alternatives," Andrew finished explaining, and the team got into position.

"Set, hut!" Andrew called, and the ball snapped into his hands.

Jason took off on his route, moving quickly toward the center before cutting toward the right corner. Steve followed, crossing diagonally, while Alan sprinted straight ahead at full speed.

Andrew waited, watching as all three receivers continued running without slowing down. His offensive line needed to hold off the defenders for just over 10 seconds—an eternity in football, considering quarterbacks usually have only 3-5 seconds before the defense gets to them.

His O-line did their best to keep the defenders at bay, but at the six-second mark, one defender broke through, charging toward Andrew. He made a quick move to evade him.

Another defender lunged at him, but once again, Andrew dodged, making the split-second decision to keep buying time—to wait for the perfect moment to launch the pass.

As he dodged the defenders, he kept his eyes on his receivers sprinting at full speed. Jason was nearing the right corner of the end zone, while Alan ran straight ahead, creating even more separation.

The Mission Bay defenders were starting to realize what was happening. This wasn't a normal play. There was something unusual about Andrew's patience.

Confusion spread—among the coaches, the players on the bench, and, of course, the crowd. No one quite understood what was going on.

"Why is he taking so long to throw?" Phil asked, biting his nails.

Cam, his face tense and drenched in nervous sweat, shouted from his seat, "Throw it! Throw it already!" His heart pounded every time Andrew had to dodge a defender charging full speed to take him down.

"He's waiting... to throw a pass over 70 yards," Jay muttered, arms crossed, his expression even more serious than usual.

"Oh boy... he's right," Mitchell said, watching the receivers sprinting like madmen toward Mission Bay's end zone—so far from where the play had started.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Andrew saw it. Jason was in the perfect spot. Just a few yards away from the end zone.

There was no more time to wait.

With impressive agility, Andrew turned his head, took a step back, and—with every eye in the stadium locked onto him—he launched the ball.

A deep pass, floating yet absolutely precise. The ball soared through the air with power, tracing a perfect arc toward the end zone.

The stadium fell silent. At that moment, no one dared to breathe. Every single pair of eyes followed the ball's trajectory.

Jason, sprinting at full speed, turned his head just in time. As he saw the ball approaching, he thought, 'That crazy bastard actually did it...'

But there was no time to think. If he failed, he'd forever be remembered as the receiver who dropped a 70-yard pass.

He jumped, stretched out his hands, and caught the ball with incredible precision in midair.

The stadium erupted into a roar of astonishment as Jason landed and, without breaking stride, sprinted the last five yards, crossing the goal line for an epic touchdown.

'Shit!' thought the defender chasing Jason, unable to catch him. He never expected such a long pass to actually connect. No one did.

For a brief second, the stadium fell completely silent, as if everyone was trying to process what had just happened.

And then, suddenly, it exploded into cheers.

The roar of the home fans echoed across the field, while the visiting crowd stood in stunned silence, exchanging incredulous looks. A 70-plus-yard pass on first down, and a touchdown!

"Did I just see what I think I saw?" the commentator asked, his voice shaky and filled with awe. "How long was that pass!? That has to be a damn high school record!" he added, looking at his fellow analyst for the exact distance.

The analyst, slightly calmer but still excited, double-checked before confirming, "That was a 75-and-a-half-yard pass! A record-breaking throw for this division—and most likely for every other!"

In the home stands, Andrew's family reacted with their usual mix of astonishment and joy.

"That was a damn NFL pass!" Jay exclaimed, clapping loudly.

"That's my son! MY SON!" Cam shouted, overcome with emotion.

Pippa was overflowing with excitement. The first person she turned to celebrate with was Howard—who wasn't as enthusiastic about football as the others, though he was happy for his friend.

"Howard! Did you see that!?" Pippa asked, shaking his arm violently.

"Yes, yes, I saw it, it was incredible, calm down..." Howard replied, struggling to keep his balance and not drop the camera.

But Pippa's excitement only grew, and she shook his skinny arm even harder. 'How the hell is she this strong? Is Andrew secretly training her?' Howard wondered.

That wasn't the end of his suffering. On the other side, Haley was just as excited—and the first person she saw was also him.

"That was amazing!" Haley said, grabbing Howard's other arm and shaking him too.

Howard clenched his teeth. 'Why are they so strong!?' he thought. He had always wanted attention from girls, but not this kind of violent attention. Or... maybe he did?

"WELL DONE, ANDRESITO!" Gloria's voice boomed louder than anyone's, making sure she was heard.

"A great pass," Manny said, nodding and clapping with more enthusiasm than ever at a football game.

"Have you finally surrendered to Andrew's football?" Alex asked with a slight smirk, glancing at Manny.

She knew Manny wasn't a football enthusiast and had noticed certain envious attitudes from him. She didn't blame him—she, too, had felt jealous of Andrew in the past. But she had already moved past it.

"Great feats should be valued for what they are. That's all," Manny said in a solemn tone, earning a strange look from Alex.

'Why does he talk so weird?' she thought, before shifting her gaze and looking around. Everyone was celebrating happily, hugging each other. A faint smile formed on her lips as she recalled her conversation with Andrew a few days ago.

Andrew and the rest of the team celebrated the touchdown.

"Well done!" Andrew praised as he high-fived Jason. Catching such a long pass was no easy feat.

Jason grinned happily at the compliment and returned the high-five.

After that, the game continued. Mission Bay's morale was in shambles after a 75-and-a-half-yard pass.

"Game over! Palisades 72 – Mission Bay 20! Palisades High School advances to the state championship semifinals!" the commentator announced as the game officially ended.

'He wasn't lying...' thought Ryan, Mission Bay's quarterback, his expression defeated as he watched Andrew celebrate casually—as if the game had just been a formality.

After the match, Andrew had a celebratory dinner with his family at his grandfather's house. Pippa and her family were also invited—her father and brother were big football fans. Plus, Josh (Pippa's younger brother) got along well with Luke, as they were schoolmates.

Once dinner was over, the kids were in the living room while the adults kept chatting in the dining area.

Haley looked up from her phone and glanced at Andrew, who was reading a comic. Next to him, Pippa was enthusiastically discussing something with Alex.

"I think the contemporary art exhibition will be amazing, especially the installation on visual perception," Pippa said excitedly, while Alex, equally thrilled, nodded.

"Definitely! I was reading about it last night, and some of the featured artists are incredible. I can't wait to see the pieces in person," Alex replied, wishing it were already tomorrow for their museum trip.

"You're going to a museum?" Manny asked with interest after overhearing their conversation.

In the end, Manny decided to join them for the outing. He seemed genuinely excited about visiting the museum—especially with company.

Watching the scene unfold, Haley let out a sigh as she looked at Andrew, who remained absorbed in his comic.

"Andrew," she said, motioning for him to look at her.

"What's up?" Andrew asked, without taking his eyes off his comic.

"Ask my mom if we can go to the party. If you ask her, she'll let me go... It's going to be awesome! Everyone's going to be there," Haley pleaded, giving Andrew puppy-dog eyes.

"I can't... We're watching a movie. Sorry," Andrew refused. The movie part was true, but more of an excuse than anything else.

Haley frowned. "What movie?" she asked.

"A Beautiful Mind," Pippa answered for him.

"It's a great movie! It's about the life of John Nash, the mathematician who developed game theory. It's pretty deep but fascinating. It shows his struggle with schizophrenia," Alex said excitedly.

Manny, just as enthusiastic, added, "The movie is full of unexpected twists. It's incredible how they portray Nash's mind and his internal battles."

"Wait... so everyone has seen it? Except you, Andrew?" Haley asked, looking at her cousin.

"Yeah... I haven't seen it," Andrew admitted, not sounding too excited.

"How many times have you guys watched it?" Haley asked.

"Three times," Pippa answered.

"Same here," Alex said.

"Four times," Manny added with a smile.

Haley looked at the three of them as if they were a bunch of weirdos. Why would they watch a movie that seemed so boring so many times?

"I'm telling you, you'll have more fun at the party than here, and I know you don't even like parties," Haley teased Andrew with a smirk.

Andrew seriously considered Haley's suggestion. He preferred watching action, fantasy, and adventure movies over dramatic, life-based, and intellectual ones.

"Give it a chance. You'll like it," Pippa said, noticing Andrew's doubtful expression, placing her hand over his.

"Yeah, you can't escape. You lost the vote. Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back only got one vote, yours," Alex said with a small, victorious smile.

"Fine, I'll watch it," Andrew finally agreed, seeing Pippa's delighted smile at his answer.

"By the way, how many times have you watched that Star Wars movie?" Alex asked curiously.

Andrew coughed several times and stood up. "I need to go to the bathroom. Start the movie," he said, blatantly ignoring the question before vanishing from sight within seconds.

'What the hell?' everyone thought, baffled by Andrew's strange reaction and how obviously he had avoided the question.

After a few minutes, they were watching the movie in the dark on Jay's big living room screen.

At first, everyone was focused on the film, but Haley couldn't take it anymore and started whispering to Andrew, who was just as bored.

They spoke in hushed tones, occasionally laughing.

Pippa, Manny, and Alex ignored it at first, but as the minutes passed, it became really annoying.

"Shhh!" Alex hissed, glaring at her sister, who quickly covered her mouth.

"Sorry, Mom," Haley said, and she and Andrew chuckled quietly.

Alex was about to lose it, but just then, their savior arrived: Luke.

Luke was holding a football in his hands, covered in mud. He looked at Andrew and simply said, "Let's play!"

'Why are you already covered in mud when we haven't even started playing?' Andrew thought, confused.

"Can I?" Andrew asked, looking at Pippa.

"Sure, I'm not your mom," Pippa replied with a calm smile.

"Thanks! You're the best!" Andrew said, giving her a quick kiss before getting up to head outside and toss the ball around.

"I'm coming too!" Haley said, jumping up, thrilled to escape the boring movie.

"Finally... peace and quiet. Should we restart it? I couldn't focus with all their talking," Manny suggested.

Both Alex and Pippa agreed, and they restarted the movie from the beginning.

And so, the night came to an end.

The next day, Andrew uploaded the video of Friday's game to YouTube with the same title he had told Ryan. Later, he went to the museum with Pippa, Alex, and Manny.

A few hours later, the video went viral.

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