The Lucky Break

The ballgame was tied, and time was running out. Mark Thomas knew he would have to do something fast if the Ravens were going to beat their rivals, the Knights. He knew the coach was counting on him as quarterback to lead the team to victory. He only hoped he could make the right decision.

The crowds on both sides of the football field were all standing on their feet. With only one minute left, there was very little time for mistakes. The Ravens had the ball on their own ten-yard line, but they were also facing a fourth down. Normally, they would have brought in their kicker and scored the three points given from a field goal to take the lead. But last week’s game had badly injured their field-goal kicker, and the coach couldn’t be certain he was ready yet to kick the winning points. Instead, he was counting on Mark to throw the touchdown pass that would win the game and send the Ravens on to the playoffs.

Mark knew which play he was going to call. The team made a quick huddle and then broke up and walked to the line. Mark could see the defense adjusting to line up against their offense. As the play began, Mark could see it all happening in slow motion. The player he had planned to throw the ball to was being blocked by one of the Knights’ defensive players. He glanced to his left and saw no help there. He swallowed the panic he was feeling and searched the field, looking for the answer in the play that was unfolding.

Then he saw it: a whole setup for him to run through. He abandoned the plan to throw for the winning touchdown and, instead, tucked the ball securely against him as he ran through the opening and crossed the line for the winning touchdown. The crowd went wild as the team scored and the clock ticked down until all the time was gone. The Ravens had won!

As everyone cheered Mark, he knew the moment he could talk, he would make sure everyone knew he had not won the game for the team. It took all the players to win. He had simply carried the ball for the entire team.