Chapter 95: 094 Surging Emotions
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Whoosh!
Suddenly, Clark raised his arms high, making the touchdown gesture for the first time, his face full of intense longing as he shot a look at the referee, his ears ringing with the clear, heavy collision, his heart climbing beat by beat, nearly bursting from his chest like exploding fireworks.
He used all his strength to contain his excitement and elation, but his knees still twitched eager to spring like coils.
One second, which felt like a century.
It wasn't until the referee also raised his arms high, confirming Clark's guess with a mirrored gesture, that reason was utterly consumed.
"Ah!"
Clark leaped into the air, shouting wildly, then turned to his teammates, mindlessly repeating.
"Touchdown!"
"Touchdown!"
Over and over again, time and again.
Not only Clark but every player of the Crimson Tide Storm had lost their reason; including Jacobs, one by one, they all raised their arms to make the touchdown signal, caught in a frenzy, they hopped and shouted and celebrated, their pent-up emotions erupting like a volcanic geyser.
Finally!
With the game entering the second half, and more than half of the third quarter's time gone by, the Crimson Tide Storm had finally found their rhythm, a continuous three-minute and forty-seven-second offense finally pushed into the opposing end zone, breaking the deadlock, becoming the first to score in this fierce rivalry, seizing the initiative on the away ground.
It was so difficult.
The clash of "defense vs defense," both teams exerted their abilities and talents to the utmost, the game utterly intense.
However!
Li Wei, after all the twists and turns, still Li Wei, the biggest anomaly and highlight of Crimson Tide Storm's offensive group this season, broke the balance.
His unparalleled performance silenced the entire Tiger Stadium.
Whoosh.
Hertz was the first to charge toward the end zone, pulling Thompson aside to dig out Li Wei and hug him fiercely, continually shouting.
"Touchdown. Touchdown! It's a touchdown!"
Not just Hertz, the entire offensive group without exception, the emotions suppressed for a whole half finally found release, one after another, they roared.
But Li Wei didn't.
Huff, huff huff huff.
Li Wei was panting heavily, that bout of offense had truly drained too much of his energy, the sensation of burning had gutted his body and soul; at the same time, the satisfaction of release surged through his blood, the overwhelming passion bubbling from every pore continued to boil.
So Li Wei stood there, not roaring, not screaming, but quietly gazing at the Tiger Defense Squad members—
Riley. Beckwith. Adams.
His gaze gently swept over them like a spring breeze, all of them panting and drenched in sweat, but Li Wei's eyes fiercely suppressed their momentum, with a thousand words stuck in their throats thrashing violently.
Ultimately, Li Wei paid them no heed but turned to the Tiger Stadium around him, scanning the surroundings.
Then raised his right hand to his ear as if it were a megaphone.
Waiting, patiently waiting.
The home fans finally realized Li Wei's provocation; was he mocking the silence of Tiger Stadium?
Thud.
Boos erupted, quickly enveloping the entire stadium.
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But Li Wei was not satisfied. He slowly turned around, summoning more boos and more commotion.
For the visiting team, these curses, this anger, these attacks were the best kind of awards, signifying that they had finally gotten things right.
Moreover, they were mortal enemies.
Li Wei was waiting, waiting for the storm to become even more ferocious and wild.
Tiger Stadium finally granted Li Wei his wish.
"Go, Tigers!"
"Go, Tigers!"
The shouting twisted into a single rope, climbing higher and higher, causing the entire Tiger Stadium to tremble as the wave of sound rose to new heights.
In a blink, it flooded the stadium, and Tiger Stadium once again pulsated with vitality.
The corners of Li Wei's mouth curled up, revealing a contented smile, and then he walked towards the player rest area, where he could see his teammates from afar.
Lined up in a row, they raised their right hands.
Li Wei jogged over, high-fiving his teammates one by one in celebration. Finally, he made his way to the defensive group's side and saw an antsy Allen and the others.
Next, the Special Duty Group would kick the extra point, then they'd kick off, followed by the entrance of the defensive group, but clearly, they could hardly wait.
Allen bumped shoulders with Li Wei and gave him a hearty slap on the back, "Well done. You did your job, we'll do ours. Trust me, I won't let them succeed. Let those scouts see their true strength, and they'll realize how wrong they've been."
What exactly was he talking about?
Running back Leonard Fournette.
Before Li Wei burst onto the scene, there were several running backs who had garnered attention this season, including Christian McCaffrey, who was just behind Derrick Henry in last year's Heisman voting, and Louisiana State University's own Fournette.
Last season, Fournette showed a dominating performance with 1,953 rushing yards, but unfortunately, he was overshadowed by the even more phenomenal Henry and McCaffrey.
This season, Fournette was widely considered the strongest contender for the Heisman Trophy, but then he suffered a series of injuries. Starting before the season, he was injured three times in just two months, disrupting his gameplay, which is why he was now absent from the Heisman odds.
However, the key point is Fournette's exceptional physical fitness. Even with three injuries in two months, he quickly returned to the field and always managed to perform well. Perhaps the injuries cast a shadow over his draft prospects, but at the same time, they confirmed Fournette's resilience.
As it stood, even though Crimson Tide Storm was advancing victoriously, Li Wei was still ranked fourth in the Heisman predictions and had not managed to climb further. The primary reason was that experts generally believed Fournette was a better running back than Li Wei and had more promising draft prospects.
Clearly, Allen did not agree—
In the first half, Fournette also faced the fierce storm of Crimson Tide Defensive Group and lacked standout performances.
Now, having finally blazed his own trail of blood, Li Wei would definitely provoke Fournette, as both were running backs, and this was their first head-to-head confrontation; but Allen had already anticipated this.
Thus, there had been that conversation just now. Li Wei had finished his job, and next, it was the defensive group's turn.
"7:0."
After the Crimson Tide Special Duty Group steadied the extra point, the defensive group took the field once again.
Tiger Stadium erupted with incredible energy again, cheering on their offensive group. However, Saban, the old fox, was clearly fully prepared.
Unlike the Tigers Defense Squad, which focused heavily on ground defense to completely cut off Li Wei, the Crimson Tide Defensive Group showed their dominance in the short pass area—
Fournette took the ball and rushed forward.
Yet, before he could even get started, Allen had already shaken off his marker, pouncing like a tiger with a precise and vicious tackle, grasping Fournette tight.
Down!
Fournette was slammed to the ground like a heavy sandbag.
Allen dashed forward, cutting off hope: This route is closed.