The twelve-minute halftime break in the second quarter provided ample time for the players to recover their stamina.
During this time, both teams' cheerleaders would also perform on the field to warm up the atmosphere.
Mike, on the sidelines, watched his team's cheerleaders' leg dance while devouring a pile of small desserts and a small bunch of bananas.
After walking around twice to aid digestion, Mike felt his stamina had recovered by more than half. It had to be said that there were many hidden benefits to having a strong physique.
Looking at the other Medford Team players, although their eyes still held excitement, the fatigue on their faces was very evident.
That short, fast-paced quarter had caused them to lose a lot of stamina. It was difficult for them to recover during halftime.
As the two cheerleading squads left the field, the third quarter of the game officially began.
Before going on the field, Mike gathered the players again, and they put their hands together.
"One, two, three—"
"Medford Team—"
"Victory!"
"..."
"During the game later, pay attention to your positioning. I'll pass the ball to you depending on the situation..."
When they reached midfield, Mike sought out Georgie and Sam, giving them a heads-up.
Mike had a premonition that in the third quarter, the opposing team would definitely take measures to specifically target him.
Sure enough, at the start of the third quarter, after the opposing team scored two touchdowns, they adopted a pocket defense to specifically counter Mike's advances.
The Austin Team relaxed their defense on the other Medford Team players, forming a pocket shape that completely blocked all three routes Mike could use for offense.
Mike, holding the football, also felt somewhat fortunate that he had given Sam and the other player instructions earlier.
At this moment, Sam, who was not being marked, quietly moved to the sideline.
Seeing this, Mike's eyes lit up. He appropriately squeezed open some space and delivered a high cross-field pass. The football arced in a parabola and landed steadily in Sam's hands.
Sam, who was well-prepared, immediately charged towards the opposing end zone after catching the ball.
The Austin Team members hadn't expected Mike to be able to deliver such a good pass at that moment.
After all, Mike rarely passed the ball in previous games.
In this low-probability situation, Austin's quarterback reacted quickly. He left some players to continue marking Mike, while he and his teammates chased after Sam, who had the ball.
In just that short time, Sam had already rushed out more than ten yards.
However, unfortunately, Sam was a power running back, and speed was not his strong suit.
Just as he was about to enter the opposing end zone, he was tackled to the ground by the pursuing Austin Team player.
"Excellent work, that's it..." George shouted loudly from the sidelines.
Although Sam was stopped, this also gave Medford another scoring opportunity.
If Sam continued this performance, with just one more offensive down, he would definitely be able to rush into the opponent's end zone and achieve a touchdown.
Sam, who had gotten back up, also realized this himself. There was no look of dejection on his face; instead, he seemed eager to try again.
Beep --
Medford's second down offense began. Mike, holding the ball again, was once more enveloped by the opponent's pocket formation.
"Sam —"
With a shout, Mike again squeezed open space and forcefully delivered another good pass.
Leveraging the fact that Mike had attracted most of the opposing defense, Sam, after receiving the ball, finally reached the end zone and scored a touchdown.
46:47
Medford once again caught up in the score, and still had a chance for a two-point conversion.
Sam, who had earned credit for the team, excitedly did a backflip with the football. Afterwards, he excitedly ran to Mike and high-fived him.
Sam had wanted to do that for a long time.
Looking at Sam's happy expression, Mike patted his shoulder and timely offered praise: "Excellent work —"
The morale-boosted Medford Team players gave their all in the subsequent two-point conversion opportunity and collectively achieved another touchdown.
48:47
Medford once again took the lead.
Next, the pace of the game remained fast. Mike also delivered good passes to Sam multiple times on offense.
Thanks to Mike's strong containment ability, the Medford Team even suppressed their opponent in terms of score during the first half of the third quarter.
However, as the third quarter neared its end, the Austin Team's quarterback began to pay more attention to Sam, dedicating some defensive effort to mark him.
Gradually, Sam's effectiveness as an offensive point diminished.
When Mike passed the ball to Sam again, the opponent hadn't run many yards before being tackled by two Austin Team players.
"Are you alright?" Mike asked, worriedly helping up a sweating Sam.
"I'm fine —" Sam wiped his sweat and replied.
It was clear that compared to Mike's high physique, Sam was still far behind. A few high-intensity offensive plays had caused him to lose most of his stamina.
The situation of the players who had played two consecutive quarters of fast-paced offense on the field was similar to Sam's; their stamina had visibly dropped significantly.
Mike realized this. He knew that for the rest of the game, he would likely have to rely on himself.
Afterward, Medford High's offense once again became Mike's solo charge.
Right up until the end of the third quarter, Mike once again held the score with his formidable individual strength.
63:62
Medford was temporarily trailing by one point.
However, apart from the score, the Medford Team's overall situation was not very good. As stamina drained, the Medford Team players' fighting spirit also began to slowly dissipate.
Also, Mike had expended too much stamina in the latter half of the third quarter to keep the score close.
After all, Mike's physique had not yet reached an invincible level, and no matter how strong an individual's ability was on the football field, they couldn't withstand a continuous double-team from eleven opposing players.
During the third quarter break, Mike was so tired he just sat in place, not wanting to speak. The other players were not much better off than him.
Truth be told, the Medford Team had never played such an intense game as today.
"You are all doing great. No matter how today's game turns out, I am proud of you..." George saw the players' performance. He didn't want to put too much pressure on them, so he spoke to comfort everyone.
In reality, reaching this point was already the Medford Team's limit.
It had to be said that Austin, as a veteran strong team, was several levels stronger than Medford, both in terms of their players' physical conditioning and their coordinated teamwork.
The current deadlock on the field was entirely due to Mike's powerful individual strength.
The two-minute break quickly passed. Seeing that none of the players had recovered yet, George decisively used their last timeout to allow the players to rest a little longer.
Another two minutes passed. Mike wiped the sweat from his forehead and led his teammates, ready to go on the field.
"Mike..." George called out.
"What is it?" Mike turned his head, holding his helmet.
"Nothing." George had originally wanted to advise Mike to play more conservatively. After all, people are easily injured when fatigued.
But seeing Mike's determined gaze, George swallowed the words he was about to say. Finally, he clenched his fist and said, "Go for it—"
"I will." Mike smiled, put on his helmet, and walked onto the field.
The two teams once again lined up at midfield.
Beep --
Austin had possession. Having focused on team coordination from the start, their stamina was still well-preserved.
Under the cover of their teammates, the opposing quarterback once again easily scored two touchdowns.
71:62
At the beginning of the fourth quarter, Austin pulled away in the score.
Next, during Medford's offensive series, Austin continued to employ double-team defense on Mike.
Mike tried to break through twice but couldn't shake off his opponents. He then looked at Georgie in the opposing backfield.
At this moment, Georgie was only guarded by the opposing safety. Compared to the tight defense on Mike's side, the offensive opportunity on Georgie's side was very good.
So, Mike found an opening and with difficulty delivered a long pass.
Georgie, noticing the football flying towards him, adjusted his position, ready to catch the ball.
However, he hadn't given the opposing safety enough respect, and at the moment of catching the ball, he was knocked flying.
This kind of situation was very uncalled for in a game.
Beep --
Medford lost an offensive down, and the football, after landing, was returned to midfield.
It could be said that Georgie's carelessness wasted a beautiful offensive opportunity.
And next, Austin's quarterback, understanding Mike's offensive intentions, also began to jointly cover Georgie as an offensive point.