Chapter 140 138: The Fans Awaken
After making the catch, Logan found himself surrounded by three players. Crabtree, who was closest to him, was still about seven or eight yards away—too far to provide any help. The situation had suddenly turned against them.
Despite the emergency, Logan's mind was crystal clear. He slammed on the brakes, coming to a dead stop, then immediately jump-stepped backward, narrowly dodging a tackle from the leftmost player. The moment his feet hit the ground, he used the rebound to sprint to the left. The other two defenders tried to continue their encirclement, but their own teammate blocked their path. And just like that, Logan instantly broke free from the three-man trap.
The field ahead was wide open.
Sprint, keep sprinting! Logan gave it his all and took off!
The Seahawks' secondary was in complete disarray as other players scrambled to cover. But Williams and Gene shrewdly slowed down to escort Logan, throwing block after block and taking out at least three would-be tacklers.
Sprinting and still sprinting, Logan blazed past the forty, across midfield, and past the opposing forty. He was finally pushed out of bounds at the thirty-five-yard line by a pair of Seahawks safeties, who managed to end the play and save their team from the embarrassment of giving up an immediate touchdown.
The crowd at Candlestick Park was jolted awake, staring in disbelief at the scene unfolding before them. 'What just happened? What in the world just happened? Why has the San Francisco 49ers offense suddenly come alive? How did the San Francisco 49ers suddenly get to the thirty-five-yard line? What is going on?'
Meanwhile, the commentator's booth was in a similar state of chaos, not much better than the Seahawks' defense. 'What was that series of plays? What exactly happened on that drive?' All the commentators scrambled to watch the replay, shaking off their drowsiness and trying to get a handle on what was happening on the field.
Lu Ke looked up at Logan jogging back to the huddle, shook his head, and made another "hurry-up" gesture. He quickly led the entire offense across midfield to the thirty-five-yard line. The end zone was now within striking distance.
On Lu Ke's signal, Marcus came off the field and Hunter came on. Jim's voice crackled through the helmet headset. "Are you sure, Bambi?" In his haste, Jim had used the nickname instead of his name. "If it's a running play, Marcus is perfectly capable."
As a fullback, what kind of plays was Kendall Hunter suited for? Either he would lead block for a Marcus run, or it would be a goal-line situation, using Hunter's weight and sheer size to grind out a yard or two.
But now, on a fresh first down, there seemed to be no reason for Hunter to be in the game.
Lu Ke turned his head and gestured toward Jim, conveying his intention. 'Misdirection.' He couldn't let the Seahawks decipher the different roles of his two running backs, especially since Marcus had been acting as a receiver for the past few plays, not a runner. He planned to plunge the Seahawks' defense even deeper into confusion.
Once on the field, Hunter was incredibly excited but also a little lost. He bounced on his feet next to Lu Ke, asking loudly, "What do I do? What do I do?" This was the first play of his professional career, and it had come sooner than he'd imagined.
Lu Ke leaned in close to Hunter and began whispering the instructions.
The Seahawks' defense on the other side of the line now faced a dilemma. 'Is this a smokescreen? Is it a run or a pass? What kind of running style does this rookie quarterback even have?' They had no answers. The truth would only be revealed on the play.
Lu Ke lined up in the Pistol Formation, adding another layer of tactical confusion. After the snap, he handed the ball to Hunter without hesitation.
Then, like a bulldozer, Hunter rumbled forward, heavy and ungainly.
However, the Seahawks' defense had committed their personnel to pass coverage. The players responsible for the run defense were still in position, but their reflexes were a split second too slow. In that instant, the 49ers' Offensive Line completely tore open the Defense Line, carving out a lane.
A clear lane opened up right in front of Hunter. Without a moment's hesitation, he tucked the football, lowered his shoulder, and charged forward with all his might.
Hunter's strength was his power, his weakness was his speed. The Seahawks' defensive linemen finally snapped out of it and managed to make the tackle. Even so, Hunter had already gained seven yards.
For a running back, a seven-yard gain is a highly efficient result. Moreover, the sheer force of the run perfectly showcased the power and dominance of the sport. The fans at Candlestick Park finally seemed to be coming to their senses, and the cheers and shouts began to swell.
With the help of his teammates, Hunter got to his feet and instinctively pumped his fist. He looked at the fans cheering for him from all directions, still a bit overwhelmed. Then he saw Lu Ke walk up, pat him on the shoulder, and signal for him to head to the sideline and swap with Marcus.
Hunter nodded, still in a daze, and in his haste, he sprinted toward the sideline. But after a few steps, he realized he was running to the wrong one. In football, unlike soccer, the opposing teams' coaches and players occupy opposite sidelines. Hunter had just run toward the right sideline, where the Seattle Seahawks were located.
The players getting ready for the next play couldn't help but burst out laughing. Logan yelled, "Run, Forrest, run!" The classic line from *Forrest Gump* got another round of laughs from the team.
If a team has more than eleven players on the field at the start of a play, it's a penalty. This applies even if a player is just too slow leaving the field, or if someone on the sideline accidentally stumbles into the playing area. The penalty is a loss of yards.
So Hunter quickly jogged off the field, completing the substitution with Marcus.
Lu Ke shouted, "Hustle, hustle!" The crowd's cheers weren't deafening, allowing his voice to echo slightly across Candlestick Park. He then rattled off a dizzying series of tactical calls. Once he was sure his teammates had heard, his eyes darted to the Seahawks' defensive formation—
Caught in the hurry-up offense, the Seahawks' defense hadn't had time to adjust. They remained in their base "4-3-2-2" formation: four defensive linemen, three linebackers, two cornerbacks, and two safeties.
With a clear picture of the field in his mind, Lu Ke started the play. After a two-step dropback, he faced a ferocious blitz from the Seahawks. The pocket collapsed with incredible speed. In addition to the four defensive linemen, two linebackers joined the rush, for a total of six blitzing players. In less than two seconds, the defenders were right in Lu Ke's face.
But Lu Ke remained completely unfazed, as if he had anticipated it all. Without even adjusting his footing, he raised his arm and fired a pass to his left.
The cornerback on the left was Brandon Browner, and the safety was Kam Chandler. Both were exceptional players, stars of the secondary with Pro Bowl-level talent.
Most of Lu Ke's previous passes had gone to the right, but this time he launched a surprise attack to the left. Browner and Chandler were both highly focused, not losing concentration for a second, and immediately moved to cover. The problem was, their initial positioning had been shaded too far to the right, so they were a step behind as they scrambled to close the distance.
Kyle Williams!
It was Williams! Not Logan, who had also drifted out to the left! This completely defied Chandler's and Browner's expectations.
Once Browner identified the receiver, he sprinted over, but he was half a beat late. He could only watch as Williams reached out and effortlessly pulled the football into his arms. Carried by his momentum, he kept charging forward, and before Chandler could arrive to double-team him, Williams had already crossed into the end zone for a touchdown!
After crossing into the end zone, Williams glanced at the referee to confirm the touchdown, then threw his hands in the air and ran toward the stands, yelling, "You like that? You like that?"
A third touchdown! Who would have thought the San Francisco 49ers would have three passing touchdowns, completely dominating the Seattle Seahawks. The performance was simply astounding, simply breathtaking! The entire crowd was dumbfounded, at a complete loss.
It wasn't just Lu Ke; the entire San Francisco 49ers offense had been under immense pressure. The massive offseason roster overhaul, the winless preseason, the back-to-back injuries to two quarterbacks—it was as if the 49ers were cursed. Before the new season, there seemed to be no hope at all. Weren't the fans' angry roars a challenge to them as well?
Now, with three passing touchdowns through the first three quarters, the offense had delivered a brilliant response, forcefully answering the fans' doubts. So, Williams emulated Logan, roaring at the fans, "You like that?"
It was a resounding slap in the face to the fans.
The fans were stunned for a moment, but… they didn't care. So what if they'd been slapped in the face? The team was proving them wrong with its performance, and they were thrilled to see it. They were even happy to be proven wrong. Because they craved victory. For the last eight years, victory had felt so distant for the San Francisco 49ers.
At this very moment, they could almost taste victory again. As for who was delivering it? No one cared.
And so, the cheers finally erupted, cathartic and unrestrained. The home crowd, like a lion awakened from a long slumber, began to roar wildly, "49ers! 49ers! 49ers!" Only now did the fever of the first game of the regular season begin to feel real.
Amid the roaring tumult, the commentators in the booth wore strange expressions. That last offensive drive: starting from their own twenty-yard line, three plays in under a minute, two pass attempts for two completions, one run, and a touchdown.
For any quarterback, that was a perfect stat line. But… Lu Ke? Perfect? 'That… doesn't seem right, does it?'