Chap­ter 4: A Taste of Vic­to­ry takes read­ers through the high­ly antic­i­pat­ed open­ing game of the Cubs’ foot­ball sea­son, cap­tur­ing the inten­si­ty of their prepa­ra­tion. After sur­viv­ing a gru­el­ing Hell Week, the team is eager to test their skills on the field against Noli Indi­an, a small­er yet tough oppo­nent from the Sobo­ba Indi­an reser­va­tion. Dressed in their scar­let uni­forms, the Cubs are filled with antic­i­pa­tion as they pre­pare to face off against a team that has been his­tor­i­cal­ly chal­leng­ing. The senior play­ers, Felix Gon­za­les in No. 1, Enos Zornoza in No. 2, Jory Valen­cia in No. 3, and quar­ter­back Trevin Adams in No. 4, have each cho­sen their jer­sey num­bers with pride, ready to guide the team through this crit­i­cal match. Their focus and ener­gy demon­strate how pre­pared they are to start their sea­son with a resound­ing win.

The Noli Indi­an team, coached by Jesse Aguilar, con­sists most­ly of fresh­men and sopho­mores, and their inex­pe­ri­ence becomes a clear dis­ad­van­tage as the game begins. With lit­tle to no expec­ta­tions placed on them, Noli Indi­an faces an uphill bat­tle against the Cubs, who are more sea­soned and phys­i­cal­ly pre­pared. Despite this, the Cubs face their own chal­lenges, and the game begins with a fast-paced inten­si­ty that reveals the true test of both teams’ willpow­er. How­ev­er, the Cubs quick­ly take charge, dom­i­nat­ing the ear­ly part of the game. Zornoza wastes no time, return­ing the open­ing kick­off for a touch­down, which ener­gizes the Cubs and sends a strong mes­sage to their oppo­nents. The momen­tum shifts deci­sive­ly as Trevin Adams recov­ers a fum­ble and imme­di­ate­ly leads his team to anoth­er touch­down, throw­ing a per­fect pass to Enos Zornoza.

As the game pro­gress­es, the Cubs con­tin­ue to assert their dom­i­nance, main­tain­ing con­trol through­out each pos­ses­sion. Their offen­sive unit remains unstop­pable, with the team scor­ing on every pos­ses­sion and demon­strat­ing supe­ri­or team­work and pre­ci­sion. In addi­tion to their con­sis­tent scor­ing, the Cubs exe­cute a pick-six, a high­light that fur­ther cements their lead and show­cas­es their defen­sive prowess. By the end of the game, the score­board reads 68–0 in favor of the Cubs, a stun­ning result that rais­es eye­brows through­out the foot­ball com­mu­ni­ty. While the sheer mar­gin of vic­to­ry is impres­sive, it also sparks a sense of curios­i­ty among the play­ers about their own capa­bil­i­ties. The Cubs had not only won—they had crushed their oppo­nents, lead­ing some to ques­tion whether they were tru­ly ready for the tougher games ahead. Key play­ers like Trevin and Enos show their abil­i­ty to dom­i­nate, but it is Phillip Cas­tane­da, a new addi­tion to the team, who steals the show. Despite some ini­tial con­fu­sion, Cas­tane­da scores a touch­down, mak­ing an impact that adds to the excite­ment and momen­tum of the game, prov­ing his worth as an essen­tial part of the team.

After the game, Coach Aguilar, though dis­ap­point­ed by the out­come, prais­es the Cubs for their dis­ci­pline and empha­sizes the impor­tance of team­work in such a com­pre­hen­sive vic­to­ry. His recog­ni­tion of the Cubs’ excep­tion­al per­for­mance serves as a les­son for his own young play­ers, illus­trat­ing how col­lab­o­ra­tion and com­mit­ment to a com­mon goal can lead to suc­cess. Coach Aguilar also uses this oppor­tu­ni­ty to encour­age his team to learn from the Cubs’ dis­ci­plined approach to the game, which focused on pre­ci­sion, com­mu­ni­ca­tion, and strate­gic play. The chap­ter empha­sizes the high ener­gy and rapid pace of eight-man foot­ball, a style of play that is unique to California’s small schools. This fast-mov­ing and dynam­ic for­mat not only demands phys­i­cal endurance from play­ers but also sharp­ens their men­tal acu­ity, requir­ing them to think quick­ly and react swift­ly to con­stant­ly chang­ing sit­u­a­tions on the field. Eight-man foot­ball has become beloved for its inten­si­ty, and this game high­lights why fans of all ages are drawn to its exhil­a­rat­ing nature.

While the Cubs expe­ri­ence an unfor­get­table begin­ning to their sea­son, the Noli Indi­an team gains valu­able lessons from their loss. The inex­pe­ri­ence of the Noli play­ers may have been a sig­nif­i­cant dis­ad­van­tage dur­ing the game, but they now have an oppor­tu­ni­ty to reflect on the impor­tance of prepa­ra­tion, team­work, and resilience. This match, though dif­fi­cult, serves as a step­ping stone for Noli Indian’s future growth, as they take away insights that will help them improve in the com­ing games. For the Cubs, this vic­to­ry serves as an indi­ca­tor of their poten­tial, show­ing that they have the pow­er to dom­i­nate when every­thing falls into place. How­ev­er, the win also rais­es ques­tions about how they will per­form against tougher com­pe­ti­tion, par­tic­u­lar­ly as their jour­ney pro­gress­es. As the sea­son unfolds, the Cubs will undoubt­ed­ly face chal­lenges that test their resilience and abil­i­ty to main­tain their high per­for­mance under pres­sure. This chap­ter not only show­cas­es the Cubs’ impres­sive start but also high­lights the evo­lu­tion of the Noli Indi­an team as they con­tin­ue their devel­op­ment. Both teams walk away from this game with lessons learned, and for the Cubs, this vic­to­ry marks just the begin­ning of their quest for a suc­cess­ful sea­son.