Chap­ter 29: The Wicks and the Bombs fol­lows the Cubs as they nav­i­gate through a crit­i­cal stage of their play­off jour­ney, empha­siz­ing their resilience and deter­mi­na­tion. The chap­ter starts with Steve How­ell, the defen­sive coor­di­na­tor for the Lead­er­ship Mil­i­tary Acad­e­my Wolf­pack, reflect­ing on his team’s ear­ly exit from the play­offs and his thoughts on the Cubs’ poten­tial. How­ell, while dis­ap­point­ed by his team’s loss, is con­fi­dent that the Cubs will make it to the cham­pi­onship game. How­ev­er, he pre­dicts that despite their dri­ve and grit, the Cubs will even­tu­al­ly lose to Faith Bap­tist, the team he believes will be their strongest chal­lenge. His reflec­tion on the Cubs’ play­off run high­lights the admi­ra­tion he has for their growth through­out the sea­son, and his respect­ful acknowl­edg­ment of their jour­ney adds a lay­er of emo­tion­al depth to the sto­ry.

The Cubs are next pit­ted against the renowned Flintridge Prep Wolves, a team with a rich foot­ball his­to­ry and a ros­ter of excep­tion­al tal­ent, includ­ing Ram­ses Bar­den, a for­mer NFL play­er, and Rus­sell White, a stand­out col­lege run­ning back. Flintridge’s coach­ing staff, led by White, main­tains a calm yet con­fi­dent approach, treat­ing the Cubs no dif­fer­ent­ly from any oth­er team they have faced. White’s empha­sis on ignor­ing the Cubs’ deaf­ness and focus­ing sole­ly on their abil­i­ties under­scores the com­pet­i­tive nature of the game. How­ev­er, the Cubs’ uni­ty and strong com­mu­ni­ca­tion, shaped by their shared expe­ri­ence of deaf­ness, become their secret weapon. The team’s abil­i­ty to com­mu­ni­cate silent­ly and effec­tive­ly with one anoth­er pro­vides them with an edge that even Flintridge, despite their phys­i­cal advan­tages, will strug­gle to over­come. This under­ly­ing dynam­ic between the teams sets the stage for an intense, high-stakes matchup.

As the game begins, the Cubs start strong, scor­ing first and quick­ly build­ing momen­tum. Their ear­ly suc­cess gives them a tem­po­rary sense of con­fi­dence, but the Flintridge Wolves respond almost imme­di­ate­ly, strik­ing back with a series of offen­sive plays that expose weak­ness­es in the Cubs’ defense. The score becomes tight as both teams go back and forth, with each side adjust­ing their strate­gies in response to the other’s moves. The Cubs’ coach­es begin to grow con­cerned as they real­ize that their defen­sive line is not as sol­id as they ini­tial­ly thought. As Flintridge exploits these vul­ner­a­bil­i­ties, the Cubs find them­selves strug­gling to main­tain their lead. Yet, through it all, the Cubs demon­strate their unwa­ver­ing spir­it, draw­ing strength from their sense of uni­ty and their shared expe­ri­ence as a team of deaf play­ers. They know that their bond is what sets them apart from oth­er teams and moti­vates them to push through adver­si­ty.

Despite the mount­ing pres­sure, the Cubs man­age to hold on to a nar­row lead at half­time. Their defense con­tin­ues to face chal­lenges as Flintridge adapts to their tac­tics and gains ground. The Cubs’ coach­ing staff takes this time to reassess their approach, real­iz­ing that adjust­ments need to be made quick­ly to keep their lead intact. The sec­ond half begins with renewed ener­gy as Trevin, the Cubs’ quar­ter­back, makes a remark­able pass to Gio, who catch­es the ball and scores a cru­cial touch­down, expand­ing their lead. This piv­otal moment lifts the Cubs’ spir­its, and the team begins to regain con­trol of the game. With their offen­sive momen­tum back in full force, they cap­i­tal­ize on the oppor­tu­ni­ty to extend their lead fur­ther. By the time the game con­cludes, the Cubs have secured a deci­sive 58–28 vic­to­ry, an impres­sive win that pro­pels them to the cham­pi­onship. How­ev­er, Coach Adams, ever mind­ful of the team’s past loss­es, shows the play­ers the painful score of their pre­vi­ous cham­pi­onship defeat. This reminder serves as a pow­er­ful moti­va­tor, urg­ing the Cubs to stay focused on their ulti­mate goal: redemp­tion and the chance to prove their true poten­tial on the biggest stage.