The game had lost all suspense the moment Blair High School's running back, Lewis, was injured and forced off the field.
In the second half, Steve pulled the defensive starters and sent in the backups to defend against the opposing offense.
Alton and Harry, the two quarterbacks, turned the second half into a scoring battle.
The Wolves' offense clearly had the advantage over Blair High School's exhausted offense.
But the Wolves had put their backup players on defense, which offset some of Harry's advantage. That gave the two most closely watched high school quarterbacks a relatively fair setting for their showdown.
The final score was 42–32. The Wolves had won the New York State championship for the second year in a row.
Harry and Alton were the brightest stars of the second half.
The two elite pocket passers, whose styles were much alike, displayed a dazzling array of passing skills.
Whether it was a long pass or a short one, if one of their teammates found an opening, they could put the ball right in their hands.
The back-and-forth battle in the second half drove the atmosphere in the entire Stadium to a fever pitch.
The fans from Hell's Kitchen were thrilled, and even the people who had come from far away, hoping to catch a game on the cheap, were excited as if it were a holiday.
Of course, the free drinks Norman Osborn had provided were a big part of the reason.
When the referee blew the final whistle, the thunderous applause from the stands told the kids who had played that none of them were losers.
Even the Wolves' defensive players who had taken the field in the second half had shown off their talents.
Stamina, willpower, game-day presence...
Although quarterback Alton had given them a rough