“First off, I’m sorry I got in your face yesterday,” Keith said.
Larry didn’t look any less hostile. “Well, you
should
be.”
“But I don’t think you should be going around bad-mouthing me to the other guys. What I did yesterday was wrong, but so is what you’ve been doing.”
“I haven’t been —” Larry started.
“Come on,” Keith interrupted. “I
know
you have. I know what you said to Heck, and I’ve seen you talking to other players. I know you’re telling them the same thing. That I’m going to choke and hurt the team.”
Larry must have realized that there was no point in denying it. “Well, it’s the truth! You will!”
“I don’t think so,” retorted Keith, sounding more certain than he was. “But the thing is, you shouldn’t talk about me behind my back. It hurts the team. Think about it.”
Without giving Larry a chance to reply, Keith walked away, resisting the temptation to turn around and see how the other boy was taking it.
That day, Keith decided not to think about anything other than his own work and what he could do to improve it. He was happy with his defense, knocking down a few passes — two intended for Larry — and making a few tackles. He felt confident that, on defense at least, he was going to be a valuable member of the Bucks.
On offense, he was
fairly
happy with his performance. He caught a bullet pass fired by Billy over the middle and made a good move to break a tackle and gain ten more yards. He also made a good catch of a pass thrown by Jason, even though there were three defenders around him.
But Keith dropped one of Billy’s throws that he thought was catchable because he was thinking about running with the ball before he had it under control. And he missed a downfield block on Larry that would have freed Heck for a nice run.
As for Larry, he was definitely faster than Keith and his height gave him an edge. But he didn’t make his cuts that well and was not a good blocker. Also, his defense was a question mark. At one point, he had a chance to tackle Heck at the line of scrimmage but hit him too high, around the shoulders, and Heck broke loose for a gain. He also tended to hesitate before coming in on running plays.
Late in the practice, Keith was on offense. Jason called for him to run a slant pattern over the middle, ten yards deep. Cody, on defense, got a hand on the ball, deflecting it slightly. Seeing it wobble off target, Keith broke back toward the line, dived, and scooped the ball up before it hit the ground.
“Great catch!” Jason shouted, running up to Keith and pulling him to his feet. As Keith got up, he saw Larry glare at Jason. Heck, who was standing behind Larry, gave Keith a thumbs-up sign.
The coach said nothing to indicate whether he favored either receiver. At the end of practice, he called the team together.
“Good work today. We’re looking better, more like a team. Next week we play our first game of the year. I’ve arranged for us to meet with the Pumas for a scrimmage on Monday, so we can get a taste of game conditions. Afterward, I’ll have a much better idea who I’ll be starting on game day. Get some rest, and keep it up, everyone.”
As they walked home, Heck asked Keith, “How did your talk go with Larry?”
Keith shook his head. “I’m not sure, but at least I didn’t see him doing any whispering today.”
“I guess the scrimmage will be the big test for us,” Heck said.
“You bet,” agreed Keith. He was determined to make his performance in the scrimmage prove that he deserved to start.
O
n the day of the scrimmage with the Pumas, Coach Bodie got the team together for a last meeting. “Okay, here’s how this is going to work. The Puma coach and I worked it out last night. Each team is going to have ten plays on offense, starting with the ball on their own twenty. Then we switch. The Pumas will have their offensive series first.
“There won’t be any official score, and if a team
does
get a touchdown or kick a field goal before its quota of plays is used up, it starts from the twenty again. Any questions?”
Players looked around at each other, and finally Cody put up his hand. “Coach? Who’s going to start?”
The coach grinned. “I was just getting to that. Before I tell you, though, I want to make something clear. No matter who starts,
everyone
will get playing time. And the fact that someone starts today doesn’t necessarily mean that person will start in games.”
The coach then named the starting eleven. Some, like Billy, Heck, and Cody, were obvious, but a few were not. When Keith heard his name called, he was careful not to let his pleasure show in his face.
Larry must have shown something, however, because Coach Bodie said, “Is there a problem, Larry?”
Everyone turned to look at Larry, whose face got very red. “I … it … you … no, no problem.”
The coach nodded. “Good. I think it’s a good thing that a player wants to be a starter. But when it doesn’t work out that way, the thing to do is accept it and go on from there. Like I said, everyone will play, and everyone can make a contribution. Understood?”
Larry blinked and said, “Yeah,” very softly. Keith was surprised to find that he felt sorry for the other boy, who wanted that starting position so badly. He hoped that if Larry turned out to be the starter in the first game, he, Keith, would be a better sport about it.
The Pumas, wearing red shirts to distinguish themselves, lined up. Keith, in the Buck secondary, positioned himself opposite a receiver who was split wide to the left. The Puma quarterback spun and handed off to his upback, and Keith ran in toward the line to help on the stop. His help wasn’t needed, though, since Cody met the runner head-on for no gain.
On the next play, the quarterback faked a pitchout and dropped back. The receiver that Keith was covering, a wiry, long-legged guy, pretended he was making a downfield block on Keith, then tried to sprint past him. Keith didn’t bite on the feint and wheeled to run with the receiver, staying with him pretty well. The quarterback threw just as the Puma end put on the brakes and hooked back toward the line. Keith hit him just after the ball did and jarred the ball loose for an incomplete pass.
A few plays later, Larry replaced Keith, who got an approving nod from Coach Bodie and Mack as he reached the sideline. Keith feared that Larry wouldn’t be able to keep up with this receiver, who was shifty and had a deceptive burst of speed. Sure enough, two plays later Larry stumbled in an effort to stay with his man and the Puma caught a pass and raced downfield for fifteen yards before being tackled from behind by Billy.
But on the very next play, Larry was able to break up an attempted screen pass and almost intercept it. If he had held the ball, he might have run it back for a touchdown.
The Pumas failed to score in their ten plays and the Bucks took over. Larry, who had stayed in the game, caught a short pass on the first play. A moment later, his block set up a long run for Heck. Keith joined his teammates in cheering. He was eager to get into the game again, and two plays later he did, along with Jason, who substituted for Billy.
Jason called for Keith to cut over the middle and fired a pass that was slightly behind him. Keith managed to twist around and get a hand on the ball, but a hard hit knocked it away from him, and Keith sprawled on the turf.
As he returned to the huddle, Jason said, “Sorry, dude. That was my mistake.”
Keith hoped that it looked that way to Coach Bodie as well. With three plays left, Jason sent Keith long and hurled the ball as far as he could. Keith sprinted hard for the end zone, hoping to reach the pass, and reached out a hand as he crossed the goal line. He got his fingertips on the ball, knocked it upward, then cradled his arms under the ball, catching it in both hands as he fell forward for a touchdown. As he got to his feet, he was surrounded by teammates slapping his hands and yelling congratulations.
On the last offensive play, Billy, back in at quarterback, called an end around. Keith used Cody to run interference and raced for a twenty-yard gain.
The Pumas did score on their next set of plays, but the Bucks scored a second touchdown — on some fine open-field running by Heck — and also kicked a field goal. Keith felt that he’d done pretty well, especially his one spectacular TD catch. But, he decided, Larry had also done well, even making an interception to end a Puma scoring threat.
Afterward, once the members of both teams had shaken hands and the Pumas had left, Coach Bodie assembled the Bucks.
“I’m very encouraged by what you guys showed me today. We look like we’re about ready for the season opener. I’ll be polishing some things in the next few practices, and that’s about it.
“As for a final decision on starters, I’ll sleep on it and let you know before we go to work tomorrow. For what it’s worth, you’ve made some of my choices hard to make. That’s a good problem for a coach. It means that we have some real depth on the team this year, more so than last season. Get your rest, and I’ll see you all at the usual time.”
Keith, Cody, and Heck rode their bikes home after the coach dismissed the team. Cody turned to Keith and said, “It’s a lock, man. You’re the starter. No question anymore.”
Keith shrugged. “I’m not totally sure. To tell you the truth, I thought Larry had a good scrimmage, too. He made a couple of really good plays.”
“That’s true,” Heck said, “but he also made a couple of mistakes, especially on defense. I think Cody’s right.”
“Sure, I’m right!” Cody insisted. “Keith, you’re da
man!
”
“Well, anyway, you two guys are going to start,” Keith said. “And I guess we’ll know about me tomorrow.”
It was going to be a long wait.
T
he next day, Keith arrived at practice feeling nervous. Heck kept reassuring Keith that he deserved to start for the Bucks and that the coach could be relied on to make the right decision. But Keith couldn’t get over his edginess.
What if Coach Bodie held Keith’s temper tantrum of a few days ago against him? What if the coach believed that Keith might actually fail in a clutch situation? What if, what if.… Keith refused to let himself relax. He promised himself that if the coach picked Larry over him he would
not
show his disappointment, that he’d still do his best for the team, and that he’d congratulate Larry and shake his hand.
When, at last, Coach Bodie blew his whistle and clapped for the team to gather around him, Keith thought that he couldn’t stand the suspense for another minute.
Anything
would be better than waiting. He had to know.
The coach waited for all the whispering and talking to die down before saying a word. Then he said, “As I said yesterday, I had a few difficult decisions to make, because we can only start eleven players. In a couple of cases, there was almost nothing separating the two options, but I had to make the choice anyway.
“I’ll say this again: All of you will play against the Mustangs. They’re a solid team; they have a larger squad than we do, and that means that we’ll need to keep moving fresh bodies out there. Here we go.”
He read the names off a list, going through them quickly. When he said, “Keith Stedman,” Keith wasn’t sure at first that he’d heard right. Then he saw Heck nodding and grinning, and he knew that he had indeed heard right. He was on the starting team! He managed not to jump up and let out a whoop, but he felt really
good
.
In addition, he felt a tingle of nervousness. Now he had what he wanted. It was put-up-or-shut-up time.
What if he blew it …
again?
What would he do?
Meanwhile, the coach was talking about running some new plays and drilling all the old ones, and Keith made an effort to follow it all, but found it hard to focus.
As soon as Coach Bodie told the players to take a minute before they got to work, Keith headed straight for Larry, who was sitting on the ground and staring hard straight ahead of him. “Hey, Larry?” Keith called.
The other boy looked up, and Keith stuck out his hand. “Larry, I hope there’s no hard feelings. I thought we looked pretty much dead-even lately, and it could have gone either way. And I figure you’ll get plenty of playing time.”
Larry got to his feet and forced a smile onto his face. “Congratulations,” he said. “I guess you earned it. Anyway … well, good luck.”
Keith thought that if it had been the other way around, he’d probably have had just as much trouble getting the words out.
As practice went on, Keith noticed that Larry’s head didn’t seem to be in it at all. At one point, when Larry was on offense, Billy must have called for the receiver to cut toward the sideline, because that’s where he threw the pass. But the ball landed ten yards from any player, while Larry raced straight downfield. As he headed glumly back to the huddle, the coach glared at him, but didn’t say anything. Keith was sure that it was because Coach Bodie knew how Larry was feeling and wanted to cut him a little slack.
Keith felt
pumped
. He couldn’t do anything wrong. One of Jason’s passes was tipped at the line of scrimmage and Keith somehow leaped over a couple of players to grab it before it hit the ground. He made a beautiful ankle-high tackle on Heck when it seemed that Heck was going to take it into the end zone. He hoped that he’d have this kind of feeling when game time rolled around.
When the coach whistled play to a halt, Keith felt that he could keep going and going, like one of those batteries in TV commercials. “Keith, Larry, let me see you for a minute,” the coach called.
Heck looked at Keith with a “What’s up?” expression, but Keith could only shrug. He had no idea.
“Guys, with you two playing as well as you are, I’d like to put in a new play, a spread formation kind of thing, with both of you in the lineup and Heck in the slot. Here’s the idea.”
He kneeled down, holding a clipboard with a penciled diagram on it. Keith caught Larry’s eye and grinned. Larry grinned back.
“The thing would be to flood the secondary,” Coach Bodie said. “One of you two would go deep down one sideline, the other would cut across maybe fifteen yards out. Heck would be flanked, ready for a screen pass or something short. Billy has great peripheral vision and he could decide which man is most open. If, say, we’re behind with time running out, or if it’s a close game and we want to catch them by surprise, this could be a real weapon.”