Halfback Attack (6 page)

He crossed the goal line for a TD, and Dennis bucked the line for the extra point.

Now the score was tied.

The game remained tied until the middle of the third quarter, when the Bluejays had the ball on the Sandpipers’ fifteen-yard
line. With five yards to go on the fourth down, Neeley went into position to
kick a field goal. The ball shot straight between the uprights, and the Bluejays went ahead, 10–7.

Once again the Sandpipers lost hope, letting their shoulders droop and their chins sag.

“Come on, you guys!” Freddie could hear Coach Sears yelling. “Get in there and fight! You can do it!”

Freddie had a glimpse of his mom, too. She was sitting in the third row of the bleachers with other moms and dads.

Bet she knows more about football than a lot of those women, Freddie thought. She had learned it when she used to watch Dad
play. Gee, if only Dad could be here …

The Sandpipers could do very little. Coach Sears made replacements. Ted went in for Freddie.

“We could have been far ahead in this game,” said Coach Sears, “if we had kept our wits about us. We have this game to play,
and the one with the Cardinals next week. Don’t you want to win?”

Freddie remembered those words when he got back into the game. But it wasn’t until just after the start of the fourth quarter
that his opportunity came. Once more it was on a double reverse. This
time he took the ball from Bucky without trouble, swept around left end, and went all the way.

Dennis bucked for the point, and the score was Sandpipers 14, Bluejays 10.

Later, when the Bluejays had the ball, Freddie was taken out. He went in again only when the Sandpipers got the ball. He realized
after this happened the third time that Coach Sears was playing him only on offense.

What have I done now? he asked himself worriedly.

He looked over at the other field and noticed that the Cardinals-Flamingos game was over; that some of the players were here,
watching this game. Among them was his cousin Mert.

There was time for only a few more plays. The Bluejays had the ball on the Sandpipers’ thirty-six. They tried a short pass
and gained eight yards. Then Neeley broke lose on a play around left end — and went fifteen yards!

Freddie fidgeted on the bench. He looked at Coach Sears. The coach glanced at his watch, then began rubbing his knees nervously.

The Bluejays tried a line buck. No gain.

“Hold them, line! Hold them!” yelled the Sandpipers’ fans.

Again Neeley carried the ball, going around his right end this time.
Get him, somebody!
Freddie wanted to shout.
Get him!

It was Dennis who pulled Neeley down — on the five-yard line.

Then the whistle shrilled. The game was over.

“Whew! Just in time!” murmured Freddie.

The Sandpipers were the winners: 14–10.

The boys leaped and hugged each other with joy they had not known in a long, long time. This was their first win in two years!

Jimmie walked alongside Freddie on their way home, talking every minute and telling Freddie how wonderfully he played and
what a great run that was.

“Fifty-five yards!” said Jimmie, and whistled.

Fifty-five yards? Freddie smiled. He hadn’t realized what it was at the time.

Then along his other side approached Mert, carrying his helmet.

“Well, see you guys finally won a game,” he said. “And I heard you made a TD, Freddie. Congratulations!

“Thanks,” said Freddie. “How did you make out?”

“We won. Thirty-nine to thirteen. I made three touchdowns.”

“You did?”

“I heard you made some nice tackles,” Mert went on. “Must be just talk. The coach was taking you out every time on defense
while I was watching the game.”

“We play you next week,” Freddie said. “You’ll have a better chance to watch me then.”

Mert chuckled. “It’s a deal!” he said. “But I think it’ll be an easy win — for us!” He ran off ahead of them, his laughter
trailing behind him.

Don’t be too sure, thought Freddie. I’ll have my chance to pay you back for what you did to me at Dick Connors’s Halloween
party!

For the next several days, the important subject around school was the Sandpipers’ win over the Bluejays. The Monday
Evening Times
had an article describing the highlights of the game. Freddie cut it out and pasted it in his scrapbook among his other clippings.

This article contained a special piece about him. Freddie was proud, but he didn’t brag about it the way his cousin Mert bragged
about his write-ups.

“Special praise is deserved by Freddie Chase, the Sandpipers’ right halfback,” one paragraph read. “His sparkling runs through
the line and around the ends were a sight to see. Several times he shook off tacklers for sizable gains. He proved himself
on defense, too, tackling big, fast runners such as Art
Neeley, the Bluejays’ star fullback. But his most spectacular play was his fifty-five-yard touchdown run….”

Little by little the conversation among the football fans drifted to this coming Saturday’s game between the Sandpipers and
the Cardinals. Almost everybody felt that it was going to be an easy victory for the Cardinals. Almost everybody … except
the Sandpipers.

“Just wait and see,” said Mert McGuire, smiling with lots of confidence. “We’ll run through you Sandpipers so bad, there won’t
be a feather left on you!

Freddie expected Mert to say something about that night at Dick Connors’s party. But Mert didn’t. Either he had forgotten
the incident or he didn’t want Freddie to know that it was he who had lifted Freddie’s mask.

But Freddie knew. And Saturday the Cardinals’ red feathers would be flying, not the Sandpipers’ yellow ones.

For Thursday, Freddie’s English class had to write compositions — on any subject. Freddie
wrote his on Wednesday night. He titled it THE BIG GAME. It was a story about a football game between the Sandpipers and the
Cardinals. He made up the names of the players, but he was thinking of some real live people while he wrote.

According to his story, the game ended with the Sandpipers shutting out the Cardinals, 14–0.

As Miss Daley handed Freddie’s paper back to him, a smile curled her lips. Freddie blushed, took the paper, and glanced quickly
at the mark in the upper right-hand corner.

An
A!

Freddie grinned.

Coach Sears had the Sandpipers work out Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. He drilled them on passes, line bucks, and the double
reverse.

“The Cardinals have the strongest team in the league,” he reminded his charges after practice Thursday evening. “But they
just eased by the Bluejays, and the Catbirds beat them, twenty-eight to twenty-seven. And we tied the Catbirds. I know that
doesn’t mean much, but it does mean they could be beaten. Just make up your minds that you
can do it. Play as hard as you can, and you will. Remember this: If the Cardinals win, they’ll get in first place for sure.
If they lose, they may end in third. And it will be the first time they haven’t finished on top in three years! Okay. Scatter!
See you Saturday afternoon!”

Freddie and Jimmie watched part of the Flamingo-Catbird game and part of the Owl-Bluejay game on Saturday morning. Both matchups
were filled with excitement. The Catbirds won, 28–19; the Owls and the Bluejays tied, 7–7.

After leaving Jimmie, Freddie went home and looked over the records of all the teams. After this morning’s two games, the
Cardinals were still sitting pretty right on top. But if they lost to the Sandpipers this afternoon, they would have two in
the lost column. That would put them in third place! The records were as follows:

Of course, the Sandpipers would finish in fourth place, but that wasn’t as important as knocking off the Cardinals.

Freddie gritted his teeth. We’ll knock them off that perch this afternoon! Just watch! We’ll show Mert! We’ll show them all!

The crowd that attended the game that afternoon was the largest Freddie had seen at any of the games. His mom was there with
Mert’s parents, Mrs. Rose, and Jimmie. You couldn’t have kept Jimmie away today!

The sun was hidden behind high gray clouds that moved across the sky like sticky syrup. A light, cool wind made it necessary
for the fans to wear coats. For the football players, however, this weather was just dandy.

The whistle shrilled. Mert McGuire, the Cardinals’ fullback, kicked off.

Bucky Jensen caught the ball on the fifteen and ran it back to his twenty-seven. In three plays the Sandpipers moved the ball
to their thirty-eight for a first down.

“Crisscross buck,” said Dick in the huddle. “Freddie takes it!”

Dick took the snap and faked it to Bucky, who scissored across in front of him. Then he handed the ball to Freddie, who scissored
in front of him to the left. Freddie sliced through a hole and dodged a tackler. He crossed the Cardinals’ thirty-five-yard
line and was brought down hard.

“Nice gain,” said Mert, who had tackled him. “Let’s see you try it again.”

“Second and two,” said the referee.

Dennis bucked but failed to make it. Then Dick tried a quarterback sneak, taking the ball through the line himself. He made
a gain, but there was doubt whether it was a first down. The referee motioned to the men with the yardage chain and down marker
for a measurement.

A first down! The Sandpipers’ fans roared from the sidelines and the bleachers.

Then the Cardinals seemed to gain strength. They held the Sandpipers and gained possession of the ball on their thirty-one.
Freddie was taken out. Ted Butler went in.

Freddie was baffled. Why? he thought. Why has the coach been taking me out when we’re on defense?

The Cardinals moved forward slowly. Then their quarterback, Jim Small, shot a lateral to Mert. Mert raced all the way down
the field for a touchdown. Jim bucked the line for the extra point, and the Cardinals went into the lead, 7–0.

In the second quarter, the Sandpipers got the ball and Freddie went back in. Mert grinned at him.

Freddie didn’t return the grin.

I hope I have the chance to tackle you, he thought. Even if it’s only once.

The Sandpipers hit twice with passes that took them to the Cardinals’ twelve-yard line. Then a clipping charge against Joey
Mills set them back fifteen. Dick tried to hit Freddie with a long pass, hoping to score. But someone stretched long arms
in front of Freddie and practically took the ball out of his hands. … It was Mert.

The Cardinals’ fullback sprinted down the field. He dodged Joey and Dave Summers. At last Freddie tackled him from behind,
and Mert went down.

Mert’s eyes went wide as he looked around at his tackler.

“Say! Nice tackle!” he said.

He sounded as it he meant it, but Freddie said nothing. He was thinking, There! I’ve done it. And I’ll do it again.

A moment later, Ted Butler came running in. “Out, Freddie,” he said.

Freddie stared, wondering why.

The Cardinals wormed their way far into the Sandpipers’ territory. Then, on the five-yard line, Jim Small fumbled.

Sandpipers’ ball … but the Sandpipers had all they could do to keep the ball in their possession during the remaining moments
of the second quarter.

Shortly after the first half ended, Freddie approached Coach Sears.

“Coach, can’t I play defense, too? I’m sure I can stop those players just as well as anybody.”

Coach Sears smiled and winked. “I know you can, Freddie. I took you out from defense during the first half for a definite
reason. I didn’t want the
Cardinals to know how well you’ve come along as a tackler. During this second half, they’ll find out. But by the time they
do, they might not make enough gains to matter beans, and we might have that ball in our possession enough times to beat them.
That’s peculiar strategy, maybe. But let’s hope it works!”

The second half was ready to begin. The Sandpipers chose to receive. Mert McGuire kicked off for the Cardinals. It was a low,
bouncing ball that went deep into the Sandpipers’ territory. Dick Connors tucked it under his arm and started running it back.
He barely reached his eighteen-yard line before being tackled.

In three plays, the Sandpipers failed to gain more than five yards. Dennis punted. It was high and not very far. Jim Small
signaled for a fair catch. Now the Cardinals had the ball on the Sandpipers’ thirty-two.

The Cardinals inched forward. They were discovering something: Few runners were getting past linebacker Freddie Chase.