TABLE OF CONTENTS

  Chapter 1

  Bad Memories

  Chapter 2

  Tryouts

  Chapter 3

  Getting the News

  Chapter 4

  Practice Time

  Chapter 5

  Attitude Change

  Chapter 6

  Scrimmage

  Chapter 7

  Game Time

  Chapter 8

  Kickoff

  Chapter 9

  A Big Change

  Chapter 10

  Bigger Changes

  Chapter 11

  End of a Long Season

  Chapter 12

  Big Finish

  Chapter 1

  BAD MEMORIES

  Robby Samuels stood on the hill next to his school. He looked down at the green football fields below.

  As he stood there, he remembered every second of last year’s football season. That was easy to do, since his season lasted about twenty minutes. In the first contact drill of tryouts, Robby fell and broke his arm. Now he couldn’t get that moment out of his head.

  His job was to block a defensive player. He had looked across the line at the player he was supposed to block. It was Andy Renkins, one of the best football players in the league.

  “Good luck,” Andy had said to Robby, sarcastically. “Try not to hurt yourself.”

  Then the coach’s whistle sounded. Andy pushed him aside like he was brushing away an insect. Andy stood over Robby, holding the ball. “Football’s a man’s game,” Andy said. “Looks like you better try something else.”

  Now Robby wasn’t sure that playing football was his dream anymore. He certainly looked like a football player. His thick chest and strong, muscular legs made him look tough, even if he didn’t feel that way.

  Even though everybody got to be on a team, the coaches held tryouts to figure out who the best players were. That way, they could divide them up between the teams.

  “You better get down there,” Matt said. Matt, Robby’s best friend, was a year younger and a lot smaller than Robby. He didn’t like sports, but he was always there for Robby.

  “You’re right,” Robby said. He took a deep breath, but his legs didn’t move.

  “Go!” Matt said. “This is a new year. Stop thinking about your arm. And stop thinking about stupid old Andy Renkins!”

  Finally, Robby trudged down the hill toward tryouts and Andy Renkins.

  Chapter 2

  TRYOUTS

  Most of the players were in the main field, stretching out. Robby sat in the middle, hoping to disappear. It only took a minute for Andy Renkins to spot him.

  “Well, look who’s back!” Andy said. “Think you’ll make it to the second day of tryouts this year, Samuels?”

  Robby didn’t say anything. He’d learned a long time ago to ignore Andy.

  When the boys were done stretching, the coach blew his whistle. “Break into your groups! Group A, you’re doing sprints! Group B, you’re blocking and tackling!”

  Robby was in Group B. He looked around quickly for Andy. Then Robby saw him, heading over to the sprint station with Group A. Robby relaxed.

  Robby got down into his stance, facing Seth Wilson. He didn’t care that Seth was bigger than he was. As long as he didn’t have to block Andy.

  The coach blew his whistle. Robby held Seth off for a couple of seconds before Seth overpowered him and got the ball.

  “Good job, both of you!” the coach shouted. “That was quite a battle.”

  Quite a battle. To Robby, those words meant everything. His chest puffed out under his pads.

  His next battle was against Ryan Swanson, a boy about Robby’s size. This time, Robby was trying to get to the ball. When the whistle blew, Robby charged at Ryan. Their shoulder pads hit with a loud clap.

  “Woooo-hoooo!” the coaches howled. Robby kept charging ahead. In a flash, he was on the ball.

  Robby felt a rush of emotion. It was a feeling he’d never had before. Then coach blew his whistle. “Rotate!” he yelled.

  Robby jogged toward the next station, sprints. He felt great out there on the field, actually competing in football.

  Just then, he felt his shoulder jerk back. His feet lifted off the ground. He looked up and saw Andy standing over him.

  “Keep your head up, Samuels!” Andy laughed. “You’re going to hurt yourself!”

  Chapter 3

  GETTING THE NEWS

  Robby picked himself off the field and moved to the next station. He wished he had gotten back up and slammed back into Andy.

  The tryouts continued for three days. Each day, the players did drills at different stations. Coaches from all the teams watched and made notes about the players on their clipboards.

  At the end of the third day, Robby stopped by Matt’s house on the way home.

  He needed to do something a little less active than play football. He invited Matt over to play Galactic Meltdown.

  That night, in the middle of the video game, the phone rang at Robby’s house. Robby ignored it. A second later, his mom walked into the room with the phone.

  “For me?” The only person who ever called him was Matt, and Matt was sitting next to him.

  Robby took the phone.

  “Robby,” Coach Parker said. “You’re going to play for the Lions. After watching you in tryouts, I think we’re going to have you play on the line.

  “I just e-mailed the roster to your parents,” the coach continued. “Take a look at our team. I think we’re going to be pretty good!”

  Robby thanked the coach and rushed into the family room. His team’s roster was already on the computer screen. Robby’s eye went to one name, right above his: Renkins, Andy.

  Chapter 4

  PRACTICE TIME

  The next afternoon, all the boys on Robby’s team met for their first practice. The boys tossed footballs and did stretching exercises.

  “Bring it in, boys,” the coach barked. They gathered around Coach Parker. The coach’s son, James, stood next to him.

  “I’m Coach Parker,” he said.

  “I’ve been coaching in this league for a long time. Last year, my team won the championship. I expect to do the same thing this year.”

  The team perked up.

  “Winning is hard work,” the coach continued. “Each of you has to learn your position and do your job the right way. If we all work together, we will win the championship!”

  Now the boys were excited. Robby felt it too.

  After that, the coach ran the team through drills. The toughest drill had two players against each other in a narrow space. One player ran the ball, while the other player tried to tackle him.

  One small boy named Michael had never played football before. He was afraid of getting hit hard. When he got the ball, he would wait to be tackled.

  “Michael!” the coach yelled. “Don’t wait for the tackler to hit you! Run him over!”

  Robby didn’t mind the drill. He was usually pretty good at the tackling part, unless the player was really fast.

  Andy Renkins was good at all of it. Andy usually tackled the player before he could get past the line of scrimmage. When Andy had the ball, he ran over smaller players and faked out bigger ones.

  The coach’s son, James, was a good player too.

  Toward the end of practice, the coach held one more round of the tackling drill. When it was Michael’s turn to carry the ball, the coach called his son over. He spoke to him quietly.

  He’s probably telling James to take it easy on Michael, Robby thought.

  When it came time for the players to line up, however, something very different happened. James got down into his defensive stance. Michael stood five yards away with the ball in his hand. He looked scared.

  Bleet! went the coach’s whistle. Michael never moved. Before he had a chance, James barreled toward him. Michael was knocked straight back.

  The rest of the players were silent, but the coach went crazy.

  “Yeahhhh!” screamed Coach Parker. “That’s the kind of hit we need. Make him remember you!”

  James got up. Andy ran over and gave him a high five. Michael stayed flat on his back.

  “Hop up, Michael,” Coach Parker said. “You just got the wind knocked out of you. You’ll be fine in a second.”

  Michael walked off to the side of the field and sat down.

  “That was a pretty good start, but we’ll have to work harder if we’re going to win the championship!” the coach yelled.

  Suddenly, Robby wasn’t sure he wanted to win a championship anymore.

  Chapter 5

  ATTITUDE CHANGE

  Robby was worried. It was bad enough to play on the same team with Andy Renkins. Now he was starting to wonder about his coach.

  One night, Matt stopped over after practice. “What are you so upset about?” Matt said.

  Robby thought about it for a minute. “I’m not sure I like playing football anymore,” he said.

  “I can’t believe you’re going to let Andy and your coach wreck your season,” Matt said, shaking his head. “You still like football, right?”

  “Yeah, I do,” Robby said. He was starting to get a little defensive. “What’s your point?”

  “Then go play!” Matt said. “Just because they are taking it so seriously doesn’t mean you have to!”

  Finally, Robby spoke. “Thanks,” he said quietly.

  Robby knew Matt was right.

  The next night, at the beginning of practice, Coach Parker called Robby over. “Samuels, I’m making you the starting center.”

  Robby knew he would start every play. His job was to snap the ball between his legs to the quarterback. Then he had to block a defensive lineman.

  It was important for the center and the quarterback to work well together. That way, the plays would all start smoothly. James was going to be the quarterback.

  The rest of that week, Robby tried to learn his new position. His most important job was remembering the snap count.

  In the huddle, the quarterback would tell the play and the snap count. “Thirty-six power right,” James would say. “On two.”

  Usually, he would say it twice, so everyone would remember.

  Then everyone would say “Ready, break!” and head to the line of scrimmage. Robby learned to repeat the snap count in his head all the way to the line. On two, on two, on two, he would think.

  At the line, James would crouch behind Robby and put his hands down to receive the ball. “Down!” he would yell. “Set!”

  Then came the count. “Hut! Hut!” Since the play was on two, Robby’s job was to give the ball to James on the second “Hut!”

  If he did it too early, the rest of the team wouldn’t be ready to start the play on time. If he waited too long and the rest of the offensive players moved before the ball did, it would be a penalty.

  Most of the time, Robby did just fine. Once in a while, he’d make a mistake. “Samuels!” the coach yelled when Robby messed up. “You are key to the play! Pay attention!”

  As the team got closer to the start of the season, the coach got more serious. One practice, he made new rules. “From now on, when one person makes a mistake, we’ll all pay the price.” Some of the players groaned.

  That was one of the worst practices Robby had. He messed up on the snap count twice and fumbled the ball once. Each time, Coach Parker made the team run a sprint. By the end of practice, the whole team was mad.

  Andy was the maddest. “Samuels, you’re a great teammate,” he said. “I was really hoping to run all those extra sprints.”

  Robby never said anything back to Andy. In a way, Robby knew Andy was right. He decided to work harder.

  Chapter 6

  SCRIMMAGE

  After three weeks of practice, the Lions only had one night left before their first game.

  Coach Parker arranged a scrimmage against the Packers.

  “This is a chance for us to see how good we really are,” Coach Parker said. “We’ll know what things we need to work on before the first game.”

  The scrimmage started out great. Robby kept his focus and remembered the snap count. He got the ball quickly into James’s hands.

  Andy Renkins was playing running back, so he carried the ball on most of the plays.

  After ten plays, it was time for the Packers to be on offense. Robby wasn’t a starter on defense, so he left the field. Robby watched from the sidelines. He looked across the field and saw Matt. He gave Robby the thumbs-up sign.

  After a short break, it was the Lions’ turn to go back on offense.

  “I know we can do better,” Coach Parker said. “Let’s really take it to them this time!”

  The offense ran out on the field. They got into the huddle. James called the play.

  “Forty-six power sweep,” he said. “On one.” Then he repeated it.

  As he bent over the ball, Robby’s mind went blank.

  Before he could do anything, James started calling out the signals. One or two? One or two? Robby kept thinking.

  “Hut!” James yelled. The rest of the linemen started to block, but Robby didn’t move.

  The referee blew his whistle and threw his penalty flag.

  “Samuels!” Coach Parker yelled. “Pay attention!”

  Robby felt terrible as he went back into the huddle. James called the next play. “Forty-four power sweep,” James said again. “This time, on two. Okay? Forty-four power sweep on two.”

  Andy stared straight at Robby. “That’s two, Samuels,” he said. “Got it?”

  Robby was mad. Mostly, he was mad at himself. “Yeah, I got it,” he said. “Don’t worry. I’m not an idiot.”

  The rest of the players looked stunned. Robby rarely said anything during practices. Andy glared at Robby.

  On the next play, James almost dropped the ball and then handed it sloppily to Andy. Andy struggled to control it. By the time he had a firm grip on it, the defense was on him.

  Andy only gained two yards. Robby was knocked down by the player he was blocking. He was still getting off the ground when Andy walked by.

  Just then, Robby felt a sharp pain in his right hand. “Ahhh,” Robby yelped. Andy had stepped on him with his spikes.

  Robby knew one thing: He wasn’t going to let Andy know it hurt. Robby went back to the huddle.

  But when he tried to grip the ball for the snap, he couldn’t hold it tightly.

  The next three snaps, Robby lost control of the ball. Coach Parker yelled at Robby each time.

  After the third fumble, Coach Parker grabbed Robby by the face mask. “If you can’t handle this job,” he said, “I’ll find someone else who can!”

  Robby fought through the rest of the scrimmage without any fumbles or mistakes. After practice, Coach Parker pulled Robby aside.

  “Samuels,” Coach Parker said. “You’ll do better next time.”

  “Coach, my hand got stepped on,” Robby said. “That’s why I was fumbling.”

  “Don’t make excuses,” the coach said. “You’re going to have to work harder, that’s all.”

  Chapter 7

  GAME TIME

  Robby walked home from practice with Matt.

  “Tough scrimmage, huh?” Matt asked. Robby didn’t say a word.

  Robby wanted to do anything but talk about the scrimmage. He didn’t want to even think about it.

  Finally, Matt said, “Do you want to practice your snaps with me?”

  “Are you serious?” Robby asked.

  When they got to Robby’s house, they started practicing snaps. Robby showed Matt how to hold his hands to get the ball. Matt barked out the signals, just like James did. Time after time, Robby snapped the ball straight into Matt’s hands.

  His hand was still hurting, but Robby wasn’t going to stop. He and Matt stayed in the backyard until it was dark.

  The next morning Robby felt better. That night would be the first game of the season.

  The day couldn’t go fast enough for Robby. As he walked into his classroom, he saw Andy Renkins sitting in the front row. “Here comes butterfingers,” Andy said to one of his buddies. “Hey, Samuels, don’t drop your pencil.”

  I’ll show him tonight, Robby thought. He’ll see what kind of player I really am.

  Game time was six o’clock, but Robby had to be at the field an hour early for stretching and warming up.

  As soon as he got to the field, his coach called him over.

  “Samuels,” the coach said, “I was a little hard on you last night. Your job is very important to our team. We can’t win if the plays get off to a bad start.”

  “Don’t worry, Coach. I practiced last night. I’m ready,” Robby said.

  The Lions were playing against the Cowboys in the first game of the season.

  The Cowboys had some good players. Mike Jarvis, the player Robby would be blocking every play, was big and strong.

  Soon the players huddled for their pregame pep talk. “Okay, boys,” Coach Parker said. “You can’t win this game by yourselves. You need your teammates.”

  Then he looked right at Robby. “If everyone just concentrates and does his job, everything will be okay.”

  Robby felt ready.

  Chapter 8

  KICKOFF

  Before Robby knew it, it was time for the game to begin. The Lions got the ball first. Robby couldn’t wait for the first offensive play of the game.

  James made the call in the huddle. All Robby heard was “On two.” Then James said the play again. Again, he said, “On two.”

  The team broke the huddle and trotted toward the line. On two, on two, on two! Robby thought.

 

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