The Team That Couldn't Lose
Page 5
The boys all laughed, and Mr. McFall stepped forward with a smile on his face.
“No, thanks,” he said. “Assistant coach is good enough for me! You see, the thing is, you fellows have been winning games for two reasons. Sure, the old plays helped a lot. But you’ve also improved as a team. Constant practice in blocking and passing while learning those hard plays has done the trick. Coach Wayne has done a great job working you boys into shape.”
Phil Wayne added, “I don’t think we have to depend on an exceptional play to help us score. In fact, I’d be willing to bet that we could win the game with the simple plays Mr. Kash devised. But since we do have this new one in hand, what do you say we give it a whirl?”
The boys cheered.
“Okay, then let’s get going! We’ll start by reviewing the basics. First team, line up in front of me. Second team, in front of Mr. McFall. Danny, hand me a ball, would you please?”
Like a drill team the boys hustled into position. Danny wrestled a ball from the equipment bag. Phil placed it on the ground.
“This is our line of scrimmage,” he said.
“First team’s ball. Regular T formation. Chip, call for Forty-two. Remember that one, Spence? You run the ball through tackle. Let’s go.”
The Black Elks won the toss the next Saturday afternoon, and chose to receive. Spencer Keel kicked off for the Cayugans. The ball sailed end over end across the white stripes, was caught on the twenty-five, and carried up to the Black Elks’ thirty-four.
Chip was worried. Although the Black Elks had won only one game this season, it was possible for them to beat the Cayugans today. What if Jasper McFall’s new play didn’t work? It was the last game of the season, wasn’t it? What harm was there in using one more sixty-year-old play?
But Phil figured that the Cayugans could win by using those easy plays Mr. Kash had taught them, plus the new ones they had learned. After all, the new plays had helped the Cayugans to five victories, hadn’t they? Then, if they needed Mr. McFall’s new play, they’d use it, too.
The Black Elks moved. Their fullback, Dick Clark, busted through left tackle for a six-yard gain. Then Bill Nelson charged through center on a quarterback sneak for a first down.
They ran hard. They fumbled. They recovered. They tried passes, which the Cayugans’ backfield men knocked down. Once . . . twice . . . the referee’s whistle shrilled. Two offside penalties in succession. The Black Elks were anxious. Too anxious. Or were they making mistakes because they were afraid of the Cayugans? Was that it? thought Chip. Were they really afraid that we might swamp them?
“Pass to Jim!” Chip said in the huddle as the Cayugans took the ball on their own eighteen.
It was a long, wobbly pass. Chip stared. Not far enough. It was intercepted!
The Black Elks player ran hard with it, while the crowd in the bleachers cheered. Then, on the Cayugans’ four-yard line, Gordie Poole brought the runner down.
14
Hold that line! Hold that line!” yelled the Cayugans fans.
“Close in tight!” Chip ordered. “Don’t let ’em get through!”
The Cayugans were in their 6-2-2-1 defense position, the linebackers hugging close to the linemen.
The Black Elks’ quarterback, Bill Nelson, called signals. The ball snapped from center. Bill handed off to fullback Dick Clark. Dick smashed into the line.
Rubber cleats chewed the earth. Helmets and shoulder pads clattered as the blueuniformed Black Elks charged against the red-and-blue Cayugans. A pileup formed. The whistle shrilled.
A one-yard gain.
“Hold them!” Chip yelled from the sidelines. “You’ve got to hold them!”
This time Bill Nelson tried his trick again, the quarterback sneak. Again a one-yard gain!
“All right!” shouted Chip. They had to hold those Black Elks. They just had to.
Bill called signals again, took the snap, then faded back to pass. He shot a quick one toward the right, barely over left end Hans Lodder’s head. Splash, playing linebacker at that side, plunged forward and knocked the pass down.
“Nice going, Splash!” Chip cried.
Fourth down. The Black Elks’ last chance to score. Will they try another pass? Will they try a line buck? Or will they try for a field goal? Chip’s heart pounded as he waited to see what they would do.
They were going to try for a field goal! Bill Nelson was playing deep, Dick Clark several feet behind him.
Dick kicked. It was good! Three points for the Black Elks!
In the second quarter, the Black Elks almost scored again when they attempted a field goal from the eight-yard line. The ball missed sailing between the uprights by inches.
Between halves Danny ran out with a paper carton loaded with small cups of lemon-and-orange-juice mix. As he handed Chip his, a smile curled his lips.
“You guys look great, Chip,” he said quietly. “Even better than before, I think.”
“Thanks, Danny.” Chip watched him passing cups to the other players and thought, What a guy. Who could ever believe that a team that had been destined to lose every game would win five straight? Perhaps six straight, if they were lucky and won today. And all because of a little guy, a kid who collected stuff.
Coach Phil Wayne made some substitutions in the second half. Chip feared that the substitutes might make them lose the game. Some of them were poor players. Still Phil played them. It was a rule in the league. Every player on each team had to play at least two minutes in a game.
The Black Elks kicked off to the Cayugans to start off the second half. The Cayugans caught the ball and carried it to their twenty-nine. Chip worked it across the forty to the Black Elks’ thirty-one. Twice Spence bucked the line for seven- and five-yard gains.
On the Black Elks’ eighteen, they were stopped. They couldn’t gain an inch. The Black Elks’ line held like a cement wall. Chip tried a pass on the third down. It was knocked down. Then they tried a field goal. The ball missed the uprights by four feet.
Once again the Black Elks moved forward. But they moved slowly. Now and then one of their linemen was called on an offside penalty charge, which cost them five yards. Another time a Black Elk hit a Cayugan from behind. “Clipping!” yelled the referee.
The Black Elks were forced to punt from their twenty-two-yard line. The ball wobbled lazily through the air and dropped into Luther Otis’s hands. Luther had replaced Splash in the backfield. Nestling the ball against his chest, he ran down the sideline to the Cayugans’ twenty-nine, where he was smeared.
The referee carried the ball in a third of the width of the field. The Cayugans tried a line buck that went for a two-yard gain, then Chip heaved a long pass to right end Tracy Tinker.
It was intercepted!
The Black Elks’ runner went twenty yards before he was brought down. The whistle shrilled, ending the third quarter.
The Black Elks moved the ball slowly toward the Cayugans’ goal line, and their fans in the stands began to chant, “We want a touchdown! We want a touchdown!” And they stamped their feet on the bleachers.
Chip sweated. Time sped swiftly. The Black Elks seemed headed for a touchdown to satisfy their hungry fans. If they got one, would the Cayugans be able to come back and win? If the Cayugans had had a tried-and-true play up their sleeves, Chip wouldn’t have worried so much. But they had only a brand-new play to rely on.
The ball was on the Cayugans’ eleven-yard-line. The Black Elks tried a pass. It sailed deep into the right-hand corner of the end zone. Chip felt his heart sink as he saw the Black Elks receiver reach for it.
And then Gordie Poole leaped and knocked it down!
“Nice going, Gordie!” Chip shouted, jumping up and down on the sidelines.
The Black Elks tried an end-around run. It went for three yards. They tried another pass, a short one over center.
Gordie intercepted it! He ran toward the right side of the field but was smeared on the eighteen. Chip thumped him on the back as he passed him on the fi
eld.
The Cayugans moved the ball forward slowly, gained a first down by two inches. Hardly fast enough. They called time and rested. Chip thought of the play they had used last week to beat the Duckbills. He mentioned it to Phil. They tried it and gained three yards. It seemed that the Black Elks could stop them no matter what play the Cayugans used.
Finally Phil sent in for Mr. McFall’s new play. It was an end-around run, with Splash following close behind Chip. Chip went over the play in the huddle. Time-in was called. The players got into their positions.
“Down! One! Two! Three! Hip!” barked Chip.
He took the snap and dashed toward left end. Jim Kolar and Hans Lodder blocked their men. Then Hans ran ahead to block the deep linebacker, while behind him raced Chip, the ball nestled in the crook of his arm.
A Black Elks defenseman reached for him. Chip tossed a lateral to Splash, then turned and blocked the oncoming Black Elk. Splash ran hard up the field. A few steps behind him was Spence, who had swung to his left when the play had begun. A Black Elks linebacker got by Hans and reached for Splash. Splash tossed a lateral to Spence.
“Go, Spence, go!” shouted Chip.
Spence went — all the way down the field to the Black Elks’ goal! A touchdown! The place kicker kicked for the extra point, and it was good.
The Black Elks couldn’t catch up. The Cayugans won 7-3.
After the handshaking with the Black Elks was over, after all the cheering and the shouting, Phil thanked the Cayugans. Especially one person whom he pulled toward him and shook hands with. Danny Liver-more.
“Here’s the boy we owe our successful season to,” Phil said. “Danny Livermore, our manager. If it weren’t for his sending us the plays Mr. McFall’s team used sixty years ago, we really might’ve had a season of defeats instead of six straight victories. Let’s give Danny a great big hand.”
The guys yelled and applauded for Danny.
Chip applauded the loudest of all. To think I almost quit this team, he thought with a smile. And if it weren’t for this little guy, I would have. Just goes to show — you really can’t judge a book by its cover. Unless it’s an old playbook, that is!
Matt Christopher®
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THE TEAM THAT COULDN’T LOSE
Who is settling the plays that make the team unstoppable?
When inexperienced Phil Wayne takes over as coach of the Cayugans, Chip Chase figures that they’re in for a losing season. But Phil surprises everyone by teaching the team a fantastic new play every week — which helps them win game after game.Then Phil admits to the boys that each week one play is mailed to him anonymously. Will Chip and his teammates discover who the mystery coach is before the season ends?
Matt Christopher is the name young readers turn to when they’re looking for fast-paced, action-packed sports stories. For a complete list of all Matt Christopher titles, see the last pages of this book.
* Previously published as Crackerjack Halfback
** Previously published as Pressure Play