CHAPTER 8
The Eagles scored a second field goal on their next and last drive of the half, making the score 6-0. Then, suddenly, it was halftime. Noah ran as fast as he could off the field and into the locker room, trying to stay warm.
Coach French led the halftime conference, going over plays and mistakes. With a couple of minutes left in halftime, he sent the boys back to the field.
Noah started walking out, but Coach French said, “Hold on a minute, Noah. I want to talk to you.”
“What’s up, Coach?” Noah asked. He tried to smile, but he knew the coach wanted to scold him for the mistakes he’d made in the first half.
“Noah, I don’t know where your head is,” the coach said. Noah looked down at the ground. “I thought you were just distracted when you were on the bench. You can’t be looking at that stats book of yours while you’re on the field.”
“No, Coach,” Noah said. “I’m not.”
“Then what’s wrong?” the coach asked, looking Noah in the eye. “You know those plays. Those are standard running plays — nothing fancy.”
“Sure, I know them,” Noah said. “I’ve run them a hundred times. And I’ve seen them run a thousand times or more.”
“Then what happened out there?” the coach asked. “You went to the strong side on that first run, and on that second . . . well, you could have just run out of bounds and avoided getting plowed and the additional yard loss.”
Noah took a deep breath. “The Eagles have a defender — number 66 — who never falls for a fake.”
“Number 66?” the coach said. “That’s Lawrence Crenshaw. He’s a good player.”
“Right,” Noah said. “When I saw him on the line, I remembered his stats against fakes. I had a feeling he’d catch me on the weak side and clobber me.”
“But he did fall for it,” the coach said. “The right was wide open. You could have made a great gain, at least to the secondary.”
“The stats said he’d catch me,” Noah said. “I went with the stats.”
The coach sighed. “Okay, what about that sweep?” he asked. “No stats there. Your guards didn’t shut down the D. You should have run to the sideline, cut your losses.”
“I was watching some old games over the weekend,” Noah said. “I saw this great run by Earl Campbell —”
“Earl Campbell?” Coach French said. Then he held his stomach and laughed. “I’m sorry, Noah,” he went on, still laughing. “But Earl Campbell might be the greatest running back of all time.”
“Exactly!” Noah said. “Shouldn’t I learn from the best?”
The coach managed to stop laughing. He sat down next to Noah on the bench. “Sure,” Coach French said. “Really, Noah, it’s terrific that you follow the greats and know so much about the sport. Lots of guys on the team have no idea about the history of football.”
“Well, I’m trying,” Noah said.
“Earl Campbell could get through any line, Noah,” the coach said. “He was like a truck. You’re . . . well, sorry, kid, but you’re just not.”
Noah sighed. “I know,” he said. “But I have to play to my strengths, right? And my strengths are knowing the great players and the great plays!”
“That doesn’t mean you just try to be them,” the coach replied. “It means you learn from them and try to apply those lessons to your own playing.”
“What about stats?” Noah asked. “If I know number 66 on the Eagles is tough to fake, shouldn’t I try something other than a fake?”
“Not necessarily,” the coach said. “Maybe it just means you keep an eye on him during play-action or that you should let the team know that number 66 is a sneaky player.”
“I guess,” Noah said. “I think I’m starting to get what you’re saying.”
The coach got up and put a hand on Noah’s shoulder. “Let’s get back out there,” he said.
“All right,” Noah said.
“And remember,” Coach French added, “sometimes it’s a good idea to stick to what you know how to do. Forget what you know others have done. Do your own thing.”
Coach French walked out of the locker room. Slowly, Noah stood up and followed him.