The Starbirds threw a pass and it clicked for the extra point, making the score 14 to 7.
Tony Alo came in and jerked a thumb at Boots. “Out,” he said. Boots stared at him, then ran toward the sideline.
“You gave up out there,” said Coach Bo Higgins as Boots came trotting in. “You dropped to your knee and just stayed there. Don’t tell me you got hurt because you sprang right up when you saw the ball carrier rush by you.”
Boots flushed. He clamped his mouth shut and glued his eyes to the ground.
“Hurry off before we get penalized for having twelve men on the field!” snapped the coach.
Boots put on a burst of speed until he crossed the out-of-bounds line, then turned around with his back to the crowd. Somewhere in the stands were his mother, father, and sister. They couldn’t have heard Bo Higgins talking to him, though. Bo hadn’t raised his voice that loudly.
The Starbirds kicked off. Bud caught the ball and ran it back to the Apollos’ twenty-six.
Boots watched Tony Alo playing in his place, trying to drive Nick Sarino back. His mouth curved in a half smile as he saw Nick push Tony back like a feather.
Second and nine.
Bud faked a handoff to Leo, then pitched a lateral to Duck. Duck sped around left end and picked up five yards.
Again Bud faked a handoff to Leo. The fullback plunged through tackle as if he had the ball. Then Bud faded back, lifting his arm to pass. A Starbird sprang on him like a cat, tackling him before he could release the ball.
When the tackler rose Boots saw that it was Nick Sarino.
“A four-yard loss,” grunted Bo Higgins. “That Starbird tackle went through as if nobody was there.” He looked at Boots. “See how important your position is? A weak line is almost as bad as not having a line at all.”
The statement sounded very much like the one in Tom’s letter: “What good is a quarterback if his offensive line is so weak that the opponents go through it like water through a sieve?”
The Apollos went into punt formation. Leo Conway stood almost on his twenty-yard line, hands stretched forward, waiting for the snap from center. Bud barked signals and center Ralph Patone snapped the ball. Leo caught it and booted it before a Star-bird end could get to him. The kick was high and short. It bounded near the fifty-yard line and was downed by a Starbird on the Apollos’ forty-nine.
Jerry Malley handed off to his left halfback on the first play and the back sped around right end for a neat eight-yard gain. The Starbirds picked up a first down on a rush through tackle, then tried another run around left end. Leo Conway, playing the middle linebacker position, stopped him after a gain of four yards.
Charlie Haring then blasted through a hole in the Apollos’ line that was wide enough to drive a truck through, and safety man Bud Davis downed him on the eight.
Boots saw Tony sprawled on the ground, helpless after a cross-body block from Nick Sarino.
“Tony! Get on your feet!” yelled the coach. He looked at Boots. “What’s the matter with you guys? That ground so soft you’d like to go to sleep on it?”
Boots laughed. He couldn’t help it. Sometimes Coach Higgins could be real serious and still utter a wisecrack funny enough to make you laugh.
The laugh was short though. Jerry Malley, the Starbird quarterback, faked a handoff to Charlie Haring and then shot a quick pass into the end zone to his right halfback. A kick between the uprights put the Starbirds even farther ahead, 21 to 7.
Cheers went up for Jerry for throwing a beautiful pass and to the halfback for catching it. You would think they were the only guys playing.
Even playing halfback or fullback would be okay, reflected Boots. I’d have a chance to carry the ball, then. I’d feel as if I’m really doing something. I don’t have that feeling playing on the line. I’m just there to fill a space, get banged up and yelled at. Anybody can do the same thing.
He started the second half. He didn’t care whether he did or not. The Starbirds had a pretty fat lead and the Apollos would need at least three touchdowns, or two touchdowns and a field goal, to beat them. But the Starbirds weren’t just going to sit out there on the field, grooming their feathers. They’d want to score more touchdowns.
“Back again?” asked Nick Sarino as he faced Boots on the scrimmage line. “I thought you went home for lunch.”
“Wish I had,” grumbled Boots.
The Apollos had kicked off and it was the Starbirds’ ball on their own thirty-two. First down and ten.
Charlie Haring took the handoff and started to plunge through the left side of his line. Nick bucked Boots with his head and shoulders, knocking Boots back a couple of feet. Boots saw Charlie bursting through the hole Nick had opened up for him. Mustering all the strength he could, Boots brushed Nick aside and tore after the oncoming fullback. He stopped Charlie cold directly on the line of scrimmage.
“Nice tackle, Boots!” praised Bud Davis.
Duck slapped him on the rear and laughed. “Yeah! Keep it up and you might become a tackle!”
Second and ten. Jerry tried a forward pass to his left end. Pete Ellis knocked it down. A second try succeeded for a five-yard gain. The Starbirds then punted. Leo caught the spiraling kick and carried it back to his forty-three.
The Apollos crossed midfield and went deep into Starbird territory, but couldn’t score. The Starbirds took over the ball and were on the Apollos’ thirty-one when the third quarter ended.
The teams changed goals and the Star-birds started off with a long pass by Jerry Malley to his right end. The pass clicked and the end ran to the eleven before he was pulled down.
“We’ve got to stop them,” said Bud Davis in the huddle. “Want to try a blitz?”
“Why not?” said Leo. “Maybe we can make them fumble.”
“Okay. Leo and I will hang back in case Jerry passes. The rest of you bust through the line.”
Oh, sure, thought Boots. Just like that. I can see you’ve never played on the line, Bud, old boy.
Boots looked at Nick eye to eye. At the snap he bucked Nick with his shoulder, then brushed past him and tore after the quarterback. Jerry was fading back, both hands on the ball, looking for a receiver. Suddenly his right hand lifted to his shoulder. The hand came forward.
Boots’s head struck Jerry. At the same time he wrapped his arms around Jerry’s waist and pulled him to the ground.
He felt the hard thump as both of them hit the turf. A few seconds later he heard the blast of a whistle. When he lifted himself from Jerry he saw a red flag on the ground near him and the ref pointing an accusing finger at him.
“Unnecessary roughness, kid!”
Boots stared at him, then at Bud Davis standing in the end zone, holding the football. A sad, depressed look was on the safety man’s face.
“What happened?” asked Boots perplexedly.
“Bud intercepted the pass,” answered Duck Farrell grimly. “That’s what happened. But you goofed it up by tackling Malley after he had thrown the ball.”
“So the ball is still theirs,” added Leo gloomily. “Except that it’s a lot closer to our goal than it was before.”