CHAPTER 2
The Westfield Middle School Wildcats practiced every day after school. Andrew usually looked forward to practice, but on Monday afternoon, he was still feeling down.
“Look alive out there, Andrew,” Coach French called out.
“Sorry, Coach,” Andrew yelled back. He sighed. He couldn’t get himself motivated.
After a few laps on the track, the team had been running the same old plays over and over. Only one was a long passing play, so Andrew was pretty bored.
The quarterback, Carlos Suarez, counted off. “Hut, hut,” he shouted. “Two, two, hut!”
The snap was good. Carlos drew back into the pocket. Andrew went up the right line and then cut across. But play two wasn’t a passing play. Andrew’s job would be to fake out one defender and then block for the running.
Sure enough, Carlos handed off the ball to Noah Frank, a second-string running back. Then, since this was only a drill, the coach blew the whistle to stop the play. Andrew took a deep breath and headed back to the line.
“Nice job, guys,” the coach said. “Andrew, I want to see a little more speed out there. Carlos might decide to look for you if the defensive line is too strong.”
“Can we work on my speed, Coach?” Andrew replied. “Do some running drills, maybe?”
Coach French shook his head. “Sorry, Andrew,” the coach said. “Our season starts in two days, and we need to get these plays down if we have any chance of running them cleanly.”
“How am I going to improve my speed if we only ever practice plays?” Andrew asked. “I mean, it’s just drills, so everyone is moving in slow motion, practically. Did you see Noah take that handoff? I think my great-grandma could move faster, and she’s ninety-eight!”
A few guys laughed, but Noah looked at his feet. He wasn’t the best running back on the team, but he loved the game. Andrew felt bad right away.
“That’s enough from you, Andrew,” Coach French said, frowning. “One more comment like that, and your speed won’t matter. You’ll be benched for the rest of the season. Are we clear?”
“Yeah, yeah,” Andrew said. He kicked the dirt in front of him. The field isn’t even any good for football, he thought. Too dusty. Can’t they even keep the grass alive at this school?
“Now,” the coach went on, “we do sprints every day, and we do warm-up laps and warm-down laps, every practice. It’s all we have time for.”
He clapped once, then said, “Okay, guys. Enough distractions. Let’s try that bootleg Carlos has been working on. Line up!”
The team clapped, then got into formation. Andrew was last in line.