Cupcake and Bug plowed open a hole the size of a bowling alley.

Danny chugged in and scored.

Whistles blew.

The game ended, and the celebration began.

“The veer! The veer! The veer!” Coach Kinen was out on the field hugging Danny and Jace. “It was wide open! I knew it!”

The coach pulled their heads even closer to his. “I don’t know what the heck you two were thinking calling all those plays . . .

“But I love it!”

They all laughed and suddenly the wet didn’t seem so wet and the sky didn’t seem so gray. They accepted the thin cheers from the faithful few who’d made the trip in the rain, mostly parents like Danny’s mom who’d come despite him telling her not to. They burst out in a soggy, muted applause beneath their umbrellas as the team marched past the stands, heading for the bus.

Danny found his mom and grinned at her, waving a half-raised hand so his teammates wouldn’t call him a mama’s boy. On board the bus, guys shed their shoulder pads, steaming up the windows. Once they’d all found a seat, Coach Kinen stood up to address them.

“Guys,” he said, his voice raspy from yelling in the damp, “I want you all to enjoy this win.”

Cheers erupted.

Coach held up his hands for silence and got it. “It wasn’t what we thought it was gonna be, but I told you all week that you were takin’ this team too light, and what happened?”

“Danny happened!” someone shouted.

Everyone laughed.

Coach Kinen smiled and held up his hands. He nodded. “Yeah, Danny happened. Yes, he did. And that’s a lesson, too. Because you never know, in football or in life, when your turn is gonna come. And when it does? Well, I’m bettin’ Danny’ll tell you, you gotta be ready for it. And if you are? Well, that’s how you win championships, and that’s what we all . . . are about to do in the big game!”

More cheers, and Coach sat down. The driver put the bus in gear and they sang all the way home.