Danny lay on his back, and a hand reached down to help pull him back up. It was one of the Beechwood players who’d just tackled him, one of the androids. Danny let himself be pulled to his feet.
“Thanks,” Danny said, yanking his pads back into place. “Nice hit.”
“You’re good,” the android said.
“You too, man.” Danny smiled behind his dangling mouthpiece. “Let’s get back to it.”
It was second down and still eight. The Flash were losing 28–30.
And there were was still over four minutes left in the game. Plenty of time. But now they were all the way back on their own fifteen yard line. They’d have to cover another sixty yards for a legit shot at a field goal.
Danny jogged back to the huddle and turned to get the play from the sideline. He watched the hand signals from the coaches, then squatted down into the huddle to give the play.
The team got in position again right away. He found the Beechwood safety and linebackers.
“Columbus! Hut. Hut!”
The team surged forward and the ball snapped back into his hands. Danny stepped back and looked for his first receiver, but a Beechwood defender was already covering him. He turned and saw his tight end streaking across the field about eight yards deep. Danny whipped the ball to him just before Beechwood defenders knocked him to the field. First down!
He got himself back up and into the huddle. There was just under four minutes left in the game. He looked to the sideline and the coach for the next play. Danny got it and also noticed Alice on the sideline. She was up now, with her helmet off.
And she was signaling a play too. A different play.
Danny looked back out at the Beechwood defense. He wanted to call a time-out to discuss this with Coach, but he had to save the one time-out they had for a real emergency at the end. Maybe—if he dared imagine it—for the winning kick.
Movement from Coach Williams caught Danny’s attention. The coach was angrily waving his arms and shouting, “Clock!”
Danny looked back at Alice, and Coach finally realized the dilemma.
He waved Danny to get back to the huddle. Danny had no idea how to take that. Did Coach mean to ignore Alice’s suggestion or go for it or . . .
“Focus!” Danny barked in the huddle. “On one. Let’s run ‘Bed Bug,’ ” he said. “The only new play we haven’t tried yet tonight.”
“There’s a reason we haven’t,” one of his teammates said.
“Alice just called the play,” Danny explained. “She thinks it’s our best move right now.”
The rest of the players in the huddle glanced over to the sidelines to where Alice stood.
“She plays this game pretty good,” one of the linemen said.
“For sure,” agreed Jeremiah. “I trust her.”
Danny scanned all their faces, seeing the same trust and respect in all of them. “All right, we’ve got this. Now everyone move. Break!”
They came up to the line, and Danny had only about five seconds left to get the play going. “Set.” He stepped back. “Hut!”
The squad burst forward, mostly to the right. Danny flipped the ball out to his running back, who made a wide arc for the right side of the field.
Danny let him take a few steps and then took off down the field heading for the left sideline and a deep pass. He’d been running similar routes for a month now as a receiver, and he knew he had a step on them. “Pass!” he could hear his coaches and teammates on the sidelines shouting. “Pass!”
One of the Beechwood linebackers had turned back and was chasing Danny down. Now it was just Danny going deep and the two defenders closing in as the Flash running back set himself to throw the ball.
The whole stadium was watching.
The running back lobbed the ball over four guys into Danny’s waiting hands! With the catch in hand, he turned up the field and was to the Beechwood forty yard line before they’d chased him down. A thirty-six-yard play!
The Flash sidelines and stands erupted, fans and players alike screaming and jumping around. Danny ran across the field to join the rest of team. He looked back and waved to Alice who raised her arms in victory.
“Alice can call the plays all night,” the running back said with a grin back in the huddle. Everyone hollered in agreement.
But the coaches made the calls and they played it safe. After two running plays, the Flash needed four yards for a first down. Eight yards would put them in field goal range. With the way Garcia had been kicking in practice that week, eight would be just enough.
As Danny and the team came up to the line, the Beechwood defense got in position to cover a pass play, so Danny called the signal for another run. They got just three yards. Not enough!
Danny and the others waited to see if Coach Williams would go for the first down—there was only 3:10 left —or punt, or . . .
The field goal unit ran out to the field while Danny and some of the others jogged off.
It was a fifty-five-yard kick.
The school record was fifty-one yards. Some guy back in 1990-something.
Garcia broke the record.
And AI High won the game.