Free The Zucchini Warriors by Gordon Korman Page B

“You want to take off? I’ll cover for you. I came to play.”
    “But Cathy, a guy got injured already!”
    “Stow it, Melvin. We’re lining up.”
    Nervously Boots took his place in the line beside Bruno. “Remember,” he hissed to his roommate. “No one touches her — even if we have to die for it!”
    From his pocket, Bruno produced his lucky piece, a penny set in the centre of an imitation-silver four-leaf clover. He kissed it quickly and put it away.
    As the ball was snapped, two big Voles came charging forward, trying to get to Cathy. “This is it!” Boots heard Bruno cry as the four met with a resounding crunch. The two Macdonald Hall Warriors stood firm, pushing against the attackers with all their might. Just as Bruno felt his strength almost gone, there was a whistle, and the two Voles trotted off. He looked around, dazed. Cathy had completed a pass to Dave Jackson for a Warriors’ first down.
    “Hey, wow,” said Bruno, terribly pleased. “We protected the quarterback. We’re great!”
    Last place or not, the St. Vincent Voles were the better team, but Cathy Burton was unstoppable. Her passes were so perfect that the Macdonald Hall receivers could not possibly drop all of them. Cheered on by the enthusiastic Warrior fans and the half-demented girls from Miss Scrimmage’s, she led the team down the field for the first touchdown of the game. The Voles struck back, and the Warriors’ defence completely fell apart. Score tied, 7–7. The Voles added a field goal and, miraculously, Myron Blankenship succeeded in kicking the ball between the uprights to knot the score at 10 a few seconds before the end of the first quarter.
    “Attaboy, Blankenship!” cheered Mr. Carson as the players were jogging to the sidelines. “Nice kick!”
    “Mr. Carson, did you know that Gary Potts has dandruff?” responded Myron, apparently untroubled by first-game jitters.
    “Concentrate on the game,” advised Coach Flynn.
    The second quarter was all Cathy. She was brilliant, throwing for three touchdowns amid tumultuous chants of “El-mer, El-mer,” in the stadium. Each time she completed a pass, the scoreboard read DRIPSDALE in her honour. By halftime, Macdonald Hall led 31–26.
    Henry Carson and Coach Flynn were ecstatic. “We’ve got them!” Carson cried, dancing around the locker room in his excitement. “Drimsdale, you’re incredible! Did you ever consider playing college ball?”
    Smiling at Bruno and Boots, Cathy nodded enthusiastically.
    At that moment, Miss Hildegarde and Calvin Fihzgart entered the room. Calvin’s left arm was bandaged, and wrapped in an elaborate sling, bent at the elbow.
    Coach Flynn gawked at the sling. “What was it?”
    The nurse looked completely disgusted. “He has a slightly bruised elbow.”
    “So what’s with the sling?” asked Mr. Carson.
    “It’s his pillowcase!” she snorted. “And the bandage is electrical tape!”
    “It’s going to hurt like crazy when I take it off, too!” said Calvin proudly. “Only The Beast could stand that kind of pain!”
    Coach Flynn sighed. “Okay, Fihzgart. Why don’t you sit out the rest of the game? We can talk later about whether you’ll be ready to play again next week.”
    As Mr. Carson and Coach Flynn launched into a rousing halftime pep talk, Calvin found himself a seat in the stands among a large group of Miss Scrimmage’s girls. Soon he was nicely settled in, explaining to an enraptured audience how The Beast had acquired his football injury.
    The halftime show consisted of the Macdonald Hall band, and The Line of Scrimmage, who featured a special tribute to quarterback Elmer Drimsdale. The Mr. Zucchini vendors used the break in the action to pass out more free zucchini sticks. Some of these found their way into the stomachs of the spectators, but the vast majority were nonchalantly thrown under the bleachers.
    Great cheering welcomed the Warriors as they stampeded onto the field for the second half. The scoreboard