Free Kickoff! by Tiki Barber

loud, so everybody can hear you.”
    Tiki looked at the page . . . all those names!
    â€œJust like me and Mrs. Pendergast,” said their mom, “if you two work together as a team, you’ll be stronger than you are alone. Next time I see your teachers, I want to hear nothing but good things. Understood?”
    â€œYes, Ma,” Ronde said.
    Tiki nodded. “Yes, Ma!”
    If his mom and Mrs. Pendergast could do it, so could he and Ronde.

CHAPTER SEVEN
RIDING THE BENCH
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    THE DAY DAWNED BRIGHT AND CHILLY, WITH THE wind whipping down from the north. The flags on the flagpoles outside the school and on the field were snapping in the stiff breeze.
    On the field, the Eagles kept dancing and hopping and rubbing their hands to stay warm. Across the fifty-yard line, the East Side Mountaineers were doing the same.
    Ronde was actually shivering in his uniform as the teams got ready for the first game of the new football season.
    The coin toss was won by the Eagles, and they chose to kick off. Coach Spangler had told the team captains he wanted the other team to have to deal with the wind first.
    Adam kicked off with the wind behind his back, and the ball went straight out of the end zone! The home team Eagles whooped and hollered, exchanging high fives and waving to their excited fans in the stands.
    The Mountaineers tried to run the ball straight up the middle on their first two tries, but the Eagles’ defensive line stopped it cold.
    The Mountaineers’ quarterback tried passing on thirdand ten, but the wind held the ball up, making it fall way short of the receiver. The wind affected the fourth-down punt, too. That set the Eagles up at midfield for their first possession of the season.
    The Eagles’ second-team quarterback was an eighth grader named Cody Hansen. Last year, he’d been the backup for Matt Clayton. This season, though—at least until Matt came back—Cody Hansen was the man.
    Except that he wasn’t. He’d really done well in practice, but as the game got started, Ronde could see that Cody was acting like a totally different player. He nearly dropped the ball handing it off on first down. Then, on the next play, he threw a pass that sailed way over the receiver’s head.
    â€œMaybe he’s nervous,” Ronde said to himself. He could understand that—he figured he would be too, in Cody’s shoes.
    On third down, Cody completely missed the snap from the center! The ball sat on the ground, spinning in place, while linemen from both teams piled up all around it, wrestling each other to get hold of it.
    The refs blew their whistles, separated the players, then signaled the bad news—the Mountaineers had recovered the fumble!
    â€œAw, man!” Ronde and some of the other kids moaned out loud, but one look from Coach Spangler shut them up.
    This is a team, his look said. We stick up for each other — we don’t show each other up.
    Still, as he watched from the bench, Ronde couldn’t help thinking that Cody Hansen was messing up, big-time. He felt bad for Cody, sure—but man, the kid was getting his big chance, and he was stinking up the joint! Why didn’t Coach just pull him, and give the third-string quarterback a try?
    Because the third-stringer’s just a seventh grader, that’s why, thought Ronde.
    Tiki sat down next to him and saw the look on his twin’s face. “Hey, we don’t have to like it,” he said. “But we do have to listen to what Coach says.”
    â€œI know,” Ronde said. “It’s just hard, that’s all.”
    The Mountaineers were in Eagles’ territory now. Their quarterback snapped the ball, dropped back to pass, then let it fly.
    As the ball was released, the wind suddenly calmed down for a moment. The ball flew straight and true. Ronde looked downfield and saw that Justin Aiello, the Eagles’ left cornerback, had been badly beaten by the receiver