Free Goal Line by Tiki Barber Page A

he was able to react in time.
    The defenders slammed into Ronde, but he was no longer the man with the ball. All by himself Rio now put his exceptional speed to work. By the time the Rockets could react, he was three steps past them, racing untouched the rest of the way to the end zone!
    Again Ronde knew from the moan of the crowd that his trick had worked. Not only had he put his team back out front, but he’d turned a lemon into lemonade, helping Rio Ikeda go from zero to hero in one single play!
    Adam kicked the extra point, and the Eagles now spent the rest of the fourth quarter fending off a ferocious Rockets counterattack.
    The game ended with a Hail Mary pass that wound up getting intercepted by Alister Edwards, another new starter making another big play!
    In the end the Eagles had their victory. It had been hard won, but to Ronde it was very satisfying. He and Tiki had brought their “A” game, and Ronde’s speech at halftime had made all the difference in the world.
    Play proud. It was funny, thought Ronde, how his speech had had the same message as Tiki’s.
    But really, the saying didn’t belong to either one of them.
    It was their mom’s.

CHAPTER EIGHT
THE WEIGHT OF THE WORLD
----
    AS TIKI RODE THE BUS TO SCHOOL MONDAY morning, his mind was troubled. All the other kids were horsing around, laughing, making lots of noise—but Tiki just stared out the window, watching the streets of Roanoke roll by.
    He knew he should be happy, but he wasn’t. Sure, he had a lot to be happy about at Hidden Valley—a football starter, the winner of the essay contest, taller and bigger and stronger than his identical twin—but the Eagles and their future crowded his thoughts.
    Yes, they’d won their first two games. But this last one had been a real nail-biter. The Eagles could easily have lost. They’d been behind at halftime, and their many rookies and eighth graders had made a ton of mistakes. Ronde had had to throw a fit to get them to play their best in the second half, and even then the Eagles had barely pulled out the victory.
    What was it going to be like next time they fell behind? Because it was a long season, and Tiki knew they would not always have a big lead to sit on. Were locker roomexplosions going to be a regular feature? And would they always work to inspire the team?
    Tiki thought not. Getting yelled at once might get you to play harder, but getting yelled at all the time was no good for anything. You just got down in the dumps and played worse.
    The Eagles locker room had been happy after the game. But he wondered if some of the players were mad at Ronde now. He guessed he’d find out at practice if there were lasting hard feelings, but he knew for sure that things had better improve if the Eagles wanted to repeat as champs, let alone have an undefeated season.
    That was another thing that bothered him. All this talk about going undefeated was no good. It made them think about the distant future instead of concentrating on this game, this play, this moment.
    There was so much he wanted to say to his teammates. Maybe he’d give another speech, just for them, he thought. Then he shuddered at the vision. Giving speeches was not his thing, even if he had done well at it last week.
    He filed off the bus with the rest of the kids, still full of worry. But before he could duck inside the school building, he was waylaid by Laura Sommer. “Hel-lo! Earth to Tiki?” she began, grabbing him by the arm and turning him to face her.
    Laura was tall with long blond hair, and had thickglasses with black frames that sat off-kilter on her nose. “We need to talk,” she said in a tone that didn’t allow for argument.
    She practically dragged him off to the side, until they were standing next to the big elm tree that shaded the school entrance. “What’s up?” he asked her.
    â€œI have a favor to ask you,” she began.
    â€œUh …