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  As we head through the crowd to our locker room, I see Eva waving to me.

  “You never texted me,” she shouts over the heads of the crowd.

  “It’s been a crazy week,” I yell back.

  “But it’s all going to turn out all right,” she says, smiling.

  “I hope so,” I reply.

  “Text me,” she says as she walks back to the crowd.

  I take out my phone and send her a message.

  Thanks for being here, I write and push send.

  I see her stop and turn around.

  I wouldn’t miss it for the world, she texts back. Good luck. Don’t give up.

  I beam at my phone.

  “What’s up with you and my cousin?” Walter asks, coming up to me.

  “I don’t know,” I say. “But I do know that I like her more than I did when I met her three years ago.”

  Walter smiles at this and says to me, “Just know, she will always be smarter than you.”

  I nod at this. “I don’t doubt it.”

  Chapter 19

  While we’re changing in the locker room, there’s a knock on the door.

  Coach disappears outside and then comes back in and tells me to get dressed and come out in the hall with him.

  Just outside the locker room door, Gram is waiting for me, holding a grocery bag in one hand and her phone in the other.

  “Your mother is on the line,” she says. “She’s back to base safe and sound, and she wants to talk to you.”

  There is static and my mom’s faraway voice.

  “Toby,” she says. “I’m so proud of you. So much has happened since we talked last.”

  “Yeah, it has,” I say. I don’t know how much Gram has told her, and I figure there isn’t time to explain everything right now.

  “I just want you to know you can do this. I’m proud of you,” she says.

  “I’m proud of you too,” I reply.

  “My unit is going to watch your game. Your grandmother is going to feed it to us live over the internet. I just want you to know we are all rooting for you over here.”

  “I’ll do my best,” I say.

  “I know you will,” my mom says before we get disconnected.

  I hand the phone back to Gram. She gives me a hug and hands me the grocery bag, which is full of snacks for the team: giant containers of apple slices, orange wedges, and oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.

  Back in the locker room, Coach nods at me and I pass around the container of cookies.

  “You’ve got this, boys,” Coach says. “The Wildcats have never played half of you before. There is no film for them to study. So all you need to do is surprise them again and again. They have no idea how focused and determined and strong you are.”

  So that’s our plan for the game—do the unexpected. Keep the Wildcats on their toes.

  “Go Eddies!” Walter shouts and then takes a huge bite of his cookie. We all do the same. We head onto the field with cookie crumbs on our jerseys.

  Chapter 20

  We decide to go big. Our third play of the game, we give the Wildcats the surprise of their lives. We run a flea-flicker.

  I hand the ball to Jason, who runs a sweep and then passes the ball back to a new freshman lineman who reverses back to me. As he pitches me the ball I spot Walter open near the sideline. I throw a long pass and Walter catches it. With no one in front of him, he runs in for an easy touchdown. No one expected it. The crowd goes crazy. The kick is good, and the Wildcats stand on the field trying to figure out what just happened. We’re ahead 7–0.

  The Wildcats thought this was going to be an easy win with Neko and some of our biggest players gone, but everyone on our team is stepping up and ready to win.

  At the end of the first quarter, the Wildcats throw a pass into the end zone, but Zander, who is now playing safety, leaps up, deflects the balls, and then picks it off and runs it all the way to the fifty yard line. Interception! We gain possession of the ball. I make a pass to Walter. He catches it again. Touchdown!

  “You’ve got them rattled,” Coach says to us on the sideline. “Keep it up.”

  And we do. Until the start of the second quarter, when I throw an interception and the Wildcats run it in for a touchdown. They score again with just three seconds left of the first half. We’re tied 14–14.

  Chapter 21

  At halftime, I pick at an orange wedge and try to stay calm. I feel really bad about the interception, but Coach tells me I have to shake it off.

  “We’re going to keep throwing the ball,” Coach tells us. “The Wildcats are too big to run against, so Gibson needs to keep making deep passes. And receivers, you need to be prepared to catch everything. No interceptions.”

  The pressure is on me to make sure I throw fast and on target.

  When we head out to the field for the third quarter, the Wildcats stick to Walter like gum. He can’t get open. And we can’t get a first down.

  When the Wildcats get possession, they find their groove and march the ball down the field. They get first down after first down, and in five plays they push right through our line and get another touchdown.

  Their fans are on their feet, stomping in the stands, and I see them hold up signs mocking us.

  One of the signs says, “Trash the Eddies!” There are photographs of Neko and Cam with garbage taped next to them.

  This makes me mad. They’ve got players on their team who broke the law too—who dumped trash all over our school and scarred our field—but all of them are playing now.

  When we huddle up, I tell Walter I’m going to try another pass to him, but I can tell Jason is afraid the pass will be intercepted again.

  “Just everyone get open,” I say.

  We line up.

  The ball is snapped.

  I step back, but the Wildcats break through our offensive line. I run backward and then fake out a huge defender, cut up a hole I see in the middle of the field, and run down the field as if I’m being chased by Lars Bristol’s giant dog.

  I see Jason next to me, and I throw a lateral pass to him just before I get tackled.

  Bam! I’m flat on the field.

  For a moment, I lose my breath, but then I hear the cheering from the stands.

  Jason has run the ball in for a touchdown.

  The play was a mess, but we did what we had to do.

  I look over at Coach and I can see he’s signaling for us to fake the kick and go for a two-point conversion.

  He sends out the special teams.

  It looks like we’re going to kick the extra point, but when the ball is snapped, the holder throws it to Zander and he runs into the end zone.

  We are ahead by one point.

  Chapter 22

  During the fourth quarter, the Wildcats start marching down the field again, but we stop them in their tracks. Zander manages to knock the ball out of a Winfield receiver’s hands. It bounces around on the field. One of our players pounces on it, and it’s ours again.

  Coach calls a timeout and I run over to the sideline. “Don’t pass,” Coach tells me. “We have to run the ball and run the clock out.”

  “I don’t know,” I say. “The Wildcats’ defense is a wall. I don’t know if we’ll even get a first down.”

  “We can’t risk a pick,” Coach says.

  I nod at this, and we take the field.

  The Wildcats are prepared for us to run.

  I hand the ball off to Jason, but he only makes it three yards before he’s taken down. We try the play again, but he gets tackled for a loss. We’re losing ground.

  I look over at Coach. We can’t let the Wildcats get the ball. He signals for me to throw.

  For the next play, I pretend to hand the ball off to Jason, faking the Wildcats’ defenders out. It buys me just enough time to spot Walter near the sideline. I throw the ball high over the other players’ heads and Walter has to leap to catch it, but he does. He could easily just step out of bounds and
get us a first down, but instead, he runs down the sideline as if he is on a balance beam. The Wildcats chase after him, but Walter’s legs are long, and he is faster than any Wildcats’ defender. He breaks away from everyone and scores a touchdown.

  Chapter 23

  On Saturday we celebrate our new state title at the school. Gram gets the cafeteria kitchen back for the day. She and some of her old coworkers cook up a storm. I invite Eva to come as my date.

  When we enter the cafeteria, it has been transformed. Parents and some of the kids from school have spent the day decorating the place. There are tablecloths on every table and a hundred balloons. Someone even donated speakers and a sound system.

  Before the meal, Coach gives a short speech and has all the players stand up, including Neko, Cam, and the other players who were suspended from the team. He gives them a shout-out for their hard work. They not only painted lockers and restored our field, but they’ve spent the last few days painting and cleaning up the park across the street from our school.

  As the event winds down, Gram gets on the microphone and promises leftovers to anyone who helps clean up. Half the school ends up staying. In less than an hour the cafeteria is spotless, and everyone has an extra plate loaded up with food.

  As Gram and I are about to leave, the principal comes up to us. “Mrs. Gibson,” she says to Gram, “We all miss your amazing food. I know you’re enjoying your retirement, but I wonder if you’d be willing to make some food for our concession stand. I think we could make a fortune off those cookies you bake.”

  Gram smiles all the way home.

  “Thank you,” I tell her as we walk into the house. “You’ve been amazing. I just wish Mom could’ve been here.”

  “Next year,” Gram says. “All you have to do is make it to state again, and you know what? I think you all can do it. I just need to feed that team of yours and put some meat on some of those bony guys.” I can tell Gram is already putting recipes together in her head.

  I hug her and kiss the top of her fuzzy head.

  As I head to my room, my phone buzzes and I see that it’s Eva texting me.

  Good night, she writes.

  Good night at the end of a good day, I write back. I’m looking forward to talking to her more. But for now, I’m ready to finally get some sleep.

  About the Author

  K. R. Coleman is a writer, teacher, and parent of two boys. Coleman can often be found jotting down ideas in a notebook while watching a hockey or baseball game or while walking along the many trails that encircle Minneapolis. Currently, Coleman teaches at the Loft Literary Center and is working on a young adult novel entitled Air.