Football Champ Read Free Page B

cut, scooped up the blob, and popped it back into his mouth with the rest of the mess.
    “Two-second rule,” Nathan said, talking through hisfood, this time keeping it in his mouth.
    “Two-second rule?” Tate said.
    Troy shook his head and said, “If it’s not on the floor for more than two seconds, you can pick it up and eat it.”
    “I think I’m going to be sick,” Tate said, her face rumpled in disgust.
    “It’s a good thing Mr. Renfro did quit,” Troy said. “Otherwise Seth wouldn’t be our coach and we wouldn’t have beaten anyone. We were lucky to get into the playoffs when Norcross got disqualified, but after that, it’s been all Seth.”
    “And you, too,” Tate said. “Seth changed things around and made us a lot better, but Jamie couldn’t have thrown all the touchdown passes you’ve thrown in the past three weeks. Good thing he walked away with his dad.”
    “It’s been all of us,” Troy said to Tate. “You’re the best kicker in the state, and Nathan’s a monster.”
    “I like that,” Nathan said, grinning large. “ The Monster . Did you guys know that this is the first time Duluth has ever had a team make it this far?”
    “That’s why there’s been, like, two thousand people at our games,” Tate said. “Everyone’s talking about us. We win Saturday and we get to play for the championship. You want to be a champ, don’t you?”
    “Sheesh, I’ve never been a champ in anything,” Nathan said, running his hand over his crew cut again.“How come you can’t meet with Mr. Langan earlier?”
    “He stayed in Chicago on business,” Troy said. “He won’t be back until seven. My mom and Seth are pretty nervous about this Peele guy.”
    On the bus ride to school that morning, Troy had already told them everything that happened over the weekend, filling in the blanks while walking the halls between classes.
    “I think it would be awesome to have this guy do a big spread on you in the newspaper,” Nathan said. “Maybe a color photo or something? Fame is fame. Look at all the pop stars.”
    “Nathan,” Tate said, quiet, but serious, “half the pop stars’ lives are like train wrecks.”
    “Well, they drive nice cars,” Nathan said.
    Tate rolled her eyes.
    “It’s just one practice,” Troy said. “It won’t kill us.”
    “But the Dunwoody Dragons might kill us,” Tate said. “I heard Jamie talking in gym class right before lunch. His cousin plays on that team. He’s six feet tall.”
    “Six feet?” Nathan said through his food.
    “If he’s as bad as Jamie, we’ll be all set,” Troy said.
    “If he’s as mean as Jamie and that big and he plays on their defensive line,” Nathan said, “you better be ready to scramble.”
    “You’re not going to protect me?” Troy asked. “What is that?”
    “I’ll try—hit him low in the knees—but six feet?Sheesh,” Nathan said, swiping his hand over his bristles of hair.
    “I’m more worried about our playbook,” Tate said, “and Jamie’s father giving it to the Dunwoody coaches.”
    “Our playbook?” Troy said, alarmed. “That’s cheating. Even with Seth changing things up, we use the same number system, and half the plays we run I call at the line. If they get our playbook, we won’t stand a chance. He wouldn’t do that.”
    “Oh?” Tate said, raising her eyebrows. “Wouldn’t he? Wait till I tell you what else I heard.”

CHAPTER SEVEN
    TROY AND NATHAN LEANED toward her.
    “Sara Parks told Jamie in front of everyone that he and his dad were rotten to root for Dunwoody when we all live in Duluth,” Tate said. “So then Jamie went all red, told her that his dad made the playbook and he could do what he wanted with it. He said if Seth Halloway wanted to have a team, he could make up his own playbook.”
    “But Seth has us running some new plays,” Nathan said.
    “We run a lot of old ones, though,” Troy said, scowling and balling up the cellophane from his sandwich. “You can’t learn all