End Zone (14 page)

Still, it wasn't too bad a kick. Luckily, it took a big Eagles bounce, then hit off one of the Renegades, but was smothered by another before the Eagles could steal it.

On their first drive, Richmond Prep tried to go straight to the passing game. But either they hadn't seen any videotape of recent Eagle games, or they were ignoring the blitz.

Ronde came at them on second down and nailed the quarterback so hard, the kid had to come off the field for a breather.

The Renegades wound up having to punt, and Ronde was ready again. He ran the kick back to the Richmond Prep twenty-five!

Tiki ran onto the field, excited by the way the game was going so far. With all his heart, he believed the Eagles could win this game, even without Adam, Paco, and Justin.

He took the handoff on first down, and blew down two defenders on his way to a twelve yard gain! On the next play, he took a short pass from Manny and ran it to the four.

Then it was Manny's turn. He faked a handoff to Tiki,
turned, and ran around the far corner for the touchdown!

The two-point conversion went to Tiki, who powered it in, staying on his feet even though he was in the grip of a huge linebacker.

When he kicked off for the second time, it was with a lead of 8–0.

Within twenty seconds, it was 14–0!

Ronde slammed into the return man so hard he let go of the ball, and it fell right into Rio's hands. Rio turned on the jets, and was into the Renegade end zone before anyone could react. The two-point conversion failed this time, but the Eagles had Richmond Prep on the run, and they weren't through yet!

By the end of the first half, the Renegades' quarterback had been sacked four times—twice by Ronde and twice by Rob Fiorilla. Tiki had run for another touchdown, and the score was Eagles 22, Renegades 3.

“We've got this game!” Rio exulted as they got to the locker room. “This baby is
over
!”

Tiki winced. He was as happy as any of them, sure, but he knew better than to count any game over before the final gun sounded.

Besides, there was still that broken mirror to overcome. . . .

Although he would never have told anybody—not even Tiki—deep in his heart, before the game started, Ronde couldn't help having the feeling that the Eagles were going to lose.

He would have been thrilled if the score had been tied at halftime. But to be ahead by nineteen points, against the
Renegades
? And without three of their key players?

No way.
He had never imagined it would turn out like this, and neither had any of the others.

The Eagles were soaring, full of joy and confidence. To Ronde, they looked like world-beaters. Richmond Prep looked off-balance, back on their heels.

Coach Wheeler glared angrily at his players. “Hey!” he yelled, in that piercing voice of his. Everyone fell silent at once.

“To listen to you all, you'd think the game was already over!” He gave them a second glare, going slowly from one end of the locker room to the other.

“We've got thirty minutes of football left to play. You guys haven't achieved
anything.
Not yet. And if you keep
carrying on like this, maybe you never will. Now settle down, and focus on what you
personally
need to do in the second half.”

He took off for the men's room, and the murmuring started right away. “Bummer,” Manny said, shaking his head. “I don't know why we shouldn't be happy right now.”

“It's not that,” Tiki said. “He just wants us to keep our edge.”

“That's right,” Ronde said. “Richmond Prep is not just gonna sit there and take their medicine.”

“They'll make adjustments,” Tiki explained. “So we've got to be ready. In fact, we should be one step
ahead
of them.”

Everyone nodded, and there was more murmuring, but this time, it was in a tone of agreement.

“If we win this game,” Ronde said, “there'll be plenty of time for celebrating.”

•  •  •

The second half started with a bang, and quickly turned into an all-out war.

Sure enough, the Renegades had revamped their entire game plan. Now they were running—but not just up the middle. There were rollouts, and reverses, and double reverses.

Soon they had Ronde and the rest of the Eagle defense totally out of breath. By the time they finally threw a pass, their receivers had an easy step on the
cornerbacks—including Ronde. For the first time in months, a man Ronde was covering beat him for a touchdown!

Ronde couldn't believe it. He grabbed his head with both his hands and screamed in frustration.

The Renegades tried for two, and made it, plowing over the defensive line. Rob Fiorilla and his linemates were back on their heels now, and looked just as off-balance as Richmond Prep had in the first half.

Ronde took the kickoff, determined to make up for his mistake. He fought his way through careening rushers to almost midfield.

The Eagles ran behind Tiki, and got as far as the eight yard line before the drive petered out. Without Adam, though, they were forced to throw on fourth down, and tight end Jonah James dropped the ball in the end zone.

Back in possession of the ball, Richmond Prep stayed on the ground. They ate up almost the whole third quarter with their next drive.

Every time the Eagles had the Renegades stopped, they found a way to keep the drive going. It took sixteen plays and twelve minutes, but in the end, they crossed the goal line for the score.

The Eagles lined up for the two-point conversion, and the Renegades executed a direct snap—a trick play where the center snapped it right to the running back, who threw a completion in the end zone to a wide open receiver!

Ronde threw his hands up in the air and groaned. “Whose man was that?”

“Yours, dude,” Justin told him.

“Mine? But—” Dang! Justin was right, Ronde realized. The receivers had crossed paths, and Ronde had gotten himself mixed up.

The Renegades were right back in the game, trailing by only a field goal, 22–19, with a whole quarter of football left to play. And the Eagle defense had suddenly lost its mojo.

Why?
What had happened to suddenly sap their momentum? Was it the early celebrating at halftime? Or was it Coach coming into the locker room and bringing the Eagles down off their cloud?

Either way, it had to stop, Ronde realized as he lined up to take the kickoff.
Somebody
had to make a big play for the Eagles, or the Renegade wave would break right over them, and wash the Eagles' whole season out to sea!

Ronde took the kick and ran for all he was worth. Sheer speed and force carried him past the initial rushers. Two quick shuffle-steps in succession got him past two more, and then he was running again, right down the sideline, before being crashed into at the Renegade thirty-five.

The Eagle offense was set up beautifully. Ronde had given them the break they needed. But without Paco at center, snapping the ball like clockwork, blocking the pass rush, and blasting holes for Tiki to run through, the team was having a tough time gaining ground.

Manny kept scrambling. Once, he even lateraled to Tiki to avoid being tackled for a loss. That play turned into a big gainer—but still, the Eagles came away without a score. With no field-goal kicker, and a rookie center, they lacked their usual offensive punch.

The Renegades took over at their own three yard line. Ronde was determined to keep them bottled up in their own end of the field. After all, the Eagles still had the lead. If they stopped Richmond Prep cold, victory would be theirs!

The Renegades stayed with the run, blasting holes in the exhausted Eagle line. Rob Fiorilla was blowing out breaths and holding his hands on his hips, and Coach Wheeler waved him off the field, sending in a seventh-grader as a replacement.

Richmond Prep ran right at him, and gained another twenty-five yards before Ronde brought the running back down.

Now the Renegades were at midfield. So much for keeping them in their own end!

Rob Fiorilla came trotting onto the field again. He'd had only a minute to catch his breath, but the team needed him—just like it needed all its big guns when it came to crunch time.

Ronde could only hope the Renegades would try to get cute and throw a pass. If they kept running the ball, they were going to get at least into field-goal range. The
only good thing was that time was running down. The Renegades had only one time-out left, and with all those running plays, the clock had never stopped.

If the Renegades scored, and went on to win this game, Ronde knew he would never forgive himself. It was
his
lapse that had led to Richmond Prep's last touchdown, and the following two-point conversion, too. If the Eagles lost, it was on
him
, and no one else!

This is no time for regrets
, he told himself.
It's time for
redemption!

He knew the whole Eagle defense was playing on tired legs. He himself was exhausted, panting and sweating bullets as he lined up opposite his man.

The quarterback handed off to the halfback—but instead of running with it, he threw up a pass—to Ronde's man!

Ronde could hardly believe his luck—those high-powered coaches at Richmond Prep had just outsmarted themselves! Pushing his burning legs to the limit, he raced after the pass, leaped into the air . . .

. . . and brought it down for the interception!

It was the play of the game, no doubt about it. Ronde clutched the ball like it was his newborn baby, only giving it up when the official pried it from his hands.

He staggered off the field as the offense trotted back on. He couldn't even manage to lift his hand to be high-fived!

Manny, Tiki, and the rest of the offense ran down the
clock, keeping possession as long as they could—but it wasn't long enough. They had to kick the ball away with thirty seconds left—and Tiki, pressured by the rush, muffed the kick!

The Renegades took possession on the Eagle forty, with twenty-four seconds still to play, and one time-out still in their pocket.

Ronde couldn't believe it! He'd thought they'd already won!

He'd been so sure the offense could run out the clock on Richmond Prep. But now he had to get back out there, and stop the desperate Renegades one more time.

“Barber!” Coach Wheeler barked at him. “You stay here for one play, and catch your breath.”

“No, Coach, I—” Ronde began, but Coach held out the palm of his hand to stop any further complaints.

By the time Ronde got back into the game, the Renegades were at the Eagle thirty—almost close enough for a field goal that would tie the game. If that happened, and it went to overtime, there was no way the Eagles could win.

Their offense was going nowhere against the bigger, stronger Renegades. And the Eagle defense was
done. Exhausted
. Finished for the day.

Overtime would mean a sure loss.

They had to hold here, Ronde knew. On third down from the twenty, with ten seconds left, he blitzed the quarterback, thinking it might be a pass.

He missed, but he managed to turn the QB the other way, where he ran smack into Rob Fiorilla. The sack, the Eagles' fifth of the day, sent the Renegades back to the twenty-eight. Close enough for a field goal, but only just. Richmond Prep called their last time-out with only one second left on the clock.

Ronde knew from reading the
Roanoke Reporter
that the Renegades' kicker was the best in the state. If anybody could make this kick, under this kind of pressure, it was him.

But if anybody could stop him, it was
Ronde!

Taking a running start as the ball was snapped to the holder, he ran straight at Rob Fiorilla, who was bent forward and low. Ronde climbed right up Rob's back and jumped up from there, his arms stretched out as far as he could manage.

THWACK!

The kick hit him square in the left palm, and shot straight into the air! It came down into the hands of the kicker, who was buried by Eagles as the final gun sounded!

“VICTORY!!” Ronde screamed, thrusting both fists in the air. Then he let himself drop backward onto the ground, gasping for breath, but smiling wider than he ever had in his life!

He lay there, watching his exhausted teammates hug one another, fall to their knees, cry, laugh, shout, and dance.

Ronde felt so much love, for so many people—his mom, his brother, his coaches, his teammates, every kid and teacher at Hidden Valley Junior High—the list went on and on.

At that moment, Ronde Barber loved the whole wide world!

•  •  •

The team returned home to Roanoke at seven in the evening. The buses were greeted by over two thousand cheering Eagles fans—students, teachers, local residents, and of course, Mrs. Barber, who was right up front, holding a big sign that said,
WELCOME HOME CHAMPS!!

There were hugs all around, and finally, the boys all went off in their separate directions.

As Ronde settled into the backseat of their old station wagon, Tiki talked nonstop to their mom about everything she'd missed—from the dorms, to the meals in the cafeteria, to the play-by-play of the big game.

Ronde already knew the story. He sat silently, watching the streets go by as they rode to the restaurant where Mrs. Barber was taking them out for a big dinner to celebrate. Restaurants were expensive, but this was a rare occasion.

Ronde thought back to the moment of victory, and the celebrations that followed as soon as everyone recovered from their exhaustion.

It had been a grueling game—a hard, long, grueling
season, in fact. Ronde felt bone-tired. He had no idea where Tiki was finding the energy to work his mouth so fast and for so long. It made Ronde smile.

Then he thought of what tomorrow would be like. It would be hard to go back to normal life, without a big game to prepare for.