First and Ten (10 page)

With Brown out, Matt was playing a lot more—not only in the offensive sets but also on special teams. And with less than two minutes to go and the Stingers stalled on their own thirty-yard line, he remained on the field with the punt team.

Reggie Evans lofted the ball deep down the field toward Jimmy Flynn, the Bulldogs' star running back and return man. The punt was high enough that Matt had time to get downfield quickly and was nearly on top of Flynn when he caught the ball. Taking a chance, Matt left his feet on the dead run, hurling his body toward Flynn who was heading upfield. The two collided and the ball squirted loose, right into Matt's hands. He fell to the turf with the football under his body.

The referee whistled. Then he pointed in the direction of the Churchill goal line. Matt had caused a fumble, recovered the ball and put the Stingers in position to win in the dying seconds.

Coach Reynolds called a time-out, and the offense gathered around him. Kyle James was eye-to-eye with the coach, awaiting direction.

“Okay, same thing as last week, only this time we follow instructions,” Coach Reynolds said, catching Matt's eye. “Kyle, I want you carrying the football. I don't want to risk passing it now. Keep it in the middle of the field. We'll call on Charlie if we need him.”

Charlie Dougan was on the sidelines, pounding footballs into the practice net. He looked serious. Matt felt nervous for his friend. He kind of hoped it didn't come down to a field-goal attempt. Nobody needed that kind of pressure in his first game.

As usual, James ran the series exactly the way coach had called for it. On first down, he kept the ball and made it three yards up the middle. On second down, he gained four more. But just as Brown had the week before, James came up lame after being hit on the play, favoring his left knee. The confusion around his injury caused the South Side students running the score clock to allow a few extra seconds to tick away. There were now just thirty seconds left in the game. Coach Reynolds called his final time-out.

James had been able to leave the field on his own power. But the coach took one look at his quarterback and made a decision. “We're going for the field goal now,” he said.

Charlie snapped up his helmet and headed onto the field. For the second straight Friday, the Stingers were lining up to kick a field goal on the final play of the game with the outcome hanging in the balance. And now they were doing it with a rookie kicker. Matt put his arm on Charlie's shoulder. “It's just like batting practice,” he said gently. Charlie stared at him blankly, then a crooked smile broke out across his face. Charlie had said exactly the same thing to him when he had gone up for a crucial at-bat during the baseball season. “I hear you,” he said.

Matt fielded the long snap cleanly from center Steve Donnelly and placed the ball nose down on the turf. He didn't see Charlie's motion as he addressed the kick but he felt the force of his right leg coming through the football, and he watched as it sailed cleanly through the uprights thirty yards away. It was a perfect kick. Charlie had delivered. Although there were still a few seconds left on the clock, South Side was up 13–10. Charlie had done it.

The Stingers' bench was going crazy. The players mobbed Charlie as he trotted off the field, slapping him on the helmet and shoulder pads and chest-bumping him. Watching the scene unfold, Matt felt good for Charlie.

He didn't have long to soak up the moment, however. Seconds later, Matt was back out on the field for the kickoff. Churchill had one more play in which to get back in the game. But there would be no miracle finish to this one. Charlie booted a solid kick to the five-yard line, and Jimmy Flynn was nailed at his own ten-yard line by Reggie Evans. The game was over.

chapter thirteen

Matt pulled off his football equipment, showered and dressed quickly. South Side had won the game in a terrific finish, but he wasn't feeling nearly as relaxed and happy as his teammates. In fact he was downright nervous.

After the last football game, Matt's father had said he'd like to meet some of his friends from the team. Matt had guessed it would be okay and hadn't thought too much more about it. But his dad had phoned a couple of nights later, offering to take him and some buddies out for burgers following the Churchill game. His mom had seemed okay with it, so Matt had agreed. But now he was nervous, and he wasn't sure exactly why.

Matt had invited Phil and Charlie to join him and his dad for the dinner at O'Regans, a local burger place not far from the school. So after Charlie had finished dressing and receiving the umpteenth round of congratulations from everyone in the dressing room, he joined Matt and Phil at the door. “Let's go,” he said, smiling. “I'm starving.”

Outside they spotted Matt's father, parked along Anderson, across from the school. His dad climbed out of the driver's seat.

“Hey, guys,” he said, extending his large hand first to Phil and then to Charlie. “I'm Matt's dad.”

“This is Phil and this is Charlie—they're two of my best friends,” Matt said.

“Great to meet you both. You guys hungry?”

Phil and Charlie nodded. They all hopped into the suv. It was quiet on the ride to the restaurant, until his father stuck a cd in the stereo and cranked up the volume. It was the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Until now, Matt had never considered the possibility that his dad might actually like decent modern music.

The four of them quickly loosened up over a dinner of cheeseburgers, fries and chocolate shakes and plenty of talk about football. After a physical game like the one against Churchill in the crisp autumn air, the food tasted awfully good. “That was a great game tonight,” Matt's dad said. “And a terrific clutch kick, Charlie.”

“Not bad for his first game ever,” Matt piped up proudly.

His dad looked confused. Matt filled him in on what had happened that week with Ricky Jackson being suspended and the coach having to audition kickers to find a replacement.

“Sounds like your team has been through its share of drama already,” his father said.

They all laughed. Little did they know, however, that the drama for the South Side Stingers was only beginning.

The next morning, Matt awoke early and headed for the front door. As usual, he would grab the
Post
, line up a big breakfast at the kitchen eating bar and devour the Sports section from front to back. During the school week, there wasn't quite as much time, but on the weekend he could slow down and catch up on all the news he had missed.

He didn't get far this time, however. In fact, the article running down the side of the second page of the
Post
Sports section almost made him choke on his Corn Flakes.

Frustrated football father files lawsuit,
read the headline.

The father of an outstanding high school foot
ball prospect has launched legal action against
South Side Middle School and its head football
coach, Rick Reynolds
, the story began.

Frank Jackson, whose son Ricky was sus
pended by the South Side coach this week, has
filed a lawsuit contending that the boy was
discriminated against and that his future as a
football player has been diminished due to the
suspension.

In the meantime, Jackson has obtained an
injunction order from the Third District Court,
compelling South Side to reinstate Ricky Jackson
until the case can be heard.

Frank Jackson would not comment on the suit
for the
Post
, referring all questions to his lawyer.
But his youngest son is already well-known in
football circles after winning the regional Pass,
Punt and Kick competition last year as a sixth-
grader. Ricky Jackson is considered a can't-miss
high school starting quarterback in the near
future, and many are already tabbing him as a
college prospect, following in the footsteps of
his father who was an
NCAA
standout during the
1970s.

Coach Reynolds was unavailable for com
ment. But a source close to the team told the
Post
that the younger Jackson was benched recently
after ignoring his coach's instructions during
two consecutive games and allegedly taking
hand signals from his father in the bleachers.

Matt could hardly believe what he was reading. A lawsuit? Wasn't this going too far? It was only middle school, after all. Jackson's dad was pushy and intense, but this seemed over the top, even for him.

The story filled in some blanks for Matt, though. Now he understood why Ricky had changed that play at the end of the Central game. His dad must have still been signaling him from the sidelines. Even though Matt knew it was wrong not to listen to the coach's orders, he wasn't sure he'd be able say no to Frank Jackson, especially if he had to live with the man afterward.

Matt quickly finished his breakfast. He could hardly wait for Phil, Jake and Amar to show up for their usual Saturday morning hoops game at Anderson Park. He was bursting with the news of the lawsuit.

Phil was first at his door. “Can you believe that story in the
Post
?” he said as he stepped inside. “I mean, I knew Jackson's old man was a jerk but this is unreal.”

Matt nodded. “I feel sorry for the kid,” he said. “Can you imagine living with that guy?”

“For sure,” Phil said. “And I heard he doesn't have a mom around, either. She died of cancer or something when Ricky was young.”

Matt hadn't realized that. It must be even worse than he imagined for Ricky, living in a house with only Grant and their obnoxious father around.

Jake and Amar were soon at the door. They hadn't heard the news. They were both shocked.

“Whoa, you football guys take things seriously,” Jake joked. “Man, that Jackson family is messed up.”

Matt had to agree. He wondered how Coach Reynolds was going to handle the court's decision. More importantly, he wondered how Ricky's situation was going to affect the mood of the South Side team. Things had been going well for the Stingers, but something like this had the potential to divide the locker room.

After several games of two-on-two at Anderson, Matt headed home. He had planned to use the afternoon to rake the leaves off the lawn and then mow the grass for what he hoped would be the final time until the spring.

He was just changing into some old work clothes when the phone rang. It was Charlie Dougan.

“Hey, Matt,” he said. “Did you read the story in the
Post
?”

Naturally, Charlie had read it. Matt imagined that everybody on the football team knew by now.

“I guess that's it for me,” Charlie said. He sounded tired.

“What do you mean?” Matt asked, before realizing what Charlie meant. Of course, if Jackson was coming back, he'd expect to be the team's placekicker again too.

“It's going to be tough to give back the uniform,” Charlie said.

“You don't know that's what Coach will do,” Matt said. “I think you're a better kicker than Jackson, anyway.”

“Thanks,” Charlie said. “I'm going to talk to Coach first thing Monday morning.”

Matt was worried after he hung up the phone. Charlie had been so happy after earning a spot on the team and kicking the winning field goal against Churchill. It would be a shame if he now had to go back to being a manager. At the same time, Matt knew what Jackson's dad was like. The word
gimp
kept floating around in his mind as he finished his weekend chores.

chapter fourteen

The tension was obvious as the team gathered around Coach Reynolds before practice on Monday afternoon. Coach would normally follow up on the previous Friday's game and set the tone for the coming week with a few words each Monday, but this was different.

He cleared his throat. “I assume most of you guys can read,” he said, smiling a little awkwardly. “So you'll already know about the story in the paper this weekend.”

Heads nodded all around. A few players turned to glance at Ricky, who was suited up for practice and standing near the back of the group.

“I'm only going to address this issue once,” the coach said sternly, his gaze meeting individuals' eyes in the group. “I don't want to hear about that subject around practice, or in games, or anywhere near this team. To me that whole issue is separate from football. You guys just worry about the game, and I'll worry about that stuff.”

Matt wondered how Ricky would fit into the whole
let's-just-be-normal
theme. He knew how self-conscious he would be if he was in Jackson's shoes. But Coach Reynolds hadn't mentioned Ricky by name or gone into any specifics.

“Now, let's get to work,” the coach said. “We've got Mandela on the road on Friday. If we win, we've still got a shot at the playoffs. If not, well, there's always next year.”

Coach Reynolds was true to his word. He didn't mention the lawsuit and, as usual, he ran practice crisply and efficiently. The only difference Matt could detect was that Ricky was suddenly now taking equal reps at quarterback along with Keith Vickers. And unfortunately for the Stingers, starting quarterback Kyle James was still sidelined with the knee injury he had suffered against Churchill.

Matt quickly realized that the coach was simply following court orders. He had been directed by a judge to reinstate Ricky Jackson, and that meant that Jackson was once again the team's backup quarterback. The injury to Kyle James meant Jackson might even be the starter against the Mandela Lions this Friday.

Jackson didn't look particularly comfortable during practice, however. His throws were wobbly, he bobbled a few snaps and he seemed a step slower than usual. He wasn't moving with anywhere near the confidence Matt had admired in him since football workouts began back in August.