The Walk On (34 page)

“Myers!” It was Coach Gordon. “You ready to go?” he said as Alex jogged up to him.

“Yes sir.”

“Are you sure?” he asked, almost as if he wanted Alex to really think about it.

“Absolutely,” Alex said.

“Okay, then.” He put his arm around him for a moment.
“The short passes have been there all night.” He paused. “Matt hasn’t been able to make the throws. Start with 33 swing and we’ll go from there.”

Alex nodded and trotted in. By now, no one in the huddle was surprised to see him. He called 33 swing, a simple out route to Josephs off a play fake, and brought them to the line. He could hear the York Central defenders yelling at one another: “Passer, passer! New QB—watch the pass!”

Alex took the snap, made a motion as if to throw the ball over the middle, and then swung it to Josephs, who caught it in stride, dragged a defender for a couple yards, and picked up twelve yards to the 35.

Coach Gordon was right: the short passes were there. Alex kept taking what the defense was giving until, on third and one at the York Central 37, he saw an opportunity. York Central had nine players in the box—the area right behind the line of scrimmage and on the line itself. Alex hadn’t even considered an audible since the debacle at Bryn Mawr. Now, seeing Jonas lined up wide with one cornerback on him, he called one.

He yelled “Black!” to tell his teammates he was changing the play, and then called “Z no-fly!”—that was the audible call for a fly pattern off a play fake. Alex took the snap and turned to Josephs, who lunged as if he were trying to get to the first-down marker, selling the fake brilliantly. Alex pulled the ball out of Josephs’s stomach and took two quick steps back. The cornerback had completely bought the fake and Jonas was wide open. Alex put a little extra on the ball because of the wind and watched as Jonas still had to slow a bit to wait for it. He was so wide open it didn’t matter.
He raced into the end zone with four seconds left in the quarter.

Coach Gordon was almost smiling when Alex came to the sideline. “Funny thing,” he said. “I was almost going to call that play there.”

“I could see the defense, Coach,” Alex said. “You couldn’t when you sent the play in.”

Coach Gordon batted him on the head and Matt, standing right there, hugged him.

“Goldie,” he said, “I don’t know what we’d do without you.”

Seven points felt like a huge lead in this game. And then Gerry Detwiler put it away. With York Central at midfield, he read an out pattern perfectly, stepping in front of the receiver at the 45-yard line. He was gone down the sideline, untouched. The extra point made it 14–0 and seemed to drain all the fight from York Central.

Matt went back in and, with the York Central defense suddenly looking tired, put together a time-killing seventy-two-yard drive that ended with Josephs scoring from the 1-yard line with 4:11 left in the game. The final was a very deceiving 21–0.

As the clock wound down, Alex patted Matt on the shoulder. “That was a great last drive,” he said. “You put the game away.”

Matt smiled for the first time in what felt like a week. “Long as I can run the ball, I’m okay,” he said. “You think this one was tough? Wait until next week.” He returned the
pat on the shoulder. “Gotta be ready, Goldie. We’re not winning this thing without you.”

Alex grinned in return. It was good to hear Matt sounding like Matt again.

The news that Allentown would be the opponent came down as the players were dressing after the York Central game. No one was surprised. Allentown had lost one game all season, a nonconference game at Beaver Falls, who were the defending state champions and the only undefeated team in the tournament other than Chester Heights.

“I’m not just saying this—they’ll be really tough,” Matt said as he carefully combed his hair. “We played Beaver Falls last year in the semis and they beat us pretty easily. They have most of their key guys back and they needed overtime to beat Allentown—even with a home-field advantage.”

He turned to Alex, who had just put his shoes on. “I meant what I said, Goldie. You better be ready.”

“I’m always ready,” Alex answered with a grin.

Matt nodded. “That’s what I want to hear. Gotta roll.”

“Where are you rushing off to?” Jake asked.

“Have a date,” Matt said. “You’ll have one someday, Jakey, don’t worry about it.”

“Hey!” Jake shouted at Matt’s back. “I’ve got a date too!”

“Do you really have a date?” Alex asked, a little nervous.

Jake sat down on the bench in front of his locker. “No,” he said. “But I could if I wanted to.”

Alex didn’t doubt that. Everyone laughed. It had been a fun night.

Alex wasn’t surprised when he got a phone call from Christine Whitford the next morning.

“I played one series last night,” he said in semi-mock protest. “Why would you want to talk to me?”

“Because you saved the season a week ago and your one series decided the game last night,” she said.

He decided it would be more fun to argue with her while looking at her across a table at Stark’s, so he told her he would meet her there at noon.

“Jake’s coming too,” she said.

Alex slumped. Apparently, he didn’t have a date either.

“Why?” he asked.

“Because he’s honest.”

“I’m not?”

She paused. “You’re careful,” she said finally. “See you at noon.”

They were both sitting at the back table waiting for him when he walked in one minute late.

Jake looked at his watch.

“You get lost?” he said. “Or were you doing a TV interview?”

“Not too many second-string quarterbacks get interviewed on TV,” Alex said, sliding into a chair.

“Unless they should be starting,” Christine said. “That’s what Steve is writing for Wednesday.”

“Oh jeez,” Alex said.

“Here’s the thing,” Jake said. “Matt did some things well last night—especially on the last drive. Problem is, Allentown North will take away the run just like York Central
did. I don’t think Matt has much confidence in his throwing right now.”

“So do you think Coach should bench him?” Alex asked, knowing how much faith Jake had in Coach Gordon.

“No,” Jake said. “I think he should keep doing what he’s doing. We need Matt. But we’ll need you too.”

“But you’ll have to pass to move the ball,” Christine put in.

“Can’t fool you,” Alex said, causing her to give him a dirty look. “But seriously—fine, if Matt struggles to throw, then Coach will put me in.”

“He only puts you in if he
has
to,” Christine said. “He almost waited too long in the Chester game out of loyalty to an inferior player.”

“Why are you so tough on Matt?” Alex said, feeling a little bit angry. “Why is Garland so tough on Matt? The guy gives everything he has every day. He encourages everyone on the team—no one more than me—he’s a brilliant strategist, and he’s a very good player.”

“He’s still not as good as you are,” Christine said. “Everyone knows that. Don’t you
want
to play?”

“Of course I want to play,” Alex said. “I
have
played. You haven’t answered my question. Why are you so hard on Matt?”

“Because they don’t like his father,” Jake said.

“That’s not true,” Christine said hotly.

“You mean you
like
his father?” Jake said. “No one likes his father.”

“Except you,” Christine said.

“I
respect
him,” Jake said. “The team is eleven and oh and you want to rip him!”

“That’s not why we’re hard on him,” she said, then caught herself. “I mean, we’re
not
hard on him. We’re just being fair.”

“Everyone has a different definition of ‘fair,’ ” Alex said.

“I will say this,” Jake said, looking around as if he didn’t want anyone to hear. “I hope Matt lightens up next week. I’ve never seen him as uptight before a game as he was last night.”

“He was uptight last week?” Christine asked.

Jake and Alex both nodded.

“I think he was feeling as if he had failed the team against Chester, and Goldie had to bail us out,” Jake said. “He’s that kind of guy.”

“Well, he may be uptight again this week,” Christine said. “Because Steve sent me his column this morning. The lead is pretty direct.”

“What’s it say?” Alex asked.

“It says, ‘If Matthew Gordon wants to coach a state-championship team this season, he’s going to have to bench his son.’ ”

“Great,” Alex moaned.

“Yeah, great,” Jake added. “That won’t make Matt uptight. But it will make his father crazy.”

Alex didn’t get to find out how upset Coach Gordon was with Garland’s column. In fact, the subject never came up.

He was sitting at lunch on Wednesday with Jake, Stephen,
and Jonas discussing what Garland had written, not to mention Christine’s feature on Allentown North quarterback Ken Jackson, in which she had gone on at length about his 4.0 grade point average and how he had been voted king of the junior prom the previous spring.

“You gotta give her a hard time about that,” Jonas said. “King of the junior prom? Seriously?”

“She’s just trying to be a good writer,” Alex said.

“She’s not,” said Jake, who had surprised them by sitting with them. Usually he only came over when Matt did. “That is
not
good writing,” he continued. “That is flirting in print. Dude, you need to protect your turf.”

“
My
turf?” Alex said. “You’re the one who showed up early Saturday to hang out with her.”

“Easy, tiger,” Jake said. “You know she and I are old news. Actually, we were never news. Anyway, we need you cool and calm this week.”

The sentence was barely out of Jake’s mouth when Alex noticed Coach Brotman walking in their direction.

“Myers,” Coach Brotman said, pointing a finger. “Need you right now in Coach Gordon’s office.”

Alex glanced at his watch. Fifth period started in fifteen minutes.

“Now, Coach?” he said. “But—”

“Now,”
Coach Brotman said with a kind of firmness that sent a shiver through Alex.

He picked up his tray and his books. “Leave the tray,” Coach Brotman said. “The other guys can take care of it.”