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mistake.”
    Keith hoped that it looked that way to Coach Bodie as well. With three plays left, Jason sent Keith long and hurled the ball as far as he could. Keith sprinted hard for the end zone, hoping to reach the pass, and reached out a hand as he crossed the goal line. He got his fingertips on the ball, knocked it upward, then cradled his arms under the ball, catching it in both hands as he fell forward for a touchdown. As he got to his feet, he was surrounded by teammates slapping his hands and yelling congratulations.
    On the last offensive play, Billy, back in at quarterback, called an end around. Keith used Cody to run interference and raced for a twenty-yard gain.
    The Pumas did score on their next set of plays, but the Bucks scored a second touchdown — on some fine open-field running by Heck — and also kicked a field goal. Keith felt that he’d done pretty well, especially his one spectacular TD catch. But, he decided, Larry had also done well, even making an interception to end a Puma scoring threat.
    Afterward, once the members of both teams had shaken hands and the Pumas had left, Coach Bodie assembled the Bucks.
    “I’m very encouraged by what you guys showed me today. We look like we’re about ready for the season opener. I’ll be polishing some things in the next few practices, and that’s about it.
    “As for a final decision on starters, I’ll sleep on it and let you know before we go to work tomorrow. For what it’s worth, you’ve made some of my choices hard to make. That’s a good problem for a coach. It means that we have some real depth on the team this year, more so than last season. Get your rest, and I’ll see you all at the usual time.”
    Keith, Cody, and Heck rode their bikes home after the coach dismissed the team. Cody turned to Keith and said, “It’s a lock, man. You’re the starter. No question anymore.”
    Keith shrugged. “I’m not totally sure. To tell you the truth, I thought Larry had a good scrimmage, too. He made a couple of really good plays.”
    “That’s true,” Heck said, “but he also made a couple of mistakes, especially on defense. I think Cody’s right.”
    “Sure, I’m right!” Cody insisted. “Keith, you’re da
man!
”
    “Well, anyway, you two guys are going to start,” Keith said. “And I guess we’ll know about me tomorrow.”
    It was going to be a long wait.

13
    T he next day, Keith arrived at practice feeling nervous. Heck kept reassuring Keith that he deserved to start for the Bucks and that the coach could be relied on to make the right decision. But Keith couldn’t get over his edginess.
    What if Coach Bodie held Keith’s temper tantrum of a few days ago against him? What if the coach believed that Keith might actually fail in a clutch situation? What if, what if.… Keith refused to let himself relax. He promised himself that if the coach picked Larry over him he would
not
show his disappointment, that he’d still do his best for the team, and that he’d congratulate Larry and shake his hand.
    When, at last, Coach Bodie blew his whistle and clapped for the team to gather around him, Keith thought that he couldn’t stand the suspense for another minute.
Anything
would be better than waiting. He had to know.
    The coach waited for all the whispering and talking to die down before saying a word. Then he said, “As I said yesterday, I had a few difficult decisions to make, because we can only start eleven players. In a couple of cases, there was almost nothing separating the two options, but I had to make the choice anyway.
    “I’ll say this again: All of you will play against the Mustangs. They’re a solid team; they have a larger squad than we do, and that means that we’ll need to keep moving fresh bodies out there. Here we go.”
    He read the names off a list, going through them quickly. When he said, “Keith Stedman,” Keith wasn’t sure at first that he’d heard right. Then he saw Heck nodding and grinning, and he knew