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us. It’s all of us!” Ronde went on. He couldn’t contain his feelings.
    Ronde half-expected Coach Wheeler or one of the other coaches to grab him, to stop him. But the whole locker room stayed still and silent. Ronde, the captain of the Eagle defense, had the floor.
    â€œWe may be talented,” he said, “but if we keep playing stupid, we’re gonna get beat!” He might have been one of the smaller players on the field, but no one had a bigger heart.
    â€œDefense!” he shouted. “When you hit somebody, you’ve got to put them on the ground! Receivers, you got a route to run? Three steps and cut? Then count one, two,three! If you add a step or cut too quick, the ball’s not gonna be there for you.
    â€œYou new kids,” he said, scanning the room and taking in all the rookies with a fiery glance, “I know you haven’t seen much action before. Most times, seventh graders ride the bench their first year, but this year we
need
you guys. And we need you to play like you’ve been here awhile. Remember what you learned in practice. And okay, you’re gonna make mistakes. So
learn
from them, and learn fast, because we’ve got a mission, and it doesn’t include losing.”
    Finally he looked around the room again, singling out the veterans on the team—his fellow ninth graders. “You guys,” he said, “I’m not kidding. We’re gonna go nowhere if we don’t set an example for these kids. We know how to win, so let’s go out there and show it!”
    â€œYeah!” yelled a few of the Eagles, clapping their hands. Others nodded, while a few were still looking down at their feet.
    Coach Wheeler didn’t look kindly on players criticizing their teammates. Last year’s quarterback, Cody Hansen, had caused several near fights among his teammates that way. Somehow, though, when Ronde spoke up, everyone got quiet and listened.
    Ronde looked over at Coach Wheeler, expecting him to be mad. But to his surprise, Coach had a crooked, surprised smile on his face.
    â€œThank you, Ronde,” he said. “Kids, that’s your captain speaking, and I couldn’t agree more.” He turned to Tiki. “You want to add something, Captain?” he asked.
    Tiki shook his head. “No, thanks, Coach. I’ve been giving more than enough speeches lately. And Ronde said it all.”
    This got an appreciative laugh. They’d all been in the auditorium for Tiki’s speech that same afternoon.
    â€œOkay, then,” Coach Wheeler said, clapping his hands three times. “We’re only down seven points after all that dreadful football we played. So let’s get out there and play our game—our
real
game! As Tiki said this afternoon—even if he doesn’t want to repeat himself—we’ve got to play proud!”
    â€œYeah! Play proud!” several of the Eagles roared.
    â€œOkay, team, get out there!” Wheeler said.
    Ronde opened his mouth wide and made as much sound as he could. Then he joined the crush of his teammates, crowding back through the doorway on their way out to the field.
    North Side Junior High was a big school—much bigger than Hidden Valley—and they’d always been a football powerhouse. Last year they’d made the play-offs, only to be knocked off by the Eagles in the first round. This year they were out for revenge. They had the Eagles right where they wanted them too—a touchdown behind,away from home. Now they meant to move in for the kill.
    Ronde knew it, but he also knew that they wouldn’t be expecting a burst of energy from the Eagles coming out of the locker room.
    He was right. On the kickoff Ronde flew headlong at the ballcarrier, hitting him square in the upper arm and knocking the ball free.
    Ronde didn’t see what happened after that (he was quickly smothered by a pair of Rockets), but he could tell by the groan from the crowd that