The game was tied, 6–6.

  Franklin fought back the next time they had possession of the ball. They tried to move the ball down the field, but the Hamilton players were too good. They covered the Franklin receivers like glue and pulled the flags off the Franklin runners before they could score again.

  As the game continued, Franklin couldn’t get close to scoring. But Hamilton did. Twice they got near the end zone before Franklin was able to stop them.

  “They’re blocking everything we try!” Luke said during Franklin’s next huddle. “It’s like they can tell what we’re going to do before we do it.”

  Nico nodded. “I know,” he said. “Let’s try the up-the-middle play we practiced yesterday. Come on! Let’s go!” Nico clapped his hands, and the Franklin team lined up.

  But that play didn’t work either. Hamilton stopped each Franklin play before they could gain any more yards. Soon Hamilton took possession of the ball. Time was running out in the first half, and Hamilton was able to get close to Franklin’s end zone.

  In two downs, Hamilton did what Franklin couldn’t. They scored again! Now Hamilton was up 12–6. The Franklin team was getting desperate.

  “This is it,” Nico said as they huddled. “We can only try one more play before halftime. Let’s do Max’s special Statue of Liberty play and tie this game up now! Alice, snap the ball on the word vacation.” Nico put his hand out. The rest of the team put their hands on top of his. “On the count of three,” Nico said. “One, two, three!”

  The pile of hands exploded upward. “Go, Franklin!” the team yelled. The players ran to their positions.

  Hamilton lined up opposite the Franklin team.

  “Blue twenty-two! Yellow. Green. Tangerine!” Nico called. “Washington! New York! Vacation!”

  Alice snapped the ball to Nico. Franklin players blocked the Hamilton defense.

  Nico dropped back a few steps. He held the ball up high like he was going to pass. He pretended to throw the ball. But he didn’t let go of it. As he brought his hand down, he slipped the ball to Max, who had run behind him. Max swept out to the right. The Hamilton team was focused on Nico and didn’t seem to be following Max.

  It looked like the trick play was going to work!

  But then one of the Hamilton players yelled, “Hey, he’s got the ball!” A big player zipped across the field to cut Max off. Max dodged to the left, but Logan was there. He was stuck!

  Max tried to shift the other way, but he slipped and stumbled. Logan dove and ripped Max’s blue flag off! Max was down. The play was over.

  Logan looked at Max and made a face. “Oh, wook at the poor wittle bunny wabbit. He slipped and messed up,” Logan said in a baby voice. “Why don’t you get up and hop along back to the other baby bunnies?”

  As the other Hamilton players laughed, the referee blew his whistle.

  TWEET!

  The half was over. Max’s trick play had failed. Franklin was still behind by six points!

  “Argh!” Max said during the halftime break. “I can’t believe I blew it!”

  “At least you tried!” Alice said. “Don’t worry, it’s not you. Hamilton’s a good team.”

  “I can’t stand Logan,” Max said. “I want to get back at him, but he’s bigger than me.”

  Kat shook her head. “Max, we don’t have to be bigger to win the game. We just have to be smarter. We need to find something that will give us an edge.”

  A bunch of the players sat on the bench, eating oranges and drinking water. Nico went over to a duffel bag he had brought and pulled out a bunch of plastic bags filled with snack mix. He passed them around to the team. Luke took a big handful, popped it in his mouth, and started munching. “This is good!” he said.

  “Maybe it will give us an edge,” he said. “It’s my special snack mix. I call it Nico’s Nibbles. It has wasabi peas, bran flakes, sesame sticks, and some dried ginger for zing.”

  “Ugh!” Luke gasped. He turned to the side and spit a big wad of Nico’s snack mix into the dirt. “Peas? I don’t like peas!” He grabbed his water bottle and took a big gulp. “Nico, next time you try to poison us, please tell us beforehand!”

  Nico laughed. “Peas aren’t poison, Luke,” he said. “And you liked it before you knew what was in it!”

  Luke swallowed his water. “What I’d really like is to find a way to beat Hamilton,” he said. He pointed across the field. The other team was laughing and joking around on the bench.

  Kat tapped her clipboard. “Gather around,” she said. “I can show you why they feel so good about the game.”

  Everyone formed a circle around Kat. She took out a tablet and pulled up a bunch of pictures. She loved to take photos. She often stayed after school to work on special projects with the art teacher.

  “I took some pictures and videos during the game,” she said. “They can help us study the types of formations they use and what we can do to beat them.”

  For the next five minutes, Kat showed the team the pictures and videos. She pointed out where the Franklin team could do better and some of the plays that Hamilton had used against them.

  When she was finished, there was still time before the second half. Max pulled out the football book he had gotten from the library and flipped through it.

  “Should we try another trick play?” he asked. “There are so many great ones in here. There’s the fumblerooski, the hook and ladder, the flea flicker, and the end around. Maybe we could do one and score again!”

  Nico shook his head. “We can’t,” he said. “We haven’t practiced any of them. Instead of scoring again, we’d probably lose the ball or something!”

  Kat agreed. “I think it’s too late to try something we haven’t practiced,” she said.

  A few minutes later, the referee blew the whistle. It was time for the second half!

  Both teams ran out to the field. Hamilton had the ball first but wasn’t able to score. When Franklin got the ball, Nico took the snap and handed it off to Max for a running play. Max tucked the ball under his arm and barreled forward.

  He left the Hamilton players behind as he ran down the field. The only thing that stood between him and the end zone was Logan, who had been playing far back.

  Logan ran straight for Max. When he got close, Logan lunged for Max’s flag. Max shifted to the left. But Logan shifted, too. Max dodged to the right, but Logan moved in front of him.

  Logan smiled. It was clear he had Max stopped.

  “Aw, wook at the wittle bunny. He can’t go weft and he can’t go wight,” Logan said. “Poor wittle bunny is going to cry!” Logan balled up his hands and held them to his eyes like he was crying.

  Max cradled the ball under his arm. He recalled what Kat had said about being smarter than the Hamilton team. His eyes darted around the field. None of the other Franklin players were open. There wasn’t anything Max could do.

  But then Logan’s fake crying got his attention. As Logan pretended to rub his eyes, Max spotted an opening.

  He ran forward and dove between Logan’s legs! Before Logan could stop him, Max tucked and rolled into a somersault and popped up running on the other side of Logan!

  He was free and clear. There were no other Hamilton players nearby!

  Logan whipped around, but it was too late. Max was almost at the end zone!

  Max ran as fast as he could. He didn’t look back. Max scored!

  The Franklin team and their parents exploded in cheers! The game was tied, 12–12! Kat went wild on the sideline and danced around with her clipboard.

  “Way to use your head, Max!” she called. “What a great idea! That’ll show those bullies!”

  Logan seemed stunned by Max’s move. And the rest of the Hamilton team didn’t look happy with Logan. The Hamilton player that had flubbed a handoff during practice even yelled out from the sideline, “Hey, Logan! Maybe if you’d been focused on the game instead of making fun of him, he wouldn’t have scored on you!”

  “Yeah, nice job,” said another one of the Hamilton players who Logan had teased during practice. “I guess we’re not the only ones who aren’t perfect!”

  Logan shook his head and kicked at the ground. He shuffled over to the bench for a drink of water.

  When the game resumed, Logan was definitely more quiet and focused, and it was working. He was determined to win. Franklin’s lucky score didn’t put Hamilton out of the game. Just like the first half, the Hamilton team regrouped quickly. They drove the ball down the field, but Alice blocked a pass on fourth down to prevent them from scoring.

  “Woo-hoo, Alice!” Kat called. “Keep it up!”

  As the second half went on, both teams became even more serious. Logan wasn’t taunting Max anymore or talking like a baby. He was focused on finding ways to beat Franklin. And Nico and the Franklin team were trying everything they had practiced over the previous week. But neither team scored. As the minutes ticked away, the game remained tied.

  Franklin moved the ball down the field with a combination of running and passing plays. Their strategy seemed to be working. As they huddled before the fourth down, Nico ran through the plays they could try. He suggested that they try Max’s Statue of Liberty play again.

  “It almost worked the first time,” Nico said. “And we’re only fifteen yards from the end zone. But this time, let’s have Alice be quarterback and I’ll run the ball.”

  Everyone nodded. “Great idea,” Luke said. “Let’s do it!”

  The Franklin team lined up. Max acted as the center and snapped the ball to Alice. She dropped back, and at just the right time, Nico ran behind her. She pretended to throw the ball but slipped it into Nico’s hands. He took off like a streak up the right side of the field.

  The play worked perfectly! The players from Hamilton were focused on Alice, and most of them didn’t see Nico get the ball. By the time they did, it was too late. Nico had already zipped past them!

  But he hadn’t made it past everyone. Logan was near Hamilton’s end zone. As Nico ran up the field, Logan spotted him and ran over to intercept him. As they approached each other, Nico tried to stop and run to the left. But Logan was already there.

  Nico wasn’t able to slow down in time. He and Logan bumped arms. The football sailed out of Nico’s hand!

  It bounced on the ground and rolled around.

  Fumble!

  The football rolled end over end along the ground. Nico and Logan scrambled after it. Nico almost snatched it off the ground, but Logan got there first. His big hands scooped the football up. Hamilton had the ball!

  Nico thought fast and grabbed the red flag hanging from Logan’s belt. He pulled it off.

  Logan was down, but Franklin had lost the ball and the chance to score! Now they would have to keep Hamilton from scoring.

  Nico kicked the ground and headed back to the rest of the team. If Hamilton scored, Franklin wouldn’t have much time left to tie the game.

  “That wasn’t your fault,” Max said when Nico joined the team’s huddle.

  Nico’s shoulders slumped. He wasn’t used to losing. “I should have held on tighter,” he said.

  Kat stepped forward. “It’s not over, and Hamilton hasn’t won,” she said. “Let’s focus on how we can win the game now.”

  Kat ran through the defensive positions she wanted them to take. A minute later, both teams were back on the field.

  On the first snap, Hamilton was able to gain some yards. They quickly set up for another play and completed a pass to gain a few more yards. On third down, a Hamilton player was able to sidestep Alice and gain some ground before Max tugged his flag off. Hamilton was getting close to the Franklin end zone! On the final down, Logan made a run for the goal line, but Alice grabbed his flag at the ten-yard line. Now Franklin had possession.

  With the game almost over and the score tied, Franklin finally had the ball. One touchdown and they would win the game!

  “Yahoo!” Nico yelled as the team huddled. “This is it!”

  “But we only have about a minute to get the ball all the way down the field!” Max said. “That’s going to be really hard.”

  TWEET!

  The referee’s whistle blew. Kat had called a time-out. The team ran to the sideline.

  Kat pulled out Max’s library book. She tapped the cover as the team surrounded her. “I was looking through Max’s book, and I found a new trick play to try!” she said.

  “But we haven’t had any time to practice it!” Nico said.

  Kat smiled. “That’s the best part,” she said. “We did practice it!”

  “We’ve already done the Statue of Liberty twice,” Nico said. “They’ll be looking for it again.”

  “It’s not the Statue of Liberty!” Kat said. She flipped the book open to the trick plays chapter and tapped the flea flicker page. “The flea flicker is a famous trick play that a lot of teams have done,” Kat said.

  She explained how it worked. A football team does the flea flicker to fool the other team into thinking they’re going to run the ball when they’re actually going to pass it. It’s like the opposite of the Statue of Liberty play, which looked like a pass but was actually a run.

  “Nico, you take the snap, and then hand it off to a runner,” Kat said. “The runner then heads to the side of the field. The other team will follow him. But before crossing the line of scrimmage, the runner flips the ball backward to the quarterback. The quarterback can then throw it to an open receiver.”

  “We haven’t practiced this!” Nico said. “How can we possibly do it during a game?”

  Kat smiled. “You can do it because the MVP Club practiced it the other day!” she said.

  The players looked at each other. They didn’t know what to say.

  “Um, Kat? Nico’s right. We’ve never tried the flea flicker play. Maybe you need to rest for a bit,” Luke said. “I can call Mom if you’re not feeling well.”

  Kat shook her head. “We haven’t practiced the flea flicker, but when we were moving all those balls for Ms. Suraci a few days ago, we actually practiced all the moves for the play! Remember how Alice grabbed balls out of the closet and tossed them back to you, Nico? Then you threw them down the hall to Max, and Luke put them in the room. It’s exactly the same thing. And we practiced it for over an hour!”

  Nico thought about it. Then he clapped his hands. “You’re right!” he said. “Great idea, Kat. Let’s do it. It’s our only chance.”

  Franklin took the field. Nico called out the snap count.

  “Blue sixty-two. Green thirteen. Red bed,” Nico called out. “Hut, hut, hike!”

  Max snapped the ball back to Nico.

  The Hamilton defense counted to five-Mississippi and rushed toward Nico as he dropped back. Nico handed the ball to Alice. Max ran far off to the left. He moved past Logan as Logan was trying to follow Alice.

  Alice took the ball and zipped to the right. The Hamilton offense followed her. As she was about to hit the sideline, Alice tossed the football back to Nico.

  Before the Hamilton offense could adjust, Nico grabbed the ball and cocked his arm back. He spotted Max way down the field. As the Hamilton players tried to head for Nico, he flung his arm forward. The ball sailed out of his hand and arced down the field.

  Max was wide open!

  It was too late for Hamilton to recover and get someone to block the pass. Max just had to catch the ball! The crowd on the sidelines gasped. The field fell silent. The ball spiraled through the air.

  Max was yards from the Hamilton end zone when the ball dropped into his hands. He tucked it between his hand and his elbow and darted forward.

  Touchdown!

  Max spiked the football.

  The whistle blew. The game was over.

  Franklin had won! They had beat Hamilton for the first time in years!

  The Franklin football team cheered. Nico did a cartwheel. Alice and Luke high-fived each other. Kat danced around on the sidelines with her clipboard over her head. The other players on the team chanted, “Go, Franklin! Go, Franklin! Go, Franklin!”

  Max picked up the football and started to jog back to the bench. But then he spotted a group of Hamilton players. They were directly between him and the rest of the Franklin team. The Hamilton players were moving together toward Max, and Logan was in the middle.

  Max slowed down. He considered darting to the left or right, but before he could decide, Logan jogged up and stopped in front of Max.

  Max’s hands tightened on the football. “The game is over, Logan,” he said. “We won.”

  Logan reached out his hand toward Max.

  Max stepped back. Logan took a step forward. He reached out his hand again and grabbed Max’s hand, then shook it.

  “Yeah, I know the game is over,” Logan said. “I just wanted to say that you played a good game. You really got me back there when you went through my legs. I should have focused on football instead of teasing you. Sorry. Sometimes I try so hard to be tough.”

  Max stared at Logan, and then shook his hand back. “Thanks,” he said. “It’s okay. You’re a good player, too.”

  Logan pulled his hand away and then held up his fist. He waited for Max to make a fist, then Logan bumped his fist down on top of Max’s like he was hitting a nail with a hammer.

  “Next year!” he said with a smile. “We’ll do it again. Same time, same place. But this time maybe I’ll focus on football, so don’t think you’re going to win twice in a row!”

  Max nodded. “You’re on!”

  Logan headed back to his side of the field. Max jogged over to join the rest of the Franklin team.

  “Way to go, Max!” Kat called.

  Max raised the football and tossed it to Nico. “It was Nico’s pass that did it,” he said.

  Kat held up the book. “But it was your trick play idea that saved the day,” she said. “You also tied the game by rolling under Logan’s legs. That was the perfect way to get back at him!”

 

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