Marcus had fans of all ages There were other high school guys some high school girls plenty of team parents and even some of the very old men who hung out at the hardware store Andrew knew some of those men had played on the Westfield Wildcats fifty or sixty years ago Hey Marcus Andrew called out Come on bro He got up on his toes to see over the crowd surrounding his brother We have to go Marcus shook a few more hands and even signed some little kid's jersey Okay little bro he said Give me a minute Andrew stepped back from the crowd and sat on the bench After a few more minutes the people went away and Marcus stood in front of Andrew Ready Marcus asked smiling Andrew slowly got to his feet his shoulders sagging and said Let's go
The two brothers walked toward Dad's car Marcus put an arm around his brother's shoulder What's wrong he asked Andrew didn't know what to say He couldn't admit he was jealous of his brother or that he wanted to be as great on the field as Marcus was Just then Dad honked the horn The two brothers rounded the school and spotted the family car Race ya Marcus said Even though he had his shoulder pads under one arm and his helmet in one hand he took off like a shot Andrew didn't even try to keep up That's why I'm down he muttered even though Marcus couldn't hear him You're fast like a wide receiver should be And I'm not
CHAPTER 2 RUNNING PLAYS The Westfield Middle School Wildcats practiced every day after school Andrew usually looked forward to practice but on Monday afternoon he was still feeling down Look alive out there Andrew Coach French called out Sorry Coach Andrew yelled back He sighed He couldn't get himself motivated After a few laps on the track the team had been running the same old plays over and over Only one
was a long passing play so Andrew was pretty bored The quarterback Carlos Suarez counted off Hut hut he shouted Two two hut The snap was good Carlos drew back into the pocket Andrew went up the right line and then cut across But play two wasn't a passing play Andrew's job would be to fake out one defender and then block for the running Sure enough Carlos handed off the ball to Noah Frank a second string running back Then since this was only a drill the coach blew the whistle to stop the play Andrew took a deep breath and headed back to the line Nice job guys the coach said Andrew I want to see a little more speed out there Carlos might decide to look for you if the defensive line is too strong
