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wasn’t it? You go ahead and use ‘Play proud,’ Tiki. Maybe you’ll be the one to make your mother’s saying famous!”

CHAPTER FOUR
GAME ON!
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    WHEN GAME DAY FINALLY ARRIVED, TIKI WAS practically beside himself with excitement. He could barely wait to get into his uniform and out onto the field. For the team’s opener Hidden Valley Junior High had gone all out to salute their champions.
    The school band was in the bleachers, along with the cheerleaders down in front and the team mascot, Cootie, whipping everybody into a happy frenzy with his antics in his Eagle suit.
    When the Eagles themselves ran onto the field, the drum corps struck up a thunderous beat, and the crowd yelled so loudly you couldn’t hear yourself think. Glancing across the field at the East Side Mountaineers, Tiki felt sorry for them. The game hadn’t even started, but they already looked beaten.
    Last year the two teams had played a close game, with the Eagles coming out on top, 18–15. But that didn’t tell the whole story. During that game Tiki had played not only running back, but also kicker, replacing Adam Costa, who had been suspended for flunking two of his courses.
    This year both teams had a lot of new players. But it seemed to Tiki, just looking at the two teams, that the Eagles had gotten bigger and stronger, while the Mountaineers had lost most of their huge defensive linemen.
    After a long, loud salute to the state champions, with Cootie running around the field holding their trophy from last season high over his head, the game finally began.
    On the kickoff Ronde sped down the field in a blur and rammed into the Mountaineer return man so hard the kid nearly lost the ball.
    The Mountaineers offense got to work, but they didn’t get very far. Their quarterback seemed flustered, throwing behind his receivers twice, and getting sacked for a big loss on third down.
    East Side punted, and Ronde’s return put the ball at midfield. Tiki raced onto the field, eager to get to work. Coach Wheeler had sent his offense in with the first three plays already called, and the first one was an off-tackle play, featuring Tiki.
    He took the ball from Manny and ran straight through a hole in the line created by the left guard and tackle.
    Tiki felt a rush of excitement carrying him along. It was like he had kicked his playing into a higher gear and everyone around him was moving in slow motion. Putting on a dazzling move, he faked the linebacker rightoff his feet, and was into the open, heading straight for pay dirt!
    He felt something grab his ankle at the ten yard line, and down he went, holding the ball tightly so it wouldn’t come loose. The whistle blew, and he got up smiling. First and goal, Eagles, at the Mountaineers eight yard line!
    The next play was a quick out pass to Frank Amadou, who was starting at wide receiver on the right side. He leapt and caught the ball high in the air, but came down out of bounds.
    Tiki winced, a rookie mistake. But the kid would learn. He and his twin brother already had great skills; they just needed good coaching. And with the Eagles, they’d be sure to get just that.
    On third down Coach Wheeler had called for a quick dump pass to Tiki in the flat. But they were in the red zone now, and the middle of the field would be crowded with defenders. So Wheeler sent the fullback, Luke Frazier, in with a different play—a handoff to Tiki right up the middle.
    Tiki took the ball and headed straight for Paco. The beefy center was a true wide-body, and strong, too. He simply pushed the East Side nose tackle straight backward, and Tiki followed right behind.
    After a slight fake to the left, Tiki darted right, catching the linebackers off guard. Before they could recover,he cut left again. With a last, desperate lunge, he leapt across the goal line and into the end zone!
    It was the Eagles’ first score of the year. Tiki roared and jumped for joy, spiking the