The Great Quarterback Switch Read Online Free PDF Page B

down, and his arms were stretched out like tentacles.
    Michael felt his heart rise to his throat. Heglanced over the field and saw that Angie had buttonhooked in, clearing himself from Hans. Then he glanced back at Tom. An
     electric shiver coursed through him as he saw that Nick had Tom on the run. Tom was being chased back toward his own goal
     line!
    Concentrating hard, hoping that his thought-energies would work, Michael tried to switch places with Tom. This was the second
     quarter and Tom looked tired. That long, sixty-two-yard touchdown run in the first quarter must have drained some of the strength
     out of him.
    But Michael knew that if Tom wasn’t concentrating and wishing, too, exchanging places with him was out of the question. And
     apparently Tom wasn’t, for the exchange never came about. Tom was smeared on his own three-yard line.
    “Oh, too bad!” said a voice behind Michael. He recognized it immediately. It belongedto Carol Patterson. He had a notion to turn and look at her; he wondered whether she would be eating another Popsicle. But
     he didn’t.
    The loss of yardage put the Eagles where the Moths no doubt wanted them. Against the wall. On their second play the Eagles
     fumbled the ball. The Moths recovered it, then went over for the touchdown. It was Nick who scored, and Nick, again, who kicked
     the extra point. Eagles 7, Moths 7.
    Michael sat in his wheelchair, hunched forward, as the teams lined up for the kickoff. He was anxious to go in, but was Tom
     as anxious to come out? he wondered.
Darn Tom!
he thought angrily.
Now that I can go in the game, he won’t let me! He won’t cooperate!
    Michael sat back, fuming. What a rotten deal to make. Tom had agreed to cooperateon the thought-energy control, but now that they made it work, he was reneging! What a brother!
    Suddenly Michael stiffened in his chair. What was he doing? Why was he making such a terrible judgment of Tom just because
     their exchange had not been made now when he, Michael, wanted it?
    Tom was too wrapped up in the game now. That was the reason, of course. The game was tight. And, being quarterback, Tom had
     to mastermind the moves. The coach had given him almost full rein to run the team. That
had
to be the reason Tom wasn’t concentrating on TEC.
    The smart thing to do, Michael figured, was for him and Tom to decide before a game when to concentrate on their thought-energies.
     It would save time, and be less frustrating, too.
    He glanced over his shoulder at the seat where he had seen Ollie at the last game. This time Ollie’s attention was on the
     game.
    Michael smiled, and looked away.
    He watched Moonie kick off. It was a nice, long, shallow boot. Tom gobbled it up on the fifteen and did some fancy broken-field
     running before he was brought down on the thirty-three. Michael smiled with admiration.
Darn it! But that kid can really run!
he thought.
    Tom called pass plays on the first two downs. Neither one worked.
    He glanced toward the sideline. He looked bushed. Was he worried, too?
Could be,
Michael thought.
    Michael waved to him. Tom answered by barely making a gesture. Was he looking for help? Maybe even an exchange?
    “The T-forty-three drive!” Michael said,loudly enough to carry only ten feet. “The T-forty-three drive!”
    The Eagles broke out of the huddle and hustled to the line of scrimmage. Michael watched Tom step up close to the center,
     the other three backfield men forming a T behind him.
    Michael clapped with joy. They were going to run! It was the T-43 drive play!
    Tom barked signals. As the words popped out of his mouth, Michael began to concentrate. He pictured himself in Tom’s place,
     crouching as Tom was crouching, looking over the line as Tom was looking, yelling the signals as Tom was yelling.
    Jack snapped the ball, faked a handoff to Vince, then chucked a short lateral pass to Jim. Driving forward like a small bulldozer,
     Jim plowed through tackle for twelve yards!
    Michael saw Tom