Double Reverse Read Online Free Page B

the ball carrier. Okay, let’s go.”
    Kurt ran about a dozen plays. Most of his passes fell incomplete. The offense looked ragged. It was as if they were all on different pages of the playbook. Jesse lined up at wide receiver again, wondering when he would get his chance at quarterback.
    After another one of Kurt’s overthrown passes, Coach Butler called out, “Langston! Take Jesse’s place at wide receiver. Jesse,you go in for Kurt. Come on, hustle up. Look sharp!”
    Jesse saw that Kurt was surprised. So was the rest of the team. The players in the huddle looked from side to side, not sure what was going to happen next. The coach leaned into the huddle and said, “Why don’t we start with I-34.”
    Jesse felt a little funny doing the talking instead of the listening. He repeated the play in a strong voice, trying to sound as much like Jay as he could.
    “Ready … set … hut one!” Jesse spun and handed the ball to Griffin, the Panthers’ running back.
    “Good job,” Coach Butler said as the offense huddled up. “Run the pitch-right play.”
    Jesse realized that Coach was purposely not naming the play to test him. But it didn’t matter anyway. Jesse knew exactly what to call from all the times he had quizzed Jay about the Franklin High School playbook.
    “38 Power Sweep!” Jesse called. He couldsee both Coach Butler and Vittone nodding with approval as the offense lined up.
    Jesse called more running plays. With every down he felt more comfortable handling the ball and the offense.
    “Quinn, move over to tight end. Mason, come in and play tackle!” Coach Butler looked at Jesse and lowered his voice. “Let’s try a pass. Call what you feel comfortable with.”
    Jesse studied the faces of the players in the huddle. They were waiting for him to show the way. “Flood Pass Right on one.”
    The players got into their stances. Jesse looked over the defense and crouched behind the center.
    “Ready … set … hut one!” Jesse dropped back and looked right for Langston running a down-and-out. A defensive end crashed through the line and into the backfield. Jesse spun away from the tackler and kept his eyes downfield. Langston was covered but Jesse spied Quinn open on a curl-in. Jesse flipped him a quick pass for an eight-yard gain.
    Tweeeeeeeet!
    Coach Butler blew his whistle. “Good play,” he said, clapping his hands. “That’s how we keep moving, Jesse! Good catch, Quinn. We’re clicking now. Let’s keep it going.”
    A couple of completions later, Coach Butler put Kurt back in to try again. Jesse sprinted to the sidelines, satisfied that he’d taken his first small steps to becoming a quarterback.
    Coach Vittone clapped him on the shoulder pads. “Good job. The way you were scrambling around out there, you looked like a regular Fran Tarkenton.”
    “Yeah, I felt pretty good,” Jesse said.
    “We’ve got a lot of work to do to get you ready for Thursday.”
    “You mean …?”
    “I’ll talk to Coach Butler about having you start.”
    Jesse could feel a smile spreading across his face.
    “Don’t be too happy, Tark,” Coach Vittone warned. “It won’t be easy. Pinewood is tough.”
    Jesse didn’t care. He was just glad for the chance. He looked at Coach Vittone and smiled. “Then I guess we’ll find out on Thursday if I can play the part.”

Chapter 8
    Jesse sat on the bench, staring at the play Coach Vittone had diagrammed on the clipboard. The cheers of the crowd and the Franklin High School freshman cheerleaders filtered through the ear holes in his helmet.

    “It’s like Fake 34, Pass, except instead of dropping back, you roll out to the right,” the coach explained. “If you don’t have an open receiver, you can run with it. We’ve got to take advantage of your speed.”
    Jesse nodded. He could still feel the butterflies in his stomach.
    Coach Vittone patted him on the knee. “You’re doing fine, Tark. We’ve still got a chance to win this one. Be ready after the defense