The six boys shook hands and jogged down the field to take up
their positions.
"How about concentrating on the passes Richards is going to feed to
Davison," Tom asked his unit-mates. "Never mind blocking out Richards
and McAvoy."
"Yeah," agreed Astro, "play for the ball. Sounds good to me."
"How about it, Roger?" asked Tom.
"Just play the game," said Roger. And then added sarcastically, "And
don't forget to give them every chance to score. Let's play fair and
square, the way we did with the _Arcturus_ unit."
"If you feel that way, Manning," answered Astro coldly, "you can quit
right now! We'll handle the _Capella_ guys ourselves!"
Before Roger could answer, McKenny blew the ready whistle and the three
boys lined up along the white chalk line preparing for the dash to the
waiting ball.
The cadets in the stands were hushed. McKenny's hand swept up and then
quickly down as he blew the whistle. The crowd came to its feet,
roaring, as Tom, five steps from his own goal line, tripped and fell
headlong to the grass, putting him out of the first play. Astro and
Roger charged down the field, with Astro reaching the ball first. He
managed a good kick, but Richards, three feet away, took the ball
squarely on his chest. The mercuryball fell to the ground, spun in a
dizzy circle and with a gentle tap by Richards, rolled to Davison, who
took it in stride and sent it soaring for a forty-five-yard goal.
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