"Please sir, I'm not a quitter…. I'm not yellow … that is, not really…. I didn't want to stop when I saw I was going to be tackled. Something else made me…. I—I can't make myself do what I want to do…. I …"
The coach studied Billings sympathetically.
"You'd what?"
"I'd like to have you make me do what I can't make myself do … force me to get in there and play … I … I'm not asking for mercy … or … or to be favored. No matter what I do, I don't care if you beat me or what happens … I want to get over feeling like I do about myself!"
This was a most unusual request. To Coach Little there flashed a small appreciation of the struggle that Billings must be undergoing. He laid a hand on his shoulder.
"I'm sorry, Billings. You're up against a tough fight. Some fellows never get over it. Just seems like they can't entirely break it. The season is so far along now that I don't know whether I'll have a chance to help you much. Keep a stiff upper lip. Don't take the game so seriously. You're too tense. Relax. If you do this you will not take yourself so seriously and it will help you. I'm glad you spoke to me about this. I'm glad you realize what is wrong. Keep saying to yourself, 'I will do this' and 'I will do that' and if you can say it until you believe it, nothing can stop you from doing it."
Judd thanked the coach for giving him this advice and immediately felt better. He went home with a lighter heart than he had had in weeks.
CHAPTER III
A KICKER IS DISCOVERED
Trumbull High put the skids under Newton Academy in the next to the last game of the season but in so doing the eleven lost the services of its star fullback, Jimmy Blackwell, who suffered a badly sprained ankle. There was gloom in Trumbull that night. Chances were that Blackwell had played his last game for the school and chances were that Trumbull would be no match for Canton High with Blackwell out of the lineup.