The Mighty Orphans

Mooseheart took over the ball. Long again went into a single wing, and Schlarman's right tackle overshifted half a pace. Long, who likes the wide open spaces, checked his signal and in two plays drove his halfbacks through the opening for the third touchdown.

WHEN A COACH DIES

After that, the Ramblers kept the game under control, except for a brief period when Schlarman went 58 yards for a touchdown in three plays, using a screen pass the Mooseheart secondary had a little trouble fathoming. Schlarman ground out a lot of yardage in the second half?except where it counted?and the light Mooseheart team took a pounding. But no time-out was ever called for a Rambler injury. As a matter of fact, the Ramblers never even asked for their waterboy, while the Schlarman players, feeling the 73? heat, kept theirs in constant motion. The only Mooseheart casualties were Johnny's new hat, which spent more time in his hands than on his head, and the turf on which he knelt. In his nervous state, he plucks and eats about a peck of grass during a game.

When the Mooseheart Victory Bell began its tolling at the game's end, the old grads poured out of the stands to congratulate Johnny and his team. And one man said, "You're still the best high school coach in the country, for my money. I don't understand why someone hasn't stolen you from us." Williams gave him his pat answer. "I like the kids," he said. There can be no doubt about his love of kids, since he has fifteen of his own, who, so far, have presented him with 16 grandchildren. (However, as he points out, they've just begun to get into full production.) But, of course, the true reason he hasn't left is that Mooseheart, in a real sense, is still home to Johnny.