Gang Tackle by Eric Howling

who looked at Rico, who looked at Carlos, who looked back at Jamal. “It was a team effort.”
    “And how’s the game doing? Are football fans downloading it? Is your bank account growing? Have you made the twenty thousand you need yet?”
    Jamal hesitated. “Well, the game just came out a few days ago. People don’t know about it yet. We don’t have a big advertising budget like EA Sports. So we haven’t really made any money.”
    “This story should help get the word out,” Mr. Malone said. “A lot of people watch TSC . And not just in Toronto. We have a huge audience right across the country. Online as well. When we broadcast this interview, football fans will find out about the game soon enough.”
    “How soon?” Jamal asked. He knew the team couldn’t wait much longer.
    “Real soon.” Mr. Malone smiled. “Tonight.”
    “Jamal!” screamed his mom. “Get in here quick!”
    Jamal shot out of his room like a cannon. He had been doing homework, but he was worried something had happened to his mom. An accident. An injury. Maybe she had fallen and hurt herself. He raced into the living room expecting the worst.
    “There’s my handsome boy.” She was sitting on the couch and pointing at the TV . There was an ear-to-ear grin on her face.
    “So you’re not hurt. You don’t have a broken leg or anything?”
    “No, why would you think that?”
    “You don’t usually scream at home.”
    “That’s because I don’t usually see my boy being interviewed on The Sports Channel . Why didn’t you tell me you’d be on?”
    “Because I didn’t want you to get all excited and freak out.”
    “Who, me? You know that would never happen!”
    “No. Never.”
    “And there’s Darnell and Rico and Carlos. All you guys on TV . This is going to make you famous.”
    “We don’t want to be famous. We want our game to be famous. We need people to start buying Sack the Coach . We can’t play another game using rags for uniforms.”
    His mom grabbed the remote and turned up the volume.
    “So remember, football fans,” the reporter said, “make sure you download Sack the Coach. ” He held the screen on his phone up close to the camera to show a cartoon player chasing a coach around the field. “For only ninety-nine cents you can help Southside get some new uniforms. It’s a great game for a great cause. I’m Joe Malone, and that’s my call.”
    “That was like free advertising for your game, Jamal.”
    “Yeah, pretty awesome,” he said, heading back to his room. “I just wonder if anyone else watched it besides us.”
    He tried doing his math homework again, but he couldn’t focus. The only numbers he was interested in were the ones adding up in his account, ninety-nine cents at a time.

Chapter Twenty
    Coach Kemp blew his whistle. “Let’s hit the showers.”
    He had just put Southside through another long practice. He had to make it tough to get the team ready for the next game. The Saints had to win. If they didn’t come away with a victory, they could kiss the playoffs goodbye. The clock was ticking.
    “We only have a week to get ready for the next game, against the Etobicoke Knights,” Coach said, striding off the field. “After what happened last week, that’s going to be a challenge.”
    “I think there’s a bigger challenge, Coach.” Jamal took off his old, scratched-up helmet. “We have even less time to come up with the money for new uniforms. I don’t know if the guys can play one more game without them.”
    “You got that right.” Carlos pulled off his ripped jersey and threw it into his locker. “Everything’s falling apart.”
    “I saw you on TSC a couple of nights ago,” Coach Kemp said. “You guys looked good on TV .”
    “Yeah, the camera loves me,” Rico joked. “I’m thinking of going to Hollywood.”
    “The video game looked good too,” Coach said. “I even paid the ninety-nine cents and downloaded it.”
    “Well, at least we know Sack the Coach made one