(DECEMBER 2010)

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RYLE RIVERA

"Adrian," I said, "there's a guy in a yellow jacket sprinting at us."

"That's Grant! Stop him! He's their fastest and if he gets enough momentum, he can easily kick the pole down!"

That's why Grant stayed behind, I realized. His speed would be at its peak if he started sprinting from the opposite side of the field.

I grabbed my three closest classmates to help me block Grant's path. Even though he was fast, his path was easy to predict because his target was still our pole.

One by one, we began dropping.

Justice slid on the ground, knocking one of my classmates down. Brianna shoved another aside while Mallory kicked the other out of the way. Rich tackled me and shoved my face in the snow.

He and the others then formed some sort of stairs with their bodies, making it easy for Grant to hop from one person to another and get to the top of the pole. And with one kick he put the pole at an angle, making it easy for him to jump on.

Charlie, Illiana, and a bunch of the other short sixth graders began climbing to the top, adding more weight and lowering the pole.

Is this how we lose?

The pole accelerated to the ground and toppled against the snow.

The words couldn't come out of my mouth. "Er... The sixth graders..."

"The sixth graders..." Rich said as he threw a fist into the air. "Wins!"

They celebrated their victory and we could do nothing but watch them in defeat.

Rich grabbed my hand and helped me up. "Good game, brother."

"Don't get too cocky. We were going easy. But yeah, good game."

"They went out of bounds, that's not fair," Mrs Delilah complained.

"Your students went out of bounds too," Mr Cranston said. "But I didn't call them out on it because there's no out-of-bounds in pole toppling. This round goes to the sixth graders. The score is now 1-0!"