, aware of the sudden flash of unity on the part of the opposing
team, the _Capella_ unit fought desperately to salvage at least a tie.

Tom managed to block a kick by Richards, and the ball took a dizzy hop
to the left, landing in front of Astro. He was in the clear. The stands
were in an uproar as the cadets saw that the game was nearly over. Astro
paused a split second, judged the ball and stepped forward to kick. But
the ball spun away, just as Astro swung his leg. And at that instant,
McAvoy came charging in from the left, only to be blocked by Roger. But
the force of McAvoy's charge knocked Roger back into Astro. Instead of
kicking the ball, Astro caught Roger on the side of the head. Roger fell
to the ground and lay still. He was knocked cold. Astro lost his
balance, twisted on one leg unsteadily, and then fell to the ground.
When he tried to get up, he couldn't walk. He had twisted his ankle.

The _Capella_ unit members stood still, confused and momentarily unable
to take advantage of their opportunity. Without a moment's hesitation,
Tom swept in and kicked the ball before his opponents realized what had
happened. The ball drifted up in a high arc and landed with several
bounces, stopping five feet from the goal.

Suddenly Richards, McAvoy and Davison came alive and charged after Tom,
who was running for the ball as fast as his weary legs would carry him.
He saw Richards pull up alongside of him, then pass him. Then Davison
and McAvoy closed in on either side to block and give Richards a clear
shot back down the field and a certain score.

Richards reached the ball, stopped and carefully lined up his kick,
certain that his teammates could block out Tom. But the young cadet, in
a last desperate spurt, outraced both McAvoy and Davison. Then, as
Richards cocked his foot to kick, Tom jumped. With a mighty leaping
dive, he sent his body hurtling headlong toward Richards just as he
kicked. Tom's body crashed into the ball and Richards. The two boys went
down in a heap but the ball caromed off his chest and rolled over the
goal line.

The whistle blew ending the game.

In an instant, two thousand officers, cadets and enlisted men went wild
as the ball rolled across the goal line.

The _Polaris_ crew had won eight goals to seven!

From every corner of the field, the crowd cheered the cadets who had
finished the game, had won it in the final seconds with two of them
sprawled on the field unconscious and a third u