MAN IN MOTION

Prolific sportswriter Wilfred McCormick chalks up another fast-action opus with Brone Burnett as the teen-age hero (others: One O'Clock Hitter, Stranger in the Backfield, The Bluffer). At his best describing gridiron tactics, McCormick falls down badly with conversations off the field. Brone Burnett's holier-than-thou attitude and peppy little sermons also become very hard to take, along with his habitual ""Aw"" and ""Gee"". The plot this time concerns the resentment which results after Brone tells the coach that another player is breaking training. Heavy restrictions are imposed on the entire team and the rest of the boys are up in arms. One hulking fullback primly explains, ""What we don't like about Burnett ... is the way he's tattled on us"". But all is forgiven in the end and the West crashes on to hard-fought victory. There are much better football stories scheduled for this fall- (e.g., Tex Maule's The Rookie; Sidney Offit's Cadet Quarterback).