Fielding Yost

“ From the other entrance to the gridiron the visitors enter and they seem every bit as strong and fit to maintain the undefeated record which they also boast this year. Footballs are produced, the two teams form in large circles in different parts of the field and begin to toss the ovals about in rapid succession, while the enthusiasts in stands and bleachers cheer their heroes till it seems as if their throats would be insufficient for the strain which one or the other side, if not both, will have to bear through the game that is not yet begun. ”

“ From across the field a loyal encouragement is still given by the visitors to their beaten team. The hopes of months are going down to defeat, but the men who are beaten have done their best and, when the final whistle is blown and the game is over, the players of each team gather close together and cheer each other after the style of true sportsmen who have tested each others' mettle with mutual respect. ”

“ Right tackle seems the destination of more than half the plays which our men start, and they gain steadily. From the kick-off the ball is taken straight up the field, the backs handling the oval cleanly and the interference being well nigh perfect. The tackle who is bearing the brunt of the terrific attack lies prostrate on the ground after every play and is plainly weakening under the human bombardment. On his own 30-yard line the visitors' captain calls a halt. ”

“ Friend and foe now mingle alike before him, one helping him, another endeavoring to bring him down. Full 30 yards he comes and then, dodging one tackler, rushes right into the arms of another. It is our ball and our turn to carry the oval.
But that visiting team has a defense that is every bit as strong as its supporters have told us. Twice our plays are thrown back and it becomes the duty of our quarter to call for a kick, as theirs did a few minutes ago. The punt sails high in air, although not so far as the effort of the opposing full back, who has the assistance of the wind. ”

“ From far down near his own goal our full back rushes to intercept him. It is the last chance for a tackle. Right down the edge of the field tears the runner with the ball. There is no room to dodge this time without carrying the ball out of bounds. A clutch follows the dive and the man with the ball rolls over the sideline, stopped, but only after a 40-yard run that is destined to be chronicled as the feature play of the game. ”

“ Our full back plunges through the line and emerges squarely in front of the defensive quarter. The visitor forgets himself in the frenzy of defeat that seems certain, and his clenched fist shoots home. The blow was covertly given but the umpire is there to see such things. There is another distance penalty and the young man guilty of the slugging is sent from the game, while both sides cheer the decision. Foul play has no part in clean football. ”

“ Once more the full back is called on but this time the desperate foe is waiting for him and he fails. An attempt at an end run is also thrown back by our plucky foe. It is do or die this time. There is a feint of two or three men at one end, the enemy's defense is drawn away from the center, and once more the full back, with but two men helping him this time, assaults this position.
The play is in plain sight of every spectator except those directly in front of it. Thousands of people give a mighty shove as if to help the runner. He goes through, he keeps going. ”

“ The quarter back is the man immediately behind the center. On offense, when his side is carrying the ball, he calls the signals which tell the players of a team, in a language which they alone understand, the play to be employed, the man who will carry the ball and the direction in which he is to carry it. The quarter, when ready, takes the ball from his center, who passes it back between his legs, and, in turn, passes it on again, always backward--for a forward pass is illegal--to the back who is selected to carry it into the enemy's country. ”

“ With tears in his eyes and sobbing like a little child, the unfortunate tackle wraps a blanket about him and is guided off the field, while a substitute, wild with joy at his chance, rushes in to take his phace. ”

“ From each team a man detaches himself and, with a man in citizens' clothes, looks over the field. He is the captain and his companion is the coach. He tests the consistency of the surface of the field, notes the direction of the wind, the effects of the sunshine and the other conditions which, if properly observed, will give one side an advantage over the other at some stage in the progress of the game. A couple of wet spots are carefully noted, for in a close game these things may mean victory or defeat. ”

“ Outnumbered hopelessly when it comes to a show of vocal enthusiasm, they have gathered together and their cheer, clean cut and following to perfection every movement of the cane of their yell-master, sounds a plucky defiance to the flood of sound that is regularly evoked by the batons of the leaders of the home school who are distributed along our front. ”

“ Like a shot, through the rush of men one of our ends tears in, dives for the ball, rolling over and over. He grasps it in both arms and tries to regain his feet for a run to the opponents' goal, but there is a man who throws himself at him and flattens him to earth again. It is our ball, however, but 15 yards from the goal, and a touchdown almost within our grasp. Can the team make it? ”

“ It is a bright November day, warm enough for comfort in the sunshine but sufficiently crisp to tell us that we should be well wrapped up for the two hours, more or less, that we are to spend on the field. We mingle in the crowd of undergraduates, alumni, invited friends of the students and other devotees of football who are wending their way to the athletic field. ”

“ Squarely in front of us forms our team, stretching across the field along the 55-yard line which marks the middle. In the exact center the ball is carefully stood on end, ready for the kick-off, which is the method of putting it in play. Defending the west goal the visiting team, which has won the choice of positions, is so disposed in scattered array over the half of the field that the kick which is coming, regardless of its direction, may fall into the ready arms of some waiting player. ”

“ The objective point of our own team is the final white line over there to the left, while the enemy's eleven will strive in the opposite direction. Each man on each team will have a part to perform, whether it be the carrying of the ball himself or assisting his comrades, and unless each man does that part his team will fail in its attempts. There is one main way in which the ball is legally advanced. This is in the arms of a runner. Passed from hand to hand it may be, and each scrimmage necessarily starts that way, but the passes must never be made in the direction of the opponents' goal. ”

“ The foe's formation suddenly changes. The backs form a wedge with the full back, ten yards back of the center, at the open end. It is the formation for a punt, the kick productive of the greatest possible distance and the inevitable result when a team fails to gain by carrying the ball. ”

“ On the defense, half backs take the places ours have now--back of the tackles to assist the ends, for this is a frequent point of attack. The full back of the attacking side stands directly behind the quarter, with the halves on either side of him, while our full back is 30 yards or so behind his own line, waiting for a possible punt and acting as a final line of defense, should the opposing runner succeed in carrying the ball past the rest of his comrades. ”

“ With the further weakening of the visiting eleven there is no chance for them longer to hope to win the game. Over and through them the plays travel regularly. Every formation plunges into the line. Our resourceful captain's plan of attack is just versatile enough to prevent anticipation, while still maintaining a uniformity that invariably yields results. From two to four yards and even more are gained on almost every down. ”

“ The teams are now playing on the 25-yard line of the visitors. To score against us, the ball must be carried to the opposite end of the field, across the goal line of the home eleven, or else cleverly kicked by drop or placement, between our goal posts. It is a long distance to be gained but there is plenty of time to accomplish the feat if the enemy's eleven has the grit and power to do it. ”

“ If a goal can be secured by a place-kick, one more point will be added. About 25 yards from the line, almost in front of the goal, the little captain stretches himself prostrate, holding the ball at arm's length a scant inch above the ground. The opponents line up on their goal line. The kicker measures his distance. With an almost imperceptible motion the ball is lowered to the ground, the foot meets it and the opposing ranks rush forward to block the kick. ”

“ There is a fresh breeze from the west and this makes it practically certain that the west goal will be selected by the captain who wins the toss. The effect of the opening rush is most important, for it is a remarkable team that can summon enough reserve power to win a game after having been played off its feet in the opening half. ”

“ In a compact body are moving a regiment of students from the visiting university which is the foe today. They flaunt their colors, and their songs alternate with their college cheer. Townspeople, excursionists, sportsmen of all sorts--they are all going to see the game. ”

“ Some of them have been denying themselves the creature comforts of life for years, undergoing training that the Spartan of ancient times might have gloried in, just for this chance. In this throng are friends, brothers, sisters--yes sweethearts--who have eyes for but one out there on the field. ”

“ He knows it and, glorying in his strength, is determined to do or die in this game which is upon us. Over there on that bench where the substitutes sit there are many sore hearts this day, for, when a man is selected to play one of those eleven positions, a full half-dozen are downcast in disappointment. ”

“ The oval twists deceptively and seems to travel a spiral course. The man in the enemy's backfield, there to catch it, runs in, stretches out his arms, misjudges a bit and the ball strikes him, falls, takes a bound to the side and rolls away. ”

“ The rest assist the runner in the manner in which they have been taught. Frequently in the progress of a game a member of the line is called back to relieve the backs in carrying the ball and their linesmen block opponents out of their way on offense, while the defensive line endeavors to stop the play. ”

“ The enemy's ends keep drawing closer to the main body, to relieve their harassed comrades. Suddenly that close formation in which our backs have been playing melts into a thin line that charges widely around in a sweeping circle. ”

“ Our seats have been selected weeks ago, so there is no occasion to take part in the hurly-burly that attends the acquisition of a place in the general admission stands, for a good view of the game is indispensable. We soon make our way to our places, the sun at our backs, the field sweeping down past us, fifty-five yards on either side. ”

“ The centers, as their names imply, are the center men of each line. On either side of them are the guards and outside these, the tackles. The men on the extremities of each line are, quite logically, the ends. The side with the ball, you will note, however, has drawn its ends close in to the general formation, while ours are ranging wide. ”

“ The presence of so fine a kicker on the enemy's eleven makes the contest still doubtful, although he will have to sacrifice some of his accuracy and distance in the half that is coming on account of the change in goals, which will make it necessary for him to kick against the wind. ”

“ The visitors have no right to maintain possession of the ball if in three trials they fail to carry it at least the five yards intervening between two of these lines. Failing to do this, they will afford our young heroes their opportunity. ”