Center (gridiron football)

“ Thereupon the Princeton coach touched briefly on the more important points of the training system. It was soon evident to the Kentfield lads that they had not done enough of this in times past, and perhaps this was the cause of some of their defeats—at least they ascribed it to that.
"Football men, among other things, need quickness," said Mr. Spencer, "and beyond all else, according to Michael Murphy of Pennsylvania, than whom there is no better trainer, the players on the gridiron need to have plenty of superfluous energy to draw on. ”

“ The center, like all the other members of a football team, should be active and fast on his feet and should above all things be strong and steady. No one but a man who is absolutely cool in all his work should attempt to play the important position of center. No play can start without first having the assistance of the center, and if he fails in any way the play will generally result in no gain or the loss of the ball. The center must follow the ball all the time; wherever the ball is, there the center must be also. No team can play a clean-cut, fast game if the center is slow. ”

“ The scrub, against whom the Varsity matched forces that afternoon, had been having some secret practice of their own, and they worked a couple of tricks on the rather surprised first team that netted a good gain, and eventually a touchdown.
"That's something you must be on the lookout for," said Mr. Martin, who was a bit chagrined over what had happened. "It isn't enough to play well on your own team, you must watch what the other fellow is doing. Now try again, and put some ginger into your work." ”

“ Assuming that a team had the lead in the game, if on the third down that team was forced to kick from behind its own goal line, should the punter receive a poor snap from his center and be unable to kick, he should pick up the football and either run with it or throw an incomplete forward pass. ”

“ The latter went into the fine points of the game, emphasizing the needs of the individual players, laying stress on what the backs, tackles, ends and guards should do, and urging on the lads the necessity for fast, snappy playing.
"Demoralize your opponents by the quickness with which you jump into formations," said the Yale man. "As soon as one play is finished be ready for the next. In defense, never give up, no matter how the game seems to be going against you. Hold hard, tire out the other side, and then you may have a chance to get the ball and—win!" ”

“ The shoulders are square, the back is straight, the neck is relaxed, and the eyes looking upward. His right hand grasps the football like a passer. He should reach out as far as possible without changing his stance. The center is coached to place the ball on his tail as quickly as possible with a natural turn of the arm. He should drive out over the ball with his head coming up and tail down, keeping his shoulders square as he makes his hand-back to the quarterback. ”

“ Come on, gang—this old game isn't lost yet!"
But a great groan went the rounds as the pass from center was bad and Frank missed the kick for extra point. Score: Pomeroy, 14, Grinnell, 6!
"If we make another touchdown and kick the goal, we'll still be a point behind!" grieved a Grinnell supporter. "There goes our outside chances of at least tying the score!"
"Now you're playing football!" were Frank's words to Mack as he shook his fist at him and then turned on other scowling team members with the demand that they show a little fight. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Football practice now occupied all the spare time the cadets had. Early and late they were on the gridiron, playing under the watchful eyes of the two coaches, who still found many faults to correct.
"No team is perfect," declared Mr. Spencer, "but we want Kentfield to be as nearly so as possible. You boys must do better on kicking though, for you may meet some team where you'll have to depend on your leg-and-foot-work to pull you out of a hole." ”

“ CHAPTER XV GRIDLEY FACES DISASTER "We'll kick from the north end," announced Captain Badger, promptly.
With a grunt of satisfaction, Gridley loped off for its positions.
The band broke loose in a wild hurrah of a tune. Spectators belonging to both sides took up a wild cheer until the referee raised his right hand for silence. The opposing teams were lined up.
Darting forward to center field the referee placed the ball, then ran backwards off the gridiron. ”

“ They can't stand that smashing attacking business, but you can hold them if you try. Then, at the right time, get the ball and take it up. One touchdown and goal will tie the score, and another touchdown will win the championship for you."
"Boys, will we do it?" cried Dick, turning to his cadets as they surrounded him in the dressing rooms under the grandstand. ”

“ Dick's article read:
_There is a possibility that Gridley High School will not be in the front ranks in football this year. Those who know state that a "sorehead" combination has been formed by the young male representatives of some of our wealthier families. ”

“ If we can't go into what is really a gentleman's eleven under the High School colors, I propose that we organize an eleven of our own, and call ourselves simply the Gridley Football Club. We can bring out an eleven that would put things all over any school team that the muckers could organize without our help. ”

“ I'll cultivate the acquaintance of Porter and Weston, though I don't care much for them."
A better day for football practice could not have been desired. There was just enough crispness in the air, and the gridiron, newly marked with its chalk-lines was green under the autumn sun as a crowd of cadets released from drill and studies, flocked over the campus, shouting and laughing.
"Line up there, you scrubs!" called Paul Drew. "This is where we walk all over you. Here, Dick, catch this!" and he kicked a puzzling spiral toward the young millionaire. ”

“ The quarterback wants to run at the man who is isolated in the defense, and in most cases it is the defensive man over the offensive center’s area. The attack can go wide, too, but the offensive team must do an intelligent job of splitting in order [193] to draw the defense in tight. If the offensive guards take wide splits and the defensive men move out with them, the defensive man over the center will be isolated and the quarterback can direct his attack toward the middle. ”

“ The boys would have agreed to anything that would have paved the way to tackling Blue Hill.
"Then we'll go ahead on that understanding," proceeded the coach. "And now for the second part of the plan. You know it is of little benefit to play some team weaker than you are. What you want to do is to take on some eleven that you know is going to be hard to beat. That will bring out whatever good points we have not yet discovered. ”

“ These young men, having elected themselves, so it is said, the salt of the earth, or the cream of a new Gridley aristocracy, are going to refuse to play in the football eleven this year.
Even young men who belong to "prominent" families may have some gifts in the way of football ability. Three or four out of the dozen or more "soreheads" are really needed if Gridley High School is to maintain its standing this year. The remainder of the "soreheads" may, with advantage to the High School eleven, be excused from offering themselves. ”

“ Providing we do this, and eliminate the “easy” touchdown, we believe our opposition’s own offense will stop itself 65% of the time through a broken signal, a penalty, or some other offensive mistake. Therefore, if my boys are aggressive while on defense, we’ll probably keep our opposition from scoring about 25% of the time they have the ball. The remaining 10% will be a dog fight. Therefore, we must instill in our defensive men a fierce competitive pride that each player is personally responsible for keeping the opposition from scoring. ”

“ That's why I came to Grinnell!"
"But why Grinnell—Pomeroy's bitterest rival? Of all the schools you might have picked...!"
Mack grinned, sardonically. "My brother didn't think I'd ever make a good football player. I'd hoped to be able to show him."
"That's just your greatest fault," spoke the coach, frankly. "You want the limelight every move you make. You're wondering all the time if everyone's looking at you ... and it's hurting your game. No good player can be thinking of starring and playing at the same time." ”

“ There are many defenses that are good versus various offensive formations. The important point is to have a defense you and your players believe in, and which is sound in all respects. Each player must take pride in himself and his defensive ability. He must personally feel he is not going to permit the opposition to score. He must accept it as a personal challenge to himself. He must eliminate the long run and/or the long pass for the “easy” touchdown, pursue relentlessly and tackle viciously in order to be sound both individually and as a team while on defense. ”

“ After the safety has lined up in his proper position and stance and sees the flow pass develop, his first step is back and out toward the flow. His area of responsibility is the deep middle one-third of the field, but he goes back facing or favoring the flow. He must get as deep as the deepest receiver and be in a position to cover the middle one-third, as well as be in a position to help out on deep passes from sideline to sideline. He must remember he is the safety, and he must prevent the touchdown regardless of where the ball is thrown. ”

“ Rushing the passer is a good element of surprise, especially with an 8- or 9-man line. Overloading one side of the line is a sound tactic, too, because you have more men rushing than the offense has blocking, and the quarterback must get rid of the ball quickly. If the quarterback has sufficient time to spot his receivers, then throw to one of them when he breaks to get open, it is difficult for the defense to cover the pass properly.
The men rushing the passer must have their hands up high, forcing the passer to release the ball higher than he does normally. ”

“ There are numerous offensive sets a team can employ in order to force the opposition to cover using a man-on-man coverage. When using different sets and formations, I think it is more advisable to teach all of the eligible receivers pass cuts, rather than having them classified under pass patterns which would affect the whole team. As an example, the quarterback could call a formation that would set the left halfback right and split the left end out. ”

“ A team must be sound in its defensive secondary in order to be a good football team. All of us use certain basic principles, but we must be careful we do not “type” ourselves as this could be very costly if the opponents pick up our maneuvers while scouting our team.
One of the basic principles we try to teach our quarterback when we are discussing different phases of the passing game is where not to throw the football. While we might not complete the pass, as long as the opposition does not intercept it, we are not in too bad a position. ”

“ But as long as guards-back and tackle-back formations are allowed it's got to be played. It was a mistake in ever allowing more than four men behind the line. The natural formation of a football team consists of seven players in the line, and when you begin to take one or two of those players back you're increasing the element of physical force and lessening the element of science. More than that, you're playing into the hands of the anti-football people, and giving them further grounds for their charge of brutality.
"Football's the noblest game that's played, but it's got to be played right. ”

“ It is an offensive must for a team to be able to go wide and to get the long gainer. Occasionally all of us get a good gainer from the inside attack, but most long gainers are from passes or some form of wide attack.
Previously we operated on the assumption if we could gain four yards on each play we would score with a sustained drive. Statistics will prove a team will generally stop itself by some error, or the defense will stop the offense, before the attack can make four consecutive first downs or gain 50 yards, a majority of the time. Consequently a team must perfect its wide game. ”

“ The fifth man flanked to our left will be covered by our left guard. The remaining players will meet strength with strength. Our right guard will play on the outside shoulder of the offensive right guard, and the defensive right tackle will play on the outside shoulder of the offensive left guard, as illustrated in Figure 22.
We instruct our defensive players to force the offensive players to come to them. We do not want our men off the line of scrimmage to penetrate, leaving gaps in the defense. We want our men to be in a good football position so they can pursue the ball quickly. ”

“ Since our whole lives are made up of physical risks, any game which has no element whatever of roughness or risk is hardly worthy of young and vigorous men.
However, the roughness of football should be eliminated as much as possible and this is done to a great extent among our great teams today. These teams are trained by skilled men whose sole duty it is to see that each player is fit to do his part in the game. ”