When the moment for play arrived,[arrived,] Hurting, the heavy full-back of the Rivermouth team, balanced himself, and looked hard at the ball, lying like a huge yellow egg on the center of the field. Fardale crouched for the start as Hurting began advancing on the ball.
The big fellow gaged his kick handsomely, and he smashed the oval a terrible thump.
Far over the heads of the outspread Fardale men sailed the ball, with the Rivermouth ends coming down like the wind to be on hand when it dropped. But this early exertion was lost, for Hurting’s heavy kick had sent the ball fairly over Fardale’s goal-line which made it necessary to kick off again.
While this result seemed simply to delay the beginning of the game, it accomplished something Hurting had desired to bring about, for it impressed Fardale at the very start with a conviction that her own full-back, Singleton, was outclassed by the full-back of the enemy.
When the ball was on the spot once more and all were ready, Hurting again kicked off. Again the ball sailed through the air till it seemed that a third trial would be required.
But Singleton captured it on Fardale’s ten-yard line and punted at once, as the Rivermouth ends had come through with amazing swiftness, and were sure to tackle him before he could make a run of any consequence.
In his haste, Big Bob showed up weaker than usual, for he did not drive the ball anywhere near to the center of the field. Golding, the Rivermouth left guard, caught the oval handsomely and started to run with it. He was downed by Burrows on Fardale’s thirty-yard line.
Then the two teams lined up for the first scrimmage. Fardale was ready now to go into the work in earnest, realizing it had a fearful task on hand that day.
Rivermouth got into line for the attack in a quick way, that showed experience, while Fardale was not quite as quick as usual, and there was a slight mistake in lining up that necessitated a quick change at the last moment.
There was a lull, the sound of a voice giving the signals, then an upheaval, a whirling, sweeping rush, a tackle, and the sound of the whistle.