Again Cobber took the offensive. At the next down a man had to be sent from the field, and a substitute sent out. But the casualty went to Cobber, not to the High School team. That fact gave the major part of the audience grim satisfaction.
"There they go, now!" muttered Dave Darrin, in disgust. "Nothing is going to stop the big fellows!"
"They're getting nearer our goal line," Dick admitted. "But a game is never won until it's finished. Cobber, as yet, hasn't even gotten the touchdown!"
A minute later Cobber had. To the Gridley onlookers it sent a shock of dismay. The college men certainly had scored.
"It's Cobber's beef, not science," Dick stoutly asserted. "Our fellows play with more speed and real skill. Say—-look at that!"
For Bentley, of the college eleven, had just missed the kick from field.
Five points for the visitors! The teams swiftly changed ends and lined up. The whistle's call sent them off to the fray, for there were but three minutes left of the first half.
Cobber won the kick but didn't carry it far. Gridley got down as far as the enemy's twenty-yard line. Then the smaller High School boys were fairly pushed back into their own territory, losing twelve yards of their own side of the field.
Trill-ll! The first half was over.
"Sam, can you do better? Do you want to go back on the job?" asked Ben Badger.