“99-17-11!”
Back shot the ball, the two lines heaved and struggled, the big Broadwood forwards plunged through, a tackle brushed Greene from his path and leaped with upstretched arms at the kicker. Too late, though! Calmly and slowly Kendall’s leg swung forward, the ball tapped on the ground, a foot met it squarely and it started upward and forward for the bar. A dozen hands strove in front of it, but it cleared them all. A veritable babel of triumph arose to the sky from the Yardley side, faltered, failed and died away as a volume of sound crashed from across the gridiron.
“No goal! No goal!” shrieked Broadwood.
[CHAPTER XXIV]
AROUND THE END
The blue-clad players were walking disconsolately back to the other end of the gridiron. The ball had passed under the bar instead of over; Kendall had missed goal by a foot only, but missed it he had. Murmurs of disappointment traveled along the west side of the field. For a minute the blue flags trailed discouragedly. But the teams were at it again, and there was still a good four minutes left of the quarter. Yardley advanced and lost the ball on a fumble. Broadwood made one first down and was forced to kick. Greene made a startling run after the catch, getting twenty-odd yards before he was stopped. Marion made two desperate plunges at left tackle and slid by each time for a short gain, and Kendall made the rest of the distance through right guard. Then came a penalty for off-side playing, and Kendall punted on the second down. Saunders caught and was downed, and the whistle blew for the third period. And there was still no score.
Payson sent Crandall back when the last quarter began, and made two other changes. Holmes took Simms’s place, and Brinspool went in for Marion. Fifteen minutes remained in which to conquer or lose, and as the two teams, each showing the effects of the struggle, faced each other again on Broadwood’s thirty-eight yards it was still anybody’s game.
Broadwood secured six yards on two plays, and then Reid, starting as if to round Yardley’s right end, suddenly stopped, turned and aimed a well-directed pass at the red-haired left end. The latter was quite alone and made a good catch, and in an instant he was streaking down the field. Only Holmes was between him and a touchdown, and Holmes was well over on the further side of the gridiron. Ten yards, fifteen yards, and the green-jerseyed youth was still running. Past the center of the field he sped, Holmes closing in on him cautiously, the rest of the enemy trailing along desperately in the rear. On Yardley’s forty-five yards the runner swung to the right as though to pass inside of Holmes, but the latter was wary and refused to follow. Another ten yards and the two met. The runner dodged to the left as Holmes dived, but the quarter’s tackle was sure, and after three struggling paces the Broadwood runner came to earth. Thirty-five yards he had reeled off, the ball was on Yardley’s twenty-seven and Broadwood cheered frantically. It was now or never for the Green, and all seemed to realize it. Yardley was for the moment disorganized, and her defense crumbled. The Green swept through for eight yards on the first play, gained her distance on the next and stood victoriously on the Yardley sixteen-yard line. A conference followed. Evidently Saunders was for trying a field goal, while Captain Raynor wanted a touchdown. Broadwood went back to her line-plunging. Holmes and Merriwell pleaded and threatened, and the Yardley line braced. Two yards was all Broadwood gained on her first attack, a yard and a half on her second. There seemed nothing for it then but a try at goal. Reid paced back and took kicking position. Saunders fell to his knees behind center. “Hold ’em now! Hold ’em! Get down, Smith! Stop that man, Peebles!” cried Saunders.