“Now let’s see what our chaps can do with the ball,” said Ned. “Here we go! Good work, Roeder! Five yards easy! And right through the center! Watch that Forest Hill left end, Curt. He was off-side about a yard that time. There he goes again. I thought so! Penalty for you, Mr. Man!”
The whistle had blown and now the umpire was carrying the ball five yards nearer the Forest Hill goal.
“Now will you behave?” murmured Ned. “This is a fake. Marion can’t punt. I thought so. Stearns outside tackle for three yards. That was very neat. Hello! What’s wrong?”
“Stearns fumbled,” said Kendall sadly. “It’s Forest Hill’s ball.”
“And rather too near our goal to be comfortable. About the thirty-five yard line, isn’t it?”
“I think so,” answered Kendall, sitting forward on the edge of his seat. Three cheer leaders jumped from their places and called for “A regular cheer, fellows, and get into it!”
And then, while the cheer was crashing forth, a brown-clad youth hurled himself against the Yardley line, broke through, eluding player after player, and circled toward the center of the field and the Yardley goal. The watchers leaped to their feet. Pandemonium reigned. Then Simms dived for him and brought him fiercely to earth on the twenty yards.
But it was first down again and only four white lines separated the eager opponents from a touchdown. The cheering began again, the leaders, their commands drowned in the noise, waving their arms in frantic encouragement. From around Kendall and Ned cries of “Hold ’em! Hold ’em!” arose and gathered rhythm and volume. The Forest Hill quarter, hand to mouth, was bellowing his signals. Then back went the ball, confusion reigned for a moment and another scant two yards had been conquered.
“Right through Stark that time,” said Ned. “I guess they’d better bring Jensen on. Second down and eight to gain. Hold ’em, Yardley!”
But Yardley couldn’t, it seemed. What looked like another plunge at the line resolved itself into a delayed pass to left half, who tore along behind the line, squirmed past Mitchell and got away around the end for a good twelve yards. It was first down again then, and Forest Hill, despite the frenzied implorations of the Yardley supporters and the best efforts of Yardley’s players, gained the three yard line in two plays and crashed through and over for the final distance and a touchdown amidst the ecstatic cheers of some twenty Forest Hill rooters. Unluckily for the visitors they had secured their touchdown near the side of the field and the subsequent punt-out was lost. But five points looked pretty big at that stage of the game and pessimists amongst the audience were already predicting defeat for the home team.