Hitting the line

by Ralph Henry Barbour

Those were joyous days for him. He no longer wondered whether he would have liked Mount Morris better. He knew he would not have. He was by now absolutely convinced that Grafton was the finest school in the length and breadth of the land and wouldn’t have changed places with anyone, not even with the King of England. Being King of England, he would probably have told you, was a dull job compared with playing fullback on the Grafton school football team! If there was one tiny thing to mar his happiness it was the realization that he was not making much headway in studies and that he would have to buckle down and do a giant’s work after the seventeenth of November in order to get that advance to the upper middle class. But he tried not to think of that.

He saw less than ever of Alvin Standart now that he ate his meals in Lothrop, which was probably well for his peace of mind, since Alvin still gloomed and glowered and enacted the rôle of the villain in a melodrama. It would have been a positive relief to Monty if Alvin had gritted his teeth and hissed, in true melodramatic style: “A time will come, Harold Montague!” But Alvin made no threats; he only stared sullenly, gloatingly as it seemed to Monty, and looked all the time like a silent threat, to use Monty’s description. Monty sometimes likened himself to a person seated on a keg of gunpowder with the fuse sputtering. He wasn’t sure that the fuse wouldn’t go out before the spark reached the keg; but, on the other hand, he had the feeling that that spark was going to keep right on smouldering and that some fine day there would be a spectacular explosion. The best he could hope for was that the explosion would come after the Mount Morris game!

The next to the last contest was with the Lawrence Textile School at Lawrence, and just about every fellow at Grafton accompanied the team that Saturday morning. Last year Lawrence had won from Grafton, 17 to 7, and only the more optimistic expected anything better than a close score, with Lawrence on the long end, or, at best, a tie. Monty started the game at fullback and lasted until the end of the half, by which time Grafton had pounded out one touchdown with unexpected ease, and the opponent had tried a field-goal and missed it. The Grafton score came as a result of straight, old-style football, most of the gains being made on the left of the Lawrence center from a simple three-man-abreast formation that was quick enough to frequently get the jump on the heavier and slower Lawrence forwards. Monty did his full share in that long, steady advance from Grafton’s twenty-eight to Lawrence’s seven, showing a dependability that pleased the coaches and surprised himself. Considering his weight, he was remarkably quick, and, once going, that weight, combined with a lot of strength, made him hard to stop. He had less success at running plays than with plunges, for he had not learned to dodge and change his pace well enough yet to elude the tacklers. However, there was one creditable twelve-yard romp in the second period that brought the total of ground gained to respectable figures. From the Lawrence seven yards Captain Winslow advanced six on a skin-tackle play, and Hobo Ordway dived through right guard for the rest of the distance. Winslow kicked an easy goal after the punt-out.

That was in the last few minutes of the first quarter, and during the remainder of the half Lawrence played a far more stubborn game. Her forwards awoke from their lethargy and her backs diagnosed the plays better. Grafton never threatened her goal again in that period. The best Lawrence could do on offensive was to reach the Scarlet-and-Gray’s twenty-two yards, and from there, after being thrice held for almost no gain, she essayed a placement kick and saw the pigskin go under the bar instead of over.

Grafton, fully a hundred and seventy strong, cheered and sang joyfully during the intermission, and the Lawrence supporters answered from across the field. It was a fine thing to end the first half against a team as strong as Lawrence Textile with the score 7 to 0, and Grafton proved that she was aware of the fact by whooping things up loudly until the teams came back.

Caner went in at fullback in the second half and Weston took Blake’s place at quarter, but those were the only substitutions made, and neither was a reflection on the playing of the deposed players. Lawrence started off in whirlwind fashion after Grafton had kicked off, and showed that she was capable of far better work than she had shown in either of the first quarters. She worked Derry’s end for short gains with discouraging frequency, until Derry was taken dejectedly out and Bellows sent in. Bellows did better, but it was rather the fact that Lawrence chose to change her game that prevented more gains around the Grafton left than any excellence of defense shown by him. Two forward passes in the middle of the field paved the way for the final drive that gave Lawrence her touchdown after twelve minutes of play. That advance was twice halted, but it ended at last in success, when the Lawrence left half was hurled through Hanrihan for the final scant yard after Grafton had doggedly retreated from her five-yard line during three downs. Grafton waited anxiously the result of Lawrence’s try at goal. If she missed it the game was almost certainly Grafton’s, they argued, while if she made it, a tie was the best they could expect. There were many groans when it was seen that the ball had passed over the bar.

Grafton kicked off again to her adversary and Lawrence again started on her long journey, but now it was evident that her former drive had taken the steam out of her, for she lost the ball soon after crossing the half-way mark. Grafton went heroically at work to break that tie and was punching holes in the Lawrence breastworks when the quarter ended. When play was resumed she got as far as her opponent’s thirty-two and was then forced to punt. Lawrence came back six yards and returned the kick, Weston catching on his own thirty-eight. Winslow punted on third down and Lawrence caught near her twenty and ran back nearly to mid-field behind good interference. Kinley was hurt in a tackle and Hersum went in. Again Winslow punted on third down, and this time Tray downed the catcher on the spot. A forward pass gained twelve for Lawrence, and a second one grounded. Then a wide end-run netted three yards and a skin-tackle plunge two more. A fake-kick sent the fullback around Bellows for more than the required distance. After that the game see-sawed until Lawrence was penalized fifteen yards for illegal aid to the runner, and the subsequent kick rolled over the line at the Grafton forty-two yards.

Then the visitors started a rally. Winslow heaved a remarkable forward to Tray, and Tray romped ten yards before he was pulled down and placed the pigskin on the Lawrence thirty-three yards. Caner got four through the left side, Ordway squirmed through the same hole for three more and Caner added another two. Winslow, running from kick formation, barely got the distance. Another forward-pass was tried, but Bellows was unable to get under it. Caner tried the right end and was stopped for a four-yard loss. Ordway got three off right tackle and Winslow punted. Lawrence started back from her five-yard line, but was forced to punt after two tries at the end. Weston caught near mid-field and ran back five. Caner went around the Lawrence left wing for eight, but dropped the ball when tackled, Spalding recovering it for no gain. Ordway made four through center and was hurt. Hanser took his place. The timer announced six minutes left to play. Winslow smashed out three yards and Weston made it first down by squirming through center. The ball went to the thirty on three plunges between the guards, and Lawrence sent in two subs to strengthen her center. Weston was called out and Blake replaced. Caner was stopped for no gain and Winslow made a scant two. Hanser, on a criss-cross, got through left tackle for seven. Winslow faked a kick and Blake carried the pigskin around the enemy’s right end for eight yards, putting it down on her thirteen. Caner was again stopped for no gain and Winslow’s forward toss to Tray went wrong and was brought back.

It was at that juncture that Coach Bonner summoned Monty from the bench. “Go in for Caner,” he said. “Tell Blake to use you up and smash their left guard and tackle. There’s a soft place there, Crail, and you can find it. Go ahead!”

And Monty did find it. Twice he hurled himself at the guard tackle hole on the right and twice he went plunging, staggering through for good gains. The Grafton supporters were crowding the ropes now and cheering wildly. Coach Bonner sent in Gordon for Hanrihan, James for Spalding and Boynton for Winslow, the latter having played himself just about out. Monty’s second plunge landed the ball on the two-yard line for first down. Boynton tried the other side for no gain, and then Monty once more snuggled the ball against his stomach and lunged into the line. He got a yard. Hanser went back as though to kick, but once more the ball was Monty’s and once more he slammed into the enemy, and this time he had the satisfaction of knowing, when he went down at the bottom of the writhing, grunting mass, that he was well over the line.