Quarter-Back Bates

by Ralph Henry Barbour

The St. Luke’s Academy game on the following Saturday proved one of the best contests of the season. The visitors usually gave an excellent account of themselves, but the closeness of the score on this occasion was a big surprise to Parkinson. The best the home team could do in the first half was to drop a single field-goal over the cross-bar, and even that modest performance was delayed until the second quarter was almost over.

It was Newhall, the big right guard, who made the tally possible by breaking through on St. Luke’s thirty-two yards and spoiling a punt. The pigskin bounded away from Newhall’s body as he leaped into its path, and went trickling across the sod. A dozen players pursued it but it was Bob Peters who won, and when the pile-up was disentangled it was found snuggled under his chest. From the enemy’s twenty-eight to her eighteen Gaines and Kirkendall alternated, the latter finally making the last of the distance with only inches to spare. Warden failed to gain and a quarter-back run netted but three yards. With Kirkendall back, on a fake kick, Gaines got through right guard for three more. With four to go on fourth down Kirkendall dropped the ball between the uprights for the only score of the half.

St. Luke’s presented a heavy team and a most aggressive one. From end to end, her line outweighed Parkinson’s by many pounds, but weight didn’t mean slowness in her case, and time and again the visitors made gains by getting the jump on their opponent. In the back-field she was lighter but quite as fast as the Brown-and-White. St. Luke’s suffered, however, as was generally agreed, from a lack of good scoring plays. She relied on weight and speed to break through the enemy line and her reliance was not misplaced. But she had not counted evidently on the excellent defence put up by Parkinson’s back-field. Her lighter backs, once through the line, were almost invariably stopped short of conclusive gains. She had almost nothing to offer in the way of variety and her runs outside tackles were weak. The overhead game she let severely alone during the first half of the contest and tried but four times later. At punting, however, she excelled Kirkendall by five yards and, in the last quarter, when K went out, bested Gaines by fully eight.

The third period opened up with Parkinson kicking off and St. Luke’s running the ball back from her goal-line to her thirty-eight, Furniss missing a tackle and Harris finally bringing the runner down. St. Luke’s battered the Brown-and-White for her distance, smashing through Cupp on the left of centre for five yards and again for two and completing her job by an unexpected slide off Wendell. Once over the fifty-yard-line, however, she failed to gain in four and punted to Warden on his fifteen. Warden gained five. Kirkendall threw Peters on his thirty-three and Bob was downed. Off-side on the next play set Parkinson back and three downs gained but six yards. Kirkendall punted. St. Luke’s fumbled but recovered and ran in twelve yards across the field. Parkinson’s line failed to give and St. Luke’s tried her first forward-pass. Although she managed to bunch three men for the catch, the pass grounded. She punted on the next down and Stone misjudged the ball and followed it across the line for a touchback. A few minutes later Warden got away around the enemy’s left and zigzagged nearly twenty yards before he was run out at his forty. A fake-kick, with Kirkendall carrying the ball on a wide run around the enemy’s right, added seven more and Gaines made the distance on the fifty. With Peters coming around from right end, Stone made two through centre, and the same play, with Peters carrying, gained four outside St. Luke’s left end. A subsequent attempt by Gaines failed and Parkinson punted. The kick went short and cross the boundary at the enemy’s thirty-two yards.

St. Luke’s made four around Furniss and failed at the centre. She then tried her second forward-pass and made it good, taking the ball just past midfield. Scoville took Furniss’ place for Parkinson. St. Luke’s tried out the new end and was stopped for a two-yard loss. A cross-buck on right tackle gave her four and her full-back romped through a wide hole in Parkinson’s centre for eight. St. Luke’s now concentrated on Newhall and Wendell and made short gains, Newhall finally giving up and going out in favour of Bartlett. The Parkinson right side was weakening and the enemy battered it hard and inched along to the Brown-and-White’s twenty-nine. There a fumble cost her a seven-yard loss. Faking a place-kick, her right half took the ball through Wendell for six and it was second down on Parkinson’s thirty. A plunge at centre was stopped and again St. Luke’s prepared to kick. This time the ball went to quarter and that nimble youth romped ahead for the needed distance and was downed on the twenty-five.

Two attempts at the right side gave the visitors five yards and necessitated the substitution of Cairns for Wendell. Cairns stopped a plunge at his position and, on fourth down, with a tackle back in kicking position, St. Luke’s made her distance on a skin-tackle play that shot her left half off Harris to Parkinson’s fourteen.

St. Luke’s ran on a fresh right tackle and a substitute left half, and, for Parkinson, Long went in for Gaines. With a tackle back and every indication of a forward-pass, St. Luke’s smashed at the Parkinson right side for three and repeated the play for two more. From the nine yards the enemy reached the three in two attacks at centre and then hurling her whole back-field at Bartlett, she sent her right tackle trickling around the Parkinson left end. Warden nailed the runner just short of the line, but couldn’t prevent a score. It was a touchdown by less than a hand’s breadth, but a touchdown nevertheless. St. Luke’s failed on the punt-out and the score stood 6-3.

The period ended with the next play and Parkinson made four changes. Gleason went in for Cupp, Dean for Upton, Trask for Kirkendall and Bates for Stone. St. Luke’s made two substitutions, sending in a new centre and a new full-back.

Dick carried instructions from Mr. Driscoll to open up the play, and Trask, standing on his twenty-four yards, sent off a forward-pass to Peters well up the field. Peters touched the pigskin but couldn’t hold it. The same play to the other side of the field, Trask to Long, netted eighteen yards. Dick sent a plunge at the St. Luke’s right side but Trask made only a yard. Warden ripped off four outside left tackle. A forward-pass, Trask to Scoville, added twelve, Scoville being downed where he caught. Three line plunges left Parkinson three yards short of her distance and Trask punted short to the enemy’s seventeen.

St. Luke’s tried the Parkinson ends and gained five in two downs and punted to midfield, the ball going out. Dick was getting more speed into the team than it had shown before and St. Luke’s was finding the attacks at her line harder to stop. A weak spot developed at the St. Luke’s right tackle and thrice Warden and Trask plunged through for gains. In eight downs Parkinson advanced to the enemy’s twenty-eight yards. There, with Trask back in kicking position, Dick scurried around the St. Luke’s left end and found a free field to her twelve, where he was tackled by the quarter just inside the boundary. The ball was outside on the next play and was paced in on the eleven yards. Warden slid off right tackle for three and put the pigskin down in front of the right-hand goal-post. With Cairns back as though to kick, Dick tossed the ball to Long and Long shot it across the line to Peters for a touchdown. Parkinson arose in the stand and howled approval.