Right Half Hollins

by Ralph Henry Barbour

Bert went to the training table with the more important members of the squad on Wednesday, and, contrary to expectation, Mr. McFadden, Second Team coach, gathered his charges together on Friday and started to whip them into shape. While Bert had not actually feared being released to the Scrub, he nevertheless experienced some relief when Mr. McFadden began operations without him. The removal of the Scrub players from the big squad made quite a difference about the First Team gridiron and practice on Friday seemed more methodical. Bert had a long try-out at half-back during the scrimmage and managed to show speed and clean handling of the ball. But the plays used against the first-string fellows were not of the sort calculated to advantage a light back, no matter how fast, and Bert had small success when carrying the ball. Fitz Savell, who played inside half, did much better, and after work was over Bert tried in vain to believe that he had made an impression on Coach Cade.

Saturday Banning High School came and presented a light but snappy opposition. In the first half the ball was seldom far out of Alton territory, for Banning had developed a clever passing game last season, by which she had scored twice on the Gray-and-Gold, and hadn’t forgotten how to use it this fall. She had, too, a punter who managed to get some five yards more than Nip Storer, who did the kicking in the first half, and as a result of punts and passes Alton was placed on the defensive early and kept there most of the time. Banning failed to score, however, although a difference of a few inches would have converted a failure into a field-goal in the second period.

When the last half began Coach Cade used his second-string players extensively; Kruger and Thomas and Wick at the left of center, Tifton in Captain Lowe’s place, Lovell at quarter, Savell and Keys in the half-back positions. Since the first-string men hadn’t been able to more than hold the enemy in the first half, there were those among the audience who censured the coach’s move. But Johnny had his own notions, and he seldom bothered about what the School thought of his methods. Here was an enemy strong enough to offer real opposition and yet of slight importance as a rival. Usually the early season opponents were unable to provide more than good practice for Alton; were, of course, selected for that reason. But Banning, partly because of having held over some seven or eight of last fall’s players, was well advanced, while Alton, for some reason not so easily determined, was fully a week behind normal development, and what had been looked on as an easy contest had assumed the aspects of a real struggle.

Coach Cade might have worked his best players through three periods and made victory more probable, but he chose to risk defeat in order to give the substitutes a taste of real battle. Since all the first-choice men had played through to the whistle in the first half, they could not be counted on for later aid, and Johnny must needs place full dependence on his lesser heroes. When the third period started he still had Patten at center, Haines at right tackle, Chick Burton at right end, Ted Ball at quarter and Galvin at full-back, all members of the Old Guard, but one by one they retired until by the time the second half was five minutes along second- and third-string players held all the positions. Since Banning was still using or could call on every man who had begun the battle, the odds looked heavily in her favor. But the Alton substitutes were old hands at the game and were not to be dismayed by a high school team, especially a team against which several of them had played last year and defeated, and Bus Lovell, who had taken Ted Ball’s place, set about his task with fire and enthusiasm. After Banning had kicked off and Larry Keys had run the ball back nearly twelve yards, Bus began sending Couch back to punting position and running his plays from that formation. Savell and Keys made good gains outside the tackles and twice Couch tore off fair yardage on wide runs. He was a heavy chap and hard to stop, and usually added two or three strides to his progress after he was tackled. Alton reached the middle of the field without yielding the ball, crossing the center-line finally on a forward pass from Couch to Dutch Kruger that was good for nine yards.

The stand cheered incessantly, wrought to quite a pitch of excitement, and demanded a score. But Keys fumbled a pass and Banning fell on the ball on her forty-seven and the tide of battle flowed the other way until Alton was back on her twenty-eight. There she twice stopped Banning’s punches at the line and knocked down a forward-pass. Banning sent her place-kicker back to the thirty-nine yards and, with what breeze there was blowing straight from behind her, looked suddenly dangerous. However, one fumble leads to another, and the ball was never kicked. Whether the fault was the Banning center’s or the quarter-back’s is immaterial. The pigskin struck the ground before the holder could get his hands on it. After that it was juggled just long enough for Gus Thomas to upset his opponent and arrive on the scene. Thereupon the quarter-back did the sensible thing. He laid himself flat and snuggled the ball to him fondly.

Thirty seconds later Lovell caught a punt on his five-yard line and the Gray-and-Gold started once more toward the distant goal.

If there was one man who stood out above the others in the ensuing march it was Larry Keys, playing right half-back. Only once did he fail to gain when the ball was given to him. He had weight and speed and a nice discrimination in the matter of choosing his outlets. On a play from kick formation in which two backs faked an attack on the right of the line and Larry went outside tackle on the left, with right tackle swinging out and going ahead as interference, he twice made advances of more than ten yards and netted shorter distances until Banning solved the play and stopped it. However, once inside the visitor’s forty yards, Alton’s advance slowed and staggered, and when two slams at the wings had failed and a forward-pass had grounded, Couch punted from the forty-six.

By that time the fourth quarter was well along and Alton had the light wind behind her. The Banning quarter misjudged the kick, touched the ball without catching it and chased it back toward the goal-line, closely pursued by Dutch Kruger. Pigskin, quarter-back and Dutch arrived simultaneously at the last streak of lime, and when the whistle had blown Alton had scored two points on a safety. The Gray-and-Gold cohorts cheered and the game paused while the Banning captain made an impassioned plea for a touchback. In the end he was persuaded that the official’s verdict was just and the battle waged again. That incident, however, while it gave Alton a score, resulted disastrously in the end. Banning, it seemed, needed but that filip of hard-luck to start her going with a new impetus. Three fresh players were hurried in and Banning bounded away from her thirty-yard line like a runner from his mark. She used one or two new plays that puzzled the adversary until the middle of the field was reached. There a long forward-pass, almost successful, led Alton to playing her backs deeper. Banning switched promptly to short passes and gained her distance on two such, making Alton’s thirty-eight yards. Another overhead attempt grounded and Banning tried the left end and got four on a wide run. Inside the thirty-five-yard line she tried a sweep to the left which, while it centered the ball, lost about a yard. On fourth down she staged a placement kick but didn’t carry it out. Full-back took the pass and went through inside Hank Howard for all but a foot of the required distance. After the gain had been measured Alton was awarded the pigskin.

With something less than two minutes left, the stand breathed loudly with relief and Coach Cade hustled an assortment of substitutes on. Among these was an entire new backfield: Riding as quarter, Tyron and Parkhurst as halfs and Franklin as full. Obeying instructions, Riding shot Tyron at the Banning left tackle on first down and got two yards. A second attempt, however, yielded nothing, and Riding dropped back to his sixteen yards to punt. Thus far Alton’s line had held against all assaults of the enemy during like operations, but this time Banning had her eyes on that goal that loomed so close and put everything into a desperate charge that tore a gaping hole in the right of the Alton line. Riding received a pass that was a bit too low, straightened, turned the ball and started his swing. After that there was much confusion, a confusion of seething forms about a loose ball, for Riding had kicked the pigskin squarely into the body of a charging enemy!