“Center passes to Whittier and Whittier holds the ball as if to throw it, but he goes back and to the left until he gets here, about half-way between where he was and where Tennyson is. Then he makes a short pass, a sort of a toss—”
“Which must be on-side,” interpolated the coach.
“Yes, sir, not a forward-pass. He tosses the ball to Tennyson. I forgot to say, though, that he ought to be always facing to the left after he gets the ball from center, sort of making like he means to pass to the left across the end of the line.”
“Why?” demanded Mr. Cade.
“So as to make the other fellows, the other team, move that way. You see, sir, the idea is to draw the other players to their right.”
“I see, but if Whittier emphasizes the intention to throw to his left, won’t the opponents argue that his real intention is a heave in the other direction?”
Jim studied a moment. “Well, maybe they would, sir,” he said finally. “Maybe he’d better not do that.”
“I don’t think he should overdo it, anyway, Todd. He might defeat his own ends and make the opposing backs cover the left side of their territory. Anyway, the real deception comes when he passes to Tennyson. That makes it look like an end-run for the moment. Now go on.”
“Well, then, Tennyson passes to the right, just about over the center of the line, to the right end.”