“Hm; well, that might go once. It would depend altogether on what sort of a defense the other team put up. Of course, if you’re going to let a man go down the field uncovered there’s bound to be trouble.”
“Did you notice the lateral pass Weston got off in the first quarter? It would have been a dandy if the runner had got away with the ball!”
“Yes, but he didn’t. I don’t believe those laterals are going to be what they’re cracked up to be, Chester. They give the other team a lot of time to size up the situation and meet it. If you could pull them off quick, before the other fellows could guess them, they’d be fine. Dick has the right idea, I guess, when he claims that’s the only way to work them——”
“Not so loud!” cautioned Chester. “Those chaps next to you are trying to listen.” Just then one of the chaps in question left his seat and sauntered down the aisle. Chester watched him suspiciously until he was lost in the gathering that filled the space between grandstand and field.
“So far I don’t think we’ve learned a great deal,” said Lanny thoughtfully. “That fullback of theirs is a good one and, in fact, their whole backfield works together finely and has a good deal of punch. And Kelly looks to me like a pretty nifty little quarter. But their line hasn’t shown much. The left side is weak. Look at the way Weston got through tackle there half a dozen times.”
“They certainly haven’t shown anything startlingly new, unless it’s that forward pass dodge of theirs. They use the same five-men-in-line formation on defense they used last year. I noticed, though, that they pass direct to the runner a good deal.”
“There’s nothing new in that,” said Lanny. “Here they come again. I’d like to see Weston get one over on them. I wonder if they’ve got a man who can kick field-goals.”
“If they have they ought to have used him last time,” replied the other. “They had a fine chance when they were on Springdale’s ten and couldn’t get through.”
“Perhaps they wanted a touchdown.”