“There! There they go!” Jensie cried.
At once Johnny’s eyes were on the ball. Cedarville had kicked off to Hillcrest. By some strange chance, it was Ballard who caught the ball. It was no mere chance that Dave Powers, the left end, was at Ballard’s side—he had a way of being near the runner. Together they sprinted down the line, but not for long. Ballard’s course was too much of a snake-dance for Dave. He dodged there, pivoted here, leaped straight at a would-be tackler, then shot to the right. Eluding all would-be tacklers, leaving his team mates far behind, the slim Kentucky boy set the bleachers howling with delight. Had it not been for the lone safety man who rushed him and downed him at the fifteen yard line, it must surely have been a touchdown from a run-back—a marvelous feat. As it was Hillcrest went wild with the yell:
“Yea Ballard! Yea Ballard! Ballard! Ballard! Touchdown! Touchdown!”
A touchdown it was, and that on the very next play. Little Artie Stark, Hillcrest’s midget quarter-back, took the ball, lateralled a slow pass to Dave Powers at end, and Dave, plunging like a bucking bronco, shot through the line.
“Yea! Yea! Yea!” even Jensie, who until now had watched the game in passive silence, joined in the cheering.
The kick was good. The score stood 7-6 in favor of Hillcrest.
There followed moments of tense struggle. Hillcrest won the ball and lost it. Cedarville battled their way to the ten yard line only to lose the ball on a fumble. Hillcrest took to the air but with little success. Pass after pass dropped to earth incomplete.
At last there was but seven minutes left to play. The day was warm for autumn. Both teams showed the strain. Hillcrest tried one more forward pass only to meet with disaster. It was intercepted by the opponent’s right end. He went romping down the field for a second touchdown. The kick was good. Score 13 to 7 against Hillcrest.
“Cheer up, boys,” Johnny shouted as, having taken time out, the Hillcrest boys lay sprawled out before him. “You’ll win. There’s six minutes yet to play.”
“Than-thanks Johnny. Thanks for them few kind words,” came from a member of the team. Ballard did not so much as look up.