ST. JOHN'S MILITARY ACADEMY, DELAFIELD, WISCONSIN.
CHELTENHAM MILITARY ACADEMY, OGONTZ, PENNSYLVANIA.
FRIENDS' SCHOOL, WILMINGTON, DELAWARE.
The four pictures in this number represent teams from widely separated districts of this broad country of ours. The St. John's Military Academy eleven, of Delafield, Wisconsin, is one of the prominent school teams of the West. The Cheltenham team is a member of the Philadelphia Interscholastic League, and although this season has not been successful from the point of view of victories, it has served to develop excellent material that ought to be heard from next year. The St. Mark's eleven is a champion team, having defeated its old-time rivals from Groton 6-0 on November 9th. The victory was earned through superior team-work and generalship. The Groton players averaged heavier, but were not the equals of the Southboro' men in scientific work. The Friends' School football team, of Wilmington, closed the season with a victory over its especial rival, the Swarthmore Grammar School, November 8th. The score was 4-0, and the game was as exciting as the figures show. The best playing was done by Brownfield, S. G. S., and by Pyle, Neary, and Warner, F.S.
The season that has just ended in Boston has been the best in almost every respect that the League has had. More good individual players and better team-work have been developed than ever before. The teams have been much more evenly matched, and the spirit shown by each school, by the Captains and players alike, has made the season very interesting and satisfactory. The reason for this is that this year every team in the League was out for the championship. Heretofore it has generally happened that one or two teams have developed good football early in the season, and the others, contented with winning one or two games, have allowed the championship to go, almost by default, to one of the better teams.
But this year a different feeling crept into the League. Every team played every game to win. The consequence was that the usual one-sided games, with scores of thirty or forty to nothing, have been missing. Instead, every game has been hard played and interesting, and the attendance at two of the games, at least, has reached up into the thousands. The heavier teams, which used to go into a game relying upon their mere weight to win, have been forced to learn how to play scientific football, and the lighter teams, instead of going on the field beaten before the game began, have discovered that science and sand are worth more than bluff and brawn.
The scores of this year's games show very justly how close the season has been. Twenty-four points are the most that have been scored in a championship game, and in this game the points were divided 16 to 6. The worst defeat was that of Cambridge High by Brookline High, 18 to 0. One game resulted in a tie, neither side scoring, and four games have been won by the score of 4 to 0. The champions, instead of a record of 100 or more points won and none lost, managed this year to get through with 56 won and 14 lost. Boston Latin, who are tied for second place, won 14 points and lost 14.