At right guard I place Miller of De La Salle, who formerly played on the Peekskill Military Academy. Miller weighs 185 pounds, and is one of the strongest, fiercest, and most determined players of the Interscholastic League to-day. He is a little over six feet in height, and built proportionately. His strong feature is in his guards'-back play, in which he smashes the opponents' line wide open for his backs with the ball. He is also good at tackling and breaking through the line of his opponents, and from the beginning to the end of a game he is constantly at his opponent, and works and worries him off his feet. Add to these qualities the fact that he runs well with the ball, strong and hard, and we have a man for the position who certainly will have no trouble in making a college team.
Page of Trinity has been selected for the position of right tackle. He has a weight of 174 pounds, and his ability to run with the ball has won for him this position, as there are no other men playing the position to-day who can combine these qualities so well as himself. Hoffman of Cutler School, however, who has been playing guard, might be a better man for the position, but as I have been selecting men for positions in which they have actually played, I am compelled to give this tackle to Page.
White of St. Paul's, although he weighs only 144 pounds, has earned the position of right end. He plays it fearlessly, and with a dash and spirit that have attracted attention wherever his team has appeared on the grid-iron this year. His defence is admirable, and his offence all that could be desired. He is a sure tackler, a swift runner, and fast down the field on kicks and punts, and the position of right end will be well taken care of in his hands.
At quarter-back the contest is a close one between Taylor of Trinity and Blout of St. Paul's. Both are ideal in their position, but of late Blout has fallen off considerably in his passing, while Taylor improves with every game that is played. This fact alone gives the position to Taylor. He weighs 148 pounds, and gets into the interference for his runner with the same accuracy and swiftness with which he gets the ball to his man. He strikes his opponent low with the shoulder, and hard, and almost invariably puts the tackler out if he has the opportunity to do so. He also runs well with the ball himself, when it is given to him from one of the backs on a pass, and as a tackler he has few equals in the Interscholastic League to-day.
At left half-back the choice falls upon Dickerson of Brooklyn High-School. He weighs 174 pounds. He was Captain of his team this year, and ran it in a masterly manner. His line-bucking is a strong feature of his play. He meets the line low and hard, and never ceases to work forward with the ball until he is absolutely down with the team on top of him. He is also good at punting, and has made some remarkable kicks this year.
At right half I place Tilford, the Captain of the De La Salle team, which won the New York Interscholastic championship this year. Although a light man, weighing only 136 pounds, his play this season has been of such a dashing and brilliant nature that he has displaced all other aspirants for the position. Strange as it may seem, he is the equal of any half-back to-day in breaking the line, and is a very fast runner, sure ground-gainer, and strong at tackling.
Sidney Starr, of St. Paul's School, has been selected for the position of full-back. He weighs 175 pounds, and probably there are few men who can excel him in interfering for the runner on end plays, or in backing him up when bucking the line. Starr is also a kicker of more than average ability. He gets his punts off quickly without any hesitation, and has the faculty of putting a twist on his punts that makes it very hard for the opposing backs to handle them accurately. As Captain of the St. Paul's team this year, champions of the Brooklyn Interscholastic League, he has run his team with great judgment and skill, and is entitled to much credit for the successful manner in which he carried them all through the season.
Although I give him the position of full-back, after a careful consideration of his qualifications, I am forced to state that the position would have fallen to Franklin Bien, Jun., of Berkeley, were it not for the fact that Bien's playing this year has been greatly handicapped by the injury he received early in the season during the game between Berkeley School and St. Paul's at Garden City. Bien is the equal of Starr in his all-round work, but his liability to injury in a game makes him slightly timid in his work, and takes away the dash and the spirit and determination that characterized him during the preceding season. For this reason Starr gets the position, and for this reason alone.
Bien is entitled to a position as first substitute full-back. As substitute guards I would name Gilson of Berkeley, Rafter of De La Salle. As substitute guard and tackle, Hoffman of Cutler. As substitute ends, Bennett of De La Salle and Loraine of St. Paul's; and as substitute centre, Taves of Trinity.
This All-New-York Eleven makes up a very heavy team. The line especially averages a good weight, and under proper coaching ought to be able to stand up against a team of older players with credit to itself. With such a line as this in front of them, the two plunging backs, Starr and Tilford, ought to be able to make big gains through any opponents, and, on the whole, I think that if the New York schools should send this team to represent them against any other combination of eleven men, they could feel perfectly confident that their side of the field would be well taken care of.