GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN, HIGH-SCHOOL FOOTBALL TEAM.
The interest in football in Michigan has increased greatly of recent years, and this fall, out of five hundred boys attending the Grand Rapids High-School (many of these, of course, far too young to be allowed to play the game), fifty-two were candidates for positions on the football team. As finally selected, the average weight of the eleven was 149 pounds. Of nine games played eight were victories for the High-School, the one defeat being administered by the University of Michigan eleven.
The Detroit High-School team was likewise a strong one but, as it did not meet the Grand Rapids H.-S. eleven, the question of State superiority is left undecided. I hope that the lads of both schools will come to see that this is a matter of very small moment, so long as they have derived benefit from their sport; but unfortunately we have to face the condition that unless one aggregation can write "championship" all over its record, there is dissatisfaction in every camp.
BANGOR, MAINE, HIGH-SCHOOL FOOTBALL TEAM.
The football season in Maine has closed in a muddle, the schedule of the Interscholastic Association not having been properly played out, and two or three schools are now lifting up their voices to claim that they are the best the State ever produced. It seems to be largely a case of a fear of defeat on the part of somebody, and a great lack of that spirit which should prompt the young men to go out on the field and play for the sake of playing, and not for the sake of winning the game.
Among the Hudson River teams which played good football this season was that of the Mohegan Lake School. They closed the season with a record of four victories and one defeat—losing to Riverview Academy, Poughkeepsie. The success of the eleven was largely due to the good work of Captain Kendall, who coached and looked after the eleven without the assistance of more experienced advisers. The Mohegan team had a very effective system of offence, but they were not strong in defensive work, doubtless because their second eleven was too weak to afford them hard enough practice.
BROOKLYN LATIN SCHOOL FOOTBALL TEAM.
Further up the river the Albany High-School took the laurels in its neighborhood. It won the championship of the Northeastern New York Interscholastic Association, and was the strongest eleven the school ever put forth. The chief feature of Albany's play was its team-work, which proved effective against heavier opponents.