An agreement has been made between St. Paul's and the Berkeley School, covering a period of three years, to play an annual game of football on Thanksgiving day, the first contest of the series to take place (at Manhattan Field, if possible) a week from Thursday, in the morning. This is a good thing, for it will bring together representative schools from the sister cities, and the great game cannot fail to be benefited thereby. Such annual contests between large schools, if properly conducted, should soon attract almost as much of the public interest as inter-collegiate contests, for there are more school-boys in New York and Brooklyn than there are college men, and if not as many persons interested in the sports of the former as in those of the latter, they are at least of a better and less promiscuous class. The schools should aim to have these tournaments as free as possible from the quarrels and bickerings that have lately characterized inter-collegiate football, and that frequently crop up in interscholastic sport; but between two institutions of the standing and make-up of Berkeley and St. Paul's there should be small likelihood of any such unpleasant occurrences. One good feature of the meetings that I have already heard of is that the admission fee will be twenty-five cents. The debarring thus of the speculative evil on the part of the managers is a good omen.
The Berkeley School team that is to meet St. Paul's is undoubtedly the strongest that the school has ever put into the field. It is made up of excellent material, and has been coached by a man thoroughly familiar with the game. By defeating De La Salle at the Berkeley Oval a week ago the team won first honors in the second section of the New York League, and it will undoubtedly take the championship on the 29th. Immediately after the Pratt-St. Paul's game Berkeley challenged Pratt Institute to play a match at any time, but the Pratt Captain hesitated about accepting, and the matter is still unsettled. As there is no agreement for an inter-city game this year, it is to be hoped that the Pratt management will have sufficient sporting spirit to accept the challenge.
Lawrenceville and the Hill School of Pottstown will meet on the gridiron next Saturday, and the contest should be a close one, for up to date of writing the Pennsylvania School has met no defeat this season. Their chief victory was over the Princeton second eleven, and their hardest game against U. of P. '98, in which neither side scored. The team is a light one—very much lighter than Lawrenceville's—but it has had good training, although it has suffered from a lack of frequent games with other elevens. This last disadvantage will tell in the contest with Lawrenceville, and, although I expect to see the Jersey men win, they will by no means have a walk-over.
Schuyler, r.h.-b. Davis, r.e. Kiefer, l.h.-b. (Capt.) Lowndes, r.t. Mills, r.g. Paxton, r.t. Dean, l.g. Dallam, sub.
Monypeny, f.-b. Rodgers, l.e. Fincke, q.-b. Chadick, c.
THE HILL SCHOOL FOOTBALL TEAM.
The Hill School eleven is particularly strong behind the line, where Kiefer, Schuyler, and Monypeny make a trio of backs of which any preparatory school might well be proud. Kiefer, Captain, who plays left half-back, has played several years on the team. He is the fastest runner in the school, and a remarkably clever dodger. His punting has improved noticeably this year, and he tackles hard and low. Schuyler, the right half-back, was also a member of last year's eleven. He is a brilliant though unsteady player, running low and hard. When he hits the line he rarely fails to make his distance. Owing to his tendency to fumble he is not so reliable as the other backs. Monypeny, who fills the position of full-back, has proved a great surprise. Last year he played on the second eleven, but was never regarded as anything above an ordinary player. Since the present season opened he has shown steady improvement, until at present he is regarded as one of the best all-around men on the eleven. He is a strong line backer, and for hard and sure tackling is not surpassed by any man on the team. Fincke, at quarter, is another old man. He is cool and clear-headed, his strongest point being his ability to get into the interference quickly. His tackling has improved greatly over that of last year. In the line, Chadick, at centre, is new to the position. Compared with the average centre he is small and light, but what he lacks in these respects is more than offset by his strength and grit.
The guards are being played by Dean and Mills. Dean played on the second eleven last year, and has improved steadily through the season. Mills is a new man, but has the making of a good football player in him. Carelessness seems to be his main fault. Lowndes and Paxton, the tackles, are also old men, though the former has played one of the guards before this year. As an all-round football player Lowndes undoubtedly excels any other man who ever represented the Hill. He is not as heavy as could be desired, but he more than makes up for this lack by his great strength and activity. In every play his tackling is fierce, and as a ground-gainer he can always be relied on. His early football experience was obtained at St. Paul's. Paxton, the right tackle, still shows the effects of a severe illness, which necessitated his leaving school last year. His work, though, has shown steady improvement of late, and in the interference he is especially strong. The ends are looked after by Davis and Rodgers, both members of last year's second eleven. Davis has developed into one of the best ends the school has ever had, while Rodgers, who plays a sandy game, is somewhat handicapped by his light weight.
Owing to the Hill School's somewhat isolated location—isolated in the sense of neighborhood to other large private schools—it has no close rival, such as Andover used to have in Exeter and now has in Lawrenceville, and such as the Berkeley School in this city and St. Paul's of Garden City are gradually becoming. At present Lawrenceville comes the nearest to occupying this position, but the Jersey school is so much larger in point of numbers that it out-classes the Hill in most contests. Considering this superiority of Lawrenceville's, therefore any victory over her by the Hill School must be doubly creditable.
The difficulty between the Brooklyn Latin and High-Schools has been referred to a committee for settlement, although it seems as if the Association ought to have decided upon the question at once at their last session. The dispute originated in the recent football contest between the two schools. When the game was about half over, Captain Lutkins of the Latin School team protested to the officials that the High-School team were playing their ends back of the line, which he said was a violation of Rule 30, Section C. The officials held different opinions as to the interpretation of the rule, and the game was allowed to go on as before. At the League meeting the representatives from the Latin School protested the game for this reason, but the protest was not decided, and a special committee was appointed to pass on the question. The umpire, in a letter to the League, said that an agreement was entered into, previous to the game, by which it was understood that both teams could play both ends back of the line. The referee in his letter has denied that any agreement was entered into before the game relative to this point. To complicate matters further, it appears that the umpire had been coaching the High-School, and the referee was an ex-member of the Latin School. (The moral-seeker will find food for meditation in this situation!)
The absurdity of the argument that both teams had agreed to allow the ends to play back of the line is apparent. The teams were playing under the rules of the L.I.I.S.F.B.A., and these rules clearly state that in football contests the Intercollegiate code is to be followed. This code is equally clear in its statement that "Not more than three men shall group themselves at a point behind the line of scrimmage before the ball is in play. Seven men or more shall be on the line of scrimmage until the ball is in play, except that the man playing the position of either end rusher may drop back, provided he does not pass inside the position occupied by the man playing adjacent tackle before the ball is put in play." A delegate from Poly. Prep. quoted this paragraph at the League meeting, and very justly objected that the captains had no right to make any agreement, even if they had done so, because such an agreement obviously violated the rules.