As to the officials of the game, Yale also makes an innovation. This year there will be an umpire, a referee, a linesman, and an assistant linesman, any one of whom may disqualify a player under the rules, subject, of course, to the approval of the umpire, who alone may be appealed to by the captains regarding fouls and unfair tactics. These officials are also empowered to formulate ground rules prior to each game, governing the disposition of the ball in case it touch or be obstructed by some person or object surrounding the field of play, but the referee must announce the rules as made to the captains before calling play.
In the triple alliance there are to be two umpires, a referee, and a linesman, the umpires being judges of the conduct of the players, the referee being judge of the position and progress of the ball, and the linesman being judge of time, and of the distance gained and lost by each play. The umpires shall also see that no coaching is done while the game is in progress, and they have the power to send behind the ropes any substitute or other person who attempts to advise the players while the ball is in play.
Off-side play will be punished by Yale and Princeton by the enforcement of the rule that says that if a player when off side touches the ball inside the opponent's ten-yard line the ball shall go as a touch-back to the opponents. These colleges further legislate that seven men or more must be in the rush line until the ball has been put in play, except in the case I have already cited, where the ends may drop back.
It is hardly necessary for me to say to every man who is playing football this year that the first thing for him to do is to secure one of the new books of rules and study all the changes that have been made. Space permits me to make but a very brief mention here of a few of the innovations. The man who is playing on the field, however, must have every clause at his finger-tips, and know the spirit and the letter of the law by heart. Every scholastic league should decide at once which code it will use this year, so that the captains of the teams may begin to train their men in the new methods that some of the changes require.
The teams of the Connecticut league have been at work for two weeks or more now, and several unimportant practice games have been played. The Hartford High School players started in with preliminary unlimbering at Crescent Beach early in September. Only five men of last year's team are back again, although Captain Bryant confidently counted on six. Smith, who played centre last fall, shot himself in the foot recently, and will be laid up for some time. Bryant, therefore, will try it between the guards for a while, and if Smith comes back later, he will be put in at tackle. Goodell will be the other tackle, while Ingalls, the hammer-thrower, and Lyman will go in at guards. The ends are much in doubt, but Monahan, Ralyea, and Garvan stand good chances. Sturtevant will probably make quarter-back, while Chapman and Jenkins will no doubt be found at half at the end of the season. Luce, who did good work on the quarter-mile track last spring, is the strongest candidate for full-back. On the whole, the team is a light one.
The prospects for a good team at Exeter are bright this year, although so far no game has been arranged with Andover. The old feud seems to be still on deck. (But I hope to devote some space to that bit of childishness later. Now we are talking football.) Five of last year's players are back at P.E.A.—Scannell, Kasson, Breen, Gibbons, and Hawkins. Scannell is Captain, and besides being a good player himself, he is able to put life into his men. He graduated from the Newmarket High-School in '89, and entered the academy in the fall of '92. That season he made the second eleven, and played a good game. In the spring term he made the baseball team, and filled the position of centre-field with credit to himself and honor to the academy. He is a hard worker, he is a little heavy for tackle, but his quickness overcomes this handicap, and by the end of the season he will doubtless train down.
Centre rush will be taken care of by Kasson, who did good work on the '94 eleven, and he will have a veteran in Breen as his right guard, unless Connor proves a better man. A candidate for tackle is Higley, who held that position last year for Andover. Another is Evans from Lowell, who was Captain of his High-School team last year. During the season the school had a long string of victories and retrieved its reputation, which was last dwindling in the defeats of the five previous years. Evans appears to be a brilliant man, but he does not know the game well enough to play at Phillips Exeter without a great deal of coaching. He stands 5 feet 10 inches, and weighs 170 pounds. For ends Gibbons, Shaw, and Robinson are the most likely candidates. Hawkins, Martin, and Botcher will try for quarter-back. Hawkins did good work last year, and is plucky. That he will not give up his position without a tussle is very evident from his practice-work. Martin, formerly of Andover, will press him hard. When at Andover he played quarter on the second eleven, and did good work. He is active and cool-headed.
For half-backs, J. B. Gibbons is sure of one position. He played an excellent game last year, and will undoubtedly develop further this fall. McLane will probably take care of the other side. Whitcomb and Headden are trying for full-back. Whitcomb is a swift runner, and distinguished himself last spring, when he smashed the school record in the quarter-mile race. He is showing up well, and plays a good game. Headden is not so sure a man as Whitcomb, and will require a great deal of coaching. The Exeter team's first game of the season was played against South Berwick on September 17th, and resulted in a victory for the crimson and gray by a score of 6-0.
In the New England League it looks as if there would be a hot contest again this year for the championship. Cambridge High and Latin has nearly all of last year's team back. There will be only three vacant places in the line, Baldwin, right end, Stearns, right guard, and Columbus, left end, not having returned to school. Among the new men with the squad are Hawes, Seaver, and Barnes. The backs will probably be the same as last year, Campbell, Curry, and Parker, with Saul for quarter-back.
Last Friday the Newton High-School eleven played the Brookline High-School team at Brookline to determine which one should be taken into the Senior League, the former having been the tail-ender in the Senior League last year, while Brookline was an easy winner in its own class. The contest occurred too late in the week for me to be able to comment on it here, but I hope to say something of the game next time.