R. M. APPLETON.
Harvard.
There are certain rules which govern the methods of making these advances, any infringement of which constitutes what is called a foul, and entails a penalty upon the side making it.
Any player can run with the ball or kick it if, when he receives it, he is "on side"—that is, between the ball and his own goal-line. He may not take the ball if he is "off-side"—that is, between the ball and his opponents' goal-line—until an adversary has touched the ball.
Whenever a player running with the ball is held, he must cry "down," and a man of his side then places the ball on the ground and snaps it back. This puts it in play, and is called a scrimmage, and this scrimmage is the most commonly recurring feature of the game.
For the purposes of advancing the ball or repelling the attack of the opponents it has proved advisable for a captain to divide his eleven men into two general divisions: the forwards and backs. The forwards, of whom there are seven, are usually called rushers, and they make practically a straight line across the field when the ball is put in play on a "down." Next behind them is the quarter-back, who does the passing of the ball to one or another of the players, while just behind him are the two half-backs and the back, usually in something of a triangle in arrangement, with the last named nearest the goal which his team is defending.
The following definitions will also aid the spectator in understanding many of the expressions used by the devotees of the sport:
A drop-kick is made by letting the ball fall from the hands, and kicking it at the very instant it rises.
A place-kick is made by kicking the ball after it has been placed on the ground.
A punt is made by letting the ball fall from the hands, and kicking it before it touches the ground.