“FIGHTING FOR OLD YARDLEY”
_Yardley_ _Broadwood_
Vinton, l. e. r. e., Bishop
Coke, l. t. r. t., Booth
Hadlock, l. g. r. g., Haines
Fogg, c. c., Johnson
Merriwell, r. g. l. g., Mills
Little, r. t. l. t., Weldon
Dickenson, r. e. l. e., Corry
Loring, q. b. q. b., Dowling
Roeder, l. h. b. r. h. b., Reid
Dyer, r. h. b. l. h. b., Ayres
Eisner, f. b. f. b., Rhodes
Coke, the Yardley left tackle, sent the ball spinning from the tee on
a long, low kick to Broadwood’s two-yard line, where Reid, the Green’s
right half, ran it back past three white lines before he was stopped.
The Broadwood full back went through Merriwell for a clean five yards,
to the joy of the Broadwood supporters, but on the next play Roeder
threw Reid for a loss and Weldon was forced to kick. Dan received the
ball on Broadwood’s forty-three yards. Roeder failed to gain through
center and Alf punted to Reid, who fumbled, Dan recovering the ball on
the twenty-eight-yard line.
Yardley shouted blissfully, for with the pigskin within the shadow
of Broadwood’s goal and in possession of the Blue a touchdown looked
imminent. And after the next play it looked a good deal more so, for
Roeder was driven through right tackle eighteen yards, eluding the
secondary defense and being pulled and hauled along in a way that
brought the Yardley supporters in the stand to their feet. Yardley
cheerers demanded a touchdown with wild, exultant voices as the two
teams faced each other on the nine-yard line. But Broadwood steadied
down and Roeder and Tom between them only made four yards. On the next
play Loring tried a forward pass to Little, but the latter failed to
reach it and the ball bounded over for a touchback. Broadwood murmured
its relief.
Weldon, Broadwood’s left tackle, punted out from the twenty-yard line
to Eisner, Yardley’s full back, who made a dozen yards before he was
tackled. Tom made five through right tackle, Dan failed to gain and
Roeder missed first down by two yards. The ball went to Broadwood on
her forty yards. Broadwood was twice thrown for a loss and punted
again, Dan receiving the ball on his forty-four-yard line. He was
downed in his tracks by Bishop. Tom and Roeder made eight yards and
Alf punted to Reid, who again fumbled to Dickenson, on the Green’s
thirty-three yards. On the next play Roeder was thrown for a two-yard
loss and Yardley was set still farther back for off side. With the ball
on the Green’s forty yards Alf tried an on-side kick which went to Reid
for a fair catch on his twenty-five yards. Ayres made five yards around
Dan’s end and Rhodes went through center for four more. With one to
gain Weldon punted to Dan who caught the ball on his forty-yard line.
On the subsequent play Fogg was caught holding and Yardley was set back
fifteen yards. Tom made up the distance on a skin-tackle play and then
plugged center for nine more, and Yardley cheers arose deafeningly.
It was first down almost in the center of the field. Alf worked a
pretty forward pass to Coke, which was just long enough to give Yardley
first down again, and then Roeder made three yards at left tackle and
Dan recovered Alf’s fumble on Broadwood’s forty-five-yard line. Alf
punted outside to Dowling, and after the ball had been brought in at
the twenty-five-yard line the Green hammered the Yardley line without
much gain, and Weldon returned the ball to Dan in the middle of the
gridiron. Eisner punted over the head of the Broadwood quarter and the
ball rolled over the line for the second touchback of the game.
From the twenty-yard line Weldon again punted and Dan misjudged the
kick and fumbled. Alf, however, was on hand and got the ball before the
Broadwood end reached him, tearing off five yards before he was brought
down. After that for a while the ball went back and forth between the
twenty-five-yard lines until, near the end of the period, Broadwood
made two on-side kicks successfully and for the first time in the game
had the ball in her possession inside Yardley territory. It was well
inside, too, for after the recovery of that second on-side kick by
Johnson, the Broadwood center, the pigskin rested on Yardley’s eighteen
yards. For almost the first time Broadwood had good and sufficient
reason for rejoicing, and rejoice she did. The green flags waved wildly
and along the side of the field the local enthusiasts capered and
shouted. Rhodes made a scant three yards at Little and on a second
attempt was thrown for a loss. Captain Mills and his quarter back held
a consultation and then Weldon was called back and everyone knew that
Broadwood was about to try a goal from field. Weldon placed himself
on the twenty-seven-yard line and held his hands out, the ball went
back to him on a good pass and he tried a drop kick. But the ball fell
short and Dan pulled it down and was not caught until he had wormed
and fought his way back to the twenty-eight yards. Yardley yelled
its triumph and derision and a depressed stillness encompassed the
Broadwood ranks.
Five minutes later, after Alf had punted to Broadwood’s thirty-nine
yards and Dowling’s on-side kick had been recovered by Dan, Yardley set
to work and ripped things wide open. There was a blocked punt luckily
recovered by Alf, and Payson sent Sommers in in place of Eisner.
Sommers was an erratic player, with plenty of strength and football
knowledge when it pleased him to show them. He showed both to-day, in
the remaining five minutes of the half, for on his first two plunges
directly through the center of the Broadwood line he netted fifteen
yards and made it first down. Mills was hurt in the second of the
rushes and the play was held up for the full two minutes while he
recovered. When he got to his feet again Yardley cheered him loudly.
From the thirty-seven-yard line Tom went forward for five yards, Roeder
took four more and Tom secured first down on Broadwood’s twenty-three
yards. Yardley was imploring a field goal, but after a moment’s
hesitation Alf decided that a touchdown was what was needed and to that
end attempted a forward pass. But again Little failed and Broadwood got
the pigskin eight yards from her goal line. And at that moment time was
called for the first half.
“There’s nothing to it but Yardley!” cried Gerald as he and Arthur made
their way back to the automobile to rejoin Mr. Pennimore. “We put it
all over them!”
“Yes, but we had two chances to score and missed them both,” objected
Arthur.
“Well, Broadwood had one chance and didn’t do any better,” replied
Gerald. “Besides, the play was in her territory all the time except
when they worked those two on-side kicks; and that was more luck than
anything else!”
“I don’t know. The play was pretty even.”
“Why, Broadwood didn’t make a single first down on rushing!” Gerald
scoffed. “And we made at least four.”
“Just the same Broadwood will come back hard in the next half. I wish
we had managed to score.”
“So do I, but I’ll bet you we’ll just make rings around them in the
next half. Isn’t Alf playing a dandy game?”
“Great! I never saw him run the team as smoothly, and he’s keeping old
Broadwood guessing all the time with the plays he’s using. Broadwood
is sticking to old-fashioned football pretty well; more than she did
last year; and if she loses it will be only because the two lines are
too nearly even for her to win on line bucking. And Dan’s doing great
work too. He missed only one punt, and that was a tough one to handle.
His backfield work is fine. And I don’t think the Broadwood backs got
around his end more than once, either.”
“It doesn’t seem to me that Mills is showing up much,” said Gerald.
“Well, it’s hard to tell. Sommers got by him twice that I know of and
Tom didn’t have much trouble with the center of their line. But it’s
hard to judge of a linesman’s work unless you’re right on the field
there.”
“I suppose it is. Hello, dad! Isn’t it great?”
“Fine,” responded Mr. Pennimore, puffing complacently on his cigar.
“Looks as though we’d win, doesn’t it, son?”
“Yes, sir. We’re going to tie strings to them the next half. Wasn’t Dan
fine?”
“He was, indeed. And I thought Tom seemed to get along pretty well when
he had the ball.”
“You bet! Tom always does. He just puts his head down and gives a grunt
and _goes through_!”
“That’s a good way to do,” laughed his father. “Enjoying it, Arthur?”
“Very much, sir. Can you see all right from here?”
“Oh, yes. I stood up on the seat. Nearly fell off once when
What’s-his-name――Roeder――made that run over there just after the game
started. It was beautiful to see the way they pulled him along. It
seemed to catch Broadwood napping, didn’t it?”
“You bet it did! Isn’t it a dandy day for a game?” Gerald climbed into
the car and settled down on the back seat and Arthur followed him.
Over at the side of the field the Yardley cheer leaders were calling
“Yardley this way! Yardley this way!” and the blue flags were massing
together back of the ropes. Soon the singing began.
“This is Dan’s song,” said Gerald eagerly. “Listen, father!
“‘All together! Cheer on cheer!
Now we’re charging down the field!
See how Broadwood pales with fear,
Knowing we will never yield!
Wave on high your banner blue,
Cheer for comrades staunch and true;
We are here to die or do,
Fighting for old Yardley!’
“Isn’t that great?” demanded Gerald. “Dan wrote the words and his
sister made the music.”
“The――ah――the music sounds a little bit familiar, doesn’t it, though?”
inquired Mr. Pennimore with a smile.
“All music does,” replied Gerald seriously. “Here’s the second verse:
“‘All together! Cheer on cheer!
Victory is ours to-day!
Raise your voices loud and clear!
Yardley pluck has won the fray!
See, the vanquished foeman quails;
All his vaunted courage fails!
Flaunt the Blue that never pales,
Fighting for old Yardley!’”
Across the empty field the Broadwood supporters had let their own song
die down to listen, and at the end of Yardley’s effort they cheered
approvingly and generously. But they didn’t intend that the enemy
should have its own way in matters musical and so came back with their
own favorite, “Broadwood Green.” They followed that up with the song
that Yardley detested most, “What’ll We Do?”
“‘Not far away there is a school
That thinks it can play ball, sir.
We’ll show it just a trick or two,
We’ll show it what our men can do,
_And_――――
It won’t think so this fall, sir!
Oh, what’ll we do to Yardley, to Yardley, to Yardley?
Oh, what’ll we do to Yardley?
Well, really, I’d rather not say!’”
Yardley tried to drown the hated words with much cheering and then
retaliated with:
“Old Yardley has the men, my boy,
Old Yardley has the steam,
Old Yardley has the pluck and sand,
Old Yardley has the team!
Old Yardley can’t be beat, my boy,
She’s bound to win the game!
So give a cheer for Yardley and
Hats off to Yardley’s fame!”
A moment later the teams returned and the rival camps strove to surpass
each other in their welcomes. It was Broadwood’s kick off, and in a
moment the ball was high in air, cork screwing against the blue of the
afternoon sky. Mills had made the kick and it was a good one, high and
far, but his ends were slow in getting down under it and Dan, catching
the ball, reeled off sixteen yards before he fell into the clutches of
the enemy on his eighteen-yard line. When Yardley lined up it was seen
that Hadlock, at left guard, had been replaced by Ridge. Alf called on
Roeder and that dependable young gentleman made five yards. Tom secured
four more and Alf punted to Dowling in the center of the field. The
Green’s quarter back was brought to earth by Ridge. Then Broadwood
for the first time made her distance by rushing, Rhodes taking the
pigskin for seven yards and then five through center, Mills making the
hole for him superbly. Ayres failed to gain on the next try to the
disappointment of Broadwood’s friends on the side line, and Rhodes
tried again. But the ball was Yardley’s on downs after the whistle
had blown. Then followed a punting dual between Alf and Weldon, the
ball sailing back and forth between the two thirty-yard lines. After
the fifth exchange the pigskin went to Broadwood on her thirty yards.
Then Broadwood hopes revived and Gerald had cause to recall Arthur’s
prophecy that Broadwood would “come back hard.” The Green’s full back
made first down in two plunges at the Blue’s line and then Ayres ran
ten yards around left end. Broadwood was cheering like mad now. Ayres
was given the pigskin again, but in three attempts at the Yardley line
netted but eight yards and the ball went to the Blue.
Sommers was pushed and pulled through left guard for four yards and a
penalty gave Yardley five more. Then Roeder made ten yards in two fine
rushes, and Alf’s forward pass was carried out in good shape by Dan for
a long gain but was called back. Alf then punted to Ayres and Weldon
returned the kick to Alf, and the latter was thrown on his twenty-yard
line. Roeder by this time was pretty well played out and Stearns was
substituted, Roeder receiving the biggest kind of an ovation as he
walked uncertainly off the field.
Stearns was given the ball on the first play and negotiated three yards
at right tackle. Sommers got five at left guard and Alf punted to Ayres
on Broadwood’s fifty-one yards. Weldon returned the compliment and Alf
made a soul-stirring running catch of the punt on his twenty-five-yard
line. Tom and Stearns made nine yards between them and Tom secured
first down on a split play that caught Broadwood napping. Yardley
seemed now to have found her pace, for Stearns and Sommers twice made
first down, and Broadwood’s line appeared to be weakening. But the gain
went for little, since, on the next play, Yardley was put back fifteen
yards for holding. The ball was now on Yardley’s forty-seven-yard line.
Alf tried a forward pass to Dan, who fumbled the ball but recovered
it on the enemy’s forty yards, while the blue flags waved joyously
and the Yardley cheers broke forth again. Stearns made a gain twice,
and Alf once more tried a forward pass. Dickenson secured it and made
twelve yards before he was stopped. The pigskin was down on Broadwood’s
twenty-three yards now and Broadwood supporters were imploring their
team to “Hold them! Hold them! Hold them!”
Tom made six yards past Mills and Stearns failed to gain. The ball
was on the Green’s fifteen yards and pandemonium reigned about the
field. Broadwood and Yardley shouts and cheers met and mingled in a
meaningless jumble of sound. Another forward pass, Alf to Dan, and the
two teams, desperate, panting, determined, stood on the seven-yard
line. Stearns made two and Tom two more and the ball was three scant
yards from the line. And then, amid such an uproar as Broadwood field
had seldom heard, Tom crashed through right tackle for a touchdown.
That was too much for the Yardley adherents. Over and under the rope
they streamed out onto the field, while caps and flags sailed in air
and everyone shouted to his heart’s content. The ensuing two minutes
were occupied in clearing the field, and as Yardley’s rejoicing died
down the Broadwood cheer made itself heard. Then Coke kicked goal
without trouble and again the blue flags waved. The teams changed
goals and Mills kicked off, but four minutes later the whistle blew
with Yardley in possession of the ball on her thirty-seven-yard line.
The rival elevens cheered each other breathlessly and started for the
gymnasium as the Yardley fellows streamed onto the field. One by one
the members of the Blue team were captured and borne off in triumph
on the shoulders of their joyous companions, while Broadwood cheered
her defeated warriors and sang her songs. As Paul Rand and Goodyear
and another chap set Alf on his feet at the entrance to the gymnasium
Captain Mills came up. His face was white and tired and drawn, but at
sight of Alf a smile lighted it up and he turned with outstretched
hand.
“It was your day, Loring,” he said heartily. “My congratulations.”
“Sorry we couldn’t both win, Mills,” replied Alf, as he shook hands.
“Your men played a great game.”
Mills smiled and nodded and passed on into the building.
“Poor chap!” thought Alf, in genuine sympathy. “I wonder if I could
have smiled like that if we’d lost. He’s a dandy, big-hearted fellow,
that Mills.”