The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-01-26
HOW TIE GAME is PLAYED.
The Y. NJ. G. a. and Forest City Foot
Ball Contest.


The Y. NJ. G. a. and Forest City Foot
Ball Contest.
Foot ball ia fast becoming rival Of base
ball as an athletic sport. The game to-mor-
row between the Y. NJ. C. A. and Forest
City elevens promises to be the crack game
Of the season. Both teams have been in
bard training and the contest will be a
decisive one as to their strength and skill.
Probably not one-third of those who will
witness the game will understand any
thing that is going on except that there is a
big scramble of some kind. Goals, touch
downs, touchbaoks, fair catches, points and
drop kicks will be mysteries to most of the
crowd
The field on which the teams Zine I'D" is
3 paralIelogram $50 feet long by 100 feet
wide. 1t is crossed transverselY at intervals
of five yards with whitewashed lines, Civ
ing the field the appearance of huge grid
iron. The purpose Of these lines is to aid
the referee in Judging distances.
At the beginning of the game the side
which has won the toss has the ball. The
ball is then placed in the middle Of the field
and the eleven men Of the side having the
ball form big v. human wedge, with
the heaviest players nearest the apex. The
apex points against the opposing team
ten Yards distant
Inside the wedge, protected by its lines
will be one of the smaller play ers-one who
has great capacity for standing knocks. At
the word "play" the wedge will become
more compact; the apex will stand over the
ball, and just touching it with his foot, a
formality necessary to the "kick of - will
pass or hand it back to the player inside the
wedge. AT the same moment every men,
r. EksnH Ill. L..
or back OF the man in front and the whole
body dash at top speed against the line
formed by the other side. The latter will
mass to receive the V; some will fall in
front Of it, causing the runners to trip and
fall, others Will dash against the wedge or
jump over the lines to get at the little
man inside with the ball. The little man
will finally disappear under a mixed up
mass of struggling legs and arms When
ne finds he can go ahead no further he will
call down" and the heap will get off him.
The wedge or V is an old trick invented
by Princeton, which almost invariably g,
even when used by the weaker team, results
In gain Of five yards. or course the spec
tator will understand by this time that the
object OF the team having the ball is Co adj
vance 1t through the RANKS of the other side
and to carry it over the line at the end of
the field. Their opponents will resist this
effort and try to get possession of the ball,
when they will themselves try to advance it
to the other end of the field.
After each "down" seven players on each
side will line up facing one another. These
are the rushers or for wards. The player in
the middle OF each line is the center rush I;
on each side is a guard; the players at the
end OF the lines are the end rushers, and
those between the ends and the guards are
the tacklers. Close behind the line stands
the quarter back; a little farther back are
the half backs, while the one furthest from
the line is the full back, who is expected to
do most of the kicking.
The center rusher will roll the ball back
between his legs to the quarter back, who
viii throw it TO one of the half backs. to
the full back, or will hand il to one of the
rushers, who will leave his place in the line
to run around and get the ball The man
getting the ball becomes the runner. He
tries, OF course, to carry the ball over the
line at the opponents end of the field. HIS
opponents rush at him, catch him il posi-
bic. throw him down as hard as possible
and pile up on him. II one of them gets
both hands on the ball and cries "Held, - or
II the runner is satisfied that he can ad vance
the ball no farther and shouts "Dowu." the
ball becomes dead and has to be put in play
again.
There is rule which says that unless the
IL
10 four such attempts, or loses twentyyards,
It must surrender the ball to the other side.
or course it is to the advantage of the side
having the ball, II they must surrender the
Dali, to give it up as far away from their
goal as possible. Accordingly at the end of
the third down the ball is passed to the full
back. who kicks 1t as far as he can
The upright posts at the end of the field
with the crossbar between them are the goal
al kN.xII
over the crossbar by the opponents from a
drop" or a 'place" kick. A drop kick is
made by letting the ball fall from the hand
and kicking it just as it begins to bound
and place kick by kicking the ball from
the ground, usually when held In the hands
OF another player. A goal from a place
kick scores six points, and from O drop kick
five points.
A punt is kick made BY dropping the
ball from the hands and kicking It before it
touches the ground. 1t cannot SCORE a goal.
A touchdown" ia made when player
succeeds in carrying the ball over his oppo-
nents' goal line"-that is, the line on which
the goal posts stand. A touchdown scores
four points. The side making the touch
down has the right to try for goal from a
place kick from q position near the goal
posts. IL the kick is successful the goal
counts six points and the touchdown no
longer counts. If the kick does not score a
goal the four points allowed for the touch
down remain. After each touchdown or
goal the play begins again, in the middle Of
the field, as at the opening Of the game
Scoring is possible only at o ends of the
Held. All the work done by the teams in
bhe middle of the ground is only the strug-
gle Co get the ball over the goal line. The
goal line Is to the foot ball mau what the
nome plate Is to the base ball player.