The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-10-16
"BULL-HEADED PARKER"
He was a Hero to the Very Last
By Albert Britt.

D
When George Parker made his first ap-
pearance on the foot bail field at Clevedon
College, about two weeks after the term
began, he came unheralded and unknown
The foot ball enthusiasts had been busy
for days discussing the merits and quail
1cations of the various new men who had
come up for the first time that year and
were trying for positions on the team
Good foot ball material was scarce at
Clevedon, and the captain and the coach
were at their wits end to construct a
winning team with the candidates who
had thus far appeared The very day that
Parker made his initial appearance they
had held a short council in the directors
once at the gymnasium before going on
the field for the afternoon practice, and
the outlook, as they viewed it at that
time was gloomy indeed.
Candidates for positions behind the line
were many, and some of them gave prom
Use of developing into good players, but
the hnemen, especially the tackles left
much to be desired at the close of their
conversation.
shaw, the coach, expressed himself very
torcibly as to the qualifications of at least
one Of the players. Il tell you, Arnold
we must get some life into that line. or
the best backs in the world won't win
games for Us. Now there's Brice at left
tackle He's big and strong enough to
stop freight train, but he plays as though
he were dead on his feet. If we only had
some man to go in against him on the
scrub eleven and wake him up and give
him bit of scare he might amount to
something, but as it is, he's about as
lively as an ice wagon"
All this was too obvious to solicit any
thing more than a very gloomy acquies-
ence from the captain, and the two men
trGmped out through the gymnasium to
the practice fed, and here they found
Parker for the first time among the crowd
OF youths passing and kicking the ball
Fie was of medium hight. rather light
but firmly built, resembling the other
young men around him in general an
pearance, except for a rather unusual
squareness of jaw and levelness of gaze.
He came 10 Clevedon from an obscure
little academy in a distant state, where
he had prepared for college. The cap
tain of the scrub eleven had noticed
him in chapel in the morning, and after
ward had hunted him out, and, having
learned by dint of hard questioning that
he had played football and at least
knew the rudiments of the game had
asked him to come out to the field IN the
afternoon and have a try at the second
eleven.
Inc etCOuu, OF SCRUB eleNSn, be ii
known is composed of the candidates
who are denied a place on the varsity
and who yet for the sake of the sport
and in the hope that one day promotion
may find them out, are willing to work
on without glory reward unless they
find them, is the hard practice game
played daily with the varsity From the
ranks of the scrubs come the substitutes
for the varsity, and a good player in the
former may well dare to hope 10 be chosen
on the varsity the next year. 1t is as one
may see a sort of apprenticeship or
training school through which one must
pass before he reaches the varsity.
It had been the bane of the 2crub
captains life hitherto that he had not
been able to find any men In his mis-
cellaneous lot who was able to play a
hard enough game against Brice, the
varsity left tackle, either TO cause that
gentleman any particular Inconvenience
or to satisfy the demands of Shaw. They
had all made the mistake of "bucking"
straight into him and being to a man
inferior in weight and muscle to Brice,
who was a giant in size, if not in in
tellect the result may be Imagined.
Thus il happened that in sheer des-
peration Parker was chosen on this, his
first night out. to go in against Brice
and, if possible, frighten him into inn
proving his playing.
AS the two men looked each other
over for a moment before the ball was
put in play, Brice thought to himself
rather contemporary, that he would
have no trouble with this STRIPPING, but
after Parker had broken through two or
three times on plays around his end
and downed the man with the ball, ne
began to realize that ne had a very I'M
usual sort of a scrub to deal with, and
that it would require something very
different from his ordinary style of prac-
tice game to keep this fellow occupied.
After he awoke to this fact Parkers
lot became rather harder, and he was
forced to content himself with an oc-
casional tackle behind the interference
when the runner was slow or the ball
was poorly passed.
But the climax came just before the
close of the Is minutes practice. The
varsity had carried the ball >Own the
field directly in front of and about 20 yards
from the scrubs goal. Parker had become
somewhat used to the varsity play by this
time, and when he saw the fullback drop
back and the halfbacks move out from and
hack of their regular positions he knew
that a goal from the fed was to be tried.
Here was his last chance to outwit the
now fully awakened Brice
Instead of moving out as he might have
been expected TO do in order 10 get a clear
er field and open the line, he moved IN
close and made a feint as though intend