The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1899-12-01
WENT DOWN TO DEFEAT
Benson's Lightweights Won
From Hooper's Giants.
A GREAT FOOTBALL GAME
1t Was One OF tho Most Remarkable in
the History OF the Sport-Bus
One Error OF Any Z nj
Was Made.


park yesterday afternoon in the great
est game of football without any ex-
ception ever played on the Butte grid
iron, and in some respects one of the
| most remarkable games on record in
the annals of football.
Few people who are posted on foot
ball will recall ever seeing or hearing
of game in which but one tumble
or error of any kind was made. or in
| which the ball was never once lost on
! downs or changed hands for any other
reason from start to finish, yet this
was true Of yesterdays game. Two
rs minute halves were played and
| there was but one tumble or misplay of
any kind that could be called an err
ror and the bail was never lost by the
| side which secured it after the kick
| eff. Montana kicked off at the open
| ing of the game and Butte secured the
| ball. Without ever being stepped in
! their onward rush, Hooper's big men
forced their way down the field to
touchdown That was accomplished in
| the first half, and to It came Montana's
turn. Butte kicked off and Benson's
men, securing the ball, rushed it to
| q touchdown in Is minutes. Again
Butte kicked off, and the operation
| was repeated in eight minutes. Nc
Leod made a successful kick for the
goal, while Brahm missed one of his
opportunities, and the game ended
with the score IL to in favor of the
Montana Athletic club. And thus was
the intense rivalry between the two
Butte teams as to which was the bet
ter team decided in favor of Ben
sons men, who thereby won the right
az whit 1h hal ia
University of Chicago, play under their
name, if such q same can be arranged.
The result. while the game was won
strictly on its merits. does not neces-
sarily decide that Benson has the bet
ter team, for under different condi-
| tions it is easy to conceive that the
rule might have been reversed, as was
demonstrated by the manner in which
Butte's one score was made. II did
decide that Berson's management has
never been overrated, for the result
was due to two things-Benson's man
agenent and the condition of the
| grounds. Under any other conditions
than a slippery field the fact that the
ball never changed hands on down
could only be attributed to weak de-
| fensive play on both sides. but that
was not the case yesterday. 1t is
| true that the defense was weak on
both sides. but it was no weaker on
one side than on the other That no
better defense was put up was due
to the fact that the ground was COW
cred by about an inch of snow. and was
very slippery, and the further one that
neither team has had any opportunity
this fall to practice. Strong defense
can only be attained by long and
steady practice. against worthy oppon-
ents. The result of this was that the
tackhng was nearly all very high and
the defense was correspondingly poor
,.lu ID
respect that with slippery ground
either could wade through its oppon-
cnts like a knife cutting butter, and
it was only a question of which had
the ball and was the better managed.
Butte played a close mass forma ton
almost entirely, rarely resorting to the
strong guards-back formation that
proved so effective in the last previous
game Their plays were slow and,
while Butte never failed of gain with
the ball in her possession the play was
too slow to win out in the time that
the ball rlghtfully belonged to her.
On the other hand, Benson played the
fastest, snappiest game ever witnessed
on the field, and here was where his
. rare management came in, for he was
not slow to avail himself of his advan-
tage when he got the ball. and by his
marvelously swift play achieved two
touchdoWnS in nearly as quick time as
.. it took Butte to make her one. There
can be no question that If Butte had
played the same snappy game that
Benson did, the score would at least
have been different, and in all proba-
bility Butte would have won. The re-
suit, therefore, cannot be said to carry
with it proofs that Benson has the
stronger team, while it does entitle the
wiry little quarterback to the lions
share of the credit for the victory. With
great judgment he would select what
, he considered the weakest spot in the
; enemy's line and like lightning throw
his men into position and give the sig
| nails. The play was SO fast that the
linesmen We're kept constantly on the
move, and sometimes they kept up with
|. difficulty. On many downs they would
!, not have their stakes set when Ben
sons men would be in play and they
: would be compelled to act expeditiously
to keep the lines correct. Such snap
and ginger was never seen in a game
here before, and it created scenes OF
! such frenzied enthusiasm as cannot be
l adequately described.
Benson, like his opponents, abandon.
7 ed his formation of the last game
r which was the ends-back formation
and only occasionally resorted to it fol-
e center bucking, giving the preference
t to a quick, open play which proved
wonderfully effective. The greater part
of his gains were made through Butte's
= spot on the other side of the line. Ir
l the second half he replaced Wilbur anu
Paustian with Bob Ellis and Bud Jones
at right guard and tackle, who, with
| Slater and Livingston on the opposite
5 side. made an inyulnerable line. Alter
| mating between the one side and the
l other, he would send Slater and Liv-
| ingston or Ellis and Jones to open W
: a hole, and they always did 1t, and
then his lightning backs would plunge
through for the gain.
All the ground gained during the
game was made by the three backs Oh
) either side. and here was demonstrated
I the correctness of the theory OF some
: football experts that the light. swift
halfback is preferable to the heavier
and slower one.
Benson'o backs were of the lighter or
6 der, but they were wonderfully fast
: and they would be through the line OF
around the end almost before their op'
| &c IivnI tt,St ,yt1 MI