The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1899-11-27
ENDS THIS WEEK.
Local Foot Ball Teams
Will Finish Their
Playing.
HOLY CROSS HAS A HARD GAME.
High School May Play To-
day = Independent
Teams to Pay.
HOLY CROSS HAS A HARD GAME.

The local foot bali season is practi- |
cally over. The several school teams !
have finished their season of games in
Worcester. Holy Cross has a game
scheduled for Thanksgiving day in Bos-
ton against Boston college, and Worces-
ter high may play today in Wilbraham
against the Wesleyan academy team.
Manager Ralph C. Rebboh of the high
school team received word from Will
braham yesterday and tried last eve
ming to get together a team to go there |
today.
Independent teams worthy of recog-
milton on the gridiron will play a game
in this city Thanksgiving day. They
are the Byron and Washburn q Moen
elevens, which will meet on the old
Grove street ball grounds Thursday
morning at $50 o'clock.
The game at Boston will be the con-
test of the year for Holy Cross from
its point of view. The rivalry between
the colleges is intense whenever it eX- |
lists. Holy Cross enjoys the distinction
of being the superior in athletics as a
general rule, but occasionally Boston
college comes into prominence in some
branch, taking a defiant stand against
fall in foot ball. Boston college has
put forward a team this fall which is
a good one andu seriously questions
Holy Cross claim to supremacy. The
ultimate object of each team has been
the defeat of the other.
1t will be hard contest, Neither
team has played a schedule that allows
of much opportunity to compare them.
The Boston men, however, have shown
haV oil in in
class. They have developed team work
to commendable degree and it looks
as if the men from College hill will
have their hands full against their
Boston rivals
The game Holy Cross played Satur-
day against University of Vermont
affords no chance to get line on
their strength. About the only point
which the contest demonstrated sue
| cessfully was that Holy Cross was
greatly superior to the VermGnters.
But it did not show that Holy Cross
would have been unusually strong
against a team that could play any kind
of foot ball. Vermont was certainly
weak and lamentably so. 1t was weak
| in all departments. There was nothing
exceptionally strong about the inter-
Ference that Holy Cross massed for ag-
gressive plays. Yet the Vermont tack
| lers were bowled over like a set of ten
pins on a strike ball. The weakness of
| the Vermonters allowed Holy Cross
players to show up brilliantly but it
! is a question if a stronger defense
would not have held Holy Cross east
| ly.
| Several Boston college men were on
| the side lines watching the game. De-
! ~ the easy, thing Holy Cross had in
Winning they didn't appear to be
alarmed over the defeat of their team
Thursday
On account of the shake-up of the
| Holy Cross team, it wasn't easy to tell
whether the eleven is stronger than 1t
| was in previous games. The playing
| would indicate it showed it's strongest
| formation of the season in Saturdays
| game O'Sullivan, back of the line
played about as well as any man who
| has played fullback this season. The
| mainstay back of the line is Kenney,
and he improves constantly. Powers
did well in Saturdays game, the best
he has. done while behind the line. Sui
/ Ivan, at quarterback, is a strong man
for the team. The line itself did not
show, any better strength than hither
to, but the ends, O'Reilly and Monahan,
We're unquestionably, the best pair Holy
Cross has had this year. The strength
they showed in those positions was in
great contrast to the weakness of other |
formations.
A large delegation of the student |
body will accompany the team to Bos-
ton Thursday Holy Cross has also |
many sympathizers in Boston, partic- |
ularly in South Boston, and it will |
have strong support in the contest |
The contest at Grove street between |
the Washburn g. Moen and Byron elev- |
ems, promises to be a hot struggle. The |
Byrons have played better foot ball !
this season than ever before They have |
played five games and have not been |
scored against. Washburn & Moen was
defeated once, but since then the team |
has been strengthened and easily out |
classes the eleven that defeated it. A |
few weeks ago the team played tie |
game with the Bradfords of South |
Worcester. The latter team was the |
recognized champion eleven among in |
dependent teams last season. Having |
played them a tie, the north end elev-
ems advertise to play the game Thurs
day for the championship of the coun-
ty.
This brings another factor into the
dispute, the Clermont Athletic club
team, which was defeated last year by
the Bradfords, but which trimmed the
Byrons by considerable score The
Clermonts have tried hard to get a
game with both the Bradfords and
Byrons, even going so far as to offer
to play two games on Thanksgiving
day, one in the morning and one in the
afternoon. When they learned the By
rons intended to play for the champion
ship the Clermonts, issued a final chal-
lenge to meet representatives of the
Byrons at The Spy office this evening
at 7.30 o'clock. The claim of the Cler-
monts is that, being victorious last
year over the Byrons, the latter ought
to make some effort to get a game with
the Clermonts and retrieve the honors
they lost before making any kind of
a claim for the championship. They
cite rule of athletics that a defeated
contestant should attempt to secure
another match with its victor before