The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1899-11-06
SCHOOL FOOT BALL.
Holy Cross Boys Do
Not Tackle
Properly.
ACADEMY PLAYERS IMPROVE.
A Number Of Tech Men
Badly Hurt-News
and Notes.
ACADEMY PLAYERS IMPROVE.

OF the four prominent school elevens
In this city, Holy Cross was the only
one to play Saturday Games which
Worcester academy and Worcester high
had scheduled were cancelled by the OPP
posing teams, and Worcester Tech Sc
cured postponement of the game it
had scheduled.
The game Holy Cross played against
Tufts showed that the collegians have
were prominent early in the season.
Holy Cross as a whole does not tackle
properly. There are individuals who
have acquired the art of catching
runner IN the proper manner and bring
ing him down, but the proper method OF
taekhng is confined to few. Early in
the season the defective tackling was
glaringly apparent but attention was
given to It, and after a time 1t seemed
as II the team was in a fair way or over
coming the fault. Such does not appear
to be the case, however. Several of the
team sslll throw their arms around
mans neck or shoulders, and fail to
bring him down in his tracks. Such
tackling is entirely without reason and
at this advanced stage of the season is
entitled to no excuse.
For team which should have as high
a standard as Holy Cross, nothing can
be offered for allowing
THE SIMPLE CRIss- CROSS PLAYS
to work as successfully as they did in
Saturdays game. Two of these plays
brought the ball almost the entire
length If the field. The iss-cross play
used by Tufts is not new. 1t is as old
l,aI1 md 1Tan mot
players as far advanced as those of a
college team are supposed to be. 1t was
the fault of the ends that the play
worked so successfully, and their fault
lay in the fact that they had never
learned or had forgotten one of the rud-
iments of the game. If the ends stayed
in their places, as they should have
done, the crisS-cross would not nave
worked. One of the cardinal principles
of foot ball is that the end shall hold his
position until the play is under way,
and he cannot be deceived. That is one
of the rudiments of the game, but it
doesn't appear that Holy Cross has
learned it. Had the ends remained
where they played they could have
gotten into the play. An end makes a
fearful mistake when he leaves his po-
sition and dashes behind his own line TO
the other side to head off any play that
may be directed at that side. In fol-
lowing that practice he leaves his own
end entirely unguarded, and. a crisis
cross play under those conditions is IA
tai
1t would seem from the makeup of
the Holy Cross team in its recent games
that 1t has too many promising players
and hasn't varsity team. Every team
is fortunate in having several strong
subs who can be called on at any time
to fill in the place of an injured man,
and If the subs can play so well that the
change isn't noticeable, so much the
better for the team. But that policy is
different from having several men con-
corning whose abilities everybody con-
nected with the running of the team is
in doubt, and trying new men in every
contest The makeup of the eleven
should have been decided long ago, and
the eleven should be played as such un-
til one Of the outsiders in the squad
makes it plain that he can do better
work or until one of the regulars falls
back for whatever reason.
1t is a mistake to think that because
a fresh player jumps into practice and
shows up strongly, he will make a pat-
ter man for the position than the pee q
lar The novelty of the position makes
him work hard, and on account Of his
recent coming out every eye is trained
on him Every play he makes is thus
noticed, and he is hailed as star a
regular doing fully as good work, and
maybe trifie better, wouldn't receive
half the attention, as he would only
share the attention of the crowd with
the other players, while the new man
gets ali the attention A game or two
usually sHff1ces to show that the new
man isn't quite
AS GOOD AS He PROMISED.
Worcester academy had game with
Brown freshmen for Saturday, but the
latter sent word at the 18th hour they
couldn't come. The decision was for
tunate for the academy, not that 1t
would be beaten or anything of that
sort, but because it has a more i'm
portant game next Saturday with Yale
freshmen, which it will try hard to
win, Capt. Norris, the star of the team,
would not have gone into the game
Saturday, lest he injure his shoulder.
The lineup next Saturday will be the
same as in the high school game,
which means the strongest team of
which the school is capable. Although
Academy had no game to show it's
standing, it has improved during the
week over its playing against the High
Schools. The line has been boil
stored up and much drilling given the
ends, which are probably the weakest
spots in the Academy team. A slight
Improvement is noticeable during the
daily practice, yet the ends will never
be any better than they ought.
High School put in an easy week
The continued rain early in the week
prevented the lads from practice, as
they have no dressing quarters near
Bliss field, where they practice. Later
in the week, when the weather was
clear. the men did not come out for
if,i1 yr,14i1
ceived in the Academy game prevent
ed some of them from practice had
they been willing.
would stimulate them wonderfully, but
that is not to be. Academy has fatty
refused to play another contest on the
grounds that it is playing but one
game with any school team. The High
Schools had game arranged for Sat-
urday with Williston Academy, but the
latter cancelled 1t. An effort Is being
made by the management to bring the
Springfield high to this city Saturday
The Worcester boys played a tie game
in Springfield few weeks ago, and
want the question Of superiority decid-
ed.
worcester Tech had planned to go to
Amherst Saturday TO play the Agri-
CULTURAL college team, but so many
men are under the weather that post
ponement until Saturday was secured
The game will be played at Amherst.
Tech is in bad way. Several men are
badly hurt. No practice was taken
last week. The injuries received have
taken all enthusiasm from the team,
and 1t won't surprise anybody if its
season comes to sudden ending.
highland Military Academy team
PLAYED its second game Saturday and