Bridgeton pioneer., 1911-11-30
Players Not on Big EIeVens Who
Helped Make 1911 History.
.SPRACKLING BROWNS STAR.
Quarterback of Providence Boys One of
! Best In Position-Miller of Penn
State Another-Thorpe of Carlisle
One of Greatest of Halfbacks.

are known beyond their own small cir
cults until grabbed up by the majors.
when. if even for a short time. they
Jump into almost national prominence,
In which respect they have it on any
number of footballists, who, however
great they may be, seldom attract a
great deal of attention from the mass
es unless they are fortunate enough to
be on a team that manages to whip
member of the big four"
There are rafts of players unknown
to the general run of football fans, but
who If given the chance probably
would make good with any of the
group from which the champion elev-
ems are invariably drawn.
There isn't a doubt that Sprackling,
quarterback and captain of Brown.
could grab any quarterback position
in the east. with two possible excep-
tions. Yale. with Howe, and Penn
State, with Miller. might think long
time before assigning Sprackling to
the position, yet at Yale the appear
ance of just such a man as he might
result in Howe being shifted to one of
the halfback positions.
Miller of Penn State occupies almost
as high rank. Unfortunately Penn
State does not travel in such polite So
Iciety as Brown. But in the Penn
game Miller was a revelation. He not
only proved himself a master field gen
eral, but his running both from posi-
ton and in carrying back punts equal
ed anything seen on Franklin field in
years.
Both are great field generals; both
|get every last ounce of power out of
their teams; both are deadly accurate
in hurting forward passes about;
both can kick and both are sure
death on punts, with speed and
lodging ability enough to run their
backs yards farther than the average
quarter.
1t is something of a coincidence that
Brown and Penn State with two Of
the greatest quarterbacks in the coun-
try should also have two of the
very best ends. Ashbaugh of Brown
is almost as greatly responsible as
lSprackling for the success Brown has
achieved with the forward pass, and
Captain Very Of Penn State works al
most as well with Miller. These two.
like their teammates, could grab regu-
lar positions on any team.
Two other quarterbacks of more
than average ability-Captain Fogg of
Syracuse and Welsh of Carlisle-have
been playing considerable football this
year. Welsh ran something like 100
yards for touchdown in the Penn
Carlisle game recently and was so
successful in picking the weak spots
In the Penn defense that he was never
once forced to reveal the full strength
of his teams attack.
Fogg earned his spurs against Mich
igan a few weeks ago. his general
ship going long way toward enabling
Syracuse to hold better football
team to a tie score. He is not as
artful a runner as Sprackling. Miller
or Welsh on a broken field. but his is
sturdier line plunger, running from
his position.
Halfback Thorpe. the mainstay of
the Carlisle Indians, is rated one of
the best halfbacks in the country
Some critics have labeled him the
greatest of the year as an all round
performer. ]. Weelock, his running
mate, is almost as effective. If any,
thing he is a harder man to play on
| an end run, but does not hit the line
as hea Willy as Thorpe and is nothing
like so good kicker.
A substitute halfback on the VII
hams team, Ainslee by name, is on
record as having made the longest
run Of the year in game against a
"big" eleven. In the Cornell Williams
clash he grabbed up a kickoff on his
own FIVE yard line and ran 1O5 yards
to touchdown. Only once in the
| history Of football has that run been
equaled at Cornell and not this year
at all on any gridiron.
| Lafayette has two candidates, Tackle
Kelly and Halfback Spiegel. Compe-
tent critics think highly Of both. Kel-
| ly, giant of man with an elevation
in excess Of six feet, is not only a rare
good tackle, but one Of the best punters
In the country as well.
Early In the year Kelly got in kicks
ranging from ffty-fve to sixty-fiye
yards in every game. Spiegel, his
teammate. is another Sprackling in
going down an open field
| Still another is floating around who
would be welcomed by the Harvard
coaches like million dollars if he
were eligible to play for the Crimson
varsity. Unfortunately this young man.
one Brickley, is but freshman. He
recently kicked four field goals in one
| game.
There are many more West Point
and Annapolis anyhow could hardly
be classed with the minors" Both
Army and Navy. though outside the
classic ring, are both fairly loaded
down with high class football PLAYERS
who never can hope to achieve the
fame that would be theirs if they were
playing with Yale, Harvard, Princeton
, Or Pennsylvania.