Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-09-24

with great success by the George Wash
ington University team three years ago.
Inc play Is simply a fake plunge with
the quarter taking the bali around the
end. 1T Is one Of the most successful
trick plays In foot ball If worked right
and this year. with the opposing ends
PLAYING in. should b. much more effective
than ever The quarter takes the ball
from the center and the backs mass on
center as though il is to he A straight
plunge into the line. The quarter makes
a bluff at passing the hail into the full
backs arms hut instead OF doing So
covers IL himself heSitateS second. and
then daShes around the opposite end
This play to be successful must ha
worked iudiciously 1t is most effective
when down near an opponents goa,
when the defense Is playing close. AM
should generally be used after a series
of line plungcs have drawn the ends in
The linemen BLOCK hard The play Is
also effective when worked with "A for
ward pass which Is done by having tho
end block for second and then go out
and take the pass provided the defensive
end has not been drawn In.
The plays here given are intended To
serve as guides by which new ones NAV
he concoctsd. and not merely for use
The idea which should always be held
in mind when building any system of
play Is that the greatest number OF diff
ferent plays AMI formations is not what
makes a foot ball team effective. Ii is
rather the greatest number of plays that
can he concocted from a single formation.
1t Is seldom that freak formations work
at all and never consistently. thus II
should be remembered that the strongest
offensive team is the one which builds
its offenSe as nearly as possible from
such a formation that the defense Is
continually puzzled Is to what pay VIII
next be tried. The team with a varied
assortment of plays from one or two
formations is the one which VIII have
the greatest success.
After the plays have been given to
team. ii is necessary that the players be
practiced each one separately until IL
has been mastered before any others are
attempted. And after the entire system
has been given to the team II should be
drilled until every man knows not only
his part but also every other mans
Plays of any kind to be effective must
be well off. and they can be only
after hundreds of attempts to attain per
lection. No team composed of expert
enced players can take a play the night
before a game and run it off accurately
the next day. and ii cannot be expected
that an eleven of beginners can do SO.
and Yet Ii is in that class of foot ball
that the very thing IS tried most often.
Another thing in regard to the plays
given team. 1t should always be re-
membered that not quite enough Of any
thing is always better than too much.
and especially does this hold true in the
matter of foot ball plays. If more are
given the players than they can. properly
handle they will be woolSathered and
unable to know hardly what they are
doing And then it takes a mighty good
team TO perfect great number of plays
during q season. The ma Jorlty OF big
foot ball teams generally carry about ten
or fifteen plays, and of these 1t is seldom
that more than six or eight are used in
a game, and Yet amateur teams will at
tempt to learn thirty or forty. An
eleven with a few well chosen plays.
well rehearsed. is a hundred times more
powerful extensively than one with fifty
half learned