The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-11-26
DONAHUE IS LUCKY
IN ALWAYS HAVING
A TERROR|Z|NG FULL
Each Year Orange and Blue
Coach Has Had a Good
Plunger-kackey
the First
SPURLOCK
Left Guard


sumed charge of the athletic activities at
Auburn up until the present time the
Orange and Blue elevens have always
been we'll supplied with good fullbacks,
writes Innis Brown. one of the best
known and most capable football officials
in the south.
One of these days, however, an Auburn
football team is going to turn up minus
the services of a terrorizing fullback.
Then the Hon. Mike Donahue is going
to sicken, lose hope and pine away.
Likewise one of these days all of the
great civilized nations are going to pull
courts in the good old U. S. A. are going
to close their doors and declare an Off
season. At least, we hope so. But in
the meantime we don't hear of any ship
builders retiring from business, nor d.
vorce court practitioners taking cor
respondence school course in dentistry,
bookkeeping or horticulture, in an effort
to copper their bets when this condition
finally arrives
Until these latter come to pass we are
willing to wager few fiorins that the
Hon. Mike remains immune from any
physical indisposition due to the decline
of the fullback crop over Auburn way.
And we don't figure that We are getting
any the worst of the bet at that If you
have anything to offer in renuttal, con-
si6er the following;
Phil Lacey First
Back in the days when Mike was still
winning his spurs as a coach at Auburn,
and before he had attained equal prom
inence with the Hon. Oscar Underwood
and other esteemed citizens of the grand
commonwealth of Alabama, he found
himself in charge of a team on which
a party by the name of Lacey was sta
toned at fullback. Phil Lacey his name
was, and he was a predecessor of the
estimable Mr.. Red Harris, of present
day fame, by some 10 years.
In other words Lacey played the part
of batetrng ram on the team of 1901,
if you will examine the records of that
team you will find that it must have
been quite some aggregation. As we
recall it, this squad went through the
entire season without suffering defeat at
the hands of anyone. Well, If that team
had been arrayed against Tech on Grant
Field on the Sth of the current month,
you would have seen about the same
thing, with the Honorable Lacey acting
in Harris turn
Following Lacey came another human
battering ram in Penton. He was the
bulky party who acted as head lines
man in the Tech-Sewanee game The
only change we We're able to note was
q slight addition of avoirdupois, and
correspondingly slight loss of hirsute
adornment on the top of his dome. In
the old days this Penton could jam
line after the fashion of Red Harris,
only more so. And be it said that We
compare him with Harris only because
there are doubtless many who still have
a life-size image of Red tearing up the,
Tech rush line, but who were not for
tunate enough, or unfortunate, as you
choose, to have seen Penton in action.
Brad STREET Stars
Penton served his enlistment, and then
came Bradley Streit. Bradley had ell
the punch OF either of the foregoing,
and was probably more active than
either. AS evidenve that he could and
did deliver in regular form we refer you
to his present seasons record at Prince
ton, where he is now playing.
When STREET. left Auburn, Donahue be-
gan to cast about for a successor, and
chose John Davis, who had worked at
half. Davis did duty during the season
of 1911, and eight well did he do it. He
was the mainstay of the Auburn attack,
and his line smashing was something
terrific. He was worthy successor of
the foregoing.
But Davis, too, played his time, and
had to step down and out. Enter Mr..
Ressijac Ressijac was on the job last
season, and he came through with the
same stuff. He ripped into every line
that the Auburnites tackled. and his
plunging was one of Donahue's chief
assets on offense.
| Dr. Ressijac covered his last assign
ment in Athens last fall, when he
| charged the Red and Black on Sanford
| field. And once more Donahue took III,
the task of grooming a fullback. How
| well he has succeeded football bugs
| throughout the southland know. He has
no less than four-Harris, Christopher
Hart and Bidez. Harris seems to have
| first call, and his work warrants it. He
| is about the livest 155-pound fullback
/ we have ever seen in action.
You have heard the evidence on our
| original proposition regarding the pros
pective health of Donahue. Let US have
your decision