Evening star., 1914-11-29
Shows Wider knowledge of
Foot Ball in Every Way Than
Navy Eleven.
CARRIES OUT ITS TACTICS
WITH GREATER PRECISION
Army Also Executes the Elements
With More Material Effect
Than Midshipmen.
BY n. C. BYRD.

PIi IilLADELBt1lA. NONclnDei
2S.-Superior generalship, much
better coaching. poor handling OF
punts by its opponent. an end
with remarkable capabilities Tor
-ecciving a forward pass-these
were the dominant factors iii the
ao-to-o victory OF the Army Owe
the Navy here today. And t"
out it even more concisely-a nm
ished eleven defeated one that
showed less knowledge of the
rudimcntS as we'll as OF the more
advanced points OF foot ball
Barring the apparent absence
Of as competent coaching for the
Navy as had the Army. the two
factors that stood out prominent
ly in the battle were the general
ship OF Prichard. the Army quar-
terback. and the exceptional
handling OF forward passes by
Merrilat. right end OF that eleven.
Prlchard outgeneraled the oppos-
ing team at all stages He ran
his eleven splendidly. showing
sound judgment in his choice of
plays as well as demonstrating hie
forces at any time that the de-
Tense seemed on the point oi
breaking He was the leader, and
he stood out a. the most promI-
nent individual factor.
Aerrilat can catch a foot ball about
as an ordinary base ball player handles
a base ball, and he does it in much
the same manner that an outfelder
goes after "A long fly. pulling the bali
down from over his head with his
hands. Merrilat seldom catches the
ball against his body, and that he j.
capable of grasping securely and con
sistently long spirals is astonishing
when the ease with which ne does =
is seen.
There was little judgment used ia
directing the play of the Navy eleven
1t is true that its offense was neither
varied nor exceptionally powerful. but.
ever so. greater things could have been
accomplished had different plays beer
used at certain times. The worst
hibition of this was given in the al
tempt to carry on punting duel in the
early stages of the contest. Blodsett
was being outkicked nearly every time.
and the Army quarterback was ham
ding his punts with a much greater
surety than was Blodgett catching
those booted down the field by Prich-
ard. 1t was this losing fight which
was responsible for two of the Army's
touchdowns. OF course, the quarter
back may have had instructions from
his coaches to do that very thing.
but IT was poor judgment just the
same.
Prichard Judges Well.
Prichard on the contrary, directed
his team with the same consummate
skill which proved him one of the best
generals in the east a year ago. He
never seemed at a loss as to what to do.
and in the majority of cases his play.
turned out well. He did not ESSAY
forward pass after forward pass. but
used just enough of the close and open
styles to keep the opposing players
always guessing as to what might pos
sibly happen. The Army backs had, or
SO it appeared, little trouble in dag
field shifted with great frequency TO
meet certain conditions. When it seem
ed apparent that the Navy was about
to throw the ball the Army secondary
defense looSenea up, while it closed
in fast when the line or ends were IN
danger.
The Navy seemed una BILE to diagnose
one of the forward passes used by the
Army, and time after time Merrilat re
ceived the ball from Prichard for Il
long gain. Merrilat played right end
for the Army and ii is probable that
the halfback on the left side of the
Navy line was told to watch him par
ticularly, while the halfback on the
other side was supposed to watch the
other end. Prichard would take the
ball from center on this particular play
and the left end would run OUT TO tu.
left. drawing the halfback watching
him as far over possible. Merrilat.
instead of going right down the field.
cut in behind the Navy line, then
darted down back of the halfback who
had been drawn over by the left end
going out if to get pass The re-
suit was that Merrilat got beyond tn.
defensive back and when he received
the ball, he usually did, there was
either nobody between him and the
goal or the man playing safety was the
only hindrance. Only once did Mer
rilat get a pass while going straight
down the field, and that was when the
left end was cutting across somewhat
as a blind.
Good Players Individually.
The Navy players did some splendid
work, and their potential strength was
much greater than that shown. They
were not welded into the fine working
order as whole that has marked
many Navy elevens and team they
proved a failure. Few better-lookingi
squads ever walked on gridiron tor
championship contest than those eleven
midshipmen who took the field against
the Army yesterday, and they certainly
appeared to be the material for
great tear.
OF course, it may well be claimed that
the second guess is better than the
first. and consequently this should be
no time for criticisms of the coaching.
In fact, it may be that the men had
the very best of instruction, but they
certainly did not show it, and some OF
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