New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1915-11-28

one gain of twenty-five yards, was even
weaker and more fruitless than the
running attack.
Forward Passing Unsound.
There are two ways OF making the
forward pass one direct 10 a free man,
the other to position zone, lrrespee-
tive of conditions ss they arise. The
latter is not considered sound By
good many coaches although differ
ences Of opinion exist and the mid
shipmen used this method. As re-
suit. the pass was being made almost
into the arms of the Army backs IN
steau of 10 Navy players.
This was true also of the Army pass
Il was not that the defence OF either
eleven against the play was so strong
il was because the ball was shot forward
in rather loose and haphazard fash
ion. due partly, perhaps. to the slippery
surface. Still. Sol MetZger, coach OF
the West Virginia eleven, - authority
for the statement that q wet ball can
be passed just as readily from the palm
of n hand as a dry one. IL is only
when the ball is grpped for the pass
that rain works "A hardship.
Whatever the cause, the forward pass
Yesterday was an out-and-out boomer
anq. -Four. made by the Army, were in
tercepted: three of the fourteen made
by the Navy suffered the same fate, and
one Of these, as told before, proved
fatal
An illustration may be given. The
Navy pass which was intercepted Dy
McEwan carried forward t'irty yards,
and followed up on the next play by
Oliphant's run Of twenty-five yards Tor
a touchdown, was made TO a position
where the man eligible to receive IT was
thoroughly covered when the Annapolis
right end was free and clear and Just
begging. as IL were, for the ball. III
was case Of hiding initiative under
the basket Of a plotted play. and as so
often is the case, the plotted play
failed when little quick thinking
might have opened the way for a dill
ferent result.
Army Ends Work Havoc.
From tackle to tackle the two eleyens
were well matched, although McEwan,
the Army centre, stood out because OF
his defensive work and the wide scope
of his play. But the big difference and
the one, perhaps, which had most 10
do with the outcome was the END pay
The Army wing men were much
stronger than their opponents OFFENSIVE
ly and defensively, but this was pa,
ticularly marked in down the Wv,
work. Redfeld and Neyland, OF w.
Point. hardly showed All-hmeries -. 90.
bre. but they were well up 70 tne s' nos-
ard and did much TO MAKE F,Sso,S pnds
sible for their team. Inc Nav w.
SUI 1874 ~ COMPARISON. although Won
IIa;n,huro and Blodgett, when ne "ens
- we're burdened with the duties VI
uniting, duties. by the way, when were
we'll performed. .y sIso was
.n,,,or not only in the running ~.
- md in providing interference, ous
. az IN hunting. Coffin established the
So ,ara0e of close 20 forty yatoa
n ,T hall that was wet, if not soggy,
WI - nader the conditions served as
eEeneiye measure, quite llttle
@round being made for the Army on
Exchanges. more particularly, az tne
Nsyv ends did not cover punts so vel.
II is worthy Of mention in this re-
snec, that the cadets gained III YARDS
bv running back punts TO only y TOT
the midshipmen. 0fsetting this some
THAT were 20 yards gained by the Navy
In running back kick-offs to none Tor
The Army. the latter for the reason
that only one kickoff was received. IL
should be mentioned also in passing
that the kicking-of by Oliphant was
below the standard. In three cases the
ball did not cover more than thirty
yards.
As to the Navy Attack.
Referring again TO the Navy attack,
some criticism may be offered because
the backs ran so wide before turning
in. Excuses were made that the soggy
turf was responsible, but in answer 10
this it can be offered that the same
did not hold true for the Army backs,
or at least for Oliphant
The cadet ends PLAYED a waiting game
on this formation and il worked to per-
lection, as in almost every case tho
runner was forced practically TO ths
side lines, before in sheer desperation
he turned in, and In nine cases out OF
ten turned over. As used. this play
from this formation was about as val
liable 10 the midshipmen as a squad CT
cavalry in a marsh. 49,.
The blocking and tacklirg in the
line were strong by both elevens, put
much of the cackling in the open oy
the midshipmen could better be called
grabbing. II was big help to the
Army.