Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1915-11-03
tribune SPORT COLUMN

Litchfield and Willmar fought it out
on the local grounds last Friday af-
ternoon, the result being a victory for
the former by score of "a to 0. The
score does not really indicate the
strength of the two teams, as the
game was not as one-sided as it ap-
pears. With the exception of two
touchdowns, all of the visitors points
were secured from long runs, and the
other two were made possible by Nc
Clure and Dart, who carried the ball
for long gains around end.
Mcclure, the visitors right halfback,
came pretty near to being q whole
backfield in himself Time and again
re skooted around end for runs rang
Ing from ten to IS yards. He gained
ground practically every time he car
ried the ball. Davis, in the first half
gained a good bit of ground, while
Ryan did some splendid line bucking
thruout the contest. Christensen got
in for the second half, and altho suf-
fering from weak ankle, managed to
gain frequently thru the line. Cap
tain Johns, the visitors center, stood
head and shoulders above any other
man on their line, on the defensive.
He was into nearly every play, and
gains made thru his position were few
and far between. The burden of run
ming the team, calling the signals,
fell on his shoulders, and he used ex-
cellent judgment thruout the game
Not one bad pass was chalked up
against him.
The ends were the weak points in
the line for Litchfield. Time and
again Willmar back would get
around them, while many gains were
made off-tackle. Kuntz made many
gains around end during the first
half, and was usually good for his
yards thru the line. On the defens-
i've he did great work in breaking up
the Litcht1eld passes. Limperich and
Nelson at the halves were consistent
gamers, the former returning kick
on some sixty yards, while the latter
nearly got loose for a touchdown on
a fake kick. Randall Stockwell at
quarter was good for any where from
two to six yards every time he carried
the ball, on his quick, off-tackle slash
es. He ran the team with good judg-
ment with one or two exceptions.
On the line, Conway was the bright
light of the defense. He was tack
ling men on all parts of the field,
while he opened good sized holes for
the backs. Wallie Larson, at safety
ran the kicks back in good shape, but
had little tackling to do.
Willmar started out as if they
meant business, when after the first
KICKOFF they marched nearly to the
goal line on old style line bucking and
end runs. However, they lost the
ball on downs, but kept plugging
gamely and in the second period had a
touchdown practically assured, only to
be robbed of it by the referees decis.
ion. Kuntz fumbled on the one yard
line, after he had been downed, and
the whistle had blown, signifying the
ball was dead. A Litchfield man fell
on the ball, and it was awarded to
the visitors. That hurt like every
thing, but the locals fought hard, in
the face Of great obstacles.
It might be suggested that the Of
ficials hereafter carry a. base ball UNI
pres indicator in order to keep track
of the downs. Several times during
the game, the officials called it fourth
+ down when it was only third.
The play in detail:
Capt. Conway won the toss and
chose to defend the west goal, receiv-
ing the KICKOFF. A brisk wind was
blowing from the northwest, making
the west goal most desirable.
Dart kicked to Nelson who returned
the ball to the 80 yard line. Limper-
1ch skirted left end for 8 yards, Linn
perich made first down thru left guard.
Nelson gained yard around right
end. Kuntz went around Hawkinson
for Is yard sprint. Nelson went
thru Hammer for yards. On a de.