Evening capital and Maryland gazette. (Annapolis, Md.) 1910-1922, 1917-10-08
NAVY ELEVEN GOES
DOWN TO DEFEAT
Middies Succumb To Greater Prow-
ess OF West Va.
GAME DESPERATELY FOUGHT
Forty Yard Dash to Touchdown In
Final Quarter, Was Turning
Point OF Rattle
GAME DESPERATELY FOUGHT


In a game that was desperately
contested but which did not develop
much in the way of high class foot
ball. the eleven of the University OF
West Virginia, of Morgantown, won
over the Midshipmen on Farragut
Field Saturday afternoon by a count
of Z to 0. And the score just about
shows the margin between the teams
as far as comparative play is con-
cerned
After the teams had played each
other to a standoff in the first three
periods, the West Virginians, after
getting possession of the ball on
downs on their own 35-yard line, be-
gan a smashing attack against the
Navy forwards in which they carried
the ball a total of 25 yards Then
Harris, the stocky little quarterback
of the visitors, got away around
Navy's right wing and lodged his way
through several opposing tacklers for
q SPA III Va ~ W q tOuAltQONb IL
Rodgers kicked an easy goal and the
West Virginians went wild with joy.
The turn in the tide of the battle
came so quickly that the Middies were
keenly dismayed, and they mustered
their best efforts with the hope of at
least registering a touchdown and the
resultant goal and thereby tying the
score. But the valiant efforts they put
forward were unavailing, although
they did bring forth flashes of good
offensive work. Only on one occasion,
however, did the sailor lads manage
to work the leather inside of the West
Virginians' 25-yard line, and that was
in the opening period of play, when
the visitors braced and held for
downs.
The Southerners easily excelled IN
line smashing and off-tackle plays, but
their much heralded aerial attack was
easily smeared by the sailors. They
succeeded in completing only one
pass and that was for a gain of about
Is yards On the other hand, the Mid
dies had far better success in this
respect They completed total of
eight passes for gains, the longest of
which was between Ingram and Ew-
ing, which covered 80 yards
Aerial Attack Fails.
Standing out above all else to the
average observer of football was the
apparent poor handling of both teams,
that is, in the direction of the plays
1t became apparent early that the
West Virginians would attain little or
no success in their crop of aerial at
tack plays, but. Notwithstanding this,
they exploited this means of offense
throughout the game In the plays
through the line they were far more
successful and continual hammer
ing along this line probably would
have brought them at least one more
score And, as to the Middies, their
attack seemed to have lots of speed
and was sufficiently varied, but there
was a weakness in the line of inter-
ference
The runner often had to go it alone
In the kicking department Captain
Won Heimberg, of the Navy, easily
was the equal of King, of West Vir-
ginia, although the latter was decid-
edly clever in placing his punts.
There was no attempt by either team
at field goal kicking, although each
was in position to bring about
score in this way on three or four
occasions.
The West Virginia eleven, it must be
said, probably is the strongest combi-
nation that ever represented that in
stitution, and with its defeat of the
Navy eleven and the strong game
played against Pittsburg last Satur-
day. which ii lost by count of IA to
3, two good performances for early in
the year. augue we'll for success dur
ing the remainder of the 1917 cam
paign The team seems TO be built
around Rodgers, veteran, and a
powerfully built fellow for fullback.
He weighs about 1S5 pounds, is a fast
and aggressive player on the offensive
and bulwark on the defensive.
Incidentally the defeat of the Mid
dies broke into the long record of
Coach Gilmour Dobie, their new men
tor, who achieved such remarkable
success in handling teams out West
In nearly a dozen years that he hand
led teams of Washington State and
the North Dakota Aggies, his pupils
had never suffered defeat until Satur-
day and had been tied only twice in
about 100 games played
Tho line-up.