Evening star., 1919-11-26
NAVY IS PR|MED
FOR ARMY GAME
Hopes to End Unbroken List
I of Defeats Sustained at
the Polo Grounds.
Special Dispatch to The Star

Special Dispatch to The Star.
| ANNAPOLIS, Md, November 60
Several reasons combine to make the
! Navy particularly anxious for Hts team
! to win against the Army next Satur-
! day. The series stands II to 9 against
, the Navy, and another Army victory
would make 4 most substantial mar
. gin against Annapolis. Moreover, the
navy never has won on the Polo
Grounds. and its friends think it is about
| time that it should break the spell
! Still another reason is that another
, Army victory would mean five in a
| row, which would be the high figure
| for the series. Finally. the occasion
! will mean the greatest reunion of
service people which has ever taken
! place. the game being the first since
i the entry of the United States into
! the war called halt on such events.
Ground for Confidence.
While sporting odds seem to incline
toward the Army. the Navy contin-
gent is very confident, and has more
ground for its confidence than is gen
orally known. Coach Gilmour Dobie
and his assistants have been prepar-
ing for just one thing during the
whole season, and they have aimed to
bring the team to it's apex on the day
OF the Army game. The squad has a
lot of foot ball that it has never
shown, and mighty able set of backs
have been prepared until they have
formed wonderful machine of at
tack. not based on a few men, but
three or four for every place. any one
of whom can be called upon for his
special part without substantially
weakening the'Whole or throwing the
others out of their stride. The line is
probably as good as that of any other
team in the country, or not far behind
the best
The first game of a series which has
come to occupy SO big a place in the
eyes of service people all over the
world and the public in general was
played at West Point in 1890, and
twenty-one have been played in all
the Army winning eleven, the Navy
nine, and one being a tie. Foot ball
had been established for some years
at Annapolis. and just taken up at
west Point, and the Navy won the
opening game, "a to 0. Next year che
soldiers caused general surprise by
winning at Annapolis by 80 to Is.
The Navy won the following year at
West Point, IL to 4, and in 1898 at
Annapolis by to 4.
Most Notable of Series.
The game of 1898 was one of the
most notable of the series. The Army
had a bigger and better team, judged
by the seasons record, and was ex-
pected to win. The Navy won largely
through the splendid punting Of
Worth Bagley, who was killed during
the Spanish-American war, and the
fine covering Of his kicks by Reeves,
now a captain in the Navy, from the
tackle position: The first course of the
of the departments deciding that il
unsettled the midshipmen and cadets
TOO much, and they were not resumed
until 1899.
The game of 1899 was played on
Franklin Field. the grounds of the
University of Pennsylvania, at Phila-
delphia, and was won by the Army,
IL to 5. With the exception of two
years, games were played at that
place every year up to and including
1917. The game of 1905 was played
At Princeton, and resulted in a draw,
to o. There was no game in 1909,
II naViIg been called off on account
Of the West Point team, following his
injury during a game at that place :
The game of 1918 was played on
the New York Polo Grounds, that Of
lSl4 on Franklin Field, PhiladeIphia.
again. and those Of 1915 and 1916 on
in 1917 and 1918. as the contests were
stopped while the United States took
part in the war
There is every reason to believe that
the games will be played Indefinitely
in New York. The games were first
played there at the instance of the
Army contingent, the Navy preferring
Philadelphia, as more central in re-
lation to West Point and Annapolis
The advantages of New York have
become apparent, however. and the
majority of the navaI people now IA
vor New York, making a change un-
likely unlessunforeseen circumstances
arise.
Army Leads on Points.
The record of games between the
two probably is the closest Of any
teams whose meeting is of national
interest, only two dividing them.
However, the Army is substantially
ahead on total points. having scored
231 to the Navy's 146. The Army also
scored the most decisive victory, that
of 40 to in 1903, and has frequently
won by double figures. The games
of 1910, 1911 and 1912 were all won by
the Navy without carrying the ball
across the Army's goal line, holding
the soldiers scoreless in each case,
and winning by field goals one each
in 1910 and 1911 and two in 1912.