The Washington herald., 1920-10-24
CENTRE FAILS TO STOP
CRIMSON'S SUSTAINED
ATTACK IN FINAL HALF
Weak and Battered, South
erners Unable to Cope
With Heavier Opponents
In Final Period; North
erners' Substitutes Shine.
BY GRANTLAND RICE.


Yards powerful eleven conquered
Centre College of Danville. KY, this
afternoon by the score of 81 to IA.
Almost submerged by the massed
humanity of New England, 400 Ken
tuckians grouped in one pitifully
small cluster at least enjoyed the
drama and the thrill of seeing their
lighter machine come from behind
at the start, score two touchdowns
against Harvard's heavy defense
and thereby take the lead until the
closing moment of the second quar-
ter. But as the third period got un-
der way a combination OF Haryard's
power, Centres bad generalship and
..rIrs of penalties
against the Kentuckians sent the
Crimson safely through the hardest
test they have known this year and
one of the most spectacular battles
ever fought in the stadium
That first half was one of the
dramatic shots in football history
Here was a little college with less
than 800 students advancing from
an obscure Kentucky town to face
the best crimson machine Harvard
has ever known since the days of
Mahan, Hardwick and Brickley. For
the first time in their careers the
Kentuckians were playing before
n great crowd with the mystic spell
of the stadium to face This Ken
lucky team had met no opponent OF
any force and so found this best
test doubly hard. There wasn't a
vacant foot of space in the big
stands and when the first great Har-
ward roar beat down upon the field
Won can lima yi0a he
KentuckIans show Power.
Five minutes after play started
the kentuckians looked to be head
ed for overwhelming defeat. Start
ing a drive from its own 35-yard
line after a minute Of play, the
Crimson attack at once began to
cut the orange and white defense
of Centre to ribbons. With Owens
Churchill and Horween leading the
rush between guard and tackle with
pile-driving force Centre was swept
completely from its collective feet.
Not even the dashing secondary de-
fensiye play of "BO" Mcmillan could
check the assault, and by rushing
from 10 to Is yards at a clip Har-
ward dashed over the Kentucky line
fer the first score.
There was every indication that a
slaughter was under way. But the
Kentucky delegation in the stands
began to ClamOr "Fight-Fight-
Fight and with the first nervous
ness over = new Centre machine got
under way. Starting from her own
20-yard line, Centre began a series
Of rushes and forward passes that
left Harvard's defense completely
bCwildered. Mcmillan opened with
a 20-yard run around Harvards
right end and a trifie later Mcmillan
shot a forward pass to Whitnell
which added 80 more. On her Is
yard line Harvard began to battle
bitterly, but successive assaults by
Roberts, Armstrong, Whitnen and
Mcmillan drove the ball steadily
forward until Mcmillan. by starting
to the right and then whirling sud-
denly TO the left, carried the ball
10 Harvard's 3-yard line, where
Roberts in two plung1S carried it
The impossible had happened A
team that had looked to be out
classed had taken the ball 80 yards
out being stopped, and the score
was tied.
Score Again on Long Pass.
But the climax of the drama was
still on beyond. Shortly after the
second quarter opened Centre
started with the ball on her own
back Is yards to her 20-yard line,
and then once again the Kentucky
machine got under way.
Line thrusts by Whitnell, McMil-
Ian and Roberts netted Is yards
Harvard braced. Faking a kick,
Mcmillan dropped back to within a
few steps of his own goal line and
whipped a long forward pass
straight down the field. Whitnell,
running like a deer, was under
way Around midfeld, with two
Harvard tackIers at his elbow, he
took the 4O-yard pass over his
shoulder by a spectacular catch and
then outsprinted his two Crimson
rivals for a 45yard dash across
the line. And Centre was leading,
II to 7.
This play will stand as one of
the finest ever seen upon any field.
and for a moment the big New
England crowd was stunned, with
the 400 Kentuckians making
enough noise to rattle the bridge
across the Charles River.
Again the impossible had hap
pened; Centre, without surrendering
the ball. had rushed and passed her
way for 40 yards to a pair of
touchdowns against a defense that
was supposed to be impregnable.
It was an amazing turn. All the
more amazing after that first five
minutes of play.
Centres Strength wanes.
But that last long pass of McMil-
lan's and the great catch and run
Of whitnelTs was the high tide of
Centres glory. From that point on
an almost unbroken string of PEN
alties. poor Judgment and waning
strength against Harvard's superior
weight got in their work. Two If
teen-yard penalties near the close
of the second quarter with a fifteen
yard dash by the brilliant Owens
put Harvard within easy scoring,
and another brace of penalties with
short rushes by Owens and Horween
carried the ball over and tied up
the score as the first half closed.
Between halves the 10000 Bos-
tonians and the 400 Kentuckians
traded melodies and cheers with
Yankee Doodle" sent against
Dixie" and My Old Kentucky
Home"
In the exchange Of courtesies Gen.
tire was not second, as her cheer
leader lost no opportunity to call
for a Harvard cheer.
The last two periods brought about
the Southerners' downfall. This
downfall in the main was due to