Evening star., 1921-11-28


service classic to the Navy. 1t is t
will not lose sight of the fact that
sented team that fought as never
in the fine points of technical pla,
strongest. most perfectly geared ~
touchdown. Indeed, so fierce was t
their opponents, so indomitable the
scheme of attack that favoring br,
we'll have enabled them to win this
1t is so easy to observe . foot ball
game and be impressed by salient
events and surface incidents. ignor-
cant elements which, though subordi-
mated or. 1t may be. submerged from
the casual looker-on. are none the
less of extreme Importance in giving
ono the true values of any closely
waged gridiron contest.
Army Erred in Judgment.
What might have happened, for ex-
ample, had the Army elected to make
the Navy put the ball in play on her
own 7-yard line in the first half.
after one of Woods extraordinary
punts had gone out of bounds at that
point? The Middle punter was poor.
1t is almost a certainty that the
Cadets would have had the ball In
their possession within excellent
striking distance Of their rivals goal
Instead the Army accepted an off-side
penalty. Again. in the third period
when through a gain on punts the
Army had the ball on the Navy's 40
yard line, everything set to open up
a really effective rushing alta ck. the
ball was lost on a tumble on the nrst
play. A low pass was partly respon-
sible for the dropping of the Shiny
ball.
And then the final period. in which
the Navy team, vastly more stalWart
than the Army. was compelled to nght
and claw to the last extremity OF hu-
man endurance to hold its.aovah-
tage of one touchdown. Any one VINO
holds a brief for all that is brave and
chivalrous and generally inspiring IN
physical manhood will bear with tne
writer as he follows once more tnat
inspired assault upon the Navy bar
rier. It came in the Anal stages OF the
encounter. when the late afternoon
mists-such doleful mists as rise only
from the Harlem river marshes ana
shroud the rocks of Coogan's blum on
a rainy November afternoon-had
turned from blue gray to brown M Wnen
the electrics were sputtering along
the upper tiers of the cavernous
stands, when the gridiron was sat
urated solution of muck and the play.
ers, Undiscovered and grim, were not
distinguishable as individuals 10
majority Ol luo SpeSeosSAS'
When French Got Going.
There was an exchange of kicks. the
Army gaining as usual, so that nnaiiy
the Navy hac to punt from ner ~
ward line. 1t was not a good punt
Johnston caught the ball not Tar on
his own side Of midf1eld. There was
scurry of figures, then vague launcn-
ing forms. Down went the navy
tacklers as men fall with WOUNDS
when advancing. to the charge. len
yards came Johnston before ne was
downed at a point opposite the Of
fetal government boxes, now deserted.
The Army backs formed in tandem.
made two hops to the right. while the
right tackle and end slithered out
about five yards. The ball came PACK
to French. Obiiquely toward the op-
posing right end he dashed. Parr,
the Navy left end. great on offense
and defense, dashed in, not seeing the
lancing figure of Davidson. the Army
right tackle. The next instant Parr,
who throughout this bitter afternoon
had been such a thorn to the Army,
was burrowing the mud with his nose.
Wiedorn was boxed and helpless. On
went French, still veering to the right.
He was now well in the secondary
zone. A Navy back was hurtled to
the ground by a Cadet lineman.
Through the murky air, from the
Army side, tore a volume of sound,
not an ordered cheer, just wolf-pack
yell, ending in shrill crescendo.
Thirty-five muddy yards went French.
a touchdown seemed imminent. when
Koehler, the Navy back, coming from
somewhere, brought the runner down
upon the Navy's 2S-yard mark. Smythe
now. With driving fury the Army
forwards opened the Navy line. Six
yards went Smythe. French jammed
through for four; Smythe made. 1t
first down on the Navy's 14-yard line.
Here was inside attack for you.
Where the Threat Ended.
And now came what hindsight sets
down as mistake in judgement. The
Army had been ripping the Navy's
physically sagging, charging wildly.
The play called for French to take
the ball and run wide to his left.
With the going as it was there was
moral certainty that the defenders
would storm through more swiftly
was downed behind his line for an
S-yard loss. A line plunge gained
yards. then a forward pass was
intercepted behind the goal line. The
story of great-hearted fight ends
at this point. The Navy found it ex-
conds that remained in rushing and
not give the Army the ball on a punt
bound to the poor. The game came
to an end after miserable kick on
fourth down had given the Army the
ball on the Navy 30-yard mark.
It was gallant. 1t showed how
small was the margin between the
two elevens. Some aver that on a
dry deld the Navy would have rolled
up q larger score. That is doubtful.
Undeniably the Navy had power, but
her plays. driven from tandem and
long and short punt formation. were
more dependent upon power than the
Army's. which were marked by greater
deception. especially inside of tackle.
The Nays long suit was a short
in the Army's right side At the very
start Of the game the Army's backfield
and lateral line shift might we'll have
scored touchdown, since time and
again in the Cadets advance play was
checked by runners Slipping in the
mud when holes were open and the
Navy secondary knocked out of the
way. So throughout the game.
The Navy's one long series of ad-
vances came in the first period, run
ming over into the second with a
touchdown as reward. The march was
made, as said, chiefly through the
Army right side. It was line attack
as fne as has ever been seen. But in
the second half the right side guar
dians of Army prestige nosed out the
drives and matched the impenetrable
left. Forward passing, due to the
question. Army punting superiority
could have been more effectively used
as an offense had the day been dry.
All in all the game technically left