Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1921-current, 1922-12-25
Nv WALTER ~EcKERSALL.

Owing TO the enforced lull in college
.+h1ot;cs caused by the holidays, those
interested in amateur Sports WI
watch with interest results OF tne
three intersectional football games to
he nlayed on the Pacific coast IN the
next seven days.
While some of the competing eleVens
are not representative of their. respec-
tive sections. they are good enough ~
warrant interesting struggles ~nlcn
should 60 Il long way toward aetei51
mining the caliber Of football as pla!eu
along the Pacific coast and IN lne 1af
east. In some cases., teams "hlcn weIe
beaten early in the season improved So
much last month that they ndoubted-
" could have beaten the elevens when
were yictors earlier in the year.
OF the three far eastern teams when
viii invade the sunny chimes, west
Virginia. coached by DIR. Spears, tor
mer Dartmouth player and coach, mas
tbe hest record. The Mountalneers, as
West Virginia is known in football CIR
clos viii meet Gonzaga of Spokane,
Wash. at San Diego this afternoon.
West Virginia undefeated.
West Virginia completed its sched-
ule without defeat and has the pest
chance to return home undefeated'
Early in the season, the Mountaineef
won from Pittsburgh. y to ., aiter Il
great struggle. 1t was the first victory
in years and naturally the result en-
c~ouraged the player to greater e1forts
with the result the team won IT'S re-
manning games.
Since the game with Gonzaga was
scheduled. Coach Speers has put his
players through strenuous prachise
sessions. The Mountaineers' coach Is
not the sort of mentor to have his rec
ord spoiled in an intersectlonai clash
of such Importance and the team
should be in excellent conditions to
nlav its usual high class article OF foot
ball.
Gonzaga is coached by Gus Dorais,
one of the best quarter backs in Notre
Dame football history. The team is
not q member of the Pacific coast con.
ference but has defeated elevens or
strength in its section. 1t employs
the Notre Dame style of play IN most
cases and indications are 1t VIII play
an aggressive game. against he Noun
taineers.
Pittsburah vs.. Stanford Later
On December 80 the scene OF inter
est in California will shift from the
southern to the northern part OF the
state. Pittsburgh, which was a great
etam at the close of the year, Will CLASH
With Stanford at Palo Alto. Early in
the season Pitt went down in defeat
nv LAFAYETTE. and later by West Vir-
ginia. Pop Warner, of the great,
est coaches in the game, then showed
his resourcefulness.
The Pitt mentor used all the genius
in his caching makeup, and reor-
ganized his team to such an extent
that Syracuse. Bucknell, Geneva
PENNSYLVANIA, Washington and JeIrer-
son, and Penn State were beaten. IN
the closing battle of the regular season
Pom state was beaten, 14 to O. In
this game Pitt gave a remarkable ex-
hibition of offensive and defensive
football. Penn State, a powerful
eleven. was unable to successfully cope
with Warmers eleven in the latter part
of the battle and succumbed to defeat
at the hands of q respected foe.
Stanford also showed vast improve
ment at the close Of the year. Al
though beaten by California, acknowl-
edged champion of the Pacific coast
conference, the palo Alto team fought
with such q determined spirit that the
Bears were forced to extend them
selves &c WIN. lHls SIouNu bC 4u LA
teresting contest, because it is n of
the few intersectional contests if not
the only one ever played in the north
ern part of the state between repre-
sentative eastern and western football
eleyens.
Penn State at Pasadena
On New Years day Penn State and
University of Southern California viii
clash at Pasadena in the athletic fea-
ture of the Tournament OF Roses.
Penn State cannot be said TO be as
strong as the teams which Hugo
\ Bezdek has developed in recent years.
Aside from the defeat by Pittsburgh,
the Nittany eleven lost to the Navy
and Pennsylvania
Injuries had a lot to do with this
showing. Some of Bezdek's star play
ers were injured early in the season
and few recovered during the playing
season. Services of thesE men were
needed in almost every game, and
some were injected when they should