Evening star., 1924-11-02
Supreme Strategies in Foot Ball
N Princeton
No. eFirst Part.
AS TOLD BY
T. A. D. (TAD) JONES,
Head Coach, Yale University.

IN nearly every we'll balanced
struggle-foot ball or other
there comes a stage when vic
tory and defeat hesitate bit before
ranging themselves with this side
or that.
Until this moment arrives one con-
testant may have built up an appar-
entity winning margin and still know
that it's success is not assured. while
the other, though outpiayed and lett
behind in the scoring, is not pre-
pared to accept the losers portion !;
but once it passes, the result no
longer is in doubt and both parties
to the fray are conscious OF the
fact.
In base ball this moment comes
with the one big inning; In a
boxing contest it accompanies the
punch that weakens one ringster and
psves tho way to his knockout: in
foot ball It trips in on the heels Of
the touchdown or field goal which
produces total of points above
which the opposition cannot hope to
climb. Sometimes. OF course. two
opponents are SO closely matched
that a draw results. But mostly this
is not the case. The crucial stage.
when victor and vanquished are de-
cided. is as inevitable as the final
whistle.
In my recollection no moment was
more fraught with decisive possibili-
ties than the one which licked off
at the start Of the second half OF
the battle between Yale and Prince
ton at New Haven. November 16. 1907.
With it developed the greatest foot
ball strategy I have ever seen.
Being stationed at quarterback for
Yale, i had. Of course, q first-class
opportunity for watching the play
unfold. AS it came on the kick off.
l was standing almost under our own
goal posts. did not actually parti-
cipate in it. and so was as free to
observe as any spectator.
Princeton Gets Lead.
The Orange and Black and the
Bull Dog were well matched that
year. But at the end of the first
half this was not clearly apparent
Princeton, with q touchdown by Full
back Mccormick and a goal after
touchdown, together with a field goal
by Left Halfback Harlan, had gath
cred a total of 10 points. 1t was ap-
parent that Yale would have to come
back strong in the second half to
erase the dangerous Tiger lead
At the start of the game we had
introduced an innovation in the de-
Tense formation of the day. We drew
our center back, leaving only six
men in the line. The center-who
on this day happened to be Congdon
was placed slightly to the rear
midway between right end and right
tackle.
The six-in-line formation since has
become orthodox, but as We used it
against Princeton it was not a sue
cess. 1t had been designed to meet
the menace of end-runs. in which
the light, speedy Tiger backs, FHar-
Ian and Tibbott. specialized. and
which had won all Princeton's games
for. 1t. But Dillon, the Tiger quar-
ter, was quick to take advantage of
the fact that our six linesmen were
slightly spread out to counter the
seven men in the Orange and Black
line. He used Mccormick. the husky
full. in series OF plunges through
center in which his center man mate
rally aided. And thus was made
possible the touchdown and field goal.
During the fntermission our
coaches decided to drop the new for
nation and use seven men in the line.
Ready to Deliver Blow.
AS We lined up for the kick off We
knew that the critical stage of the
game. SO far as we were concerned,
was at hand. If we could stop the
Tiger offensive. well and good: the
10-point handicap imposed upon US
in the first half was not insuperable.
We might overcome it. If. however,
the Orange and Black should SCOPE
again-wen that would be different.
Victory and defeat almost surely
would have chosen their partners and
chosen them for good.
1t soon was apparent that our
opponents, coached by Bill Roper.
had a full realization of the needs of
the situation. They had, in fact.
returned to the field prepared to put
over q crushing and finishing blow.
This developed at once in dazzling
and well nigh stunning strategy
The lineup for the kickoff was the
usual one. We were scattered in the
customary positions for receiving the
ball Princeton had its men deployed
abreast across the field on it's own So
yard line. Quarterback Dillon was at
the extreme right end of the forma-
ton Fullback Mccormick, in the
center of the line, was set to boot the
ball, which rested on the 5-yard line,
in the middle of the field.