Evening star., 1928-12-16

mand by the public for such endeavors
on the part of those whose duty 1t is to
follow the gridiron and write stories
about 1t.
Witness the numerous letters that
have come to the writer's desk in the
last week asking for an all-South At
lantic eleven, and. going further than
that, suggesting names of players con-
sidered worthy for membership on such
. mythical combination. AS a matter OF
fact this is an easy year to make selec-
tions for an all-star team in this Sec
ton. as with two or three exceptions
certain players stood out so far in their
positions that no doubt practically
everybody would concur in naming
them.
Three Great Backs.
Take the backfield for instance. No
man familiar with foot ball would doubt
for one second that Peake of Virginia
Polytechnic Institute, Barnes of Vir-
ginia Military Institute and Snyder Of
Maryland should be the men chosen for
three of these places.
With the exception of eagle of Army
Peake was the best all-around back the
writer saw all season. He could do
everything a good back should Go, and
his ability to punt and run with the
ball was exceeded by few anywhere. No
team ever stopped Peake from the be-
ginning of the season until the end.
Maryland came closest to it, perhaps,
stopping him very effectively in plays
from Scrimmage, but could not prevent
him running back puntS for is or 20
yards. Barnes also was brilliant all
around back, and for straight ground
gaining from Scrimage formations Sny-
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Who the fourth man would be is a
matter possibly of taking a chance on
picking the best of three or four good
men. Peake played quarterback for
v. p. I. and could I'LL that position but
he would be far better as running
halfback with somebody else to call
signals. Also neither of these three
men throws passes as well as he might
Erickson of North Carolina, Sloan of
Virginia, and Kessler Of Maryland were
very nearly on par in directing their
teams, and there was little difference
In them in all-around ability.
However, in all probability the best
man playing quarterback in this sec
ton was Duplin of Georgetown. He
had more experience and greater as
sets in all those things that go to make
up a quarterback than either of the
other three.
Other Clever Men.
These were not all the other good
backs. not by a jugful. Western Mary
land College had one in Neal. who In
many respects was the superior Of any
one of the four mentioned, and George
town had Bozek, Hudack and DWyer.
Schmidt of Catholic University was
very good, as was Faulconer Of Vir-
ginia and White of Washington and
Lee. North Carolina had half dozen
excellent backs, the best Of whom was
Magner.
And Virginia Military Institute had
q quarterback who never got as much |
credit as he really deserved because /,
he was playing in the same backfield
with Barnes, but Hawkins was mighty
good foot ball player and knew how
to get the most out of his team
One or two places in the line would
be easy to pick, but center probably
is the most difficult place for which
to find man, rot because there was
no material for the position but be-
cause there was 90 much. Schwartz
of North Carolina was brilliant in
dividual performer at the pivot posi-
ton, while Taylor Of Virginia was not
only great player but also real
leader.
It was he who by showing the quail
tiles Of sheer leadership kept the Viz
ginia eleven from routs once or twice
when, minus its regulars, 1t faced great
odds, yet performed we'll.
Yet in the opinion of the writer,
neither Of these players was as good as
Charley HavenS, who played the posi-
ton for Western Maryland College. II
there was anything that good center
should do. Havens did 1t, and he had
all the qualities of the others and more
besides, especially in coming out OF a
line, because he started his career on
the gridiron as a halfback.
Mooney Best Tackle.
No tackle in the whole section COM
pared to Mooney of Georgetown. The
Blue and Gray linesman was head and
shoulders above all others and deserves
first call for any all-star eleven without
question. The other tackle probably
would have gone to Luke of Virginia
had he not been out of the game so
much because of injuries. With Luke
out of consideration, the next best man
in the position was Hawkins OF Wash
ington and Lee. He was one OF the
hardest men in the section to move
and stood about feet and weighed
well over 200 pounds; consequently was
rugged enough TO stand any kind OF
game.
y Just as Mooney was head and shoul-
ders over all other tackles, so was
Vaughan of North Carolina State the
best of the guards. The writer did not
see Vaughan play, as his was the only
South Atlantic squad that the writer
did not see some time during the sea-
son, but if he is half as good as people
who did watch him say, then he is head
and shoulders above everybody.
The other guard should go to Car
roll of Georgetown, although Crothers
Of Maryland would give him a hard
battle to hold his job II both were on
the same squad. There we're not many
other high-claSs guards in the section,
and besides the three mentioned, 1t Is
likely that Farrell of North Carolina
and Day Of Virginia topped the list.
G. U. Ends Are Best.
Georgetown had the two best ends.
Provincial and Tomaini were better men
than played these positions on any other
elevens. F1ippin of Virginia probably
was as good as either when he was at
his best, but he was out so much be-
cause of injuries that the Georgetown
men are given the preference.
Dodson of Maryland should be given
the next place in the list with Heagy of
Maryland and Turner of Virginia
coming close and Dodson's ability to
catch passes and run with them after
making the catches gives him something
of margin over the others.
Now, after all the stars are named,
good coach could take his pick of the
other men on the several teams in the
section, take his choice of the men
whose names are not even mentioned
in this story and develop from them a
team that probably would be able to
play just about on even terms with this
group of stars.
After all, though, an all-star selection
Is nothing more or less than picking
those men who have stood out in vari-
Gus games and the very men in the line
or In the interference who enabled these
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