Evening star., 1931-12-13

Continued From First Page)
self in a good position to punt. On
third down on three distinct occasions
1t ran the ball within or yards
OF the side lines and was compelled to
punt from that position. As a result
the ball twice went outside for only
short Official distances, whereas 1t ac-
tually travelled about three times that
! far. In other words, If Navy had made
those puntS from somewhere near the
middle of the field 1t would have profted
on those three kicks alone a distance
OF perhaps so or 10 yards. And no
other ground in foot ball game is won
with such little expenditure of energy.
Army's first score was made as re-
suit Of brilliant work by Stecker, who
seemed, near the end Of the half, TO
become imbued with an almost super
human desire to score. With the ball
in the middle of the field, and
yards to make on third down it seemed
that Army again was going to be
forced to punt. But lateral pass, the
first time tried, was called, and, on a
fake reverse, the ball was tossed 10
Stecker sweeping around the strong
side. He ran Is yards and came within
an ace of going for a touchdown. On
the next play he tossed a forward pass
ball to the 1l-yard mark. Army then
could not gain, but it was close enough
for field goal, which cleared the bar
by not more than 10 or IL inches.
II one fault could be found with the
superb defense put UP by Navy, Ii was
in the failure of the forwards to rush
Stecker harder when the Army back was
forward passing. Too much time was
given him to pick out his man. Possibly,
this was partly due to Army's good
blocking and partly due TO the fact
that Navy used two linemen at times
70 cover fiat passes.
Navy Scores SpectacuIarIy.
Few prettier plays ever have been
made on foot ball field than that
which resulted in Navy's touchdown.
Ihe ball was on Nays 45-yard line
and close to the side lines. A forward
pass was called for when it seemed that
Navy was too close to the right-hand
side line to make good such a pass,
Probably Army thought so too, because
the play crossed up completely the
Army defense and threw Elliott clear.
klrn threw the ball exactly AZ Yards.
Elliott catching it on the 6-yard line
and running unhindered across the goal.
=, Ihat touchdown put Navy back in
the game, and, while the Army was
aASau ny tIee points, IL Stlll seemed
anybody's game. But after Navy got
the break in the fourth quarter which
1t failed to make good because it lost
10 yards on the next play, Army started
tremendous drive, with stecker doing
virtually all the ball carrying. He ran
wide, sliced off tackle, drove through
center and seemed to be in one of those
high moments that make foot ball
players great, and before he got through
ne had carried the ball from his own
territory to Nays 1-yard mark. Here
Navy made great stand but on the
fourth down the ball went over by
inches.
The remainder of the game was
Army's. 1t seemed to be an exemplih-
cation Of the old foot ball adage that
tns team with the greatest experience
VIII somehow in most OF its garnss And
a way to make the breaks and come
through. However, it was a fine Navv
team even In defeat at the hands OF
Wnat probably is the strongest eleven
tnat ever came out of West Point
Gine-nnc a-S