Evening star., 1935-10-06
RILEY, 157-POUND
BACK, SETS PACE
ColoniaIs Helpless Before
Visitors FIashy Attack,
Sterling Defense.
(Continued From First Page.)

Soon after, with an 11-yard dash, he
gave George washington its only first
down. But for Leemans' kicking the
Buff and Blue might have yielded even
more points. Three times the versatile
Tuff punted from behind his goal and
twice the oval sailed so yards or more.
Alabama presented fine assortment
of ammunition, including several siege
guns. but its most effective piece was
Mickey Riley, 157-pound halfback and
the smallest player ON the team. Riley
made the longest run of the game
when he returned kickoff 10 yards
for a touchdown in the first period.
Little Mickey's gallop was preceded
by a sensational bit of passing which
brought on the first score.
Riley Has Touchdown Life.
THE life of Riley nowadays seems
- to consist largely in the making
Of touchdowns. 1t was Riley Smith
who hurled the ball 40 yards into the
arms of Bear Bryant. end, who ran
20 more to put Alabama on the G. w.
ll-yard line and in position to score.
Into the game at that point dashed
Mickey Riley, and on his first play
he crossed the goal. But the Tide
was offside and the ball called back to
the Is. Again Mickey carried the
mail, this time to within 2 yards of
the last stripe and left the remainder
of the job to Smith. surnamed Riley.
Who plunged over center on two plays
for the opening marker and one which
left little doubt as to the better team.
The overwhelming score may be at
tributed greatly to George Washing
tons lack of strength on the f1anks.
Alb Wright, at right end, played with
an injury to chest muscles so painful
under exertion it was thought he
wouldn't take part in the game. On
the other side was Hank Wonder
Bruegge, who has had little varsity
experience.
Finds Weak Spot Early.
Finding this weakness early. Alabama
made the most of it. Its backs skirted
the fianks time and again and when
the George Washington secondaries
spread to take up the slack, Alabama
concentrated on a line attack, its ball
luggers shooting through sizable holes
that the Colonial backs were forced to
leave unplugged.
This same flaw in the Colonial
machine made it easy for Alabama to
bring back punts, which 1t did to the
extent of 1l6 yards against II for
the Colonials. The Buff and Blue
ends, unable to make it down the field
fast enough, on nearly every punt per-
mitted the Tide backs to get flying
start.
Alabama Yesterday appeared to be a
perfect foot ball outfit. Its backs
were fast and hipswinging. its line
charged with unison and might, its
passing was brilliant and its timing
was like commutator's. But not the
least of its virtues were the Tidesmen's
blocking and tackling.
Is a Really Great Team.
MOT since the Carnegie Tech team
of 1882 shattered Georgetown
grid machine into small particles has
an eleven of the general effectiveness
of Alabama's visited Griffith Stadium.
Although held to TT tie by Howard
last Saturday, the Southerners are
back with another great product and
many were the words of praise law
ished upon their coach, nonchalant
Frank Thomas who used to play foot
ball with the immortal George Gipp
and the brilliant Dutch Bergman at
Notre Dame.
Thomas has given his team fine
assortment of plays and taught it
thoroughly in the use of them. 1t
wasn't all power that crushed the
Colonials yesterday Gridiron brains
were functioning at high pressure both
on the field and on the bench while
Alabama was administering the only
really humiliating defeat marked
against the Colonials since Jim Pix
lee took charge of foot ball at George
Washington.
No Alibis Offered.
MO ALIBIS were offered by Possum
Jim nor any of his bitterly dis
appointed gang last night, but it was
known to those who have followed
closely the fortunes of the Buff and
Blue this season that the team was
In poor physical trim. Virtually every
regular had minor injury to nurse
AS Trainer Roland Logan said before
the game: "Nobody's badly hurt, but
all these little injuries may slow us
down.
And when a George Washington
regular needed rest, there was no one
to take his place without, in the
opinion of the coaches. weakening
the team seriously. Three times the
Colonials' fighting center. Kenneth
Rathjen, was knocked stiff and three
times the redhead, revived by Logan
went on with the battle. It seemed
that knockouts agreed with Rathjen
A furry of tackles by Kenneth fol-
lowed each Of his bumps. Once, on
such an occasion, he seized a Bama
ball carrier by an arm and swung him
for a big loss.
Bespeaks Tide Powers.
THE devastating affect Of Alabama's
attack may be shown In a few
figures. Throughout the entire season
of 1884 only 20 first downs were
counted against the Colonials and
only one touchdown was scored
through their line-this by Louisiana
State. But yesterday the Buff and
Blue was forced to yield % first downs
and six touchdowns and total yard
age of 458, divided 302 by rushing and
156 by passing.
It was in keeping with George
Washington foot ball history Of recent
years that q little back cause it
misery. It seems that nearly every
important team the Colonials have
(See ALABAMA, Page B-14.)