The first half of the Beechcroft-Fairview game may be easily disposed of. There was no scoring, nor did either team get within scoring distance of the opponent’s goal. From the moment Beechcroft kicked off, and the Fairview left tackle caught the ball and brought it back ten yards before being downed, the battle raged hotly in the center of the field. Not once did Fairview get beyond her enemy’s thirty-yard line, and not once did Beechcroft penetrate even so far into the opponent’s territory. After a few tries at the ends, which ended disastrously for her, Fairview buckled down to hammer-and-tongs football. There were no weak places in the light-blue line, and time and time again Fairview failed by the merest fraction of a foot to gain her distance. There was almost no kicking. On one occasion, having been driven back to her[256] twenty-five yards, Beechcroft punted, in the hope that Fairview would fumble. But, although Hansel was waiting beside the red-and-blue left half back when the ball came down, that player went to earth with the oval firmly clasped.

It was uninteresting playing, or it would have been, had not the two or three thousand persons who looked on been enthusiastic partisans. The worst of it all, from a Beechcroft point of view, was that during that first period of play, Fairview showed herself a little better in defense, and noticeably stronger in attack. When the whistle blew, the two teams, panting and exhausted, were above Beechcroft’s thirty-five-yard line. The home team, joined by the blanketed substitutes, trotted up the terrace to the gymnasium, while the visitors retired into the shelter of the two barges which had brought them from the station. The crowd moved about, such as were not fearful of losing good seats, and for ten minutes the green presented a scene of gayety quite unwonted. Then back came the light-blue players, and were welcomed with thundering cheers; and out tumbled the Fairview men and received their meed of applause.

[257]

Beechcroft had the west goal. It was Fairview’s kick-off. Bert received the ball and made well over twenty yards through a crowded field. An attempt to get around Fairview’s left end lost four yards, Conly being thrown back. A tandem play with Bert carrying the ball netted three yards. On third down, with six yards to gain, Cotton kicked. The ball went almost straight into the air and came down into the crowd. Love, the Beechcroft left tackle, recovered it. After that, by alternate attacks at guards and tackles, Beechcroft advanced the ball by a series of short rushes for thirty yards. On the opponent’s thirty-eight yards she was held for downs, and the pigskin went to the red and blue.

Fairview began a merciless hammering at the right side of Beechcroft’s line, confining her attention largely to Mulford at tackle. Beechcroft’s hopes dwindled. Back down the field advanced the red and blue, slowly at first, then, as Mulford weakened, faster and faster, making gains of three, four, even six yards at a time. Hansel went to the rescue of his tackle, and Lockhard and Bert threw themselves time and[258] again at his back. Had the secondary defense not been what it was the story of the second half might be speedily told. On her twenty yards, Beechcroft called for time. Mulford, weak and white, and woe-begone, was taken out and Carew took his place. A tentative try at the newcomer proved to Fairview that she must look elsewhere for consistent gains. A clever double pass enabled her quarter to get around King, at left end, and he reeled off twelve precious yards before Cotton nabbed him. Beechcroft was now almost at her last ditch, and a score for the red and blue looked certain. A tandem went through for two yards between Royle and Stevens, and the Fairview right half dug himself into Love for one more. Then it was third down, with two to go. Beechcroft was almost under her crossbar; only five yards lay between the ball and the goal line. From across the field came the incessant appeals of the light-blue adherents to “Hold ’em! Hold ’em! Hold ’em!”

And hold them she did. Not an inch was gained by the next play, although the Fairview tandem smashed viciously at right guard and the balance of the team threw themselves behind[259] it. The attack was crumpled up, and when the piled-up mass of bodies was disentangled the ball lay fairly on the white line.

Down the field sailed the ball, and under it raced Hansel. On Fairview’s forty yards it plumped into the arms of the red-and-blue quarter who, the next instant, was on his face on the turf, three yards nearer his goal, with Hansel hugging his legs. Then it began all over again, that remorseless charge down the field. Fairview’s fast, heavy backs crashed into the opponent’s line for short, steady gains. Near the middle of the field the light blue received the ball on penalty, only to lose it again the next moment by a fumbled pass from Cotton to Lockhard. A weak place suddenly developed at center, where Royle, despite his size and weight, had been clearly outplayed all along by the man opposite him who, although many pounds lighter, was quick and heady. Past Beechcroft’s thirty yards crashed the conquerors, past her twenty-five, past her twenty. Then time was called for an injury to Bert. But even as the spectators discussed hopelessly or cheerfully, according to the colors they wore, what would happen if the[260] Beechcroft captain was taken out, he was up again and was limping along his line, thumping the fellows on back or shoulder, and hoarsely calling upon them to hold.

Two downs netted Fairview three yards. Captain and quarter held a consultation, and then right half dropped back for a place kick from the thirty-yard line. Quarter threw himself upon the turf, and the onlookers held their breaths. Back flew the ball on a good pass, quarter caught it, turned it, cocked it toward the crossbar, and right half, with a quick glance toward the goal, stepped forward and kicked. But Beechcroft, goaded by desperation, had broken through, and the ball rebounded from Stevens’s broad chest as he sprang into the air. Half a dozen men threw themselves toward it, but it was Royle who captured it.

For a time the tide of fortune seemed to have turned. Beechcroft hammered desperately at the Fairview line and managed to work the ball back to her fifty-yard line. But there Carew was caught holding, and Fairview received fifteen yards. Cotton kicked poorly, and it was Fairview’s ball again on her fifty-three yards.[261] Once more the advance began. But this time each attack brought a longer gain. Beechcroft was weakening all along her line. On her forty yards the Fairview quarter, fearful perhaps that not enough time remained in which to cover the remaining distance by line plunging, tried a run and got away without difficulty between Love and King, the latter allowing himself to be put entirely out of the play. But Conly tackled him at the end of ten- or twelve-yard sprint, and the fierce plunges at the center began again. This time, surely, thought the watchers, nothing could stay Fairview’s progress. Twice Beechcroft had valiantly staved off defeat, but that she could do so again was too much to expect. Yet as her opponent neared the goal, the light blue’s defense strengthened. Past the twenty-five-yard line crept the foe, yet succeeding attacks netted shorter and shorter gains, and over on the stands the Beechcroft supporters took courage and never paused in their cheering. Twelve yards from the goal line the advance stopped. The Fairview left tackle, at the head of a tandem, was hurled back for a loss, and the ball went to Beechcroft.

[262]

There remained but four minutes of playing time. On the Beechcroft stand and along the right of the upper side of the field pale-blue flags waved and flourished, and voices hoarsely shouted their delight. Beechcroft’s only hope now was to keep her rival from scoring; all idea of winning the game herself had long since passed away; a no-score game would be enough. On the side line Mr. Ames, watching grimly, mentally petitioned the Fates for an 0 to 0 result. But perhaps the Fates didn’t hear him.

Cotton, realizing that their only hope lay in keeping the ball out of Fairview’s hands for the next four minutes decided not to kick until forced to. On the first play the ball went to Bert, and Bert, aching, wearied, limping, smashed his way like a cyclone through Fairview’s line for five yards. Again he was given the ball, but this time no gain resulted. Then it was Lockhard’s turn, and he managed to get a bare yard outside of right tackle. With four yards to gain on third down, a kick or a fake was the only hope. Cotton decided upon the latter. He dropped back to the five-yard line, the defense formed about him, and Royle passed back the[263] ball. But it never reached Cotton, in spite of the fact that he went through the motions of catching and kicking it, and in spite of the fact that half the opposing team rushed down upon him. Lockhard had the pigskin nestled into the crook of his elbow, and was streaking around the right end of his line with a small but well-working interference. Hansel had put the opposing tackle out of the way, and Bert had sent the Fairview end sprawling on his back, and through the resulting hole Lockhard had sped. Ten yards beyond, Bert, handicapped by a wrenched knee, dropped back and only Lockhard and Hansel kept up the running.

“Lockhard ... was streaking around the right end of his line.”

But now the field, friend and foe alike, had taken up the chase, while ahead, coming warily down upon them, was the Fairview quarter back. Both Lockhard and Hansel were fast runners, though the latt............