At last! The day of the game! Many a boy awoke that morning to blink sleepily for a moment and then, full consciousness sweeping upon him, to experience a sudden tightening at the heart and a resultant shortness of breath. The moment he had been looking forward to for fifty-odd days was at hand! The greatest event of the school year was rushing toward him! It was enough to make any fellow feel a bit queer, a bit scared, too, for that matter. By evening he would be either triumphant and proud and happy or sickeningly disappointed, with the feeling that everything had dropped away from under him! So much depended on those short two hours of the afternoon!
The morning had a keen nip to it. The warm spell had taken its departure. The sky was blue, with an occasional slowly sailing cloud, and the sun was warm in sheltered places. But there was a frosty tang in the air, and Winter seemed just[279] over the hills, ready at a moment’s notice to pounce down upon the Autumn world. A light breeze came out of the northwest and forbade loitering in shaded places. It was an ideal day for the game, with a dry field assured and small favor to either end of it.
In the forenoon Yardley got her first taste of victory, Gerald’s Cross-Country Team simply running away from Broadwood and winning 22 to 83. Yardley finished five men ahead of the first Broadwood runner, and then brought her sixth man in in eighth place and her seventh in ninth. Harry finished in fourth position, two minutes behind Gerald, who easily led the field all the way and trotted over the line smiling and seemingly fresh after his three-mile journey.
Later there was an early dinner in commons, and at a little past one o’clock the boys began to depart for Broadwood. Every sort of conveyance that the town of Greenburg afforded was on hand. Gerald piled his big automobile full of friends: Harry and The Duke and Lin Johnson, still in bandages, and others we haven’t met. The First Team journeyed to the scene of the game in a long barge drawn by three horses, and the Second Team had chartered a similar vehicle and followed close behind, in a cloud of dust and a holiday mood. The game was to begin at two-fifteen,[280] and by half after one Yardley presented the appearance of a deserted village. I doubt if there remained behind more than three or four of the faculty and “Mr. McCarthy,” the janitor.
For details regarding the two teams which lined up against each other that afternoon we can do no better than consult the Greenport News. Here, then, is what the News published:
HOW BIG PREP SCHOOLS WILL LINE UP TO-DAY
YARDLEY BROADWOOD
Player Age Height Weight Weight Height Age Player
Cousins, l.e. 19 5.10 161 165 5.11 20 r.e., Thurston
Plant, l.t. 18 5.10 174 193 5.08 19 r.t., Scott
Fales, l.g. 18 5.11 176 191 6.00 19 r.g., Browne
Girard, c. 19 5.10 189 151 5.08 19 c., O’Brien
Merriwell, r.g. 19 5.08 162 174 5.10 18 l.g., Smith
Stark, r.t. 17 5.11 176 185 5.11 20 l.t., Peebles
Adler, r.e. 16 5.07 153 167 5.09 17 l.e., Furniss
Simms, q.b. 18 5.08 152 157 5.09 17 q.b., Saunders
Crandall, l.h.b. 17 5.09 163 167 5.10 18 r.h.b., Reid
Burtis, r.h.b. 16 5.08 153 159 5.09 17 l.h.b., Raynor
Marion, f.b. 18 5.10 172 173 5.11 18 f.b., Gordon
Average weight of line, 170 lbs. Average weight of line 1751/7 lbs.
Average weight of back field, 160 lbs. Average weight of back field, 164 lbs.
Average weight of team, 1665/11 lbs. Average weight of team, 1711/11 lbs.
Officials—A. D. Stone, Brown, Referee; Chas. Parent, Princeton, Umpire; H. I. Morris, Yale, Linesman.
Time—15 minute quarters.
By two o’clock Yardley had taken possession of its section of the small stand and was overflowing all along the ropes on the west side of the field. Blue flags, white lettered, were abundant. Across the gridiron Broadwood massed her cohorts and waved her green banners. Fathers and[281] mothers, sisters and brothers, aunts and cousins, faculty and townsfolk were present in numbers, while Old Boys of both schools swaggered about, patronizing, resplendent. The cheering began when the two teams trotted on from opposite corners, and it continued with only brief pauses until the final whistle sounded.
Broadwood won the toss and chose the north goal, Yardley kicking off to Saunders on his ten-yard line. The Green’s quarter ran back to the thirty-eight yards before he was smothered. The same player immediately fumbled, and Plant fell on the ball after it had rolled to Broadwood’s forty-seven yards. Two plays gained little, the Green line showing wonderful defensive powers, and Kendall kicked to Broadwood’s five-yard line. Saunders caught and ran back seven yards before he wa............