Middlesex School - Yearbook (Concord, MA)

Page 45 text:

MIDDLESEX SCHOOL g g Coisigcoigo, gMAss. ally was, it never gave up. What it lacked in skill and polish, it made up as best it could with determination. That it finally emerged a smooth working piece of machinery at the end of the season is all to the credit of the coaches, Mr. Pratt and Mr. Alexander. Congratulations are due to Mr. Pratt for his first team as head coach, and to Mr. Alexander who with only a pair of excellent ends and absolutely green material to work from, made the line what it finally was. The material in September was good. Although captain-elect Garfield did not return, the presence of six lettermen provided a nucleus from which the team was built. Although previous experience was unusually small this season, by the time of the Trade game, the team was ready, and proved it by winning 13-0. ln the second quarter, Lennihan scored standing up on a lateral from Barron. Mead's conversion being successful, and later, in the final period, Truesdale scored on a plunge. Yet the game showed that our offense was weak and spot- ty, a defect which was to beset us up to the final game of the season. The following Saturday we met Governor Dummer here at Concord. We were set for a tough game, since Dummer was supposed to be the best team on our schedule. However, they were not what we had expected. Again as in the Trade game we forced the play all afternoon. scoring on a run by Barron and later, on a buck by Lennihan. Yet again, the main trouble of the team was its offense, for although we set up several opportunities to score, we could cap- italize on only two, and won l4-O. Page Forty-ont'

Page 44 text:

MipO1-EsEx SCHOOL gg CONCORD, MASS FOOTBALL , g 4 Q y I-'mul Row: l.ittle. Brown. Sundback. Parsons. Barron. Foster. Mtidtile Row: Mead. Freeman, I.. Clay. Hartwell. Capt, Nathanson. l,ennihan. Bigelow. J. Winscmr. Middendorf. Huck Row. Mr. Pratt. Howard. Uraper, Vvhxdc. Truesclale. Childs. R. Johnson. Thorne. Mr. Alexander Manager Reynolds, The team of IQ43 was not one of the great teams that have appeared at Middlesex. Yet its record was remarkable. and with luck it could easily have been one of the great. Only One Opponent ever scored upon it. and even then it came from behind to lead at the half. The team was young and for the most part green, which accounts for the fact that its best games were played at the end Of the season. lt made mistakes, but somehow learned to correct them. But most important of all. it had spirit. Even when Outplayed. as it Occasionf piltlv lfrxrlu

Page 46 text:

MIDDLESEX SCHooL CONCORD, MASS. The annual St. Georges game having been cancelled, the game with Groton Seemed our most important. We went into the game nervous and met a team which proved to be as strong as we had heard. Groton took advantage of our uneasiness and scored in the first quarter, their try for the after point being blocked. Sobered, we held them with some difficulty, until in the second period, with two minutes to play, Barron threw a long pass to Winsor in the end zone. to tie the score. Mead's conversion put us ahead at the end of the half 7-6. But not for longg Groton came back even stronger in the second half, and in spite of occasional good defensive play on the part of Middlesex, scored twice more to go ahead 19-7. Yet the team. showing characteristic spirit, started a belated drive in the last quarter which only the final whistle terminated deep in Groton territory. After a week of intensive drill, which attempted to remedy some of the faults evidenced against Groton. we set out for St. lVlark's. The St. Mark's team was heavy and fast, one of their best in recent years. Early in the game we threatened when Hartwell intercepted a pass in St. lVlark's trritory, and again later, when Barron ran the ball to the St. Marks twenty and a pass put it on their one-yard line. But a misunderstood signal upset our offense, and St. Mark's took the ball on downs. Striking back. St. Mark's twice brought the ball within our ten-yard line on first downs, but our line withstood everything thrown against it, and the game ended with both teams scoreless. With the two most important games past, the team seemed to relax from its nervousness and to acquire some of the polish that had been lacking thus far Page lforlu-two