Port Huron High School - Student Yearbook (Port Huron, MI)

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tucked it under his arm and started toward the distant goal. Eight, yards was all he made before a Hartford man crashed down upon him. Then came a quick line up and the ball was put through the line again and again, each time for a good gain.. The Court rooters shouted their triumph. Within the next six minutes the ball was put over the line and a goal kicked. Both teams lined up again for the kick off with Hartford receiving. Through came Smith, the heavy fullback, with the ball stowed safely in his arms. He easily made five yards. Another line up. Again and again the fullback was given the ball, and this time a battle began in which the wearers of the Crimson were pushed back and the Blues pursued. Gains were made everywhere and anywhere. The guards and tack- les yielded time and again as though they were half the size of their opponents. Once Hartford fumbled and lost the ball, but shortly recovered it, and the mass moved back again over the lost ground nearer to the Court goal. The Crimson de- fensive made a desperate stand on her ten-yard line and suc- ceeded in staying her opponent for a short time, but it was only a matter of a few minutes when Hartford hurled her fullback through at last for a touchdown. For several minutes the Hartford rooters went mad. Court made no attempt to drown their cheers, but here and there, crimson flags waved defiantly at the hurling blue. They made their goal easily, and the Crimson line return- ed disheartened again to play. For the rest of the half the players surged up and down the field, neither making more than small gains over the other. When the whistle for the sec- ond half blew each team was fully determined to fight as it had never fought before. So determined were they that they worked up and down, getting dangerously near the enemy’s goal, only to be brought back again. The end of the third quarter came as a distinct relief to players and spectators alike. Surely something must happen either way now. Both teams could not possibly hold out as they were doing. Balmer, though hating to admit it, even to himself, felt that his men 1 7 • ' Sr

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throat, he wished desperately that Balmer would leave, for he could not hear to have even his best friend, who had stood so staunchly by him, and urged him on during the last two weeks see him acting so childishly. Balmer must have sensed liis feeling, for after an understanding slap on the back, he quickly left. The time for the game to be called was half past two, but already at two the sidelines were thronged and people were pouring in at the entrance. The Hartford warriors had brought a large crowd of rooters with them and from their stand on the north side they sent a burst of songs and yells across the field. These the Court supporters answered back in no poor style, under the direction of their agile yell-master, Hee- ter. Wesley Balmer, on his way to the dressing rooms heard his name called, and turning saw Dean’s sister beckoning to him. “Oh Wes, do you know where Bob is?” she asked excited- iy- “Isn’t he here? He must be on the field some place.” “He hasn’t been home all morning, and the machine is gone, too. Mother is so worried because he didn’t come home at noon.” Troubled and anxious he continued on his way to the dressing room, telling himself that Dean would surely be there. But only the team standing around Byers, the coach, were to be seen, and he could tell that they were just learning that Dean was not going to play. None of them could remem- ber having seen him that morning and it was a none too con- fident captain who led his men out five minutes later. Over the field the two elevens spread, while cheer after cheer rang out. There came a bare five minutes of punting, dropping, passing and snapping before the officials appeared and gathered the opposing captains to them. A coin spun in the air, descended and was caught. The cheering ceased, the whistle sounded shrilly and the new ball soared in the air. Down it settled in the arms of the Court right half back who 16

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were weakening though it he ever so little. The referee wa lifting the whistle to his lips, when a mighty shout burs: from the sidelines. Tearing across the field in his football attire, head gear in hand, came Dean. The substitute left half, without being told quickly retired to the lines, and Dean ran panting into his place. The feelings of the principal, who was present, were mix- ed. His first impulse was to go and order Dean from the field, but to tell the truth he was overjoyed at seeing him, and knew if the team stood any chance of winnnig, Dean must play. He was decidedly human, and while he hesitated, he was lost, for the whistle to play shrilled over the field. With the sudden appearance of Dean, new courage seem- ed to be instilled into the Court players. Dean was hard work- ed, but fresher than the rest of the team. Again and again he plugged away at the opposing line — first right, then left. Twice in the next five minutes the ball, by the hardest kind of work, was placed in the ten-yard line, and twice it was lost on downs and sent back to mid-field. The time-keepers claimed the game almost done. With only five minutes left to play, it only remained, as it seemed, for Hartford to hold the plunging Crimson line back and keep the game a tie, and so win what would have been as good as a victory. Down came the Crim- son once more to the twenty-yard line, but here they stopped. On a pass from quarter to left halfback, Dean fumbled the ball, dived after it and fell o i a Hartford guard, who had plunged through and lay with the pigskin safe beneath him. Dean’s agony was torturing, as he picked himself up; to do such a thing when he knew they ' depended on him to save the day! He turned away from the almost tearful glance of Hollins, the quarter. In the next few minutes he must make a touchdown, or he felt he could never live it down. Hartford kicked the ball and Dorpe, the Court full, had it, was off, and then tackled. The cheers from the north side were so deafening that Dean could scarcely hear the quarter’s voice giving the signal. The play was one with which he and 18