Sarnia Collegiate Institute and Technical School - Collegiate Yearbook (Sarnia, Ontario Canada)

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THE COLL EGIATE 97 'KCZ1111 Ht OHCC Stilfted to OVCTCOINC the lead which St. Thomas had ac- quired at home. Playing a strong offensive game, they kept the ball in the visitors' territory for all the first period. The Saints, however, usually relieved the situation by punting the ball out of danger or executing successful dashes around the end, and neither team scored in the first period. Several Sarnia players were making yards consist- ently. Upon nearing the opponents' line, the Sarnia team suddenly changed their mode of attack to on- sides and Manore carried the ball to within four yards of the St. Thomas line. The visitors' defence tightened, but Newton, on two bucks. broke through and went over the line for a try. The convert was missed by inches and Sarnia was still one point down. This touch- down seemed to imbue new spirit into the Sarnia team and, aided by fumbled punts, which Richardson recovered, they were soon once more in a position to score. XYhen barely three yards out, the halftime whistle intervened and the chance for a try was lost. The St. Thomas team suffered a temporary lapse and the halves fumbled badly, while their line seemed unable to stop the Sarnia plungers from breaking through for gains, or to prevent them from intercepting the plays. Upon securing the ball. the S. C. l. team forced the Saints back and Hayes put Sarnia two points ahead when he kicked a perfect field goal from about thirty yards out. Con- tinuing their attack, Sarnia forced Moody to rouge. The Saints mo- mentarily tightened and kept play in centrefield. Then they came within striking distance and booted the ball over the Sarnia line to Hayes, who successfully ran it out. Richardson, snap for Sarnia, had been penalized for taking things too seriously and Bentley, who was en- tirely new to the position, replaced him. I-le misjudged his throw back to Hayes, when the latter was about to punt, and the ball rolled behind the Sarnia line, where sev- eral St. Thomas players fell on it. This gave them five points and again they were in the lead. The Sarnia team, with eight minutes to go, either had to overcome the two goal lead or accept defeat. Xkiith astonishing vigo1', they be- gan to accomplish what seemed im- possible. Fighting like demons. they made yards whenever they had pos- session of the ball and continually broke through and took it awav from their opponents. St. Thom'- as endeavored to save the situation and put everything on the line of defence. Sarnia recovered a fum- ble ten yards out and llayes from a most difficult angle, kicked a won- derful field goal. This put the S. C. l, again one point ahead. This com- pletely demoralized the St. Thomas team and things happened rapidly in the few remaining minutes. The op- posing halves fumbled disastrously twice and the Sarnia plungerf: were able to advance the ball within striking distance. Both times Moo- dy was forced to rouge. Realizing the importance of this game, and anticipating that the dif- ference of opinion between a Sarnia official and the St. Thomas team as to the proper interpretation of the interference rule might cause a great deal uf unpleasantness, the Sarnia management had arranged for two Toronto officials to handle this game. These officials abided closely by the rules and missed practically nothing. Sarnia suffer- ed a great deal from penalties for minor infringements such as hold- ing, while St. Thomas were fre- quently penalized for offsides and for usinff their running interference. -5 , S. C. l. 7 - Galt C. I. 2. A year ago last fall, the S. C. I., after eliminating St. Thomas C. I.. met the Galt Collegiate team in the semi-finals of the series at London in a sudden death game and quali- fied to play De LaSalle by defeating their opponents. Again, this year, both of these teams won their res-

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96 THE COLLEGIATE score in the first period, and, in the early part of the second, through llayes' punting and plunges by Sar- nia linemen, Sarnia advanced near- er and nearer the St. Thomas goal. Realizing that the chances for a touchdown were slim, llayes kicked to johns, the St. Thomas captain, behind the St. Thomas goal line. lie- fore he could get over from the line, he was tackled and, in attempting to push the ball over the line and out of danger, he lost it. Richardson of Sarnia recovered, but the referee disallowed this and St. Thomas was given possession of the ball at the place from which it had been kicked. l-ly determined plunging. they made substantial gains, but, when Sarnia tightened, they resorted to punting. On a drop kick by McCarthy, who missed a field goal by inches, Hayes was forced to rouge. After half-time, both teams main- tained the gruelling pace. Corey was laid out while stopping St. Thomas bucks, and F. Simpson re- r placed him. St. llhomas worked the ball to Sarnia's.fifteen yard line. Capt. Johns at quarter called for a Minnesota, and Kilmer of St. Thomas had the honour of carry- ing the ball across the Sarnia line, the only player to do so during the '21 season. This imbued the St. Thomas team with more spirit and, though Sarnia offered determined resistance, Hanna was forced to rouge. St. Thomas, with the score in their favor, played a defensive game, punting the ball frequently. The Sarnia backs returned and gen- erally forced the opposition back slightly. On such an exchange St. Thomas fumbled and Bentley and Simpson of Sarnia pushed for the ball. The latter secured it, and. with a clear field ahead, outsprinted the St. Thomas tacklers and placed the ball behind the St. Thomas goal line, but the referee overruled the umpire and declared that the ball was dead before Simpson recovered it. Determined to score. Sarnia now carried the play into St. Thom- as territory and llayes punted to the deadline for the only counter Sarnia gained in the game. Shortly after this, while St. Thomas was iii possession uf the ball at centre field, the final whistle blew. The S. V. I. team were royally en- tertained during their stay in- St. Thomas. The players were billet- ed and a dance was held in their honour by the St. Thomas team. S. C. I. 14 - St. Thomas C. I. 5 XYith a six point lead, the St. Thomas team came to Sarnia to play the return game on the fol- lowing Saturday full of confidence. The Sarnia boys put a crimp in their hopes when they overcame the six- point lead and won the district title by three points, I5-I2. It was an ideal rugby day and the field was in good shape. -lack Newton had been paying the school team a great deal of attention during the week pre- ceding this game, and the result of his coaching was at once apparent. Not only did the S. C. I. team play a much better offensive game, but they also knew how to combat the mode of attack used by St. Thomas. The result was, that seldom did the visiting team have the margin of play and Sarnia had the edge in practically every department, espec- ially in punting. Hayes played a wonderful game and it was chiefly due to his superb kicking that St. Thomas was eliminated. He was afforded excellent protection by the line and almost invariably the St. Thomas halfbacks were downed by tyxo or three Sarnia tacklers as soon as they received the ball. This gruelling somewhat unnerved the visiting backs and they fumbled disastrously several times towards the close of the game. The St. Thomas line bucks seldom gained yards, being stopped almost as soon as they hit the Sarnia line, and their most successful groundgainer was Moody, who dashed around the end for several substantial gains, but he was unable to stand the strenuous play and tired badly. The Sarnia

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98 THE COLLEGIATE pective districts and, since the East- ern series was far from being fin- ished, these two teams played home and home games. Galt played the first game here on Saturday, Nov. 13. For two days before, it snowed heavily, leaving the field covered with almost six inches of snow. Friday noon, it ceased. The boys of the school were given half the afternoon off and all trooped to the Athletic Field with shovels to clear as much of the snow off as possi- ble. They worked hard and greatly improved conditions. Then. to the disgust of all, Fate decreed that it should snow again Friday night and the field was again covered with snow. However, scrapers were hired in the morning and. working diligently. the men were able to clear off all the snow except a cov- ering of about two inches. The game was played under these con- ditions and, as a result, no real rug- by could be displayed. It seemed that whichever team coralled the most breaks would win. Buzz Hayes, who was ill, was unable to play the first half, and the punting duties fell to Hanna and Bentley. with Dutch Simpson calling signals. lYith the changed lineup, the S. C. I. team did not seem able to get under way. Newton, Gabler and Pugh would make yards repeatedly and advance the ball up the field, only to have all their work undone when, Raynor, the Galt kicker, who was able to punt the ball farther than any other kicker the S. C. I. team has met for four years. After his team secured posession of the hall would kick it back beyond the place where the Sarnia attack had started. As the ball soon became very wet and hard to handle, fum- bles were frequent. End runs and extended trick plays were made im- possible by the condition of the ground, and both teams relied al- most altogether on straight bucks, kicking and sometimes, an onside kick. Corey played perhaps his best game of the season, plunging for long gains repeatedly. On the other line. liribbs seemed to be the greatest ground gainer. Knowing their superiority in distance kicking. Galt invariably used this mode of attack and following down fast, re- covered any fumbles or prevented the Sarnia halves from running the ball back any great distance. Ray- nor used good judgment in placing his punts and made the Sarnia halves run for them. In the first and second period, Galt was forced to rouge twice but Raynor evened things up by booting the ball across the Sarnia line twice in the third period. Hayes came on at halftime, however. and with him to oppose Raynor. Sarnia began a march down the field which the Galt team was unable to stop. The Sarnia line buckers repeatedly smashed through the opposing line for yards. Thev forced the visitors back to their own line and, with a yard to go, G. Simpson slipped through centre for a try which was not converted. Shortly after this, as Sarnia was again smashing her way down the field, the whistle blew and the S. C. I. team had a five goal lead to take to Galt. Again, it was the Sarnia team- work that won.. Galt had a well drilled team but were not quite so strong, either on the defensive or the offensive, as that of the S. C. l. Robinson made his first appearance with the school team, taking Hayes' .position till the latter came on. -He is rather light for bucking but, fighting all the time, he broke through for several gains and had many recovered fumbles to his cred- lt. S. C. I. 10 - Galt C. I. 1. Luckily a thaw set in and before the next Saturday, most of the snow Instead of snow- had disappeared. ing it was raining, and a strong wind was blowing lengthwise across the Galt field. The field, which was the best gridiron the Sarnia boys had seen for some time. though slip- pery, was in better shape than was expected and the game was fast and