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

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THE COLLEGIATE 99 strenuous. The score does not alto- gether indicate the play as it was close and full of thrills. Sarnia chose the wind and Galt kicked off to the S. C. I. Bucks were not near- ly as effective as punts and, with the aid of the wind and good judg- ment in kicking. the Galt goal line was soon threatened. Several times, the ball was booted across the line but Tinning, the speedy Galt fly- ing wing, and Raynor successfully eluded the Sarnia tacklers and brought the ball out of danger. The play still remained in Galt terri- tory and Hayes kicked a neat field goal from their twenty-five yard line. ln the same quarter, Haves punted over the Galt line again, and they were forced to rouge. ln the second quarter, the wind began to shift and was soon blowing across the field, This caused the ball to re- peatedly go out of touch and neither team was able to cross the other's line. Play surged up and down the field with both teams tackling hard. Hanna retired for a few minutes but came on when Simpson sprained his ankle. The latter pluckily re- mained at quarter to get the ball out, on the offensive. ln this half, both Hanna and Hayes showed ster- ling ability to run back punts. ln the third quarter, the wind shifted only slightly and neither team held the advantage. Galt started strongly and, by letter-per- fect trick plays and bewildering speed, made great gains. Then, Sar- nia began an offensive of their own and, after some effective line buck- ing, Hanna secured the ball and, on an end run, dashed from nearly cen- trefield to within two yards of the opponents' line. On the next down. Gabler had little trouble in carrying the ball over for a touch. The wind had again veered and, in the last quarter, Sarnia still had the wind behind them. They again worked their way to near the Galt line but lost the advantage when they were penalized for holding. Through fumbles, the Sarnia team were for- ced down the field into their own territory. Hayes punted to relieve the situation and Tinning returned the punt, his kick rolling out of touch a few feet behind the Sarnia line. Galt thus secured their one point. just before the final whis- tle blew, Sarnia kicked to Kaynor who was forced to rouge. S. C. I. 20 - Oakwood C. I. CTorontoJ 0. Through a delay in the Eastern Series, the S. C. l. was ordered to play Oakwood C. l. of Toronto, which had eliminated the other To- ronto Collegiates and thus qualified for the semi-finals, The Sarnia team endeavored to arrange home- and-home games. but Wal-iwood, be- cause of financial disability, was not able to acquiesce and agreed tu play a sudden death game in Sarnia on Sat. Nov. 36th. They had little dif- ficulty in winning their series in Toronto, and, before they came to Sarnia, no opponent had crossed their line for a try, so the Sarnia team were, to say the least, appre- hensive of the outcome. The S. C. I. team started off with a rush and played Rugby for the whole sixty minutes. jack Newton later used the words that the team played over its head and, in truth, the team never worked more smoothly or played better Rugby. This, perhaps- explains why the Gakwood team was defeated, zo-o. The score does not by any means in- dicate the play, as this was closely contested at all periods of the game, The field was not slippery but rath- er spongy, and the Toronto team appeared to have difficulty in adapt- ing themselves to it. Sarnia kick- ed off and, shortly afterwards, re- ceived possession of the ball, when Abbey kicked it out of touch. The Oakwood line was heavier than the Sarnia line and few long gains were made by our line plungers. End runs and onsides were thus used to advance the ball towards the oppon- ents' line. These succeeded and Hayes punted to Abbey, who kick- ed from behind the line, the ball

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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

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IOO THE COLLEGIATE again going out of touch at the fif- teen yard line. Then Newton and tlabler carried the ball to within a few yards of the Oakwood line and G. Simpson went through centre for a touch. Hayes added one more point, when he converted from a very difficult angle. Play remain- ed in the Oakwood territory though llinsmore and his halves made some substantial gains by end runs.. He- again came within striking distance again came within strikink distance and Hayes booted to the deadline making the Sarnia total seven. lt was the same in the second period. Play surged up and down the field but the Sarnia line was ' never threatened. Hayes, who was boot- ing superbly, twice punted the ball across the Oakwood line and the Sarnia tacklers downed the half- back before he could get out. Rich- ardson, tlarvie and Manore were down under every kick and were tackling hard. Towards the last, the Oakwood halves were weakening under the gruelling. In the second half, Sarnia was still on the offensive and Qakwood was making determined efforts to score. Both teams exchanged punts and Sarnia again forced Cak- wood to rouge. Hanna, on an end run, advanced the ball to within a few yards of the opponents' line but, though the Sarnia team tried for a touch three times. they failed by a few inches. Receiving the ball, Oakwood attempted to kick it out of danger but were forced to rouge when their kick was blocked. In the last period, Abbey was forced to rouge before he could run Hayes' punt into safety and, short- ly after this, when the latter nar- rowly missed a field goal, the ball rolled to the deadline for another point. A minute later, still anoth- er point was added, when a Sarnia punt crossed the deadline. Then Sarnia shifted her mode of attack and commenced to use onside kicks continuously. Garvie and Manore both made long gains, advancing the ball, so that Hayes was able to punt across the line. rouging Mc- Fadyen. XYith a commanding lead, Sarnia was afforded an opportunity to use her substitutes and Richard'- son and Simpson were relieved bv lid. Robinson and Fred Simpson, Iii the closing minutes of the game, Garvie made a spectacular leap into the air and succeeded in catching an onside just behind the Oakwood line, scoring five more points for Sarnia. Play was resumed and the final whistle blew with both teams struggling near centre field. s. c. 1., 15 -. U. T. s., 5. Hy defeating Oakwood, the S. C. I. earned the right to play off with the winner of the Eastern Series for the Championship. The winner of this series was not decided till the week after the game with Oakwood and, thus it was not till two weeks later, December ioth, that the Sar- nia team met the team representing University of Toronto Schools in a sudden death game on the XX'ood- stock College Campus. For the first half .it was doubtful who would an- nex the title but, in the second half, the Sarnia team outscored and out- played the Toronto team and the final score was I5 to 5. There was a great difference in the character of the two teams. L'.T.S., coached by Mike Rodden, was composed of players who had been taught the game well and knew Rugby thor- oughly, but all the work was left to three men-Munro, their quarter, Cawkell, their plunging half, and Plaxton, their punter, The Sarnia team, coached by black Newton, on the other hand, was composed of no such spectacular players but the coach had imbued into them the proper fighting spirit, teamwork, and a knowledge of the finer points of the game. Thus, it was a game between a team with an all star half division and an average line. and a team possessing no outstand- ing stars but brilliant teamwork. Sarnia kicked off and Hayes gave the spectators their initial thrill by