St Ignatius College - Ignatian Yearbook (San Francisco, CA)

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NHOPELESS HARD Y 19 Crouched on the side lines, jack Hardy watched the Stoneiield fullback gather in the kick, run forward until the crimson pack was on him, then boot a full thirty yards to touch. On the line out a Parker forward hooked the ball and passed back to the half. From back to back sped the ball, and the Parker machine swept down the field until Johnson, the center three-quarters, fumbled and Andrews kicked out of danger. The Stonefield forwards followed rapidly and smothered Parker's attack. Then Carey was declared off-side and the resulting free kick netted the crimson a gain of thirty yards. Once more the Parker forwards secured the ball and passed out to the backs. This time the ball was carried to the Stonefield goal line. Andrews kicked but the ball was blocked and went out of bounds ten yards from the line. The toss in was crooked and immediately the whistle shrilled. Crimson and blue rapidly fell into the formation, which to Hardy was Rugby's most unintelligible feature. Back and' forth strained the pack until the ball bounded out into the waiting hands of Carter, the crimson half. Roar, roar, roar arose from the Parker stands as Carter twisted, dodged and squirmed past the lighting Stoneiield squad and fell across the line. Carter, with a triumphant grin upon his dirt-begrimed features, carried the ball out the required distance and crouched upon the ground. johnson, the crimson center- three, advanced upon the ball, and as it touched the earth booted straight for the white cross bar. The crimson shouts of triumph were drowned out in the roaring of Stonefield's adherents as a sudden gust of wind caught the ball and car- ried it wide of the mark. A moment later the Stonelield team was charging down the field after the drop out. Parker secured the ball and speedily rushed it back into the blue territory. From side to side of the field went the ball, now in Parker territory, but nearly always in the blue. On Stonefield's twenty-five yard line the blue warriors made a determined stand, but the ball was still bounding toward

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18 IGNATIAN Rugby was woefully lacking. Nevertheless Coach I-Iorgan kept him with the squad. I-Ie's better than the men who were dropped, said Hor- gan when asked. just wait till he learns the finer points of the game. Yet the most sanguine could not but fear that this would never be. Try as he might, jack could not forget the prin- ciples driven into him at Michigan. In the few games in which he took part, Jack would furiously attempt to buck his way through the center of the opposition, expecting his team- mates to follow with the ball. As a forward, Jack was continually off side, and so tan- gled up his teammates' play that Coach I-Iorgan, in despair, was finally forced to relegate him to the side lines. No use, muttered Coach Horgan. I guess it's a hope- less case. And Hopeless Hardy, as his teammates dubbed him, was forced to fill in as understudy to Andrews, the Stonefield fullback. The annual struggle with Parker University was the last game upon Stonef1eld's schedule. Parker was Stonefield's rival in war and peace, but especially in football. In the preliminary games, Parker had run tremendous scores against teams that Stonefield had experienced great difficulty in even defeating. Small wonder that the supporters of the blue viewed the approaching struggle with trepidation. The game was to be played at Stonefield. On the day of the struggle, train after train of crimson beribboned rooters poured into Stonefield. The hour of the contest saw the huge stands filled to overflowing with the rival rooters. Suddenly from an open gate there streamed forth a long line of crimson-stockinged athletes, that swept down the chalk-lined field. There was a tremendous upheaval in the crimson stands as Parker thundered forth a greeting to its team. The roar of the Parker contingent was drowned out in the booming of Stonefield's adherents as Capt. Davis led his team upon the field. Five minutes later the whistle shrilled, the crimson half-back's toe met the leather and the momentous struggle was on. I inf -- 3 I 1 'a iw 'Z l 1 2 1 .35 xl

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20 IGNATIAN Stonefield's line when the timekeeper's gun sounded the end of the first half. Parker's three points had been all the scoring. The second half was bitterly contested but devoid of any feature until fifteen minutes had elapsed. Then Andrews, backbone of the blue defense, falling before a dribbling rush, was kicked in the head and carried from the field. Hardy! called Capt. Davis as the teams halted for time outf' Jack trotted out to his position as the blue stands broke into a volley of rahs ending up with Hopeless Hardy. Jack merely grinned. Four times the crimson forwards broke through the Stonefield defense and bore down upon the new fullback. Four times they were repelled by the Herculean efforts of Jack Hardy. As if inspired by the playing of the Sophomore fullback the blue braced and for the first time in the game assumed the offensive. Capt. Davis broke 'through for a run of twenty yards. On Parker's ,twenty-five yard line the two teams fought furiously for possession of the leather. Score! Score! Score ! boomed forth the Stonefield stands. Up and down, back and forth, swept the tide of battle, Stone- field fighting every inch of the way and Parker yielding only after their every effort had proven futile. Only a minute more, barked a substitute from the side lines. Unconsciously Jack crept closer to the fray. Suddenly out of the melee shot the ball straight towards the Stonefield fullback. With the Parker forwards bearing down upon him, memories of the old game, the game with Chicago, flashed upon Jack's mind. What had been done then might well be done now. Even as the Parker forwards sprang before him, Jack shifted slightly, dropped the ball, and as it rebounded sent it spinning end over end, between the white goal posts. The roaring of the frenzied Stonefield rooters drowned out the crack of the timekeeper's pistol announcing the end of the game. jack Hardyis drop kick from the field put Stonefield in the lead by one point. That was all that worried any of the wild-eyed Stonefield supporters.