Wells High School - Crimson and Gray Yearbook (Southbridge, MA)

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THE CRIMSON AND GRAY 11 Dpponents mis judgments, he tore off fifty yards before he was stopped. Slowly, but surely Meredith approached the goal. On the three yard line, with one down to go Wadsworth took the ball and an and run found him over the line ; incidentally Meredith had her opponents six to nothing. Witherton was not to be so easily beaten, however, for about ten seconds before the whistle blew, a forward pass by Witherton ' s full-back, to Daly, that academy ' s crack end resulted in a touch down for Witherton, no small amount of credit being given to Daly. A. minute ' s rest and the last quarter began. Coach Ayres was heard to tell Dick to stay where he was ; he ' d be needed soon. The ball changed hand three times before Meredith got on Witherton ' s fifteen yard line. Coach Ayres called for time out, and 3 ' Connell, the great back was takenout, and ry replaced him. The whistle was blown and 3lay was resumed. A fumble and a recovery found Meredith back five yards on the twen- ;y yard line. Suspecting an end run the op- Dosing team took a formation toward its pre- tention. Ty rubbed his hands a little nerv- usly, perhaps, and looked at Cap for a sort )f assurance. A smile seemed to do the work because when the signals were called Ty re- ceived the ball to perfection, and with that Deculiar kick of his sent it soaring between ;he uprights and over the cross-bar. Three more points for Meredith. The meering was deafening for it had been a beautiful boot, and had put Meredith in the ead. Play was resumed but the quarter end- id with the score nine to six in favor of Mer- edith. Ty was escorted from the field by a jroup of ardent admirers, The congratulations from Cap Wadsworth vere, perhaps, the most cherished of them all for if it hadn ' t been for Cap, Dick, in all prob- ibility, would never have played. At the closing of the academy for the win- ;er vacation the letters were awarded for football. As Dick ' s name was read and he ose to receive his letter, a great cheer arose ilso, for the students had not forgotten that tick of his, which practically gave them the ;up. With a sheepish grin on his flushed J ace Dick reached out for his letter. His etter, an insignificant piece of felt, and yet t meant all the world to him. With glowing eyes he sat down, but not for me instant did he shift his gaze from this recious trophy. Over in the corner Cap Wadsworth wore a knowing smile, Coach Ayres seemed entirely satisfied, and the other members of the team looked wise too. For, they, too, knew the thrill of receiving a letter, so meaningless to some people, but the goal of every red-blooded youth ' s desire. Roland Smith ' 25 ONE MINUTE TO GO There are six cities in the Athletic Coun- cil in the County of Carlton. These are:- Ashford , Tremont, Faxon, Carrigan, Mid- land and Richton. It has been the custom of these schools to play one another in all sports . In football there was a silver loving cup of- fered ten years ago by a leading citizen of Richton. Up to this year each of the schools had had this two years. For permanent possession a school must win three years, not necessarilly consecutive. Richton had exceptionally hard luck this year. Six of their most valued, men had played professional baseball the preceding summer, which made them ineligible to play in any sport. But the coach of this school was plucky, and had high hopes of putting out a team which would win because of the willingness and grit displayed by the new men. In three weeks he had whipped a team into condition which had both speed and weight. Richton started off the season with a bang, winning from both Ashford and Tre- mont, their first two games. They tuen lost to Faxon, by a small margin, but made up for it by giving Carigan the worst trimming in the history of that team. But Midland had won all of their games up to the Richton game, and then lost to the score of 9-6, through the heady work of the Richton quar- ter-back, and a neat drop-kick over the bar from the twenty-five yard line in the last quarter. This made Richton and Midland tie for the first place and a date for the deciding game was set. The game was played in Richton and a big crowd gathered to witness it. Mid- land received the kick and went down on their forty yard line. In three downs thgy made twelve yards, and in the next four, ten yards ; Then they were stopped. Richton took the ball on their forty yard line, made eight yards in three downs, and the full back went back for a kick. Midland caught the ball on their twenty-five yard line and went down on their thirty yard line. For sojjj time they forged ahead slowly but surely, and on Richton ' s twenty yard line made 12

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10 THE CRIMSON AND GRAY in the atmosphere to suggest a struggle of some description. And there was to be a struggle, for a football game was on schedule, a game that would go down in history as one of the greatest contests ever staged in Mere- dith, a town enjoying its first year as a con- testant for the league cup, and this game was to decide the championship. The referee ' s whistle blew bringing the kick-off, the wonderful run of the opposing full-back and the tackle of Meredith ' s veter- an end. The first quarter quickly ended with both sides scoreless and the ball in Meredith territory, Witherton academy having posses- sion of the ball when the whistle blew to re- sume play. Successive plunges, end runs, and passes put Witherton on the eight yard line, with two minutes to go. The ball was snapped, fumbled, and before it could be re- covered, Howe, the Meredith tackle, was off up the field, headed for what would have been a sure touchdown, but for the superb work of Davidson, Witherton ' s speedy half-back. The whistle blew and the half was over. Let us glance back to a night about two weeks before the date of this game. Mere- dith ' s full-back, Cap. Wadsworth, was tak- ing a short walk after supper to be alone and think things over for the coming game with Witherton. Crosssing the campus and heading for the park a little to the rear of Lipton Hall, the captain ' s quick ear caught the sound of leather meeting pigskin, or, in other words some one kicking a football. Always interested in the sport and its dif- ferent departments Wadsworth started around the corner. In amazement he stopped ; for the kicker was none other than Dick Tyson, the quiet fellow who attended every game and offered the fellows congrat- ulations if they won and his sympathy if they lost, all in that quiet way of his. Smack ! Far and high the pigskin travel- ed, stopping only after it had cleared the makeshift crossbar by a comfortable margin. Never had Wadsworth seen a kick to equal it. Straight as a bullet it had gone, and the sender apparently did it with perfect ease. Tyson patiently went over to the place where the ball had fell and brought it back for an- other kick. Once more it sailed over the uprights and rolled along the green. Without a monment ' s hesitation Wads- worth approached Ty. I saw you old man, he exclaimed. Why in the world didn ' t you say you could drop-kick like that ? Well, thoughtfully replied Dick, You see there are so many fellows who can play better than I, that I didn ' t think I ' d be good enough. Goodness knows, I ' d like to play. A wistful smile passed over the youth ' s face. Well. I ' ll be going now, said Cap after a moment ' s reflection, see you later, though. ' He left the boy still booting the ball and chasing it. Each time he kicked accurately and with the confidence of a veteran. Later in the evening Cap was seen going to Dick ' s room with his face wreathed in smiles. Ev- ery one stopped to watch him; He was al- ways good natured, but now he was unac- countably happy. He had an affectionate pound on the shoulder for some, and a hello for fellows he had never seen before. Upon reaching Ty ' s door he met that worthy young man in the act of going out No, you don ' t said Cap, accompanying his assertion with a shove that sent Ty back in- to the room and into an easy chair. Now, old man, get me straight, we ' ll need you for that game two weeks from now, you know,, the Witherton game. Never mind the buts 1 and ands . You ' ve been to the gym class and you ' re in good condition. With the com- ing two weeks to top off with, you ' ll be in top form. Dick looked at him in a sort of daze, his face flushed and his eyes sparkling. Gee do you mean to say you want me to play in that game-the game deciding the champion- ship? he queried excitedly. Not only I want you, but coach Ayres wants you and the team needs you. Report tomorrow after classes and we ' ll fix you up Goodnight, and dont forget to show up. Cap was gone before Dick could reply Dick was first to be on the practice field next day, and after watching just one of those drop kicks, Coach Ayres made a dive for his office yelling to Dick to follow Dick emerged fully attired in a uniform and was immediately placed in the field as a half- back. The days passed all too quickly and al- though Dick was steadily improving the coach dared not start him in the game as he had never seen the boy play before So, the beginning of the second half was at hand and Ty, although in uniform was still warming the bench. Meredith received the kick-off and O ' Donnell, Meredith ' s elusive back, received the ball. Dodging here and there, ever ready to take advantage of his

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12 THE CRIMSON AND GRAY on a quick lateral pass. In another minute they were across for the first goal. They missed the kick for point, making the score 6-0 in fav or of Midland. Richton took the kick and went down on their 45 yard line. They made eight yards on an off tackle play and stopped with the whistle for the first quarter. Two new men went into Richton ' s line and in the second quarter the ball seem- ed to stay in the centre of the field almost continually. Midland started a kicking game but that didn ' t do much good. Richton made twenty yards on a clever criss-cross, but Mid- land intercepted a forward pass and they came back to the centre again just as the whistle blew for the first half. The Richton coach had seen how hopeless the line plugging was, and knowing that in practice the left half-back had shown ex- ceptional ability in throwing long passes, he suddenly thought of a play which, if brought off when fairly in the opponents ' territory, ought to win a touchdown. So when the team came off the field at the end of the first half, he took them all into the dressing room and outlined the play which should follow the signal of formation. He then took the quarterback aside and told him exactly where on the field the team must be when the play came off. The team went back on the field with fresh courage, determined to win. Midland had the ball and they held them wonderfully well. At the fourth down Midland ' s full-back put a great high long punt over Richton ' s quarter ' s head and the ends downed him on the five yard line. This was an awful predi- cament, but by means of a tackle tandem they made many holes in Midland ' s fast weakening line and by the end of the third quarter they were only eight yards from the center. Midland strengthened their line at the beginning of the last quarter and held them fairly well. So with only two yards to go in the last down, Richton tried to make it and failed. It was Midland ' s ball but. they could gain nothing through the line, so they tried an onside kick. The Richton quarter received it on his forty yard line and made six yards. He then made fifteen yards on a short end with triple interference. The full- back then took the ball through center for two yards. This placed the ball on Midland ' s thirty yard line. Richton ' s quarter, seeing that they could make no gains through cen- ter, thought that this was the time to get the- coach ' s play off, as they were fairly into the opponent ' s territory, and there was but one minute to go. He called the formation and every men took the place the coach had told him to. The right end shifted to the left side, went through, and drew off the quarter-back. The left end, after the ball had been snapped, went back of the line way over to the other side, and received the forward. The left half got behind the right tackle. The full- back received the ball ten yards back of the center, and threw it to the left half who ran back twenty yards back of the center, and threw it to the left half who ran back twenty yards behind the line of scrimmage. From there he forwarded it to the left end who caught it and made a touchdown. He had a clear field because the right half back and the quarter went through and Indianized the back field men. He had no sooner gotten through than the whistle blew, but Richton made their kick for point, and won to the score of 7-6. G. Cormack ' 24. HIGH SCHOOL BOYS— Attention!!! Just Let M. KAUFMAN DO YOU R TAILORING If You Want To Look SNAPPY. Compliments of The Quality Shop PHELPS BUILDING Where Quality Counts J. B. Bonin, Prop. Please Patronize Our Advertisers