Boarding schools -- Juvenile fiction; Football stories
Holmes faltered and passed a hand over his face. Broadwood, jubilant,
broke into exultant cries. “Hold them, Broadwood! It’s their last
play! Stop this! Throw them back! Get under ’em!”
“Signals!” growled Holmes. “Kick formation! Burtis back!” He turned and
viewed the positions. Greene and Brinspool were crouched already at the
right, and Kendall, white-faced but steady, was raising his hands. “Get
this, Burtis, and make it good, boy! Signals! 17-11-21!”
“Signals! Signals!” shrieked Greene, as Kendall’s heart leaped. Holmes
darted a look of murder at the offending Greene.
“Signals!” he cried again, chopping out the numbers with hoarse barks.
“17-89-31! 17-89――――”
“Block this kick! Block it!” shrieked Broadwood.
Back swept the ball from between Best’s wide-set feet, back to Kendall
at head-height. Up went his hands, out swung a leg and then, with the
ball tucked in the crook of his left elbow, he was plunging across the
field to his left, while shrieks and cries filled the air. It was the
play that had won the Nordham game, a simple run from kick formation,
a play easy to stop if expected, but likely to gain if not. And in
this case Broadwood had looked for a kick, reasoning that Yardley
had given up all idea of trying to win by rushing, that in the few
seconds remaining she would try to mitigate her defeat by securing the
three points that a goal from field would yield her. And Broadwood
was napping on the right of her line. The brilliant Thurston who had
made himself feared all through the game, who had spoiled more than
one attempt at his end of the line, had crept in and up, desperately
determined to get inside of the Yardley end and spoil the kick. It was
Broadwood’s right half-back, Reid, who first scented the danger and
started to intercept Kendall. Saunders pounded behind him. But the
Yardley interference was well formed, well spaced and desperate. Reid
went down with Holmes, and Greene blocked Saunders. At that instant
Kendall turned in and leaped toward the goal-line, his right elbow
locked and his arm stretched out to meet the foe. Six white lines lay
between him and the goal. He crossed two in safety, Greene speeding
beside him. Then the enemy swept upon him. Greene threw himself in the
path of a frantic foe and went down, and Kendall ran alone.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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