"Peters, our captain, was a splendid fellow and a 'dead game sport.' It
seemed to him a little like 'babying' to fritter away the few minutes
remaining in safety play. The more generous instinct prevailed, and he
'took a chance.' He shot the ball back to the quarter. He in turn passed
it to the back, who got in a perfect kick that sent it far down the
field and close to the enemy's goal. One of the 'Greys' made a grab at
it, but it was one of those twisting deceptive punts and bounded out of
his hands down toward the southern line. One of his mates was just
behind him and, quick as lightning, he caught the ball on the bound,
tucked it under his arm and scooted down the field toward our goal line.
"Our forwards of course had run down under the kick and had got past the
ball, expecting to pick it up when they saw that it had been muffed. So
the 'Grey' runner was well past them before they could stop their
momentum and turn in their tracks. The back who had kicked the ball was
near the northern side, too far away to interfere, and Lamar, the
runner, covering the ground like a deer, hugged the southern line.
"There were only two men in his way, and they made the mistake of
keeping too close together, so that, as Lamar neared them, he made a
superb dodge and slipped by both of them at once. Now he had a clear
field before him, but with forty yards yet to go.
"How he ran! He had lost some time in the dodging and twisting, and now
the whole Blue eleven were thundering at his heels. He could hear their
panting as they sought to close in on him. The nearest one was not more
than five feet away. He let out a link and fairly flew. The white lines
of the field fell away behind him. One more tremendous effort by pursuer
and pursued, and just as eager hands reached out to grasp him, he
flashed over the goal line for a touchdown. Suddenly, brilliantly,
inconceivably, the 'Greys' had won the game.
"Were we sore? We felt like draping the college buildings with crepe. To
have had victory right within our reach and then to have had it snatched
away in that fashion! Poor old Peters was fairly sick over it. I suppose
to this day he has never forgiven himself for that sportsmanlike
instinct.
"But nobody blamed him. The crowd took their medicine. Strictly
speaking, I suppose it was foolish. As was said of the charge of the
Light Brigade that 'it was magnificent but it was not war,' so, no
doubt, many thought of Peters' move that although generous it was not
football. Still the finest things in human life are often the 'foolish'
things. At any rate, it enriched the history of the game with one of the
most dashing and spectacular plays ever made.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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