Reddy, the college trainer, danced up and down on the side lines and
sputtered incoherently. "Bull" Hendricks, the head coach, stamped and
stormed and yelled to his charges to "put it over." The things he said
may not be set down here, but he gave the recording angel a busy
afternoon. His words stung like whips, and under the lash of them the
'Varsity men braced themselves desperately. They burned with shame and
rage. Were they to have a defeat "slapped" upon them by the scrubs? The
college would ring with it, and it would be the sensation of the season.
But the scrubs were not to be denied. They had caught the 'Varsity "off
its stride," and they fought like tigers to clinch their advantage.
Every ounce of strength and determination that they possessed was called
to the front by the prospect of impending victory. A daring run around
the left end netted them twenty yards, and they gained fifteen more on
downs. An easy forward pass was fumbled by the regulars, who were
becoming so demoralized that the men fell all over themselves. The
panic was growing into a rout that promised to end in a Waterloo.
The referee was poising his whistle and looking at his watch, ready to
blow the signal that marked the end of play. There was but one chance
left--a goal from the field. On the 'Varsity team only two men had
seemed to keep their heads. The quarterback and fullback had sought to
stem the tide, but in the general melting away of the defence had been
able to do but little. The ball was now on the scrubs' forty-yard line.
The player who had it fumbled in his eagerness to advance it, and the
'Varsity quarterback pounced on it like a hawk. With almost the same
motion he passed it to the fullback. The opposing line bore down upon
him frantically, but too late. One mighty kick and the pigskin rose in
the air like a bird, soared over the bar between the goal posts, and the
'Varsity was three points to the good. An instant later and the whistle
blew. The game was over.
The hearts of the scrubs went down into their boots. Another minute and
the game would have ended with the ball in the middle of the field, and
the score a tie; and a tie on the part of the scrubs was equivalent to a
victory. But that last kick had dashed their hopes into ruin.
Still, they were not wholly cast down. They had deserved success, if
they had not actually won it. They had really played the better game and
beaten their foes to a standstill. The nominal victory of the 'Varsity
was a virtual defeat.
And the 'Varsity knew it. For an instant they felt an immense relief, as
they crowded around Wilson, the fullback, and clapped him on the
shoulder. But their momentary exultation was replaced by chagrin, as
they filed past the coach on the way to the shower baths, and their eyes
fell before the steely gleam in his.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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