As for Bert at fullback, no such demon playing had been seen at West
Point for a generation. His handling of the forward pass was a delight
to the eye, and even the hostile stands were stirred at times to
involuntary applause. Twice he carried the ball over for a
touchdown--once by straight bucking and again by a spectacular run of
fifty-five yards through a broken field. The quarter ended with a result
of 15 to 0 in favor of the visitors.
From that time on, it was only a question of the size of the score. The
battle had become a rout. In the last quarter the ball was in the Army
territory all the time. There was no necessity now for tricks to further
befuddle the demoralized cadets. By "straight football" the Blues
pursued their victorious course down the field and added two more goals
before the game was called, with the ball on the fifteen yard line, and
destined, had the play continued two minutes longer, to make a final
touchdown. It was a dashing victory, gallantly won after an inauspicious
start. The weary players drew the first long breath they had permitted
themselves since the start of the game. The cadets, game as pebbles,
gave their conquerors the rousing Army cheer and the Blues responded
vigourously. The rival teams fraternized for a while and then the Blues
retired to their quarters to dress and make their "get-away."
Naturally, despite the immense fatigue that weighed them down, they were
tingling with exultation. It was the first time they had been pitted
against a really big team, and they had clearly outclassed them. The
contests with the smaller colleges had been little more than practice,
and in most cases the scrub could have won as certainly if not as
overwhelmingly as the 'Varsity. And the victory to-day had been won not
by a "fluke," but by clearcut playing. To be sure, the memory of the
first part of the game kept rising up like Banquo's ghost to make them
uncomfortable. But they had redeemed that so royally in the final half
as to silence the most captious critic.
Moreover, they had come through that crucial contest in good shape.
There had been no serious accident to weaken the team. The injuries to
Ellis and Caldwell were only trivial and in a week they would be as well
as ever. Of course there were minor wounds and bruises galore, but they
were incident to the hardening process and were of no consequence.
The mere fact that they had won, satisfying as it was, counted for
little compared with the enormous benefit of the game in welding the
team together. It had taken eleven stars and molded them into a team. No
individual brilliancy, however great, can atone for the lack of team
work. To-day they had tested each other, supported each other, played
into each other's hands, forgotten that they were anything but parts of
one great, smoothly moving, swiftly running machine. And, having so
tested his fellows, each one would play with the confidence and
self-forgetfulness that alone can win a championship.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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