Football -- Juvenile fiction; Schools -- Juvenile fiction
Mr. Cade studied a paper a moment. “It comes to this, then,” he
resumed. “Granted that Kenly will rely on line bucks and runs outside
tackles for most of her gains, it’s up to us to build a defense that
will meet that style of play. Weight won’t do it, for she’ll beat us
there. She’ll go through us if we give her the start. The only way to
stop her is to not let her get started. We must get the jump on her,
fellows, and that means speed. If we can hold her in the line we can
meet her on equal terms in other departments, I think. We may even
have a slight edge on her when it comes to the kicking game. What Kenly
will bring in the way of forward passes I can’t say. That, too, is
something we’ll have to get a line on later. But she has never been
dangerous with her overhead stuff. Her coach has never taken to that
style of game much. But if she does develop a good passing game we’ve
got to meet it with the same stuff, speed. Speed, then, is going to be
the big cry here this Fall. I want to impress that fact on you here and
now. I want you to go away from here thinking speed, and I want you to
keep right on thinking it until the last play of the Kenly game is over.
“Now let’s talk about offense a little. For the sake of argument, we’ll
say that we’ve got the edge on Kenly for fast playing. We’ll assume
that our line charges quicker than hers, that our backs get started
faster and run faster, that we pull off our plays and our kicks faster.
Now, then, what sort of an attack are we going to use? What style of
offense are we going to build on? What do you think, Captain Fingal?”
“If we’re faster than Kenly, and speed makes up for the difference in
weight, we’re starting even, aren’t we?”
“Possibly, yes. We’ll say so.”
“Then we can play any style there is, can’t we? I mean, Coach, we
stand just as good a chance of making our line plays good as she does;
and the same with kicks and passes and end runs.”
“True, assuming that the teams are evenly balanced, which we are
assuming. But what we want for an attack isn’t something just as good,
Gus, but something better. Now, suppose--”
“I’d say we ought to dope out a passing and running game, Coach,” broke
in Pep Kinsey. “Something based on speed that might take them off their
feet. Say we had a formation that was good for a punt or a pass or a
run outside tackle. Then suppose we put a lot of fizz into it and had
them guessing what was coming. If Tom Crumb’s out of the game we can’t
look for a whole lot against their line between tackles, I guess. I
don’t know how Sam Tennyson will develop, but he’s light, sir, and the
rest of us aren’t whales. I guess you’ve got the right dope, all right,
when you talk speed!”
“A corking good passing game is our best bet, Mr. Cade,” offered
Levering. “Don’t you think so, sir?”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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