Harvard 39; Exeter 6

Harvard played its third game of the season with the Exeter team at Exeter yesterday afternoon. The ground was very wet and slippery and the ball hard to handle. The teams were made up as follows:

Harvard.- Cumnock, Carpenter, Finlay, Cranston (centre), Trafford, Davis, G. Harding, Dean, quarter; Fitzhugh and Poore halfs; Sears, full back.

Exeter.- Heffelfinger, Erskine, Beatty, Fierman (centre), Watson, Bordwell, Hill; Barber, quarter; Brooks, Morse (and Hammond), half-backs; Graves and Grouard, full-backs.

Play was called at 3.07, Harvard having the ball. Runs by Dean, Finlay and Sears gained fifteen yards. Poore lost five yards, being tackled by Hill before he got started. Sears gained fifteen yards on a rush. Fumbles by Poore and Fitzhugh lost the ball to Exeter. The ball was passed to Graves who lost ten yards on a fumble. Graves kicked, Harvard getting the ball, had it down. A rush by Cranston carried the ball across the line making the first touchdown. Time 3 minutes. Sears tried for goal, but missed.

Exeter started the ball from the 25-yard line with a kick which Poore returned. Exeter's down. Morse ran by the right tackle and gained ten yards. Graves made a kick which Sears fumbled; Poore fell on the ball and passed to Sears who rushed ten yards. The ball went to Exeter on a fumble. Graves made a kick which Poore fumbled and Exeter dropped on the ball. Morse gained five yards. Poore got a fair catch from Graves' kick, and the ball was passed to Dean who gained fifteen yards. Sears gained five yards and the ball went to Exeter on four downs. Graves lost five yards and then kicked. Harvard's ball on Harvard's 25-yard line. Poore kicked and Cranston got the ball from a fumble by the Exeter back. Harvard's down in the middle of the field. Finally gained five yards and Sears kicked. Morse got the ball and went by the Harvard rush line and backs and made a touchdown. Goal by Graves. Time ten minutes. Harvard started the ball from centre of the field. Cranston rushed five yards and Sears kicked. Exeter's ball on its 25-yard line. Rushes by Trafford and Sears gained fifteen yards, and Sears carried the ball across the line. Sears tried for goal and missed. Score: Harvard, 8; Exeter 6. Graves kicked from the 25-yard line, and Harvard had the ball down in the middle of the field. Rushes by Sears and Finlay gained twenty yards, when the ball went to Exeter on four downs. Graves kicked and Harvard had the ball down in the middle of the field. Rushes by Cranston, Sears and Trafford carried the ball forward twenty-five yards, when it went to Exeter on a foul. Morse gained fifteen yards running between right end and right tackle. Harvard's ball on four downs. Rushes by Sears and Finlay brought the ball close to Exeter's goal line, and Sears rushed it across. Fitzhugh tried at goal, but missed. Time 25 minutes. No more points were made in the first half. Score: Harvard, 12; Exeter, 6.

The second half began with Exeter in possession of the ball. Barber ran five yards when the ball went to Harvard on a foul. Fitzhugh was tackled by Heffelfinger and lost ground. Sears kicked and Exeter had the ball down still in Harvard territory when it went to Harvard in four downs. The ball was given to Exeter on account of a foul tackle by Cumnock but was returned to Harvard for the off-side play of Erskine. Poore made a kick which Exeter caught fair. Traffora stopped Exeter's kick from the fair and dropped on the ball. Fitzhugh carried the ball forward ten yards when it was lost on Sears' fumble. Cranston stopped the kick of the Exeter full-back but did not get the ball, which was now down on Exeter's 5-yards line Exeter made a kick and Dean catching it fair held a place kick from which Fitzhugh kicked a goal. Time, ten minutes. Starting from the centre of the field, Morse made two runs by right tackle, gaining twenty yards, but lost the ball. After fumbles by the Harvard and Exeter backs, Harvard finally had the ball down on its 25-yard line but it went to Exeter on four downs. Cranston stopped the kick by the Exeter back and Exeter had the ball down on the 40-yards line, but it went to Harvard on a foul. A kick by Sears was fumbled in the centre of the field, and Exeter had the ball down. Fitzhugh attempted to return Exeter's kick but he was stopped and Exeter fell on the ball. Exeter kicked and Sears catching the ball ran through the Exeter rushers and backs who were well blocked off, and made a touchdown from which Fitzhugh kicked a goal. Time fifteen minutes. This rush of Sears and the blocking off of the Harvard rushers was the only creditable play made by the Harvard eleven in the game. Exeter kicked from the centre of the field and Fitzhugh made a fair catch. Rushes by Dean, Finlay, Fitzhugh, Sears, Carpenter and Trafford advanced the ball to Exeter's five-yard line. Sears rushed three yards and lost the ball; Fitzhugh got it, however, and carried it across the line. Fitzhugh tried for goal but missed. Time, 20 minutes. Score: Harvard, 27; Exeter, 6. It was noticeable that not one of the Harvard rushers followed the ball across the line Exeter kicked from the 25-yard line and Harvard had the ball down in the middle of the field. Rushes by Fitzhugh, Trafford, Finlay and Sears advanced the ball twenty-five yards and Fitzhugh made the sixth touchdown for Harvard. Fitzhugh kicked a goal. Time 25 minutes. Exeter kicked from the middle of the field and Sears returned. Harvard got the ball and Poore rushed forty yards and carried the ball across the line, but lost it behind the goal posts. Sears dropped on the ball, however, and scored the seventh touchdown for Harvard, from which Fitzhugh kicked a goal. Time 27 minutes. This is the last point that was scored. Final score: Harvard, 39; Exeter 6.

Mr. Dudley was referee and Mr. V. Harding, umpire. Two half-hours were played instead of the full time.

It is evident from yesterday's game that the eleven must begin earnest work at once. The fumbling of the backs was demoralizing to the rushers, and the wretched work of the rush line made good playing impossible for the backs. All the rushers were miserably weak in holding, and while it is some excuse for them that they could not use their arms as formerly, it was not enough to justify the wretched playing of yesterday. None of the rushers broke through on the half-backs at all; right end and tackle were especially bad in this respect. No one ever seemed to know where the ball was or realize that he had anything to do except watch the man opposite. The Exeter men fell on the ball ten times to Harvard's once. The tackling of the whole team was as bad as possible; scarcely a low tackle was made by the Harvard team yesterday. Hardly a man used his head at all in the game. This blind kind of playing was especially noticeable in the work of the right end. When a man got the ball he plunged along without any idea as to whether he was going through a hole in the rush line or into his opponent's arms. Neither of the half-backs got under the ball when it was kicked, but almost invariably waited for the bound, which is a wretchedly slow and uncertain way of playing, at best. The fact that the ball was slippery and the quarter-back passed too swiftly would excuse the backs for some fumbling, but certainly not for the bad work of yesterday. It is plain the team must "take a brace," and today is not too early to begin it.