FOOTBALL MEN FAR ADVANCED

The 1914 football season was opened auspiciously on Saturday with a 44 to 0 victory over Bates. The first appearance of the team showed the regulars unusually far advanced, and well schooled in many departments. All of those who faced Bates have in previous years been tutored under the Haughton regime, and the fact that the general policy of the coaches remains constant accounts largely for the fine showing. The great value of continuous coaching by the same men is that it is cumulative. The players are not forced to start fresh each season, acquiring new wrinkles and adapting themselves to new ideas; they may in a measure start where they left off in the previous November.

Bates was not a stiff enough opponent, however, to show up the weak spots in the eleven. The northerners bore little resemblance to the scrappy team which faced Harvard last year, holding her to two touchdowns. The opponents were amateurish, imperfect in signals, and weak in the line. They could not gain consistently by either massed or open plays, and only three times held the ball on the Crimson side of the 50-yard line, never penetrating nearer than 25 yards. In the second quarter, time was called when Bates had just gotten into position for an attempt at a field goal. Near the end of the last period an attempt was actually made after a forward pass had placed the ball on the 28-yard line, but the kick went very wide.

Regulars Score 27 Points.

The regulars played during the entire first half, scoring 27 points. They were replaced in the last half by team B, which scored 17 points. The general work of the substitutes was easily more ragged than that of team A, but the honors for brilliant plays were about equally divided.

Harvard's veteran backfield started off in fine style, and promises in general power to be second to none this year. Brickley was always good for substantial gains through the line, but owing to the one-sided play was not called upon to try any drops. Mahan showed all of his old dash and brilliancy in the open field. Once given a start, it took two to four men to stop him. Bradlee was not used much on the offence. The game was not of the type to best display his abilities. His greatest value is as a defensive back, re-enforcing the weak spots in the line. But the Bates attack was not powerful enough to make many penetrations, the Harvard forwards disposing of most of the attempts in short order.

The most prominent figure in the line was Trumbull, who began the season at left tackle in masterful style. He was quick to size up plays, and with Pennock at his side every attempt at the left was smeared in short order. In a team whose line needs padding in spots, Trumbull is a tremendously valuable man, his fight and quick-thinking doing much to make up for the defects of the others. On the right side, Cowen's services were missed, Bates several times finding holes in tackle or guard. Hardwick at right end played a slashing game, making several spectacular gains on end around plays.

Interference Strong.

The most promising feature of the contest was Harvard's strong interference. While slower in forming than it should be, it was very potent once it got started, and altogether excellent for so early in the season. When it is considered that the eleven is still in its infancy in this department, which does not reach its greatest efficiency until late, the prospects for a powerful attack are unusually bright.

The substitutes showed up rather better than was expected, Rollins, McKinlock, and Weatherhead being the particular stars. The whole backfield was speedy and ran well under the direction of Watson. It is in the line material that the second string is weak. Should anything happen to any of the veterans before the big games, the coaches will have a serious problem to rebuild the defense. While the subs were able to throw back Bates' rushes, they were not able to make holes for their own attack. The seconds substantial gains were all made on open or wide end plays.

First Touchdown by Brickley.

The opening kickoff by Brickley went to Bates' 5-yard line, and was returned about 15 yards. After a recovered fumble, and two attempts at the line, Bates punted outside on her own 35-yard line. Two rushes by Mahan and Brickley almost made it first down for Harvard, but a penalty cost five yards. Then Logan uncovered a beautiful forward pass, Mahan to Hardwick, which made it first down on Bates' 10-yard line. Three more mass plays resulted in the first touchdown of the year by Brickley, Hardwick kicking the goal.

Brickley kicked off again, this time over the goal. The ball was put in scrimmage on the 20-yard line, an off-side penalty on Harvard advancing it five. Three more plays failing to gain the required distance, Bates punted to Logan, who made a fair catch on his own 42-yard line. The ball was given to Mahan, but his interference was late and he was tackled for a loss of five yards. He punted to Bates' 25-yard line, the runback netting five. The first play lost a yard. The next caught Hardwick off his guard, Keeney making five yards around right end. The gain was fruitless, however, for Bates immediately fumbled, the ball being recovered for Harvard by Withington. On the next play, Brickley, aided by splendid interference, ran through the whole Bates team 35 yards for a touchdown. Hardwick again kicked the goal.

Another kickoff to Bates was closely followed by a second disastrous fumble, Harvard recovering only 20 yards away from the goal. Three rushes, two by Brickley and one by Mahan found paper spots in the opponents' line and resulted in another touchdown and goal. This time Bates kicked to Harvard's 17-yard line, Mahan making 13 yards before he was stopped. The quarter ended with it Harvard's ball on her own 30-yard line, and the score 21 to 0.

After Mahan had fumbled and recovered with a five yard gain, a punt placed the ball on Bates' 25-yard line. The Harvard line held, and Bates kicked out on her own 44-yard line. Mahan got away for 20 yards around end, but was called back because Trumbull was holding. An exchange of punts made it Harvard's ball on her own 42-yard line. Hardwick was summoned, and pulled off a beautiful 55-yard dash on an end around. Three more line attacks, and Brickley was again across Bates' goal. Hardwick this time missed the goal.

The kickoff was received by Harvard, and another opportunity offered to score when Bates muffed Mahan's punt on her 25-yard line. Two forward passes, however, were incomplete, and the ball finally lost on a touchback. Another exchange of punts and a 15-yard penalty when Bradlee was caught holding, made it Bates' ball in Crimson territory for the first time. Two forward passes on a "line" formation with three men wide at the right were incomplete, and after two more punts and a few profitable line plunges by Bates, the half was over with the ball on Harvard's 25-yard line.

Team B Executes Pass.

For the substitutes, Rollins and Weatherhead were easily the largest ground-gainers. In the third period, a beautiful pass from Rollins to Weatherhead took the ball 15 yards to Bates' 3-yard line, three rushes carrying it over for team B's first score. It was in this period also that McKinlock negotiated a difficult drop standing on the 42-yard line. On the next kickoff, Rollins made a run-back of 42 yards, and followed it by a dash from the middle of the field across the goal. This spectacular run ended the scoring. In the fourth period, the ball see-sawed uneventfully, usually well back in Bates' territory.

Harvard attempted eight forward passes, connecting twice for gains of 31 yards. Bates made 14 tries, and was successful three times for a total of 45 yards. Harvard was penalized for 50 yards, Bates not at all. The punting honors were about even, Bates kicking nine times for an average of 32 yards, and Harvard ten times for an average of 33. Bates made three first downs, Harvard 12.

The summary:

Score--Harvard 44, Bates 0. Touchdowns--Brickley 4, Rollins 2. Goals from touchdowns--Hardwick--3, Sweetzer 2. Goal from field--McKinlock. First downs--Harvard 12, Bates 3. Penalties--Harvard 50 yards. Referee--N. A. Tufts, Brown. Umpire--E. G. Hapgood, Brown. Head linesman--G. V. Brown, B. A. A. Length of quarters--12 minutes.

HARVARD  BATES.Coolidge, Weatherhead, l.e.  r.e., NevilleTrumbull, Sweetzer, l.t.  r.t., ManuelPennock, Weston, l.g.  r.g., RussellSoucy, Bigelow, c.  c., HardingWithington, Underwood, r.g.  l.g., MooreMorgan, D. P., Curtis, R. C., r.t.  l.t., CliffordHardwick, Smith, r.c.  l.e., Swift, BoydLogan, Watson, q.b.  q.b., Talbot, DavisMahan, McKinlock, l.h.b.  r.h.b., DeweverBradlee, Douglass, r.h.b.  l.h.b., KeeneyBrickley, Rollins, f.b.  f.b., Butle