“No, but you needn’t worry, I guess. A couple of days more will put you
all right.” Turner nodded and hurried back to where “Boots” was making
the line-up. When the squad took the field Clint saw that Cupples had
taken his place at right tackle and that Robbins was at left. This, he
reflected with some satisfaction, was doubtless because Robbins was not
quite so good as he, Clint, and the left of the ‘varsity line was the
strongest. Hinton’s piping voice sang the signals and the squad,
followed by the substitutes, began its journeys up and down the
gridiron. Amy joined Clint presently, still lugging his pewter trophy,
and the two boys leaned back against the seat behind them and looked on.
Clint, when the squad was near enough for him to hear the signal,
translated for Amy’s benefit, as: “Right half outside of left guard.
Watch it!” or “Here’s a forward to Turner, Amy. There he goes! Missed
it, though. That was a punk throw of Martin’s.”

It was rumoured around that afternoon that “S.O.S.” calls had been sent
out in all directions and that the middle of the week would find an army
of assistant coaches on hand. The army failed to materialise, but by
Tuesday four specialists had joined the array of coaching talent and
there was an instructor for every position on the team. The practice
that afternoon was more grim and businesslike than ever before. No one
was admitted to that part of the field who was not either a member of
the team or a coach. There was thirty minutes of individual instruction,
twenty minutes of signal work, and finally two fifteen-minute scrimmage
periods with the second team. And what the ‘varsity did to the second
that day was a pity! With seven coaches urging them on, the ‘varsity
players performed desperately. The new plays to be used against Claflin
were tried out and worked well. The ‘varsity scored two touchdowns in
the first period and one in the second, and kicked a field-goal when,
with only a minute left, it had reached the second team’s eighteen
yards. On the other hand, the second failed to gain consistently inside
the ‘varsity’s danger zone and both of Martin’s drop-kicks went wide.
The ‘varsity’s defence was better than it had been at any time that
Fall, and even the tackles showed up well.

“We couldn’t see, sir,” replied Amy. “They just had an electric torch
and they lighted it only twice. We could just see two pairs of legs and
that was all. And a stick.”

you and pay for your schooling
“Seems to me,” said Clint, “it’s your step-mother’s duty to look after
you and pay for your schooling. It’s your father’s money she’s using,
isn’t it?”

“I might have.”

The driver turned and grinned. He was a not-over-clean youth, and his
hair was badly in need of a barber’s attentions, but he was evidently
good-natured. The car, which was an old one and had undoubtedly seen
much better days, swung around and headed back toward Thacher School and
the football field. The youth talked to them over his shoulder.

“Thayer’s promising,” replied Mr. Robey. “Then there’s Cupples. Cupples
has played longer. Thayer’s new this Fall. Look them over, Joe, and
help yourself. Only ‘Boots’ will probably scalp you!”

“No, it’ll take a day or two to forget the others and remember ours.
There are two or three things I noticed about your playing this
afternoon, Thayer, and I want to speak of them while they’re fresh in
my mind. In the first place, you played too close to your guard on
defence as a general thing. Open up there and, above all, don’t play
between opponents. I mean by that, don’t try to get through on defence
between two men. Select one and play him. Usually it will be the outside
man, and your game is to put him against his inside man or side-step
him. As a general thing your position on defence is a foot or so outside
the opposing end player, although there are one or two formations when
that isn’t so. Another thing I noticed was that, while you watched the
ball well, you were liable to let the other man get the jump on you. As
soon as the ball is snapped, Thayer, get busy with your arms. There are
two main factors in the playing of a tackle position. One is head and
the other is arms. Use your head all the time and your arms most of the
time. As soon as the ball is snapped, out with your arms, Thayer. Lunge
against the opponent. Get him first and hold him off until you can see
where the ball’s going. Don’t try to break through blindly. Hold him at
arm’s length, keep your legs out of the way and then put him in or out,
as the case may be, and go through for the runner. If you can get your
arms on the other fellow _before_ the ball is snapped, do it, but don’t
try it too long before or you won’t be able to hold it. Try for the
neck and arm position. It’s the best. You can swing a man either way if
you have that. If he gets under your arms and boxes you don’t try to
push forward by main force, because you’ll be only wasting your
strength. Back away and get around him.