Evening Republican, Volume 14, Number 291, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 8 December 1910 — LIGHT PLAYERS IN DEMAND [ARTICLE]

LIGHT PLAYERS IN DEMAND

Gridiron Stars Need Not Possess Great Weight, as Agility and Speed Figure In Contests. Light, fleet-footed backs are In demand this year for all the college football teams. Under the new rules the light player has at last come into his own. This does not mean that the back field can be composed of men in the lightweight class. But the day of the ponderous, heavy backs seems to be a thing of the past. A player weighing from 150 to 180 pounds has the call for the positions this year. The abolishment of the sturdy, catapult type of back is due to the change in the rules dealing with the old style of line plunging play. No longer Is it legal for the human battering-ram to hurl three or more men as interference at an opposing line. Mass play has been effectually abolished. And so the character of the game has nndergone a great'change from the days of the flying wedge. That the big college teams realize the futility of playing heavy men in the back field is shown by the number of shifts made this year. The heavy men had their try-outs early in the season and they failed to make as much headway as the lighter players. In some cases the experiment proved rather costly. Harvard was one of the first to realize the value of light men in the back field. Evidence of this was shown when Minot, an ATI-American back of last year, was shifted to a place in the line. Minot’s plunges through opposing lines last season netted the Crimson many big gains, but with the ’restrictions on this style of play this season the coaches decided he would be more valuable on the line. Later in the year Princeton made a similar shift. Captain Eddie Hart, reckoned one of the best line plungers in the country, was taken out of the back field after the Lafayette game and placed in the line. In the game with Carlisle Hart more than won his spurs as an aggressive line man. He opened up some big gaps for the backs to tear through. Coach Ted Coy of Yale was another football director to startle the experts when he placed Howe in at full ■ back. Last season Howe was the choice for quarter back and it was expected he would play that position this year. He is heavy enough under the new rules, but he does not measure up in weight by m'any pounds to some of the old-time full backs. Perhaps the forward pass had had much to do with giving the light men their opportunity. Surely that, coupled with the necessity of end runs, has worked a big change In the complexion of the attack. To be successful the forward pass must be hurled and received by a player quick on his feet, one able to get started with the ball at top speed. While lacking Inconcentration of attack and a bit weak on the defense, Princeton has one of the fastest back fields In the country. Sparks, Pendleton and Ballou make up a combination hard to beat. Pendleton Is counted one of the best runners In a broken field of recent years, and Sparks shows plenty of dash In his attempts to skirt the ends. Ballou Is fast on his feet and at the same time an able punter. Against Houser of Carlisle he made an excellent showing, outklcking the Indian by many yards. Nor are the Tigers without their usual drop kicker. Pendleton has acquitted himself well in the early games and seems capable of dropping the ball over the cross bar from any point almost within the 40-yard line. The list of star Princeton kickers is a long one. Somehow Nassau secures a good goal kicker almost every year. While Harvard has been rolling up big scores on its opponents Yale and Princeton have not been doing so well Yale was scored on by Syracuse, beaten by the Army and held to . a no score tle> by Vanderbilt Princeton started off well enough by scoring 18 points on Stevens, but only managed to score 12 on New York university. Villa Nova was easy for the Orange and Blaqk, but the Tigers barely won by a score of 3 to 0 over Lafayette. They defeated the Indians, 6 to 0.