y yards and sent a remarkable corkscrew punt to Benton's
twenty. It was one of the prettiest punts ever seen on the Brimfield
gridiron, for it was so long that it went over the quarter-back's head,
so high that it enabled the Maroon-and-Grey ends to get well down under
it and was nicely placed in the left-hand corner of the field. The
Benton quarter made no effort to touch it while it was bounding toward
the goal line, for with both Edwards and Holt hovering about him a
fumble might easily have resulted, and it was only when the pigskin had
settled down to a slow, toppling roll and it was evident that it did not
mean to go over the line that the Benton quarter seized it. What
happened then was little short of a miracle. Both Captain Edwards and
Holt took it for granted that the quarter-back meant to drop on the ball
and call it down, and, since there was no necessity to smother the
opponent, each waited for the other to tackle and hold him. But the
first thing anyone knew the Benton quarter had the ball in his hands,
had squirmed somehow between Edwards and Holt and was speeding up the
middle of the field!
Between him and the fifty-yard line friend and foe were mingled, and to
win through seemed a preposterous undertaking. And yet first one and
then another of the enemy was passed, team-mates formed hasty
interference for the runner and, suddenly, to the consternation of the
Brimfield stand, the quarter, with the ball snuggled in the crook of his
left elbow, was out of the melee, with a clear field before him and two
Benton players guarding his rear. Crewe made a desperate effort to get
him near the thirty-yard line, but the interference was too much for
him, and after that, although Brimfield trailed the runner to the goal
line and over, there was no doubt as to the result. And when the Benton
quarter deposited the ball squarely between the posts and laid himself
down beside it friend and foe alike arose from their seats and cheered
him long and loudly. Never had a more spectacular run been made there,
for not only had the quarter practically traversed the length of the
field, but had eluded the entire opposing eleven.
Benton deserved to secure the odd point by kicking goal, but
goal-kicking was the quarter-back's business and he was far too tuckered
to try, and so the player who did make the attempt failed miserably, and
Benton had to be satisfied with those six points. Probably she was, for
she cheered madly and i
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