st
revision of the rules of the game. But the old interference wedge is a
perfectly legitimate football formation, and can be made effective
without being dangerous.

[Illustration: THE WEDGE FORMATION.]

The formation of the men for this play, as every one knows, is that of a
V, with the point directed toward the opposing line. The man who is to
run with the ball stands inside the two walls of humanity formed by his
mates, and it should be his endeavor to keep on running even after the
original wedge formation has been destroyed by the resistance of the
opponents. The latter, of course, never know what the runner's intention
may be, whether to rush out at the apex, or through one of the sides, or
to dodge out backwards and attempt a long run around the end.
Consequently they cannot devote their entire force toward one point, and
the possibilities of gaining ground are thus increased in the favor of
the runner.

It is not well, however, for the runner to use his own discretion as to
the manner in which he shall escape from the wedge after it has come
against the opposing line. Team-work is invariably injured and weakened
when one player holds discretionary power in a mass play. It is best to
decide beforehand where the runner will break through, and have it
understood by two of the rushers that they are responsible for a hole.
Of course, the runner should not always pass out between the same pair.
There should be variations in the play, and the Captain should decide
when the line-up is made just which hole to use, judging of this from
the appearance of the opposite line-up, and selecting the point of
egress where he thinks there will be the weakest resistance. As a rule,
it is best to use the wedge only when the opponents are restrained from
advancing, as in the kick-off, the kick-out, and after a fair catch, but
some of the larger college teams have of late been adopting the trick
after ordinary downs. In the Harvard-Yale game of 1891, Yale, with the
score 12 to 0 against her, worked a wedge from the middle of the field
to the goal-line and scored. Every play was a wedge that pounded the
Harvard centre, and won a few feet each time, and at the ten-yard line
the quarter-back, instead of pounding, as he had been for twenty
minutes, ran back and went around the end for a touch-down. But such
continual wedging as that should be adopted only in the most desperate
case, and could never be successful except when played by