"A field goal would do it?" cried Steve, with a glance at the scoreboard. "But Frank"s toe hasn"t been so hot today!"
"We"ve only time for one more play," reminded Bert. "Can you fellows hold that line? Seems to me a kick"s a little better than another pa.s.s. We"re almost dead in front of the goal posts!"
"I"ll try it if you say so!" volunteered Frank. "Mack--you"ve got to block "em off until I toe that ball! They mustn"t get through at me this time!"
"Okay!" said Mack, jaws tightening. Here was the test. A successful kick meant defeat for his brother ... no, defeat for _Pomeroy_! It meant that all scores against him would be wiped out ... his misplays forgotten...! ... But how about his brother"s coaching position?...
He mustn"t think about that!... His mother--her support!... No, no!... Whatever happened would be all right.... He must do his part ... he must be loyal to Grinnell. He"d picked this school with the hope of someday helping to beat Pomeroy ... and here was his chance!...
He must do his part to the uttermost limit ... and then--if the kick failed ... well--n.o.body could say he hadn"t tried...!
"Kick formation!" Bert was calling.
A murmur of surprise swept through the stands and a pall of silence fell. Grinnell--attempting a field goal as a last resort ...
attempting to pull a lost cause out of the fire!
"Hold "em, gang!" begged Bert. "You"ve got to hold "em!"
Grinnell"s quarterback was kneeling, ready to upend the ball. Steve and Mack were stationed at the side and in front. They exchange determined glances.
"No one gets past us!" said Steve.
Mack, too full for words, nodded, fingers twitching, eyeing the enemy line.
Coach Carl Carver, pulling nervously at the rim of his hat, sized up the distance between the teams and the goal posts.
"It"s one chance in a...!" he started.
The ball flashed back and the two lines came together in a desperate upheaval. Grinnell"s line wavered and snapped. As it did so, Bert caught the pigskin and placed its nose on the ground, sighting the distant goal posts. Frank started running forward.
"You get those two--I"ll stop these babies!" fullback Steve shouted to Mack as he blocked off frenzied Pomeroy linesmen, rushing through in a mad attempt to spoil the kick.
"Right with you!" echoed Mack, obliterating from his mind all thoughts of possible consequences ... intent only upon doing the job a.s.signed him. His body halted the plunge of the Pomeroy left end and guard ...
and resulted in a third Pomeroy player piling atop. As he went down he caught a fleeting glimpse of the pigskin pa.s.sing over his head. A moment of breathless, very terrible suspense, broken only by the sharp crack of the timer"s gun, signalling that the game was technically over. Then a tremendous roar! Mack freed himself from the ma.s.s of arms and legs just in time to see the ball settling over the bar and to see the scoreboard change its figures to read:
GRINNELL--15 POMEROY--14
Unaccountable things happened after that. More pandemonium than a fellow, playing his first full game for Grinnell had thought existed in the world. Joy-crazed students surrounding him as he suddenly gave vent to his feelings and, to the amazement of fellow team-mates, broke into uncontrolled sobs.
"What the heck are you crying about?" Frank Meade was demanding.
"Because," he choked, "Pomeroy lost!"
A great shout of laughter went up at this from all except those who realized the predicament Grinnell"s subst.i.tute back had been in.
"Cheer up, kid!" called a familiar voice, and Mack beheld Coach Carver fighting his way through to him in company with Coach Edward.
"But you lost your job?" Mack wanted to know, still somewhat dazed by it all.
"I sure did!" grinned Brother Carl, gripping him by the shoulder. "You knocked me out of that!... I always said you couldn"t play football!"
"And now he knows it!" smiled Coach Edward. "I"m taking your brother"s place at Pomeroy next year--so he tells me!... In fact, he recommended me!"
"What?" gasped Mack.
"Why not?" rejoined Carl, his eyes twinkling. "I"ve signed up to coach Great Western next year at ... guess what salary...?" Carl looked about him, cautiously. "I don"t want any newspaper guys to hear this--it"s ... er ... just something to be kept in the family."
Whereupon Carl cupped his hand between his mouth and Mack"s ear and whispered a figure.
"No?" cried Mack, overjoyed, and--forthwith leaped atop his brother"s back, bearing him to earth for a down which was not recorded in the game!
A CASE OF NERVES
"Look at that guy--he hasn"t been eating enough to keep a canary alive for the last three days!"
"You know what"s the trouble, don"t you?"
"Indigestion?"
"Yeah--nervous indigestion? Speed"s on edge over the big game next Sat.u.r.day against Hamilton!"
"No kidding?"
Kinky Doyle, who sat at the Second Team"s training table, stared at his informant unbelievingly.
"Straight dope!" replied Sober Watkins, quarterback of the Scrubs, with a glance toward the Varsity training table nearby and star half-back Speed Bartlett, toying with his meal. "Speed had the same kind of stagefright last season ... lost so much appet.i.te and sleep and got so high strung that he fumbled in the Hamilton game and handed them the victory on a platter!"
"That"s funny," said Kinky, after a pause. "He hasn"t been this way up to the last few days. He"s played through the whole year...!"
"Sure--the big game"s the only one that bothers him this way," grinned Sober. "You know, some fellows can stand every kind of flower but goldenrod ... and that knocks them for a flock of sneezes. Well, for some reason, Speed has the feeling that Hamilton"s not to be sniffed at. All the other games are just dress rehearsals but this contest is the real thing!"
"That"s bad," declared Kinky, seriously. "Bad for Speed and bad for the team. The other fellows can"t help but be depressed by the way he"s taking it. And after what happened last year it"ll be a wonder if Speed don"t have the whole eleven on edge."
"You said it," agreed Sober. "But what can we do about it? That"s a neat little problem for Coach Brock to solve!"
Could the two squad members have known it, the Coach was even at that moment turning a rather drastic plan over in his mind. Something certainly had to be done. Practically every fellow at the Varsity and Second Team training tables had observed the sudden funereal atmosphere being radiated by one Speed Bartlett. His sad and solemn conduct had begun to descend like a pall upon a heretofore gay and carefree dining hall. Just why this climax to a Medford season should have such a nervous effect upon her star halfback was as difficult to determine as why some folks got short of breath in the proximity of a cat. "Cat asthma", this was called. There weren"t any words exactly descriptive of Speed"s disorder for he was courageous to a fault. In the heat of battle he played with an abandon and a drive that usually carried him through to his objectives. It wasn"t, then, a matter of his actually being "afraid" of anything. But, still, the seeming mere antic.i.p.ation of the big game with Hamilton produced a nerve-shattering reaction.
"I can"t let this go on," Coach Brock decided, "or I won"t have any morale left. Hamilton has a strong eleven this year and we"ll need all the fighting spirit we"ve got. Now if I can just figure out some way to suspend Speed from the team--tell him he"s out of the big game--relieve him of his nerve tension and then shove him in the contest at the last minute ... that might turn the trick!"
Phil Doran and Milt Gleeson were as rabid Medford supporters as could be found in college. More than this--they were close chums of Speed Bartlett. Between them they owned a little runabout in which they travelled to the various college towns where Medford"s eleven might be playing. The coming Hamilton game, however, was to be played at Medford and, since it was to be the last contest of the season, the boys" football trips were over.
"What do you suppose Coach Brock"s sent for us about?" Phil asked Milt as the two were on the way to the athletic director"s office.
"Haven"t the slightest idea," grinned Milt. "But maybe he wants us to help him work out some new plays to spring against Hamilton!"
"Only play I could suggest would be for him to put in the first and second teams at the same time," declared Phil. "Then we might have a chance to win by sheer weight of numbers!"
"Oh, it"s not as bad as that," replied Milt, defensively. "If Speed just holds to his regular form this year, he"ll give Hamilton plenty of trouble. He"s crazy to make up for his fumble in last season"s game.