Lafayette at Navy

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  Evening capital, Annapolis, Md., October 26, 1903, page 1

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  NAVY’S FIRST DEFEAT. THE NAVAL ACADEMY ELEVEN LOSE TO LAFAYETTE. 81. Johns Team Victorious Over Delaware COIIegs-The Shabby Treat ment By Delaware Eleven. vet il sustained its first defeat Its opponents were the stalwart eleven from Lafayette College, and the score by which they lost was 6 to.5 victory having been thrown to their opponents by the narrow difference between a goal kicked and goal missed. The midshipmen had the heart breaking experience of outplaying their rivals in the first half, but with ont score, having the better of it nearly all the second half and scoring the. first touchdown of the game, but missing difficult goal and at last having victory snatched away from them in the last three minutes of the game ON account of q splendid run of 65 wards by Captain Ernst, of the Wis iting team. The lusty captain of the visitors completed his good work by catching difficult punt out from in touch and lifting the goal which cast the balance of the victory to the maroon and white. The uncertainties of foot ball are shown by the results of Saturdays game and that of last season between the same teams. Last year the navy team. won by a score of IL to IL, and the comment was generally made that Lafayette had the better team. Sat uriay the one point which gave vic tory was on the side of Lafayette, yet nobody who saw the game denied that the honors were with the local team, except for the splendid individual performance of Captai Ernst. Although Lafayette made gains at times previous to the last run, the Navy made decidedly the more ground. Lafayette’s weakness, however, was inability to hold the ball. Newberry and Schammel were both offenders along this line, but .Shuster, who received most of the punts, hardly handled one of them cleanly, and the Midshipmen got the ball on his misplays time and again. The Lafayette linemen, from tackle, in to center, were a little too strong for their local opponents in most cases, and occasionally the Navy’s line plays would meet stone wall. The steady Improvement of Halsey at fullback, the showing OF Root and Decker, who succeeded him, and the determined and spirited work OF the comparatively green line were the most encouraging features Of the game from the local standpoint. Halsey has shown the greatest improvement of any Navy player this year. His work in helping his runner makes many a yard for his side, and Sturday he car ried the ball better than ever before. Strassburger, in previous games the best gamer for the locals, could not get away successfully, and Needham, the new quarter, does not seem to be quite up TO the standard. Smith and Farley opened up the line well for their backs. The Navy has a mo star” team this year. Captain Soule comes nearer to the star class, perhaps, but he is more of hard and spirited player than q brilliant one, and to win over West Point it must develop team work to an extraordinary extent. The players have their heart thor oughly in the work, however, and are getting little further on each game. 1t would be well for the Navy ii they could meet teams that did not tumble, so that they would get to rely solely on their plunging to make yards. In three of the hard teams that they have met this year-the University OF Virginia. Dickinson, and Saturdays opponents-the Midshipmen were constantly aided by the inability of their rivals to hold the ball. 1t will be only the merest accident that will make this the case when West Point is met, and it would be better for the Navy if they had to work harder for their advantages now. st. Johns defeated Delaware Col lege Saturday in Wilmington by a score of to 0. st. Johns outplayed Delaware at every point, and but for the unfairness of the Delaware official and lineman the score would have been thrice as large. No attempt was made to give st. Johns a fair game and the umpire and lineman took unconceded pleasure in taking advantage of every opportunifty to give Delaware the benefit OF each decision. Captain Halbert won the toss and Delaware kicked off. Duvail, of st. Johns, ran thirty yards before he was downed. By a series of tackle plays, st. Johns advanced the ball to Della wares 1O-yard line, where Duvall S attempt at a drop kick was prettily blocked. Delawre advanced the ball to the middle Of the field, where st. Johns held for downs. BY short end and tackle plays, st. Johns carried the ball to Delaware’s 10-yard line, when Smith carried the ball over for a touchdown. Green missed goal. Delaware worked the ball down to ST. Johhn’s 30-yard line by end runs, where they were held for downs. From that time on till the end of the half, the play was within Delaware’s 30 ward line, Duval at one time missing a drop kick for goal by two feet. In the second half the play was entirely within Delaware’s 40-yard line, and at no time during the whole game was Delaware nearer to st. Johns goal than the 30-yard line. 1t was in this half that Delaware played the official and her lineman to the fullest extent. The ball swayed back and forth in Delaware’s territory for the first five minutes of play, when Smith, by q splendid run of 20 yards. crossed the Delaware line. To the surprise of everyone, the lineman declared holding on st. Johns part and without conferring with the st. Johns lineman or asking evidence from the timekeeper, the umpire brought the ball back and gave Delaware 20 yards, refusing to allow the touchdown. The ball was gradually worked up to Delaware S 10-yard line by magnificent gains by Marye, Duval and Halbert, from which

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Navy leads 8–⁠4 in 12 meetings, counting the five since this game.