Football for Player and Spectator/Chapter 15
The Captain
Second only to the judicious selection and thorough training of a football team is the acquisition of a capable captain, for no matter how well the eleven may be qualified for its work, individually and as a team, its efforts will be barren of success unless the men are ably led on the field.
No matter how well disciplined and equipped for battle an army may be, if its general is cowardly or lacking in foresight and strategy, its efforts will yield only defeat. The same is true of a football team and its campaign, for the captain is the commander of the eleven and on his ability and on the influence of his personality depends largely whether his team is to emerge from its game in glorious victory or in disappointing defeat.
No player should be selected to act as captain who is not a leader in every sense of the word. He should be a player of the very highest individual ability in the first place, for, if he lacks ability to perform his own part in the play, scant will be the confidence which his men will place in him and his commands. He should be able at all times to set an example which his comrades must exert themselves to the utmost to follow. His spirit and enthusiasm must be contagious, for the team will play in exactly the fashion in which it is led, and carelessness or indifference in a leader will be mirrored in every movement of his team. The captain must be a perfect judge of human nature and must be able to meet each crisis as it comes with a fearlessness and aggressiveness which will communicate themselves to every member of his team.
If possible, the captain should by all means be the quarter back of the team, for it is from this position that the duties of field leader can best be performed.
The football captain should be a man who has the ability and disposition to make a close study of his own men as well as of his opponents. He should enter each game prepared in advance in the minutest detail possible and equipped with a knowledge immediately available when called for. His team has been prepared to the best of the ability of its instructors, and when it takes the field to do battle, when the time for action arrives, the captain must realize that the situation now rests with him. He it is who must execute the plan of play that has been arranged. Is his own team strong in one particular, he must be prompt and ready to make use of that strength in the way that will prove most effective. Is there a weakness in the opposing eleven, he must be quick to discover it and must emphasize it by so directing his play that the strength of his own team and the weakness of the opponents are combined to bring victory to the eleven which he is leading.
Summed up, the football captain must be a good general. In adversity he must be prepared to encourage his men to still further efforts, while rapidly evolving a plan which will meet conditions that may not have been foreseen. Even the elements, wind, sun and weather, must be brought into an alliance with his efforts. He must be an adept in field tactics. He must justify his selection as field leader by always doing the right thing in the right place. He owes it to his men, and they, in turn, owe him an obedience which, when given, needs only the addition of general knowledge and ability to make victory over any team of equal and even superior prowess, but less skillfully led, an absolute certainty.
Looking Forward, or Things That Should Be Known Before the Game
The condition of the field is an important factor in every football contest. Knowledge of the gridiron's individual peculiarities is just as essential to the football captain as is thorough familiarity with his battle ground to a commander of an army. Some time before the game the coach and captain should go over the field carefully and note its condition. It may slope toward the end or the side. It may have good footing in parts. It may be partly sod and partly bare. It may just have rained or snowed and the effect of the weather on the different parts of the field may be vastly different. Every condition must be minutely noted, for the commander must maneuver his forces along plans that will take every possible advantage of existing conditions.
The sun and wind are important factors that enter into the playing of the game and their influence on the play must be carefully noted and considered. On their direction depends largely the style of kick to be employed and the number of times kicking should be resorted to.
If the ground is soft from the nature of the soil or from rain or snow, great care should be taken that all the players' shoes are well cleated. No one can play the game unless he has a good and secure footing. Any player who has an injury should have it well protected by proper bandages or padding, this being especially important on a field that is hard or frozen.
The captain should know his own men, their strength and weakness as a whole and individuals. This can all be acquired during the practice season by noting carefully the playing of the team and men at all times.
The coach, captain and quarter back should go over the plan of the game to be played. This should be done in detail the day before the game. At this meeting all data concerning the players of the opposing team must be considered. Their make-up and their possibilities, singly and as a team, both on the offense and defense, should govern largely the plan of campaign to be decided upon. Knowledge of this sort can best be gained by actual observation of the opponents in action against some other team.
Ground rules should be agreed upon where any obstacles are likely to interfere with the playing of the game. Many gridirons have the stands or fences where they will interfere with plays and kicks that go out of bounds and in goal. An understanding beforehand will settle any difficulty that may arise later.
The Offense
It would be simply foolish even to attempt to lay out a general plan by which a football game should be played. One universal feature of the game is the fact that it cannot be worked out very well before the actual conditions arise on the field. Football cannot be learned by rule. Only a general idea can be offered of what the leader must keep in mind during the game, -a few suggestions that will assist him to make the proper moves at the right time and place.
In preparation for each game, the style of offense to be decided upon must depend largely on the style, strength and weakness of the opponents' defense. But this much is certain, -the offense should include such a varied attack that some of the plays will be effective against any style of defense the opponents may offer. The game must not be played to suit the opponents, but should be so planned as to take every possible advantage of their weakness. How often it occurs that a team plays into the hands of its opponents, shoots the ball into its pocket, as it were, and wonders why the play fails to gain. The modern offensive game, to be as effective as it should, is one that is made up of a variety of plays and different formations.
The Offense No. 2
The main attack should be diversified and deceptive, but the deceptive feature of the attack should be more in the nature of straight football than trick plays. It may feint at one point and then strike the real blow at some other point. On the offense the opponents must be kept guessing as to the nature and kind of attack. This is very important if the play is to gain ground. The main object of the team on the offense is to score--to carry the ball over the opponents' goal. All the attack should have this end in view. The plays must be executed with such force, speed and determination that they cannot be resisted.
Sometimes it is good policy to keep up a consistent attack at some point in the opposing line and then suddenly shift it back to some other place, after the enemy has drawn in its men to stop the play at the original point. This does not mean that the attack must be limited to a small number of plays, for punts, fake kicks, line plunges, sudden shifts in the offensive formation, followed by end runs, should all be included in the general policy.
Straight football should form the principal attack, and punting should be considered an important part. Do not rely on trick plays. They will very rarely gain ground against good teams and the weaker ones can be easily defeated anyhow.
The Offense No. 3
Kicking is an important part of the offense. The team that does not have a good punter in the game and one or two in reserve is seriously handicapped. Just when and where to kick are decisions that must be governed largely by the strength of the two teams and the condition of the wind and weather. Again, can you out-kick the opposing team, and what is your ability to hold your opponents when they have secured the ball from a punt? If the opponents' back-field men are poor at catching, kick often. When punting from near the sideline, care must be taken that the ball does not go outside too soon in flight. If punting from near the sideline, do not kick too far toward the other side, as the opposing backs will have a great chance to run the ball back along the side of the field that is little protected. The punt should always be high enough to permit the ends to go down the field with the ball to tackle the runner or get the ball in case of a fumble.
Offense in Different Sections of the Field
Section I. When the opponents are inside your own 35-yard line, there is always much danger of their scoring either by a touchdown or a goal from the field. Strive to prevent in every way possible the enemy's securing possession of the ball in this territory. The general policy should be to kick on first down or just as soon as you secure the bali. The danger in rushing the ball in Section I is that a fumble may occur and the ball be secured by the opponents. Keep the play out and beyond the 35-yard line. This is a good section of the field to try a fake kick or trick play of some kind on first down. Under no conditions, however, try a play in which there is any likelihood of a fumble.
In kicking from this territory the full back must use great care in getting his kick off and in playing it so that the opponents cannot make a fair catch. Care in this respect is especially necessary if the kicker punts from near or behind his own goal line. The center must be careful in his pass to the full back and the full back should be slightly farther back from the center than he usually is for the kick.
Section 2. Section 2, or the center of the field, is the great battle-ground of the game. It is here that all the tricks and maneuvers of football are put into play. Every method is tried, likely to carry the ball toward the opponents' goal. In this section the punting is more frequent. Kicking should be resorted to on the third down in the middle section, if there is any possibility of losing the ball. If the wind is at your back, punt frequently, especially if you can out-kick your opponents, for this gain on the exchange will gradually bring you nearer the coveted goal line.
The plays should be so directed that the team is not brought in too near the sideline, and the point of attack thus practically limited to one side of the line.
A kick from this section of the field should be so directed that the ball will go out of bounds near the goal line or so that it will stop near the goal line and not go in goal. If the ball goes in goal the opponents will fall on it for a touch-back, and they will be permitted to kick out from the 25-yard line instead of being forced to take a kick from scrimmage on or near their own goal line.
Section 3. When the team has once crossed the opponents' 35-yard line, the attack should grow stronger and more determined. Every inch counts now and every member of the eleven should get in with all his power. The selection of plays is very important and only the ones that are strongest and best should be attempted. If the opponents play close in the line and bring in their back-field, do not be afraid to use the plays that go outside of tackle, and even farther out if the end comes in as close as he often does. This does not mean, however, that you must try a wide end run.
It is not hard to score a goal from the field at any point inside the 35-yard line. If conditions arise on the third down that are liable to result in the loss of the ball, then try a goal from the field either by a place-kick or drop-kick, depending, of course, on the play for which the team is better fitted.
Defense
The style of defense used depends largely on the style of attack of the opponents. The position on the field of play will govern largely the disposition of men and their duties on the defense. The conditions of the ground must not be overlooked. When the ground is wet and slippery it is almost impossible to run the ends, who can then be played in close to the tackles and the tackles in more toward the guards.
The modern system of defense receives almost as much attention as the offense. The great variety of attack now in use in the different schools and colleges of the country demands that the defense be arranged for the best manner of stopping the attack. Under the chapter on "Defense" will be shown and explained the best and most effective formations for defense now used. There should be a system of signals for the defense just as much as there is for the attack.
The defense against kicks and the duties of the individuals and the team as a whole are fully explained under the head of "Punting".