FOOTBALL 



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FOOTBALL 



tackled. The only men eligible to receive this 

 forward pass are the two men on the end of 

 the line or a man in the back-field who was at 

 least one yard back of the line when the ball 

 was put in play. Sometimes a forward pass 

 results in a long gain; at other times an op- 

 ponent catches it and dashes off down the 

 field; or, again, the ball may fall to the 

 ground untouched and be brought back by the 

 referee to the point where the play started, 

 one of the team's four chances to advance 

 having been wasted. 



Punt. A ball dropped from a player's hands 

 and kicked before it touches the ground is 

 said to be punted. If a team fails to gain 

 its ten yards in the four tries permitted, the 

 ball will pass to its opponents. If, therefore, 

 at the fourth down the quarter-back sees that 

 his men may fail to advance the necessary 

 distance, and they are not near the others' 

 goal, he may give the direction for a punt. 

 The punter stands several yards back of his 

 line men, so as to have plenty of time to kick. 

 He sends the ball high in the air in order that 

 the ends may run down under it and be at 

 hand to tackle the man who catches it. A 

 good punter will advance the ball from forty 

 to sixty yards, but unless the opponents fumble 

 it, possession of it passes to their team. 



Scoring. If a team can put the ball down 

 on or behind the other's goal line, it scores a 

 touchdown, and earns six points. The ball is 

 then brought straight out, or punted out to a 

 point in front of the goal posts, and placed on 

 the ground. Here one player holds it for 

 another to kick, and if it passes over the cross- 

 bar another point is added to the score. 



When a touchdown seems improbable, a 

 team in its opponent's territory may attempt 

 a field goal, which counts three points. This 

 may be any kind of a kick except a punt. It 

 is usually either a place-kick, similar to the 

 goal-kick after a touchdown, but necessarily 

 more hurried and therefore more difficult, or 



a drop-kick, in which the ball is dropped as in 

 punting but kicked just as it touches the 

 ground. In either case the ball must pass 

 above the crossbar to score. A goal made from 

 thirty-yards' distance is considered an excel- 



lent performance, but the record for a place- 

 kick is sixty-five yards and for a drop-kick 

 sixty-two yards. If a team carries or kicks 

 the ball across its own goal line and is there 

 downed, two points, called a safety, are scored 

 against it. If, on the other hand, it downs a 

 ball which its opponents have propelled or 

 carried across, the result is a touchback, and 

 no score is made. After either a touchback or 

 safety the ball is given to the defending side 

 on its twenty yard line, for a scrimmage. 



Signals used by a quarter-back in directing 

 his team are usually very simple. Sometimes 

 each player has a secret number, and the signal 

 10-4-16-47-2 might mean that player number 

 ten is to carry the ball through the hole pre- 

 pared by player number four, the other num- 

 bers being without meaning. Or the num- 

 bers may refer to the play instead of the 

 men, ten meaning that the full-back is to 

 carry the ball around the left end, nine that 

 he is to carry it around the right end. To 



