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THE OFFENCE
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thing else and so lose spirit; at any rate,
they have lost that force and energy nec¬
essary to play good, hard, straight foot¬
ball. The trick should be merely an "in¬
cident of the game. Its proper function
is simply to add a little uncertainty and
to keep the other side guessing. It is a
mistake to think that the only scientific
game is the strategic one. The science
of the straight game does not lie in
the formation, but solely in the execu¬
tion.
Then the bulk of the rushing games
should be straight football. Three or four
or half a dozen at most are a sufficient
number of tricks. The whole repertoire
of plays should be not less than twenty,
nor more than thirty. A few plays well
executed are better than a load of stuff in¬
differently learned.
The kicking game has been dealt with
in a previous section. It may not be best
in all cases to have the kicking game the