Damon Runyon
Washington Herald/November 26, 1915
Champion Cornell Eleven Defeats Red and Blue in Gridiron Classic by 24 to 9
Put Up Great Battle
Philadelphia. Nov. 25.—“Church” Barrett finally became annoyed. That’s the whole truth about that football game between Cornell and the University of Pennsylvania. Experts will try to tell you that such and such was the case, but the real old goal line “info” comes right from a fellow who knows one of the rubbers for the Cornell lads to the above effect: “Chuck” Barrett was exasperated. He was peeved.
“Yes, suh.” says the purveyor of this news, who happens to be a gentleman of some slight color. “ ‘At Mist’ Barrett was mos’ irascibilated. ‘Lit mo’ an’ he would a done got mad.”
In that case—in case Mist Barrett had been thoroughly aroused, it is reasonable to assume that the U. of P. would have been a total loss. As it is, Cornell beat the Quakers by a score of 24 to 9. “Chuck” Barrett, the big captain and quarter back, scored 18 of Cornell’s counters.
Some forty-five minutes had waxed and waned at old Franklin Field this pleasant Thanksgiving afternoon, and Cornell’s clutch on her one-half interest in the football championship of the East seemed to be weakening.
Going into the last period, the score stood 9 to 7 in favor of the supposedly enfeebled University of Pennsylvania, and gentlemen were sustaining epileptic fits, violent headaches, nervous prostration, chilblains all over the arena. They were the gentlemen who had been laying from 5 to 1 and upwards on Cornell before the game.
Barrett Starts Work
Then it was that “Chuck” Barrett manifested his annoyance. In the final 15 minutes of play he showered 11 points more upon the U. of P. He had scored seven markers to the memory of Cornell earlier in the game, so Shiverick’s touchdown in that final quarter of an hour merely served to embellish the total.
Two touchdowns, three goals from touchdowns and a goal from the field sums up “Chuck’s” activities for the afternoon. Taking “Chuck” and a young gent with a rough-hewn jaw who sat in the press box as a newspaper reporter this afternoon, one would have a pretty good All-American team, without bothering with ends, tackles and guards, and other empedimenta of that nature. The gent with the Jaw was Edward Mahan.
Penn held the Big Red team scoreless in the opening period. This may have been because large segments of the crowd of 35,000 people present were bobbing about on the edge of events, seeking seats, and “Chuck” wanted to wait until they all got settled, so he could give them a good show. Early in the second period he rushed the ball over the line for a touchdown and booted the goal.
Then “Chuck” seemed to drop off in a sort of reverie. Maybe he was ruminating over the vicissitudes of the past season, slowly drawing to a close for him, and maybe he wanted to give his teammates a chance. And then, again, maybe dear old Penn was suddenly developing too much strength in the arms and legs, as well as in the head, for “Chuck” and Cornell.
Forward Pass Works
In any event, the announcer with the megaphone began talking a great deal about Pennsy players and rarely mentioning “Chuck” or the rest of the boys from high above Cayuga’s waters. As a matter of fact, “Chuck” originates around East Pittsburgh, Pa., but that wouldn’t seem well in a song. A volley of forward passes staggered the Cornell rush, and the first thing they knew Hopkins had caught one from H. Miller so close to the Cornell goal line that Williams easily elbowed his way over on the next play for a touchdown. Derr missed his boot from the touchdown. He missed it about as far as from Philadelphia to Trenton, and Penn still was a point to the rear. Presently, however, Hawley punched a field goal from the 20-yeard line, and Pennsylvania was two lengths in front.
That was a great moment for Philadelphia, Pa. The Penn students jubilated studiously. Citizens of Philadelphia relaxed their features and smiled. A wild blast of noise ripped along the south horizon and banged up against the well-known welkin with a loud crash. And all the time “Chuck” Barrett seemed dreaming and ruminating.
When the half ended with Penn in the lead there were gloomy head shakings up in the press stand, where the experts just barely had room to shake their heads, being outnumbered 9 to 1 by Philadelphia and Ithaca citizens in plain clothes.
“It ain’t the team that played Harvard, boys,” said the experts sadly. “It’s gone a little bit stale Barrett ain’t the same Barrett at all.”
The period went on into history and the experts continued to shake their heads. Their headshaking orbits had widened by this time to some extent as the Ithaca citizens had fainted. The Philadelphians were now just in the hopeful stage. They were hoping Penn could hold that narrow margin.
Chuck Becomes Annoyed
Then “Chuck” Barrett became annoyed through the line, for Derr had a habit of going through the line with considerable force or maybe someone tipped “Chuck” off to the size of the score. Anyway, he suddenly ripped his way right through the Penn front and ran 42 yards to a touchdown. He burst up and out of a scrimmage, like a man coming through a hedge. He then straightened away and plunged forward.
Four or five men got hold of him, but dripped off one after the other. Once free of the mass Chuck rambled along, he just rambled. He passed through the broken field and across the Penn goal line with all the ease of Cornell’s little black bear climbing up the Penn post, which was an incident of the intermission.
Presently “Chuck” intercepted a Penn forward pass on the 30-yard line and ran it back 10 yards. Assisted by Collin, “Chuck” hammered the ball along to Penn’s 10-yard district. Then they let Shiverick in on the deal and Shiverick lugged it to the 5-yard line and finally on over.
Subseqently, Barrett dropped back at the 44-yard mark and booted a goal from the field, just to make things good and discouraging for Penn. He had missed three previous attempts. In fact, after his first flash, and during that period of introspection, or whatever it was, “Chuck” was not astonishing the natives to any extent, but he closed with three rahs and a tiger.
Penn had been using the forward pass with considerable effect, passing some of ‘em so far that it looked as if the passers used slingshots, but “Chuck” finally got to coaxing the ball out of the air into his arms. He has an eye like an eagle, has “Chuck,” and those passes simply could not escape him.
Penn introduced a busy little cup of tea named Loucks in the last period and Loucks made some grand runs, including one of forty-five yards, but nothing came of that.
All things considered Penn made a surprisingly good showing. She has been beaten three times and twice tied this season and football affairs were supposed to be in a more or less chaotic condition around Franklin Field, but against her ancient rivals from Ithaca she made a grand battle. This was Cornell’s third consecutive victory over Penn under the regime of Al Sharpe. The University of Pittsburgh was unable to beat Penn by as wide a margin as Cornell did today. and Pittsburgh is Cornell’s only rival for the championship of the East.
(Source: Chronicling America, https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045433/1915-11-26/ed-1/seq-11/)
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