"Whoop!" Then the Gridley bannerets waved like a surging sea of color.
The band, finishing its strain, started in again, not waiting for breath.
"Prescott, after all, on left end!" Home boosters were still cheering wildly by the time that Captain Pike, of Filmore High School, had won the toss and the teams were lining, up.
Silence did not fall until just the instant before the ball was put in play.
Drayne, with his headgear pulled down over his eyes, and skulking out beside the grand stand, soon began to feel a savage satisfaction.
Something must be ailing the left end man after all, for Dick did not seem able to get through the Filmore line with his usual brilliant tactics.
Instead, after ten minutes of furious play, Filmore forced Gridley to make a safety.

Then again the ball was forced down toward Gridley's goal line, and at last pushed over.
Gridley hearts, over on the grand stand and bleacher seats, were beating with painful rapidity.

What ailed the home boys?
Or were the Filmore youths, as they themselves fondly imagined, the gridiron stars of the school world! Filmore, like Gridley, had a record of no defeats so far this season.
It was a hard pill for Captain Wadleigh and his men to swallow.
In the interval between the halves the local band played, but the former dash was now noticeably absent from its music.
The Gridley colors drooped..