The Freshman football team was not really defeated by Exeter last Saturday, as the score against the team was made illegally. Coach Hall gave out the following statement yesterday:

The Freshmen kicked off to Exeter in the second half, and the quarterback of the Freshman, team, through inexperience, ran down to tackle with the rest of the men instead of staying in the backfield. Exeter returned the kick immediately, and, without any of the Harvard team touching the ball, an Exeter man recovered, it and scored what was given out by the referee to be a touchdown. Rule 20, Section 1, of the Rule Book, states this to be illegal.

The following is Coach Crane's opinion of the incident: "If the kick-off was returned, and not touched by Harvard, no Exeter player (except one onside when the ball was kicked) could touch the ball, even after it had touched the ground, until some Harvard player touched it."

Rule 20, Section 1, of the football rules reads: "A player is put off-side if the ball in play has last been touched by one of his own side behind him." Confusion probably arose from Section 4, which reads: "A player of the side which put the ball in play being off-side is put on-side when a kicked ball (except a ball put in play in a scrimmage by kicking it forward instead of snapping it back) touches the ground in the field of play."

Loftus, the Exeter player who recovered the ball, was not onside when the ball was kicked, and accordingly the touchdown was illegal.