the sticks vs the tall timbers

the sticks

noun
  • The set of yardage markers used by a chain crew to indicate the ten yards between the line of scrimmage from the previous first down and the line to gain, which the offense must reach in their series of four downs in order to retain possession of the ball. 

  • A remote, rural area; a place that is removed from civilization such as the boondocks. 

the tall timbers

How often have the words the sticks and the tall timbers occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )