Jim Noonan Leads Crimson Backfield With 492 Yards

Jim Noonan led Harvard's offense this year with 492 yards to his credit, but the Crimson backs divided their tasks so evenly that not one of them appears among the nation's leading ground gainers.

Noonan who alternated with Chuck Roche at tailback, ran the ball 226 yards and passed for another 266 while fullbacks Chip Gannon (who led the team in rushing) and Paul Shafer trailed Noonan with 450 and 373 yards respectively. Averaging exactly ten yards on each of 13 rushing attempts against Yale, Roche gained 130 yards to give him a total of 367 for the season, enough to win him fourth place money. This distribution of honors is in line with Art Valpey's "team play" policy.

Although the Crimson completed only 35 out of 95 passes, a fifth of them went for touchdowns. John Florentine snared seven aerials for 104 yards and two touchdowns to lead the pass catchers.

Roche Averages 34.3 Yards

The Crimson moved the ball exactly as far as its opponents--1,999 yards--but lost 35 more yards than the opposition. Valpey's intricate offense resulted in 25 fumbles, compared to 18 for the enemy. Of Harvard's 51 punts, Roche handled all but the last an averaged 34.3 yards.

Hal Moffie, who scored four times, returned seen punts for 184 yards, just eight yards less than all Harvard's opponents returned 21 Crimson punts. Roche intercepted two passes and ran them back 37 yards to lead the club in that department.

The Crimson was outscored by its opponents, 184 to 130.