Dartmouth in Town Again for 53rd Meeting As Crimson Seeks First Win of 1949 Season

This is the one they have to win.

If the 1949 varsity football team is going to finish the season with a better than 500 record, the first thing it has to do is beat Dartmouth. And that will take a lot of doing, as the Indians are a 10-point favorite.

Dartmouth's series of crippling backfield injuries is now definitely on the wane with the return of Hal Fitkin at right half and Herb Carey at fullback In fact, the only spot where the Big Green is still weakened by injuries is at left half where Bill Dey, a converted fullback, is doing a creditable job.

But on the Harvard side, things are almost as black as ever. Captain Howio Houston is not scheduled to start at running guard, and it is more than possible that he will see very little if any service. The other regular guard, John Coan, is also out of the lineup.

Will Davis, formerly the possessor of the regular left tackle position, was secretly switched to running guard Wednesday in the eventuality that Houston could not play. He will start at that slot today. Doug Bradlee, will start at left tackle. To replace the injured Coan, bib Duke Sedgwick was converted from tackle to play right guard.

The lone brightspot is the return of wingback Hal Moffie, the Crimson's finest breakaway runner and punt returner. Moffie, however, has not seen game action since he was injured on the third play of the Stanford game, and cannot be expected to perform at top efficiency.

Despite the weather report of clear skies and temperatures in the sixties, only about 25,000 fans are expected to turn out for the 53rd meeting of Harvard and Dartmouth.

Clayton Runs Green "T"

In the way of background, Tuss McLaughry's team operates from the conventional "T" formation behind a balanced line, with occasional fiankers and frequent men-in-motion. In Hal Fitkin, McLaughry has a fast tricky back adept at running the ends. Fitkin was primarily responsible for the 14-7 Indian win of 1948.

His quarterback, glant Johnny Clayton in a crafty ball handler, a better than average runner, and one of the best passers in the East. He has passed 300 yards in the last two games alone. Since Captain Herb Carey has been first string fullback for four years, there is little need to discuss his abilities.

After a disappointing start against Pennsylvania, the Indians came back to wallop Holy Cross and Colgate, primarily on the strength of Clayton's passing and some well executed trap plays and off tackle slants. Dartmouth's great weapon against Harvard last year, however, was its outside game.

After the Crimson's loss to Cornell two weeks ago, almost all the local press wrote that sooner or later Harvard would rise up and work over some opponent thoroughly. Dartmouth is the first opponent since Cornell against whom Harvard has had a fighting chance.

Bearing in mind the two heart-breakers of 1947 (14-13) and 1948 (14-7), to day's game figures to be somewhat closer than the odds maker would have it. Both teams are pretty much the teams of last year. The string may run out on Dartmouth today, though Valpey commented last night, "We'll do our best, but I can't promise anything.