Cornell's Eleven Has it All

It's really a shame that this year's Cornell game has been moved back to the comparative isolation of Ithaca's Schoellkopf Crescent. A shame, that is, because the mighty (and mighty big) Big Red has one of the finer T squads in this part of the country--as well as a colorful coach in George Kepford (Lefty) James.

Though the Ithacans have played only two games, they have already treated themselves to the championship of the Upper New York State Big Three, by walloping Colgate, 41 to 18 a week ago. James' club had edged Syracuse in its opener, 21 to 14.

The newly-diademed kings are the kind of team which can only be called well-balanced, although Crimson Coach Lloyd Jordan adds:

"They're terrific."

Cornell has a fine, accurate long thrower in quarterback Rocco Calvo, a ripping fullback in Hal Seidenberg, a really fast outside man in Halfback Stu Merz, and a flock of pass-catching ends: all in all a typical James T-club.

The excellence of this array is quickly evident to anyone trying to figure a defense against its attack. Colgate, for example could do little to stop Calvo's passing, because whenever the Raiders spread their defense for the pitches, Seidenberg would blast up the middle on effective trap plays.

One way of cutting down passing yardage is to cover the receivers closely, which Colgate did to some extent. But Calvo is a shrewd enough player to know when to run, and a fast enough man to accomplish something when he is unable to throw. He ran 14 yards for a score against Colgate.

But even a defense good enough to bottle both the passing and the inside running threats has fatal trouble stopping the effective outside running of such a back as Merz and his hard-hitting running mate. Bob Engel. In this offense, it is the outside, rather than the inside man who keeps the defense "honest," and the opposing coach twitching.

Calvo, a real rock of a junior, shows marked ability to pass while running in either direction. His targets may be any of the backs--all fast--including reserve halfback Billy Scazzero; or he may flip to the likes of Captain Vic Pujo (from Lynn) and Dick Cliggott, the starting ends

The rest of the first-string line, like most of the squad is composed of veterans. In fact, this particular Cornell aggregation is singular in that few sophomores are even included in the squad list. Whether or not this will mean a decline for the Bears next year is something no one can predict now.

But the truth is that Clarence "Big Lord" Fauntleroy, a six-foot, 200-pound tackle, seems to be about the only new recruit working his way up toward the starting eleven. His competition consists of seniors Chuck Metzler and Ay Pyott. On defense, the non-pronounce-able Frank Miklavzina and Jim Jerome--both seniors--fill the bill nicely.

A pair of husky seniors, Frank Vitale and "Coffee Dan" Taylor, have a tight grip on the starting offensive guard posts. Another sophomore, Stan Tsapis, has little chance to muscle his way in. Defensively, James has replaced the talented, and graduated Vince DiGrande with Jack McCarthy, with Jim Quimby at the other guard.

John Pierik was a tough man to succeed at offensive center, but Edward "Lion" Leo has done a more than adequate job. The top line-backer combination has been that of John Dorrance and Russ MacLeod both experienced, and both very good.

This about sums up the Bear club: experience and ability. It is in addition, a team which makes its own breaks; and it capitalizes on the mistakes of others.

Talent and luck, a hard combination to beat.