Fumbles, Mistakes Provide Dartmouth With 13-7 Win Over Crimson's Eleven

It should happen against Princeton, it could happen against Yale, but some time later this fall the varsity football team is going to stop beating itself and concentrate on the opposition.

It would be slighting the Big Green and its omnipresent Bill Beagle to say that the Crimson handed Dartmouth a 13 to 7 victory Saturday--nevertheless the varsity was the better team. Against the myriad of fumbles, costly penalties and three interceptions, one must consider the superior line play of the Harvard line (Dartmouth gained 68 yards rushing), the running of Matt Botsford, and the general dominance of the Crimson. In the fateful third quarter, when Dartmouth scored the deciding touchdown, the Green ran exactly seven plays, while the varsity which drove 78 yards down the field but failed to score, ran 24.

Too many times Saturday did offside penalties allow the Green to move the ball out of its territory; too often were nascent Crimson drives stopped short by interceptions or fumbles. It might be noted that in keeping with the chance element of the game the Crimson's only touchdown resulted from a long desperation pass, while its more orthodox power thrust in the third quarter failed both for lack of signal-calling imagination and a determined Dartmouth stand.

Besides the breaks, Dartmouth also had Beagle. If the junior quarterback had any failing it was a refusal to pass frequently enough. Beagle completed ten out of 15 including two touchdown passes. Considering the effectiveness of the Crimson line Beagle called a very con- servative game, conceding the offensive initiative to the chance of a dangerous interception. This tightly conceived and executed game eventually paid off for the Green, but had thing gone differently, the fourth quarter would have seen a burst of passes, and the post game press conference might have seen a rueful Tuss McLaughry, again vowing that his team should have passed more.

Saturday's game may have been disappointing, but it was not discouraging. The play of Dave Bodiker, Art Painter, Bill Meigs, Tim Anderson, John Maher, and Orville Tice could leave only Green halfback Lou Turner discouraged. Encouraging too was the return of wingback Dexter Lewis. Out for three games with a pre-season injury, Lewis still looks like a dangerous runner who gets eight yards out of a five yard opening. Botsford again played a fine game-given good openings he ran very well.

Only at fullback, where injuries to both George MacDonald and Bill Volmer have forced Jordan to bring sophomore Tony Gianelly along too fast, did the Crimson look vulnerable. Probably the least experienced defensive halfback Jordan has ever used, Gianelly has been rushed into two-way service too soon, and lacks the speed of his 1953 predecessor, John Culver. Gianelly's lighter, more experienced understudy, Dick Oehmler, is a very fast starter, and hits a line very hard for 160 pounds.

To the critics of Jordan, it should ge pointed out that this was a well-coached Crimson football team making mistakes of inexperience, playing overly cautious football. Jordan has never built his single wing around flash and surprise, but its power, as evidence during the ill-fated 70-yard match is gratifying football to watch, and it is the same type of solid football which has brought Harvard to League respectability over the past four years. You may decry the lack of variety and imagination, but you would do well never to undersell the blocking of a Jerry Marsh, the running of a Bob Cowles or a Matt Botsford, and their effect on the opposition over a 60 minute game. It is the kind of football which looks very good when the score is right, such as the 1953 Yale game or the 1954 Cornell game, and terribly frustrating when the score is wrong such as the 1953 Princeton game or the 1954 Dartmouth game. More than anything else it is the kind of football which never allows the coach to share much glory.

The freshman "B" football team, held on the one-yard line twice, lost to St. Sebastian's 6 to 0, Saturday. A 40-yard pass play from George Haslotis to end Joe Herlitty on the final play of the first half was wasted when Herlitty was knocked out of bounds on the one-yard line. The Yardlings had a first down on the one late in the final quarter, but lost the ball on a fumble. St. Sebastian scored on a 50-yard run.

For the record, Dartmouth scored first and last Saturday, both times by passes, the first time as a result of a Harvard fumble on the Crimson 21. On the next play at precisely 13:15 of the second period, Beagle passed down the center to sophomore end Monte Pascoe who caught the ball on the tow-yard line and went over for the score. Beagle missed the try for the point.

The Crimson came right back, 62 yards up the field, with sophomore quarterback Phil Haughey under center in the A-formation. The 6'4" sophomore's first two tries were incomplete, but then he connected with another sophomore, tail-back Jimmy Joslin, for a 16-yard gain to the Green 46. After Cowles made two yards Haughey fired a 36 yard pass to Bob Cochran who caught the ball as he fell between the defenders on the eight. After a Sam Fyock to Jerry Marsh pass which had put the ball on the goal line was nullified by a penalty, Fyock hit Cochran on the four, and the senior end drove over for the score. Bill Frate was there to kick the point, but a bad pas from center permitted him only to grab the ball and run towards the left end where he landed safely in the end zone.

The Green scored in the third period, covering 65 yards in exactly five plays, four of them passes. Turner ran the first play, made one yard, and then Beagle took over. He connected with a long pass to fullback Dick Smith on the Harvard 35, and Smith carried to the 17 before Botsford made the stop. Beagle threw one incomplete pass and then hit end Jon Anderson who drove to the 4. Dick Flagg caught the fourth and final pass, a short one right over the center for a touchdown at 6:05. Beagle's try for the4BOB COWLES (11), the varsity's ace defensive halfback, bats down a long pass by Dartmouth quarterback Bill Beagle. The Crimson was able to stop only four of Beagle's attempts as the Indian ace completed ten of 15 for a total of 136 yards. The varsity, mean-while, surprised the large crowd of 32,000 by trying 22 passes; it completed seven for a total of 106-yards--36 of this total coming on a long pitch from Phil Haughey to Bob Cochran, Dartmouth was able, however, to take advantage of three interceptions, while the Crimson falled to intercept any of Beagle's passes. Beagle called a surprisingly conservative game, rarely passing in his own territory. Despite the superiority of Harvard's line he used line plays rather than risk on interception.