Tigers Halt Crimson Upset Bid, Win 28-20

The varsity football team provided local observers with what may well prove the biggest surprise of the year when it held a heavily favored Princeton eleven to a hard fought 28-20 victory on Saturday.

After watching the game, however, one might also conclude that the biggest surprise was not that the Crimson managed to contain the rampant Tigers, but that the Tigers managed to avoid losing to a remarkably improved varsity team.

Many felt after it was all over that had the Crimson not lost the invaluable services of left halfback Chet Boulris and right tackle Pete Briggs early in the game, the outcome might have been different. The varsity had several second-half scoring opportunities on which it could not make good, and had the smooth-running Boulris been in the lineup, he might have made the difference.

Johanson Completes Eight Passes

For the first three quarters, however, Harvard, led through the game by the excellent work of captain Tom Hooper, dominated play. Quarterback Ron Johanson, replacing injured Dick McLaughlin, took to the air and completed eight out of 11 passes for 119 yards and three touchdowns in the first half. In first-half statistics, the Crimson outgained the Tigers 200 to 100 in total yardage.

From the opening play, when Boulris rolled over right guard for 32 yards, to the final play of the half, when Johanson threw a 26-yard touchdown pass to Hooper, the varsity controlled the action. The junior quarterback, only recently a JV player, guided the team expertly, and when the Crimson was in a tight spot he was always ready with the long pass to rescue his team.

Halaby Receives Scoring Pass

Notable in the midst of all this brilliant passing was the use of Sam Halaby, previously a running back and defensive linebacker, as a pass receiver. The Tiger defense was clearly caught off guard when Halaby drifted into the clear to score Harvard's first touchdown.

But when the time came, Princeton was ready.

Tom Morris, who had spent most of the game on the bench, came in for Dan Sachs and found the tired Crimson defense just to his liking. In the ten minutes of the fourth quarter which Morris spent on offense he completed three passes for 30 yards and one touchdown, and ran for 77 yards in seven carries, scoring the final Tiger touchdown on a brilliant 39-yard swerving dash through the entire Crimson team.

The varsity came close to scoring two additional times in the second half, but didn't seem to have the necessary push at that point to succeed. Early in the third quarter, the Crimson had the ball, first and eight to go, on the Princeton eight-yard line. But Marsh Levin lost four, and after Halaby got them back again, Johanson's pass to Hooper in the end zone was a little too late and was knocked out of Hooper's hands. Stahura's pass on the option fell short and Princeton took over.

Early in the fourth quarter, with third and five to go, Johanson made the first of his two clearly poor calls of the game. Twice, with the ball on the Princeton 25, he fired long passes incomplete to Keohane and Stahura when an attempt for first-down yardage seemed in order.

The Crimson playing in general, however, was excellent and it was only Princeton's depth that finally won the contest.

The varsity football team seems to have come of age in the Ivy League