Zakula Lost for Season; Messereau Rejoins Squad

Second string tight end Steve Zakula was lost for the season Wednesday as the Crimson polished its offensive sets in preparation for Saturday's game with Columbia in New York.

The defense received a boost, though, when sophomore tackle Tom Messereau rejoined the team after a week's absence. Messereau will back up classmate Ed Vena, who is coming off an ankle injury that kept him out of the Rutgers games.

Zakula aggravated an old ankle injury earlier in the week and decided to have correctional surgery performed sometime in the next two weeks. A 6' 2", 222-pound senior, Zakula caught only one pass as a junior but was being counted on for relief help this season.

To compensate for Zakula's loss, coach John Yovicsin is experimenting with sophomore fullback Steve Hall at tight end. Hall started the Northeastern game at fullback and ran well, but senior Tom Miller ran better against Rutgers and appears to have the position secured.

Hall has the size to play tight end (6' 1", 230 pounds) and is sure-handed. Also, there is more depth in the backfield than at tight end, where senior Pete Varney has started the past two years.

Wrong Again

The Boston Globe erroneously reported this morning that Hall was scheduled to start at fullback against Columbia. Soon thereafter, Miller-who gained 154 yards on 23 carries against Rutgers-was subtly making inquiries as to the origin of the report.

Later Wednesday, the wire services released their weekly New England football polls and Harvard was listed fourth in both. The top three were the same in both the AP and UPI rankings, with Boton College heading the list, followed by Dartmouth and Yale.

The Poll

The AP's first eight were:

1. Boston College (3-0) 178

2. Dartmouth (2-0) 159

3. Yale (2-0) 144

4. Harvard (2-0) 125

5. Connecticut (2-1) 103

6. Massachusetts (1-2) 67

7. Boston University (1-2) 64

8. Brown (1-1) 60