Dunster Rides High, Takes House Title

First, the world saw the amazing '69 Mets. Then the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team made the headlines. And now there's the 1981 Dunster-Mather House football squad.

To put it a bit more bluntly: highly underrated and disregarded Dunster-Mather downed the dynastic Quincy eleven in the House football championship game, 7-0, played yesterday in the Stadium.

"Maybe now we'll get a little respect," said Dunster-Mather fullback Mark Rosen after his team's victory. "All season long nobody took us seriously, and that was a big thing for us."

Dunster-Mather capitalized on Keith Douds' third-quarter interception by driving 78 yards for the game's lone score. Rosen capped the 19-play march up the field with a one-yard scamper into the endzone.

For Q-World, it was a game of missed opportunities. Twice in the first half the team had the ball within the 15, but twice it came up empty. The Dunster-Mather defensive unit--led by Dan Moore, Paul Cusick, Shaun Gerald and Chuck Smith--was a integral part in the victory by standing firm when it had to.

Despite its inability to score, Quincy dominated the game throughout the first half. It had little trouble producing yardage, while Dunster-Mather had difficulty in mobilizing its offense. But after the first 30 minutes of play, the momentum changed.

After Douds' interception, Dunster-Mather held onto the ball for the entire third quarter and for much of the fourth quarter, keeping the ball from Quincy and waiting to get the six-pointer.

After Quincy regained possession of the ball, potential touchdowns disappeared with Dunster-Mather interceptions. Quincy quarterback Terry Wilson threw five on the day.

"Most of the interceptions were broken plays. It wasn't Terry's or the receiver's fault," said Q-World coach Steve Nicholas. "We've been breaking plays all year long, but still we managed to come out O.K."

Throughout this House grid season, some claimed that Dunster-Mather had a two-man team in Douds and Rosen, but Rosen said yesterday that this isn't true. "Every man has contributed to the success of this team. Our guys are tough."

For the past two years, Quincy has dominated House football, and for the past three, it has participated in the title match. Six players--Ed Irwin, Jeff Levey, John Keane, Bob Maddox, Art O'Keefe and Steve Nicholas, all seniors--have formed the nucleus of the squad.

"Hey, they're a great team," said Rosen. "But the dynasty is over for Quincy."

Q-World coach Steve Nicholas disagrees with that claim. "It's [the dynasty] not dead. Over the last three years we've been 15-2, and we've still got Yale to go."

After the game Rosen was jubilant. "I can't describe how great it feels. I started playing freshman football, but never made it to the Stadium." He added, "We finally made it to the Stadium in our own game. We finally made it the hard way. For three years, we've been waiting for this victory."

After his team's loss, O'Keefe said, "If we could have been defeated by anybody it was them [Dunster-Mather]. They're not overconfident or cocky, just great people."

And so the Harvard house football season ends.