Top of the Line

Like most offensive linemen, his name is rarely mentioned, but that doesn't bother Harvard's Harry Cash. "If you're good, people are going to notice you," says the Crimson's starting right guard. "It's pretty obvious that if you have a running back who runs for a hundred yards, at least a few people are doing something right up front."

With Jim Callinan on his way to a possible thousand-yard season and the Crimson ranked second in the entire ECAC in rushing yardage, somebody up there is doing more than that. With only center John Francis back from last year's starters, coach Joe Restic expected some early trouble with his ground game while the inexperienced line learned the ropes. It has not turned out that way.

Instead of relying on the passing of Ron Cuccia and the razzle-dazzle entries in the Harvard playbook to move the ball, Restic has discovered a secret weapon in his potent running attack. The success of Callinan, Jim Acheson, Jimmy Garvey and others takes the pressure off Cuccia, making the occasional pass or flea flicker more effective. In fact, the offense put 28 points on the board in the first half Saturday without Cuccia completing a pass.

And without taking anything away from Callinan--who may be the finest running back in Crimson history--a ball carrier needs a good line to be effective. Harvard has a good line, anchored by the man Restic calls the ideal Multiflex guard.

"We pull our guards a lot," Restic says, "and you have to have some niftiness. You have to have good feet and good balance, and Harry does. A guard who might be big and strong and just base block, well, we couldn't use that kind of player in our program. We'd have to change our way of thinking."

"A lineman is asked to do a lot in the Multiflex," Cash says. "There are three facets of the job: drive blocking, pass blocking and pulling. The thing I'm best at personally is the pulling."

At 6 ft., 2 in., and 235 Jbs., the Malden Catholic grad is not small, but plenty of people are just as big. What sets him apart is his quickness.

Cash's strength is getting himself to a spot where he can make the right block--a skill equivalent to a receiver running his patterns well. If he has a weakness it is pass blocking, where size, and not speed, is of primary importance.

"In offensive line play you're taught to be aggressive in everything," he says. "The exception is pass protection, which is passive. You're trying to shield the quarterback and keep your body between him and the lineman."

It is the enigma of playing the offensive line that the better you do your job, the better it looks for somebody else. But Cash is used to anonymity--he's been playing under it all his life.

"It takes a certain kind of person to be an offensive lineman," the senior History major says. "An offensive lineman probably has never scored a touchdown, so he doesn't need that kind of gratification. His gratification comes from making a good block. It's fair to say that if the ballcarrier gets to the line of scrimmage before he gets hit, it's been blocked up."

"The fans may not know it, but your teammates know it and the coaches know it and other offensive linemen know it." And for Harry Cash, that's enough.