GILL FENERTY

The crowd at Fitton Field in Worcester will be waiting for something spectacular to happen Saturday. And when the fans look for a Crusader miracle, they look to the Cross's star tailback, Gill "The Thrill" Fenerty, to deliver.

Holy Cross Coach Rick Carter has molded his offense around Fenerty and his breakaway speed. The Crusaders run almost twice as often as they pass--and when they run they give the ball to The Thrill.

Fenerty was responsible for 32 percent of Holy Cross's total offense last year, and is expected to register an amazing 50 percent this season.

"He's fast, he has balance, and he has good hands," Carter says.

Number four played a crucial part in last year's Crusader-Crimson showdown. The then-junior ran for 105 yards and scored a touchdown to lead his squad to a 24-14 victory.

Harvard fans were impressed by Fenerty, but his performance in Cambridge was mere child's play compared to a performance Fenerty turned in the year before in Worcester.

On October 29, 1983, Fenerty, a sophomore, who had transferred from Louisiana State University, shocked the football world. He shattered six Holy Cross single-game records, a New England game record, and a NCAA game record, to go along with three New England and three NCAA record ties in a single afternoon.

Fenerty came out fighting and fierce against Columbia. He rushed for 149 yards and scored three touchdowns.

In the first quarter.

He cooled down a bit in the second quarter, rushing for only 55 yards and scoring only one touchdown. Something obviously reinspired him at halftime, because he totally dominated play in the third, picking up 133 yards and notching two more touchdowns.

Although Fenerty was a couple of long gallops short of 400 yards, Carter let his star--and his statisticians--rest in the fourth quarter.

Nonetheless, Fenerty rushed 18 times for a total of 337 yards, averaged 18.7 yards per rush and scored six touchdowns. It was after this particular game with Columbia that the New Orleans, La. native, picked up the nickname "A Touchdown Waiting to Happen".

Although the Columbia game is undoubtedly the highlight of his college football career, Fenerty also had several other career highs in his sophmore year. He had 30 rushes against Connecticut, hauled in four receptions against both Brown and Dartmouth, and had his longest kickoff return, 38 yards, versus the Green. He also had five 100-yd. games, including a 196-yd. effort for his first college start.

Though he suffered a separated shoulder and sat out the last two contests of his sophomore campaign, Fenerty nevertheless established a new Holy Cross single-season rushing record with 1101 yards. He also broke a Cross record by scoring 15 touchdowns.

He was honored by election to the First Team All-New England, and the Third Team All-America teams, and received the Davitt Award as the team's best offensive back.

Fenerty's stats for his junior year are almost as impressive. He averaged 20 carries per game and 5.8 yards per carry. He had seven consecutive 100-yd. rushing games, and finished the season with 1211 yards on the ground.

Fenerty broke his own record for total yards, and became the first player in Holy Cross history to have back-to-back 1000-yd. years. He only scored five touchdowns for the season, one less than he had managed in the Columbia game the previous year.

He was elected to the Associated Press Third Team All-American for the second straight year and was elected Honorable Mention All-East. He finished the season seventh in rushing and fourteenth in all-purpose yardage nationally.

So far this year, Fenerty has again been a dominant force in Eastern football. In the Crusaders' game against Army Saturday, he went over the 1000-yd. mark for the third straight season, another personal--and Holy Cross--milestone.

With three games reamining in the season, Fenerty has 202 rushes for 1089 yards, 312 yards on pass receptions and has scored four touchdowns.

There is little doubt that Fenerty will be selected in the NFL draft in the spring. Scouts predict that Fenerty's biggest pro potential is as a kick returner.

In the meantime, however, the Thrill will be looking to provide a little more excitement up in Worcester