Spring Football
Coach Blaik and his gridiron squad moved outdoors on April 10, the first day of practice following the vacation, and three days later scrimmage was added to the spring program. In this first session of actual contact work, two varsity elevens went through an offensive drill against the scrubs, using a half-dozen plays which had previously been confined to signal practice in the gym.
Coach Blaik explained that he was naming no definite teams, but four freshmen were in the first varsity line-up. They were Carl Ray, of Pawling, N. Y., 220-pound center; Dave Camerer, of Pleasantville, N. Y., giant tackle; Don Otis, of Gloucester, Mass., freshman captain-tackle last fall: and John Handrahan, of Hull, Mass., quarterback. Handrahan's brother, Joe, yearling quarterback of two seasons ago, started at right guard, a position to which he was shifted this spring.
The remainder of the starting line-up included El Camp and Earl Arthurs at the end posts; Herb Stearns, second-string center last year, at left guard; Captain Jack Hill and Ed Chamberlain, the latter a fourth-stringer last season, at the halfback positions; and Harry Deckert, regular fullback last fall, again at that post.
The second line-up included John Merrill and Art Carter, ends; Gordon Bennett and Bill Brown, tackles; Henry Billings and Myron Ritter, guards; Al Butler, center; and Paul Lefebvre, Frank Nairne, Tauno Frigard, and Jack Kenny in the backfield. In this club, both ends, both tackles, and Lefebvre are freshmen.
The Indian gridmen followed up this scrimmage with another on April 17, and Coach Blaik announced that contact work would be a regular feature during the remainder of the spring training period. Three game scrimmages are to be staged during the latter part of Apirl and early in May. According to tentative plans, the spring sessions will continue until the middle of May.
During the past month, the Green coaching staff has had an opportunity to size up the Dartmouth material, and as a result, Mr. Blaik and his aides are hardly jubilant. The new head coach recently remarked that there is a great difference between a candidate and a football player. Much valuable material is being lost through graduation his year, but the newcomers are a willing lot and the improved scholastic standing of a number of hitherto ineligible players has been one of the most encouraging signs of the spring season. Now that the first flush of enthusiasm has been transformed into a fact-facing attitude in Hanover, it has become evident that Messrs. Blaik, Ellinger, Gustafson and Donchess have anything but a "pipe" on their hands. Optimism still predominates in the Green camp, but it is just a little subdued at the present time.
