Following the Big Green Tearns
1936 GRIDIRON SEASON OPENS; BROADCASTS ARRANGED;FALL SCHEDULES LISTED; SQUAD STATISTICS
EDITOR'S NOTE— With this issue, RobertP. Fuller '37 of Beverly, Mass., relinquishesThe Undergraduate Chair to take overthe editorship of Following the Big GreenTeams. "Whitey," as he is known to a considerable circle of readers, is sports editorof The Dartmouth and Hanover correspondent for a number of metropolitannewspapers. In taking over the sports section, he succeeds Charles E. Widmayer '30,who will assume editorial duties of a moregeneral nature.
ANOTHER football season. Another fall for rising hopes and probably some bitter disappointments. Another schedule filled with traditional rivals and the return, after a lapse of several years, of one of the East's most powerful elevens, Holy Cross.
In preparation for all the color, excitement and autumn fascination, Coach Earl Blaik summoned his Dartmouth squad back to Hanover before Labor Day for the more serious, if less colorful, daily routine of practice sessions that will bring the Big Green into the Norwich game in excellent physical condition and well molded as a unit of individuals.
Basically the Dartmouth team this year seems to have most of its strength in veteran seniors and untried sophomores. Led by Captain Gordon Bennett, the seniors, Dave Camerer, Latta McCray, Jack Williams, Carl Ray, Bill Cole, Johnny Handrahan, Henry Whitaker, Phil Conti, Johnny Merrill, and Joe Kiernan, for the backbone of the squad. Bennett and Camerer at the tackles, Williams, Cole and McCray at the guards, Merrill on one end, and Ray at center, represent truly an experienced line. We have no doubts that they will form a good line.
For the first backfield two seniors, Handrahan and Whitaker, represent the offensive and defensive strength. In every game in which he has played for the two seasons prior to this one, Handrahan has always been the outstanding back on the field for either side. Some will disagree with this statement in relation to the Princeton backfield that'ran riot in Palmer Stadium against the Green last October. But considering the difficulties of the footing and weather, if intercollegiate football was conducted on a trading system, as is major league baseball, Handrahan would still be worth more than any fullback in the East. He can run, pass, kick and tackle with the best.
Whitaker this year will have full opportunity to show that he is really "an outstanding defensive back and a fine blocker to boot. Playing regularly will aid Whitaker's play immensely, and aid the team as well.
But where we are optimistic about the veteran seniors, we fail to have some of the optimism we had over the sophomores last spring. Bob MacLeod has been placed in the first backfield and apparently will make a fine running mate for junior Fred Hollingworth. His blocking in practice has been good and he is known as a speedy back. His passing is only so-so, however, and he does lack experience.
Other sophomore backs show promise. But unfortunately Dartmouth needs immediate reserve strength and none of the newcomers have yet displayed that they are to be counted on for this season. Then again, it may be far too soon to pass judgment without watching their work in the first games of the year. Somewhere in the list of sophomore backs, Jim Allen, Gordon Clark, Joe Cottone, Harry Gates, Walter Magee, Howard Nopper, Bob Sullivan, Len Viens and Hank White, may be found the star of the season. Let's hope so.
On the second line the sophomores have found an opening here and there. Bob Gibson and Otis Mudge are brilliant center prospects. There can be no mistake made about that. Gus Zitrides is one of the best sophomore guards we have seen in three years. Louis Highmark, Frank Davis*"Ernest Bly and Henry Schueler can b? expected for next year. Not this year, as yet.
The junior class unfortunately added little to Dartmouth football in the way of numerical strength. But a few of their class are important personages in a discussion of the present squad. Merrill Davis and Tom Boyan will see much service at left end. Roy Duckworth, a vastly improved gridster, is one of Harry Ellinger's mainstays in the guard replacement squad. Ed White is ready for a good year if the starting tackles find the difficult schedule too severe for constant play. The only junior letterman, Hollingworth, and fullback Herb Christiansen will certainly do their share for Dartmouth. It is to be regreted that Larry Hull, an exceptional end, has run aground on scholastic difficulties. He could have helped more than considerable, for the one immediately apparent weakness on the first eleven lies in the end squad replacements who have been able to gather very little experience. Even the first string ends, Davis and Merrill, played a limited number of minutes last season when El Camp and Hull held forth so capably.
One of the greatest single strokes of good fortune that Dartmouth has received during the pre-season drills was the unexpected return of Latta McCray to the fold. Badly injured in a skiing accident during the winter, McCray was thought to be lost to the football team. It was then a sad blow and continued to be until "Mac" reported for the very first practice in perfect condition and sounder than the brick pavements in a colonial village. With McCray returned the generalship of the offense and no one underestimates the value of his tactics when he commands his mates in the huddle. To say that "Mac" showed determination in ever desiring to play football again is mere prattle, for he never considered any other course, even when others had lost hope. A thousand congratulations to McCray!
Will Dartmouth have a better team than last year? We think that the answer is yes. The only hitch comes in the realization that every opponent of the Green is also stronger than in the last campaign. Holy Cross is certainly a mountainous hurdle for the third Saturday. That the Indians can match the reserve strength of the Crusaders seems doubtful. Until the first eleven wears away its strength it should be a battle royal. Whether the first signs of physical weariness will appear in the first, second, third or fourth period is, of course problematical. The game itself has attracted more enthusiasm among the student football fans than any other game in recent years except the annual Yale tilt. It can be safely said that the Holy Cross game stands as the most important single game on the list this year, because Yale has finally been vanquished and Holy Cross has nothing to gain and everything to lose if Dartmouth upsets predictions. Dartmouth teams have been known to do so before, and the very fact that the Big Green will be an underdog in its own backyard, adds to the tenseness of the conflict. As Tom McCabe, athletic director of Holy Cross, said this summer, "Jeepers, what a game that ought to be."
If you haven't already made room reservations, be sure to bring along a tent to pitch on the College green.
TALKING IT OVER Coach Earl Blaik and Captain GordonBennett discuss their chances in that HolyCross battle on October 10.
OSBORNE B. COWLES Who has joined the Green coaching corpsas director of freshman football and varsitybasketball.
