Following the Big Green Tearns

DARTMOUTH STARTS GRID SEASON MINUS ELEVEN 1936 VETERANS;ENDS AND BACKFIELD MATERIAL BRIGHTEN PROSPECTS

TO GET directly to the important point, it is my none too 'umble opinion that Dartmouth this fall is going to have a good football team, no Rose Bowl candidate to be sure, but an honorable eleven which we may all be surprised at before the final game of the season with Columbia.

One of the two reasons why the Indians still shape up presentably, even after the loss of 11 senior veterans of 1936, is the ever present coaching staff headed by Coach Earl Blaik. Perhaps I have expressed my admiration many times before for the ability of the Dartmouth coaches to meet emergencies with strategy, but even so it is a point to remember now when a great rebuilding process is going on in the practice sessions on Memorial Field and in the opening games.

The second and last reason why I feel optimistic about the outlook of the 1937 season may seem to be a strange one, but nevertheless there are two sides to every issue, and in a measure the rebuilding job that has to be done has its good points as well as its bad.

The bad features of losing nine out of eleven members of the 1936 team are obvious and too often stated. First, it takes at least two years of varsity play before the individual is classed as an experienced gridster, and two years of play as a unit before an eleven may qualify as an experienced team.

At the same time, after two years of constant varsity rating, individuals also reach a mental state where competition for their positions on the team is non-existent.

Not so with a whole squad of newcomers. The first thing that was apparent when Coach Blaik summoned his squad together for the first practice session on September 3, was the attitude taken by most of the returning players that they had as good a chance as the next fellow to break into the first eleven line-up. Hence, those who do have some edge of superiority at their berths have not felt that they could afford to coast through the practice sessions and scrimmages, and also those who were given second and third-string ratings at the outset did not submit at once to their ratings, but merely made their berths a starting point for bigger and better things.

The first effect from this cause has been that the Big Green has gone into the Bates game further advanced physically and mentally than the 1936 eleven was a year ago in the opening game with Norwich.

All of which leads to the conclusion that the rebuilding process, although difficult, is being ably assisted by the fine spirit that exists all through the ranks of the varsity squad.

Dartmouth's 1937 eleven has, in addition, received an excellent break in the arrangement of its schedule. With all due respect to the fighting spirit shown by Norwich and Vermont over a long period of years, games with these foes have never materially aided the Big Green's preparation for the major conflicts. In fact, the large scores run up by the Indians, often against their wish to romp over their plucky foes, have given the Dartmouth gridsters false notions of their early-season ability.

Not so this year. Bates, Amherst and Springfield, although .minor-game contestants, are most worthy tests for the first three Saturdays. It is my guess that each Saturday will be of great benefit to Dartmouth and that the Indians this season will go into the first major contest, with Brown, far in advance physically and mentally under the new schedule in comparison to the old.

And if Dartmouth had eventually to find new opponents for the first two Saturdays, glory be that the shift came this year when it will be of such value to a new Dartmouth eleven.

Approaching the 1937 prospects on the basis of material at hand also leaves one with the feeling that the situation could be worse.

At the ends, End Coach Ed Hirshberg, starting his first season as successor to Dr. Donchess, was greeted by Captain Merrill Davis, who will hold down the right end position vacated by Johnny Merrill, and two other veteran lettermen, Larry Hull and Joe Pyrtek, who began their battle for starting honors at left end in the first practice session.

Hull returns to the fold after his absence last year. It will be remembered that giant Larry was good enough to win a regular berth in his sophomore year two seasons ago, and there seems to be no reason to expect that Hull's year off has hurt his ability one little bit. If so, it hasn't been noticeable to date.

Pyrtek, letter winner in his sophomore year last fall, rounds out the strongest department on the Dartmouth line. With Davis and Hull as possible starters, and Pyrtek ready to sub for both these gentlemen, by no stretch of the pessimistic mind can one see anything but a great campaign for the leading Indian wingmen.

Also there is Whit Miller, captain of last year's freshman eleven, Jim Parks, stocky convert from the guard position, John Klein, starting end on last year's freshman eleven, and Ed Wakelin, another convert from guard to end.

The Dartmouth tackle situation is another matter entirely, although the prospects for a capable tackle squad are not nearly as dark as originally expected. Starting tackles Vernon "Moose" Taylor and Francis "Pop" Schildgen are both returning lettermen. Both showed moments of brilliance as subs to Dave Camerer and Gordon Bennett during the 1936 schedule. Even as subs last year, both Taylor and Schildgen were nearly on a par defensively with Camerer and Bennett. But alas, they were blocks behind Camerer and Bennett in the fine art of pulling out of the line ior offensive interference duties.

Just what effect this will have on the Dartmouth running attack this fall is a question that has haunted me since springpractice scrimmages. There is absolutely no way to discover the answer except to wait until the major-game series begins.

However, it is some comfort to know that Line Coach Harry Ellinger has made the following comments on the situation: "It is, of course, too early yet to say whether or not my linemen are going to slow down their backs on the interference. But it would be my opinion, that the present gang will be a lot faster than most people seem to expect, the issue having been confused between comparative speed and a total lack of the same.

"At any rate, even if the boys do finally lack great speed, they can very nearly make up for their deficiency in hard work on their blocking. After all, it is more a question of timing and co-ordinating the whole works, rather than a matter of outstanding speed on the part of the interfering linemen."

S-o-o, if Harry refuses to be worried, we may all believe that some way out will be found by the Dartmouth coaches. It will mean, slowing down the backs to wait for the line interference, but if the beautiful Dartmouth "deep reverse," and the strong side tackle slashes still are effective, that's really all that matters.

Right smack in the middle of the line, Dartmouth has no one on hand with a varsity letterman ranking. Building this important spot in the line-up from a positive scratch starting position, is a headache in itself. There is on hand at least one good man for each of the guard positions and two dependable men for the wide open center berth.

At left guard, junior Jim Feeley, former Exeter line star and freshman regular two years back, seems to have stepped into the line-up to stay. Feeley was out last fall with a sprained back, and it attests to his ability to recall that even after his forced layoff, he was able to start cold as a varsity candidate during the spring practice drills and win a first string berth before one quarter of the off-season period was completed. Feeley, in my judgment, has class written all over his play, and the fact that he seems to have acquired much football knowledge already, lessens the lack of experienced material at the left guard post.

At right guard, one of the flashiest defensive linemen I have seen at Dartmouth in five fall training weeks is looming on the horizon for starring honors. He is Gus Zitrides, junior gridster. Gus was not able to win his varsity letter last year, but did spend many hours scrimmaging against the first eleven, and does not wholly lack experience against college football opposition. His weakness so far has been his inability to speed up his interference work, but it is very likely that he will improve along with the tackles before mid-season.

Two juniors also have the center position battle pretty much to themselves. Right now Bob Gibson has a small lead over Otis Mudge in the regular position battle, but the lead is subject to change at any time, and very probably the season will see Gibson and Mudge sharing the center post, much as they shared their freshman team pivot position two years ago.

FULLBACK POST BIG PROBLEM

As perhaps every follower of Dartmouth football already knows, the major backfield worry at the present time is the fullback position left vacant by Johnny Handrahan. This is a problem that the coaches are doing everything within the limits of their material to solve. First, Bill Hutchinson, yearling halfback sensation of 1936, was converted to the fullback job during the spring drills. So far, Hutchinson has not been too impressive. It is very likely that this caused the coaches to try still another shift; this time Colby Howe was taken from his usual halfback position to the fullback berth.

There is also Herb Christiansen on hand, and Herb will likely start many of the games because of his ability to smash into the opposing line with devastating results to the enemy. Nevertheless, a Dartmouth fullback must do many other things besides hit the line, and it is my guess once more that Howe is the boy who will eventually fill the fullback hole. It is comfortable to think that he will, anyhow, for if he doesn't, the Dartmouth attack will bog down more than we like to imagine.

At the halfbacks, the Indians are very well stocked. Bob MacLeod, from all observations, is headed for another great season in this, his junior, year. Behind Mac-Leod, old dependable Joe Cottone seems launched on a season .that will exceed even the coaches' best hopes. The loss of Gordon Clark was not only a severe blow to the Dartmouth backfield prospects, but the accidental death of the highly regarded Clark leaves a much more important gap in the ranks of the College undergraduate leaders.

Veteran Fred Hollingworth, who started every game last year, gives the Big Green backfield experience at both the halfback posts. Behind Holly, our old friend Warren King, fit as a fiddle and ready for great things this fall, gives the Dartmouth backfield a real running threat once more. Len Viens, whose passing in the final game with Princeton was sensational, is also returning for another year, and his presence should give Dartmouth its much needed passing ace.

So far, in this brief summary of the material on hand, we have purposely skipped the sophomores except for mere mention of Hutchinson at the fullback position, and Miller and Klein at the ends.

For me, one of the most encouraging aspects of the opening weeks, has been the showing made by several of the newcomers to the squad. In addition to fullback Hutchinson, and ends Miller and Klein, right guard Bill Campbell, left guard A 1 Mansfield, tackles George Sommers and Phil Dostal, and halfbacks Buford "Cowboy" Hayden and Jim Weaver have all shown real signs of being of future aid to the varsity this fall.

So that balancing one thing with another, I would suggest that Dartmouth fans look for an eleven that will be about three-quarters as good as the powerful 1936 aggregation. Dartmouth will meet an improved Brown team this fall, a strong Harvard eleven, a Yale team that has not suffered from the loss of Larry Kelley, a Cornell team that has continued to grow stronger from the outset of last season, a Princeton team that is being underrated by those who do not admit the Tigers will be fully as good as a year ago, and a Columbia team that will match the Indians position for position.

To attempt to guess how many victories and defeats Dartmouth will enjoy, or suffer, is an impossible task. But as Coach Blaik said during the summer, "It will be a dangerous and colorful eleven," which is all any of us are asking for.

ON OTHER FIELDS

Coach Harry Hillman faces a difficult cross-country schedule with but two good men. Captain Stew Whitman will hold up his end, and sophomore Dick Hawkes, if he returns to College. Soccer Coach Tommy Dent has a better outlook on his prospects, with Captain Eric Davidson ready to lead 11 returning lettermen into the New England Intercollegiate League wars.

HEAD COACH EARL BLAIK. GREETED A FIT AND CHEERFUL SQUAD WHEN PREPARATIONS FOR THE 1937 FOOTBALL SEASON GOT UNDER WAY ON SEPTEMBER 3

CAUSES FOR OPTIMISMCaptain Merrill Davis (left) and Larry Hull, husky lettermen, who head one of thestrongest end squads Dartmouth has had in several seasons.

NEW FACES IN FIRST LINE Among the newcomers in the regular line this seasonare, left to right, Jim Feeley, guard, Bob Gibson, center,and Gus Zitrides, guard.