With Big Green Teams

Football Team Halts for Exams, One Point Shy of a Clean Record and with Growing Stature Among Eastern Elevens

WITH THE SUMMER-SEMESTER final exams causing a mid-season break in the fall sports schedules, Big Green teams enjoyed a three-week layoff during the month of October. Activity on all fronts will get underway on October 30 when the football, soccer, and crosscountry squads again swing into action.

In three games to date the Big Green football eleven has come a long way, and now looms as one of the football powers of the East despite a one-point loss at the hands of an outplayed Pennsylvania eleven. Prior to the Philadelphia fiasco Coach Earl Brown and company had registered a 3-0 win over Holy Cross in the season's opener, and then followed through the following week to trounce a small Coast Guard Academy eleven, 47-0.

Last month this department predicted that the 1943 Indians would be "a promising eleven .... with a good running attack and plenty of power." We repeat the same thing this month, but also hasten to add that our 1943 squad has developed one of the most dangerous passing attacks in the country.

Sparked by the accurate arm of quarterback Don Kasprzak, the Indians have gained 366 yards via the aerial route in three games this fall, and have completed 31 out of 54 passes for an average of better than 10 yards per toss. In addition, three of Dartmouth's eight touchdowns have been scored on passes.

Kasprzak, who was a reserve halfback on the Columbia squad last year, is now ranked as one of the nation's leading passers with an average of close to sixty per cent of his aerials completed. In three games to date only one of Kasprzak's passes have been intercepted by enemy backs.

"Mo" Monahan, regular left end, is another Big Green star who is currently ranked among the nation's outstanding grid athletes. Now holding down the first team left end berth for the second year, Monahan stands second in the kicking department according to the official statistics from the National Collegiate Athletic Bureau. In Dartmouth's three games this fall he has punted 21 times for an average kick of 43.43 yards. His 65-yard kick in the fourth quarter of the Holy Cross game was the individual play which led directly to the winning score.

Other standouts on the Big Green squad this fall include Joe Andrejco, regular right halfback and former Fordham flash, who is the Indians' leading ground gainer, and Larry Bartnick, halfback star on last fall's Dartmouth eleven, who has consistently turned in fine offensive and defensive performances again this season.

Along the line the two end positionsare capably handled by Monahan and Allen Russell. In addition to his fine kicking, Monahan has shown All-American abilities with his outstanding defensive play. Russell, who was a member of the freshman squad two years ago, but who did not play last fall because of injuries, has also been a standout in the Big Green line.

Center Ed Gustafson, former pivot man at George Washington, and veteran Rog Anataya are other outstanding performers on the Big Green forward wall. Gustafson has been one of the spark plugs of the Big Green defense, while Antaya, now playing his third season at right guard for the Indians, is again turning in his customary good performances.

But despite the excellent performances of individual stars in the Big Green lineup, the team play and spirit of the whole squad has been especially good this fall. In the opening game at Holy Cross the Dartmouth eleven lacked the offensive spark and the defensive determination which would classify them as a winning ball club. As a whole the team did not function smoothly, and were it not for the outstanding performances of a few individuals, the Indians might have lost their first opening game in the history of Dartmouth football.

However, the Dartmouth team which will re-open its season at Yale on October 30 will be an altogether different ball club than the one which started the year against the Crusaders. The experience of three games has given Dartmouth an eleven that is sparked not only by the outstanding play of individual stars but also by the smooth performance of a well-trained unit.

The most outstanding example of Dartmouth's efficient team work is to be found in the defensive play of this fall's Big Green eleven against opponents' passing attacks. In three games the Indians have allowed the opposition only eight completed passes, netting less than 40 yards, out of 38 attempts. In addition, the fine defensive work of the line has been responsible for limiting the opponents' running attacks to 17 first downs, while the Indians have been able to tally 36.

The mid-season graduation of Navy and Marine trainees will mean the loss of several stars in the Big Green line-up. Heading the list of six men who will be lost to the Indians after the Yale game are Joe Andrejco, Dartmouth's top running back, and Ed Gustafson, capable center who nosed out letterman Norm Brown for the starting berth. Also among those to leave are Broni Macys, 200-pound right tackle from Holy Cross; Ed Flemming, understudy to Andrejco at right halfback; reserve center Dick Grey; and Frank Sposato, substitute guard.

However, on the other side of the ledger, two V-12 freshmen who were previously ineligible because of Navy regulations, will now be able to play in the remaining four games on this year's schedule. Bill West, triple-threat halfback from Winchester, Mass., is expected to give Larry Bartnick a real battle for the regular left halfback post, while Ed Grygiel is slated to see plenty of action at right half.

West was labeled the outstanding schoolboy back in Massachusetts last fall, while Grygiel was an outstanding high school athlete for four years at New Hartford, N. Y.

To compensate for the loss of both Andrejco and Flemming at the right halfback post, Coach Earl Brown has shifted Red Mangene back to that position. Mangene, who was the regular right halfback at Boston College last fall, was moved over to the left side earlier this year. Other changes are expected in the Big Green lineup before the Yale game, and at the present time Coach Brown is working with several candidates to find adequate reserve strength for Norm Brown at center.

FAMILY FOOTSTEPS are being followed by Jack Young '47, civilian freshman guard, who is the brother of former Big Green captain Lou Young Jr. '41 and the son of the former Penn football coach, Lou Young Sr.

ALL-AMERICAN CANDIDATE for end this season is "Mo" Monahan '45, V-12 Navy trainee from West Haven, Conn., whose brilliant line play and long-distance punting have been outstanding features to date.

PIVOTMAN Norm Brown '45, regular center last year, who is carrying on as a first-stringer this season. He is a V-12 sailor.