THE FOOTBALL OUTLOOK
Dartmouth Football Prospects Appear Fairly Bright On Eve of One of Toughest Seasons in Green History
FOR THE BETTER part of two months, all through the long hot afternoons of July and August and into the clear September sunlight, the 1945 Dartmouth football team has been taking shape under the expert tutelage of Coach Tuss McLaughry and his able corps of assistants. By the time this communication reaches you, the public unveiling of the finished product will have taken place, first against Holy Cross on September 29 and then against Pennsylvania the following Saturday. By that time, you will have a reasonable indication of the calibre of the eleven men who will trot out on the field this fall wearing the Dartmouth green.
At this point, to this exceedingly amateur and not unprejudiced observer, they look good. The end squad is the biggest and bulkiest in years, the tackles look well fortified at least two deep, the guards are small but aggressive, the centers are large and reasonably skilled, and the backs have considerable promise. It may be that things will not look so promising a few weeks from now. But we can dream, can't we?
Perhaps as good a way as any of bringing you up to date on the personnel of the first two teams is to go down the roster and indicate the current incumbents in each position. Inasmuch as the coaches have had some two months to look over the talent, the positions are considerably more established than at this time in a normal season. Injuries or sudden flashes of brilliance may still make me out a correspondent of dubious reliability, as some boy appears in the starting lineup a few weeks hence whom you have never heard of. However, here it is as of the third week in September.
The Ends The ends are currently manned by two large and rangy operatives, who look as though, they could give a good account of themselves in the heaviest going against even the most aggressive tackles. They are Al Gould and Norm Falkin, the former a marine and the latter a sailor. Gould comes from greater Boston, where he attended the Boston Latin school before entering the Marines. Six feet three in height and weighing 195 pounds, he is an exceptionally skillful pass receiver and a player who looks as though he could find his way around in any company. Falkin, the other end, was a member of last year's basketball team, where his ball-handling abilities came in good stead. He is six feet one and weighs about 185. Behind these two men are George Rusch and Clayt Birdsall at 180 and 185 pounds respectively, either of whom could step up into the big time with little difficulty. Of the two, Rusch will probably see the most service.
The Tackles Head and shoulders (both literally and figuratively) above the other tackles is Bob Harvey, who averaged 60 minutes last season in almost every game. Bob is indeed a broth of a boy, who is still growing and currently weighs in at around 235 pounds. This poundage is well distributed over his 6 feet 4 inches and he uses both his height and weight to the utmost advantage in the line. The other regular tackle is a husky Marine by the name of Phleger, who was one of the pleasant surprises that greeted Coach McLaughry after he had called out the football candidates this summer. Phleger stands 6 feet 1 and weighs approximately 210 pounds. Formerly a center, he was just too good to sit on the bench while Alexander played most of the time, so the coaches decided to transfer his weight and aggressiveness to the other tackle spot. Behind these two sturdy operatives are George Little, who weighs around 190, Ollie Nelson who goes well over 200, and John Daly who tips the beam at 190. With the first-string tackles averaging approximately 215 and the secondstring about 200, the Green is adequately supplied with manpower in this crucial position.
The Guards The guards are not much more than one deep, with co-captain CarlMcKinnon and Jim Biggie holding down the first string positions with admirable finesse, but without a great deal of talent behind them. This will be Carl's third season of Dartmouth football, the first back in 1942 as a civilian freshman and the second in 1944 after a year's stretch in the Marines. Carl uses his 185 pounds to the utmost advantage and in addition has the speed so urgently needed in the current style of guard play. He has just concluded a summer in which he acted alternately as catcher and captain of the baseball team and guard co-captain of the football team. Jim Biggie, the other guard, was a regular for the last few games last year, following his mid-season transfer to the local scene. He weighs only about 175 pounds, but his fighting spirit early aroused the pleased attention of Line Coach Whoops Snively. Behind these two are Garfield and Hoekelman, both on the light side for the demanding work in the center of the line. It may well be that, as the season progresses, some of the comparative wealth of manpower at center and tackle may be shifted to this position.
The Centers As suggested in our preseason prognostication, Fritz Alexander has clearly won himself the starting berth at center, a position which he filled durling the latter part of last season after being in college the requisite time under Navy eligibility rules. Alex tips the beam at approximately 205 pounds and dearly loves to bump people, seize them violently by the shoulders, hurl them to the ground, grasp their legs energetically and induce a recumbent position and do all the other things a good center should do. As indicated above, Alex is such a standout that his chief rival was shifted to tackle. Behind him, in no particular order, are O'Neil (196) and Siiteri (190) who have the physique and may develop the technique to act as adequate understudies.
The Quarterbacks With one of those flashes of discernment which distinguish a good coach from a mediocre one, Tuss McLaughry decided to capitalize on the allaround abilities of Co-captain Meryll Frost and use him at quarterback, which is admittedly the key spot in the modified T formation which Dartmouth is using this fall. Frost was a standout on the 1941 and 1942 teams as a ball-carrier and it was in this guise that he was first reintroduced to college football. As the most seasoned back on the squad, however, and with a number of other good ball carriers, it was reasoned that as a quarterback he could use both his talents as a running back and his football experience in play calling. As the safety man, he will be in a position to run back punts and hence put to good use his blazing speed and change of pace. As understudy to Frost, the coaches have been developing John Costello, a stocky and aggressive Marine who will undoubtedly play a lot of football this fall while Frost is resting from his arduous labours.
The Halfbacks if we were being extremely accurate about it, we would divide the halfbacks in turn into wingbacks and tailbacks, inasmuch as the two functions differ so widely under the modified T with a single wing back which Tuss has developed this fall. The wingback operates, oddly enough, on the wing, where his duties are primarily to block the opposing tackle or backer up, carry the ball occasionally on a reverse play, and act as a pass ceiver. The leading candidate for this relatively unsung but important post is RalphPowers, a 175-pounder who catches passes with ease and performs the other prosaic duties of his position with dispatch. Behind him are Tice and Becker, both light but good pass receivers.
The tailback in this formation plays a more spectacular role as ball carrier and even more as passer. With the fullback, he lines up behind the quarterback in the truncated T, from which vantage point he is equally able to pass, embark on an end run, or operate in one of the quick-opening plays for which the T formation is justly famed. Marine Bob Albrecht has been the leading contender for this position since the first day of practice and will continue to be the individual who, more than any other single back, will spark the offense. Spelling him at tailback is Milt Fromson, a stocky little speedster who reminds some nostalgic old greens of Ted Arico and who bounces along like a sturdy rubber ball. Freshman Gene Howard from New Trier High School near Chicago is another candidate for this position who will see considerable action this fall.
The Fullbacks "This is a position it is a pleasure to describe, for the Big Green currently has three (3) fullbacks, any one of whom would bring tears of joy to most football coaches. In the first preference is big Hal Swanson, the burly 200-pounder who filled this same position so manfully during the last half of last season and who is even better this year. Swanson runs hard and is particularly adept at picking the hole which opens briefly in the center of the line with the quick-opening T. Playing behind him is Francis O'Brien, a hulking Hibernian of some 200 pounds who never played football before this summer but who has made giant strides in two months. Not quite so adept as Swanson in picking the holes, O'Brien relies on main force and a terrific drive to propel him through (rather than around) the opposition. Scorning as effete the more conventional techniques of shifting and dodging, Obie infinitely prefers to run down and trample the enemy into the sod. The third fullback is a player of whom much was expected last year, only to have him completely immobilized all season (and part.pf this summer also) with various leg injuries. This boy is Scott Miler, who has finally rounded into shape and has flashed moments of the running ability which made him one of the great high school prospects of the middle west. Running with high knee action and swivel hips, Miler is a pretty thing to watch when he gets into the clear, a position in which we hope he will find himself more and more as the season progresses.
That is about the story, as far as we can tell it to you at this point, except to remind you that Dartmouth plays a schedule composed of Holy Cross, Pennsylvania, Notre Dame, Syracuse, Yale, Princeton, Cornell, and Columbia in that order. So don't expect to win them all.
A TRIO OF CAPABLE BACKFIELD PERFORMERS who are counted on to make Dartmouth's modified T attack roll this fall. Left, Bob Albrecht, speedy Marine, whofills the regular tailback spot; Ralph Powers, shifty Navy wingback; and Hal Swanson, 196-lb. Marine fullback, who starred for the Green in the 1944 season.
VETERAN TACKLE who starred last year and is again filling a regular berth is Bob Harvey, 221- pound Marine trainee.
CO-CAPTAINS of the Dartmouth eleven this fall are Meryll Frost '44 (left), quarterback, who played on the '4l and '42 teams and returned this year from military service; and Carl McKinnon '46, guard, who as a Marine trainee played again last season after earlier varsity action in 1942.
