Football Forecast
DARTMOUTH WILL BE considerably stronger this fall, but so will everybody else. That is the most candid characterization of the coming season that can be offered at this early date. These lines are written two weeks before the Holy Cross game and after some ten days of practice. During this probationary period, the squad has been put through a half-dozen vicious scrimmages on the steamy playing fields of Chase Field. As a result of these sanguinary encounters, the following alignments are beginning to take shape.
(l) Ends—One thing can be said with authority about the ends this fall. They will be bigger than they have been for many years past. This must be qualified by the equally positive statement that they will have less experience than any recent group of wing candidates. Coach Elmer Lampe, taking over the end squad, was faced with a complete dearth of letter-men at this position and only subsequent shifts have brought some experience into this vital spot. Sophomore Red Rowe from Oak Park is currently one of the leading candidates and his 6'3" and 203 pounds should combine with his basketball skill at catching passes to make him a standout performer before he graduates. Dave Beeman at 206 pounds is another sophomore who should come along fast in the big time, although his previous experience has been confined to the freshman eleven. Two important shifts were made this fall to bolster the slim end squad, both changes involving big, powerful men who won their letters at other positions. Dale Armstrong is a rangy 205 pounder, who saw considerable action last fall at fullback, and who has taken to the end assignment with enthusiasm. Jonathan Jenkins is the other newcomer to this position, after playing two years at tackle. Possessed of terrific physical strength, and at 220 pounds still the fastest lineman on the field, he should be a natural for this position. If Jenkins comes along as the coaches hope, he will be a tower of strength and aggressiveness at the end of a green line that needs plenty of these qualities.
(2) Tackles—There is considerably more weight at the tackles this fall than there has been for a number of years. The Green should take the field not quite so undermanned in the weight category as in the past, although whether the ability will measure up to the avoirdupois is another story. Leading the candidates and the lightest of the regular tackles is CaptainJud Hannigan, whose 205 pounds will be expended where they can do the most good during every minute of play. Jud is the only bona fide regular from last year's ill-starred team, although a number of the other gridsters played a great deal of football. He will be an inspiring leader for a team that will need all the inspiration it can get. The other regular tackle is currently Carl Ward, who is 6 feet 5 inches tall and tips the beam at a modest 225 pounds. A letter-winner in 1944, he returned from occupation service in Germany last spring just in time to break a wrist in spring practice and be sidelined for the rest of the off-season activities. Behind these two are a couple of stalwart sophomores, who entered college last spring and should play a lot of football before they leave the Hanover plain. SteveHartigan is a massive character weighing 240 pounds, which is good size in any league, who promises to be a strong defensive tackle. His schoolmate from Brewster Academy is Joe Sardella, who goes a mere 225, and who is somewhat more agile than his gargantuan colleague. These two should provide a bulwark of strength in crucial defensive moments. A fifth tackle, and one on whom the coaches are counting heavily, is Whit Washburn, a Hanover boy who played during the war and who, as this is written, has just arrived from Japan. Whit will probably weigh in around 200 pounds, and his experience and general know-how should prove valuable.
(3) Guards—The guard squad is not large but the quality is high. The coaches have three letter-men, two of them named Young, to serve as a nucleus for the center of the line. The Young brothers, Jack and Stu, will either start many games as a brother act or will play together a good many minutes during the season. JackYoung is the older brother. He played before the war and returned to win a letter last fall. Stu Young is the baby of the family in point of service with the Green, but performed capably with the varsity in his freshman year last fall (remember G.I. freshmen were eligible for varsity competition). He is currently playing ahead of brother Jack at a regular guard position. Both boys weigh just under 200 pounds. The other regular at this writingis Ray Truncellito, who has come up the hard way, acquiring additional poise and poundage en route, until at 200 pounds he is holding down a regular guard position. The fourth leading guard candidate is Jim Melville, listed in Whitey Fuller's football brochure as a center, but since that time become a guard and a good one. Less than six feet, his 195 pounds make him a stocky force to dislodge from the path of a rampaging fullback.
(4) Centers—The center position is strictly one deep, with George Shreck the one. To crib from my colleague Fuller's knowledgeable characterization, Shreck is "fast, strong, and determined.... Dartmouth's top line-backer and a steady pivot man on offense." He won his letter last fall as a freshman and his stocky 195 pounds give him the weight to combine with the added skill of another year's varsity experience. Playing behind him are Stan Alger, who won a letter in 1944, and Brad Winans, whose 225 pounds may be used to good advantage as the season progresses and he acquires some additional ferocity.
(5) Quarterbacks—The success of the T formation is said to depend primarily on the three men who form its pivot—the center, the quarterback, and the fullback. Especially the quarterback. In this vital spot, Coach Tuss McLaughry has Joe Sullivan, who at the ripe old age of 19 is already a veteran of two varsity football seasons. Tried as a halfback during his freshman season two years ago, Joe last year was inserted into the intricacies of the T, where he carried on with increasing skill and a great deal of spirit. Spring practice continued his tutelage in the exacting gyrations of a T—formation quarterback and, after spending the summer putting on some more weight, Sullivan returned to college weighing 195 pounds and ready to go. Serving as his understudy is a boy who should eventually be one of the outstanding all-around athletes of recent Dartmouth history, with promise in basketball and tennis as well as football. He is sophomore Bill Dey, who captained the freshman team last fall from an end position and was shifted to quarterback this spring to give more depth to this vital post. Standing 6' 1" and weighing 185 pounds, Dey has the size and weight for his duties, which include defense work at the vulnerable safety position. In the happy event that Dey is ultimately able to relieve Sullivan at quarter this fall, the latter may cavort at some other position in the backfield just to keep his hand in.
(6) Halfbacks—When we come to the halfbacks, the boys who really make with the ball, we are on less certain ground. Coach McLaughry has a flock of halfbacks, many of them of the pony variety, and any one of whom might or might not cut loose for a touchdown. When it comes to the heavy-duty halfbacks, the boys who can carry the ball all afternoon—the Bob MacLeods, in short—the picture is more ambiguous. We shall go down the line of the half-dozen leading performers in this position, so that you can get a rough idea of the personnel and be able to recognize their names in the lineup. Hal Fitkin came up from last year's freshmen team with a reputation as a hard-driving halfback which, despite his 175 pounds, he has maintained during the early practice. He has a fast breakaway and the new offensive maneuvers designed by the astute Tuss McLaughry may shake him loose for the all-important TD. Fighting Fitkin for the starting position at right halfback is Dick O'Leary, who was handicapped by injuries most of last season, after playing a year of football at Brown during the wartime intercollegiate lend-lease program. Dick is a stocky 185 pounds and should see considerable action.
At the other side of the backfield is a trio of speedsters weighing between 150 and 160 pounds who have everything except weight to make them standout performers. Leading this group is an old friend from last year, Conrad Pensavalle, who performed with spasmodic brilliance at quarterback, where his passing was a constant threat to the opposition. As a spot performer at halfback, Pensavalle seems to have found his favorite niche and this "mighty mouse" will be seen scampering over a good many gridirons this fall. Carll Tracy is another diminutive speedster at 5' 8" and 155 pounds, who won his letter last fall and, on one or two occasions, broke away for a touchdown. The third scatback is Eddie Williams, who performed brilliantly last fall in the Cornell and Princeton games, where his fast weaving slants were good for many long gains. Currently sidelined with a pulled tendon, Williams is expected to come through with more long gains in the months ahead.
(7) Fullbacks—The Green is better equipped at fullback than at any other backfield position. With two veteran performers in this central spot, the plunging department should be capably filled. Battling for the starting nod are HerbCarey, letter-winner as a freshman last year, and Fran O'Brien, letter-winner for the past two seasons. Both tip the scales at better than 200 pounds, thus giving additional authority to the principal one-two punch of the Green backfield. Carey is especially valuable in the defensive role, and his line-backing activities will be called into play on more than one gray November day. He also has a surprising burst of speed for so big a man; he may more than once come out of the line rolling fast enough to carry him all the way into pay territory. O'Brien was injured early in the season last year and his subsequent play was accordingly handicapped. In the final games of the season, he launched several one-man attempts to bring the Green offense out of the doldrums, a venture in which he was temporarily successful more than once. With Carey and O'Brien ready to carry the mail from the fullback position, Dartmouth should have a heavyduty punch where it is most needed.
Where does all this end up? What does it mean in terms of games won and lost? How many contests in the back-breaking nine-game schedule will we win with the resources outlined above? We wish we knew. So, we suspect, do a lot of other people. We can only conclude, as we began, on a note of qualified optimism. Dartmouth will put a fighting team on the field every Saturday from September 27 until November 22, inclusive. We hope to win our share of games. That is all anyone could ask.
1947 GRIDIRON LEADERS: Coach Tuss McLaughry and Captain Jud Hannigan, tackle, cheerfully oblige with a familiar pose as fall practice opens.
BEHIND THE SCENES AS THE 1947 SQUAD REPORTED: Left, Captain Jud Hannigan checks his shoulder pads with Art Thibodeau; center, Dartmouth's new trainer Anthony Dougal, tapes tackle Phil Stedfast's knee; right, Dr. Pollard, team physician, examines Stu Young while brother Jack Young, also a guard, waits his turn!
