DARTMOUTH 21, CORNELL 13
On a snow-banked field and before 13,000 shivering clients, who fortified themselves against the Great White Cold by every means known to modern science, Dartmouth got out in front and stayed there, to win handily from a pass-happy Cornell team. This is only the third time we have beaten Cornell in the last ten years, the 3-0 Fifth Down game in 1940 combining with the 20-0 victory by the Lend Lease aggregation in 1943 to make up the other two.
To return to Cornell. This was an alert and highly opportunistic Dartmouth team on the field this wintry Saturday, far more alive to the mistakes of the Big Red than they have been to the blunders of certain other opponents. The first Dartmouth touchdown resulted from a blocked kick in the first quarter, the second materialized after a Cornell fumble was recovered, and the third followed a pass interception deep in Cornell territory. Except for those cunning and forceful maneuvers, the Dartmouth attack spluttered and stalled, with only 8 first downs to show for the afternoon's work. But, as Dartmouth has often learned to her sorrow, they pay off on touchdowns, not on first downs or yards gained.
The initial Dartmouth touchdown came early in the game, after one of the few sustained drives of the Green, led by Fitkin, Pensavalle, and Dale Armstrong. This particular sequence was interrupted when Cornell took the ball on downs on its 16 and immediately tried what might or might not have been intended as a quick kick. In any event, it was blocked by Gowen, a substitute guard, and the ball was pursued into the end zone by Dale Armstrong and Jonathan Jenkins. The latter won the race, draped himself about the ball, and received credit for the TD. Thus Dartmouth was off to an early lead, a feat they have recently accomplished rather sparingly.
In the third quarter, the second touchdown was set up by a Cornell fumble, pounced upon by Stew Young who, with brother Jack, played a sparkling defensive game. O'Brien hurled himself into the line several times and then a quick pass from Sullivan to Armstrong was good for the score. Armstrong, who played brilliantly both at defense and offense, caught the ball in the end zone in the midst of a number of hostile operatives. The final Dartmouth score followed a pass interception by guard Ray Truncellito in Cornell territory. Ray did some very fancy weaving and dodging that could well be emulated by some of the Dartmouth backfield and went all the way to the 6 before he was brought down. O'Brien then slanted off his own right tackle and crossed the goal line standing up. Herb Carey duplicated his feats following the two previous touchdowns by kicking the extra point, a performance that might have had important repercussions if Cornell had scored again.
Led by their little pitching quarterback Dorset, Cornell turned the last part of the game into touch football, sometimes tossing three passes in a sequence of four downs and scorning to rush the ball at all. These tactics proved devastating but not fatal to Dartmouth, which managed to intercept a couple but also left Cornell receivers in the clear time and again. The Cornell quarterback would fade back until the defense was spread very thin and then heave a long one to a receiver with no defender near him. Then he would vary the practice and run with the ball, after loping around back of the line of scrimmage for what seemed to be ten or fifteen minutes. All of this derring-do constituted a considerable strain on the nerves of the spectators and, we presume, the defending players. Cornell was dangerous from any place on the field through the air, although the formal running attack was negligible.
This victory brought the victories in the series between Dartmouth and Cornell to 15 apiece, with 1 tie. That is certainly the evenest (as well as one of the pleasantest) of all the Ivy League traditional rivalries.
TWO HIGHLIGHTS OF BIG GREEN ATTACK IN YALE GAME: Left, Quarterback Joe Sullivan makes a nine-yard gain to the Eli's 47-yard-stripe in the second quarter. Right, Halfback Eddie Williams (41) scampers around the Bulldogs' right end for a touchdown in the final period, aided by Fitkin's great block.
