DARTMOUTH 7, YALE O
Amid intermittent downpours in the Bowl, Dartmouth scored a touchdown in the first period and then hung on grimly for the rest of the afternoon to defeat a highly favored Yale team by the score of 7-0. With Bobby Tyler going over from the Yale 4-yard line after a Clayton pass to Vin Marriott, the only score of the game was made early and in an atmosphere of general hilarity for followers of the Green. This victory marked the first time in their long gridiron history, dating back to 1884, that Dartmouth has been able to beat Yale three years in succession. These years marked the varsity career of John Clayton, who had two of his best afternoons in the past against the Elis, but who was hurt in the opening quarter of this encounter and was forced to spend the rest of the afternoon on the bench, while Bob McCraney took over at quarterback.
This was a hard, bruising battle from start to finish, with neither side giving or asking quarter. The Dartmouth line consistently outplayed the Yale forward wall, bursting through time and again to toss the blue-clad runners for losses and harry the passers. The victory was a costly one for Dartmouth, however, for, in addition to Clayton's injury midway through the first period, Bobby Tyler and Dick Brown were both hurt in the fourth period. Des pite these handicaps, the aroused Green cohorts held the fort and staved off the desperate scoring attempts of the Yales.
In striking contrast to the other contests played by Dartmouth this fall—win, lose, or draw—this one was marked by a paucity of scoring. Hence some of the obvious drama of the previous touchdown-packed games was lacking. But the tension was there all the way, nevertheless, inasmuch as there are few experiences more grueling to players and spectators alike than to get an early and slim lead and then hang on to it for the better part of two hours. Under such circumstances, a single bad mistake is fatal, and the boys held up nobly under that kind of pressure. With Clayton out for the first time since the beginning of his sophomore year, his good friend and unsung substitute, Bob McCraney, got his big chance. He came through very well indeed, handling the slippery ball with sureness and running the team through the rain with finesse.
Another highly gratifying feature of this game was the superlative work of the Green at pass defense. Our readers will remember that this was the most glaring weakness during the early games, a weakness climaxed by the Pennsylvania debacle in which Reds Bagnell set a new intercollegiate record for consecutive pass completions. There were no such records set in this game, for Yale had the ultimate frustration of being unable to complete a single pass out of 16 attempts. Four of these Eli tosses were intercepted by the alert Dartmouth secondary, with Al Reich accounting for two and Charlie Curtis for one, the latter followed by a 34-yard runback. Ed Boyle snagged the other one for Dartmouth. Conditions admittedly were far from ideal for passing, but that does not detract from the fine record of the Dartmouth line in rushing the Yale passers and the Dartmouth secondary in batting down and intercepting its share of tosses. If this one defensive item could have been remedied in previous games, the team's overall record would be considerably different.
Billy Roberts was back in action for the second successive Saturday, and his devastating charges down the middle accounted for a large share of the 180 yards Dartmouth gained rushing. This figure may be compared with 109 yards for Yale. First downs were almost equal, with 8 for Dartmouth and 7 for Yale. These relatively meager totals suggest both the state of the weather and the bruising quality of the line play on both sides with Dartmouth, as noted, getting much the better of it up front. The Green took no chances through the air, with four attempts for what was probably their smallest total in the past three years. Only one of these was completed, but this set up the winn ing touchdown in the first period.
For the second successive Saturday, Dartmouth played without the full strength of Captain Paul Staley, who was still slowed up by the charley horse which sidelined him in the Harvard game. Bill Vesprini took over at center on offense and John McNary on defense, with the latter looking especially impressive on down-the-field tackling. Al Reich continued to star at right halfback, both offensively and defensively. With another year to go, he should prove to be one of the outstanding backfield operatives. Credit should also be given to the men of the forward wall, who must have made Coach Dell Isola's eyes light up as they hurled back the invaders again and again. Honor is due, in short, to the team as a unit for its courage in coming back so ably from the bitter disappointments of the early season. After all the times Dartmouth has gone to the Bowl as the favored team and departed on the losing end, it was pleasant to have the roles reversed.
THE ONLY SCORE AT YALE, but enough to win the game for Dartmouth, 7-0, came in the first period when Bobby Tyler went over from the 4-yard line after Clayton had tossed a 15-yard pass to Marriott.
DARTMOUTH'S AIRTIGHT PASS DEFENSE, including four interceptions, held Yale to no completions in 16 tries. Above, Al Reich (near 50-yard line) is shown making one of two interceptions in the third period.
