Dartmouth 26, Harvard 20

Dartmouth won this one the hard way. After spotting the Crimson three touchdowns in the first half (to one for Dartmouth the Green came roaring back in the third period to score two touchdowns in approximately two minutes, and then went on to win in the final quarter with still another tally. In one of the most rousing contests seen in Cambridge for many years, the underdog Harvards had it all their way the first half, only to succumb to an inspired Dartmouth team in the second half. But even with the final TD for the Green, the heroics were not quite over for the afternoon. A long Harvard pass went some 40 yards in the final seconds and was completed deep in Dartmouth territory. With only one play to go, the desperate Dartmouth defenders managed to fend off a possible touchdown pass, which would either have tied the game or won it by a single point. That was the kind of game it was.

Dartmouth entered the Harvard Stadium with the apparent assumption that all they had to do was to show up, dressed, on the field, and the rest would be easy. This complacent premise was soon rudely shattered, however, by an aroused Crimson aggregation that had won its first major victory only a week before (and that by the margin of a single point) against the Army. The home forces scored their first TD after twelve minutes of the first quarter, following the recovery of a fumble on the Dartmouth 13. Early in the second period, Dartmouth struck back after a 47-yard march, which featured the heavy-duty plunging of sophomore fullback Dick Jennison, who finally worked his way across from the one. Hank Fry missed his first conversion since the Fordham game, and Harvard led 7-6. Then Harvard came back with two more tallies, the last coming within a minute of the end of the first half. With the score 20-6 against them, the Indians looked in a bad way.

In the second half, however, Coach McLaughry's charges came out breathing fire. The principal factor in this spontaneous combustion was the substitution of Gene Howard for Jim Miller at quarterback. The latter had played well in the last two games and had apparently cinched the position. In the first half of this contest, however, he was somewhat less than terrific, so Howard was sent in to take over. The team responded immediately and was soon pounding on the Crimson door after a sustained drive of 62 yards. Howard then scored the first of his two touchdowns on a brief sortie around his own right end, after he had faked a hand-off into the center of the line. This time the conversion was good and Dartmouth was behind only so-13. In the space of two or three minutes, Dartmouth scored again, this time on a beautiful 13-yard pass from Howard to Charlie Curtis in the end zone. The kick was not good and the Crimson still led by the narrowest of margins, 20-19.

For a time it looked as if this might be the final score, but the Green was not finished. The turning point of the game occurred when, back on their own 8-yard line, the Green went into punt formation. Gene Howard then got off a perfectly unbelievable punt which traveled approximately 75 yards and put the Cantabs inside their own 20. This performance recalled to the crowd of 20,000 spectators that the foot is still important in football. Shaken by this experience, Harvard punted and A1 Reich returned for Dartmouth to the Crimson 37. Four plays later, Dartmouth was on the 7-yard line, knocking at the door again. On the same fake handoff, the redoubtable Howard repeated his former maneuver and dashed around his right end and into the end zone. Hank Fry made good on the conversion and Dartmouth, trailing by an apparently hopeless margin a few moments before, was out in front for the first time. And there she remained, despite the desperate efforts of the Crimson to connect with a long pass in the waning seconds. The reader may judge from this unadorned summary of the histrionics that the clients got their money's worth.

Gene Howard was indeed the Cinderella boy of this game. He scored two touchdowns personally, passed for a third, and generally alerted a team that had been lethargic during the first half. Charlie Curtis played his usual dashing game at halfback and safety, and Dick Jennison continued his pile-driving eEorts at fullback. The Green forward wall also staged an effective comeback in the second half, after Harvard had pushed the Dartmouth defenders around for half of the game. This was, in effect, two separate games, with Harvard decisively winning the first and the Green just as clearly superior in the second. Happily, however, they pay off on the final score.

BIG GREEN DEFENSIVE LINEMEN, End Don Myers (80) and Guard Pete Reich (69), block the path of Harvard's star back, Dick Clasby, who led the Crimson attack until Dartmouth rallied to win, 26-20.