Football
There is little doubt in anyone's mind that Dartmouth has survived the worst of the 1954 football schedule and can be expected to do better in .the remaining five Ivy games. The Big Green opened the season well enough with a last-second, 2726 triumph over Holy Cross, but on the following two Saturdays the Indians were mauled 42-7 by Navy and 60-6 by Army, and they then dropped a heartbreaking 13-7 decision to Colgate.
On the injury side, it could be worse and it could be better. Against Army, quarterback Leo McKenna suffered a broken wrist which will keep him out for the season; sophomore fullback Phil Rollins, who had won a starting berth, was carried off the field with torn leg ligaments, which means a four-week layoff; and sophomore end Ron Fraser came up with a badly bruised arm muscle which may be repaired in time for Harvard. Against Colgate it was the halfbacks' turn. Bernie Fulton, starting left halfback, went off with torn knee ligaments; Jack Nicolette, his replacement, had his ankle sprained; and Lou Rovero, another promising halfback, suffered a recurrence of an old leg injury which may keep him out for a week or more. Add to this the continued absence of halfback Frank Krol with a bruised foot bone and the backfield situation at the moment appears a little bleak.
The individual Dartmouth statistics are good in one respect. Bill Beagle, the BigGreen's passing ace, has so far turned in a record which puts him fifth in the nation. Beagle has completed 44 out of 73 passes for a 60% average, 428 yards and three touchdowns. Leo McKenna, prior to his injury, had 8 completions out of 17 attempts for 109 yards and one TD.
But the Dartmouth ground attack remains relatively weak. Captain Lou Turner has carried 31 times for a net gain of 85 yards. Bernie Fulton has ground out 46 yards in 13 attempts, while fullback Phil Rollins gained 36 yards on 16 carries and his alternates Dick Smith and Tommy Trainor have six for 28 yards and four for ten yards, respectively. Dartmouth has had to rely on its aerial attack to go anywhere in the games to date.
Colgate 13, Dartmouth 7
This was a game that belonged to Dartmouth, but two crucial "breaks" made it otherwise. The first came three minutes before the half. With Dartmouth leading "7-0, Colgate was driving towards the Indian goal line in a desperate attempt to tie the score before half-time. But on the Dartmouth 40-yard line their attack stalled and it was fourth down for the Red Raiders with five yards to go. Colgate went into punt formation, but a Dartmouth offside at this crucial time gave them a first down and two minutes later they scored and the half-time score was 7-6 instead of 7-0.
This was bad enough, but then early in the third period the Big Green drove to the Colgate 3-yard line where it was first down and goal to go. But the Red Raiders, who had won three straight games, were determined to preserve their undefeated record. The Colgate line dug in for four plays and Dartmouth could not penetrate the line. When the dust had settled, Colgate had possession of the ball a half-yard from the end zone. Then Colgate marched 991/2 yards on eight plays to score the winning touchdown and that was the ball game. The Indians fought back late in the fourth period with Bill Beagle, who completed 24 out of 36 passes (a new Ivy League record), passing the Big Green deep into Colgate territory, but the clock ran out before Dartmouth could score.
The Red Raiders bad conic to Memorial Field a solid favorite, but the 9,500 spectators saw a Dartmouth team outplay them in the line, outpass the highly touted Dick Lalla, and put up considerably more opposition than was ever expected. Although a loss, the Colgate game was Dartmouth's best performance up to that time and hopefully could be the forerunner of better things to come.
Army 60, Dartmouth 6
I would wager that there was scarcely a person among the 23,000 present in West Point's Michie Stadium who at some point during this game didn't remark, "Well, this looks like the Army teams of old!" Just two years after the cribbing scandals decimated the West Point football squad, Coach Red Blaik has come up with a Cadet team which should dominate the East this fall. And once again this fall it was Pete "Moving" Vann, the Cadets' brilliant quarterback, who hurt the Indians. Vann completed four out of six passes for 209 yards, but three of these heaves went for touchdowns and the rangy Army signal-caller set up another TD on a long pass play.
But while Vann was passing his team to victory, a strong Army line was completely throttling the Dartmouth offense. The Indians went absolutely nowhere on the ground and, even worse, they could hardly gain through the air. The Big Green's lone score of the afternoon came as a result of a poor Army pass from center. Dartmouth recovered the bad snap on the Army oneyard line and quarterback Tom Hamilton sneaked it over from there to keep the Indians from being completely whitewashed. The only consolation after this game was the thought that it marked the end of the Dartmouth-Army series and that in the immediate future no other Dartmouth teams will be used to bolster West Point's national rankings.
Navy 42, Dartmouth 7
This was one of those games where the score belies the game. For nearly three full periods a fighting Dartmouth team managed to hold the vaunted Navy attack in check and, indeed, drew first blood when midway through the. third period Dartmouth quarterback Leo McKenna uncorked a spectacular, weaving 35-yard run deep into Navy territory. Captain Lou Turner carried to the one-yard line and then McKenna bucked over and it was Dartmouth 7, Navy o. The 13,200 customers in the Memorial Field stands were on their feet along with worried Navy Coach Eddie Erdelatz. Erdelatz promptly yanked his first team and sent in his second team and it was this unit, led by some fine pass receiving by end Ronnie Beagle, that broke the Big Green. With two minutes of the third period remaining, Navy culminated a down field march by scoring on a pass from Dick Echard to Beagle.
In the final period the Middies completely dominated the play, scoring every time they had possession of the ball, except for one series when the Indians forced them to punt. Dartmouth had simply played itself out and the Navy reserves passed and ran for five touchdowns in some 12 minutes of play.
This was the first time that a Navy team had come to Hanover and, like the Army game, marked the end of a rivalry. But neither Eddie Erdelatz nor any of the Navy players will ever forget the scare that a fighting Dartmouth team tossed at them.
Dartmouth 27,Holy Cross 26
Dartmouth opened the 1954 season by meeting Holy Cross at Memorial Field in a game that not even a Hollywood script writer would dare to invent. Trailing 26-13 with only seven minutes left in the game, the Indians rolled for two touchdowns and converted the winning extra point after the game was over to send 9,000 delirious fans reeling home from the stadium convinced that they would never see the likes of this game again.
With three minutes left, and trailing 26-20, Dartmouth took a Holy Cross punt at midfield. Two running plays and a pass picked up a first down. Then Beagle started passing on almost every play as the clock ticked away and the fans stood, a screaming mass. The ball moved to the Holy Cross 15-yard line with the clock showing 15 seconds and still running. But a Holy Cross man was offside and the officials stopped the clock and assessed a fiveyard penalty against the Crusaders. A Beagle pass went wide of the mark and now there was less than five seconds. Dartmouth broke from the huddle quickly as fans poured from the stands to surround the end zone. Beagle took the ball from center, raced to his left, looked to the end zone and heaved. Captain Lou Turner, who already had caught one touchdown pass earlier in the game, was in the far left corner of the end zone and reached up to snag Beagle's pass for a touchdown just as the gun ending the game went off. The score was tied 26-26, but the Indians still had that try for the extra point.
On the Dartmouth bench Coach Tuss McLaughry was debating whether to leave Beagle in to kick the point or replace him by quarterback Leo McKenna, who was fresher. At this point McKenna came off the bench and told Tuss to send him in for the extra point. He'd make it. McLaughry, admiring McKenna's spirit, sent him in and McKenna's boot soared straight through the uprights to give Dartmouth a 27-26 win. Screaming fans carried McKenna, Beagle and Company off the field in as glorious a climax as Hanover has ever seen.
The Crusaders dominated the game during the first half. Dartmouth quarterback Bill Beagle, who completed 16 of 24 passes for 172 yards and three touchdowns in the game, had only one pass completion in the first two periods. The Crusaders, sparked by the running of Captain Lou Hettinger and the passing of quarterback Jack Stephans, scored two touchdowns before the middle of the second quarter and with a line that completely outplayed Dartmouth's and a fine running offense, Holy Cross looked like a sure winner. Late in the second quarter, Beagle did manage to get off a short pass to end Tim Anderson. Anderson took the ball on the Crusader 45-yard line and, aided by two key blocks, raced over to score. At halftime the score was Holy Cross 13, Dartmouth 7.
IN THE FINAL SECOND of the Holy Cross game, Captain Lou Turner gathered in thistouchdown pass from Bill Beagle to tie the score at 26-26. Leo McKenna then kicked theextra point to give Dartmouth a storybook victory that will long be remembered.
ONE OF THE DEFENSIVE HIGHLIGHTS of the Navy game was this pass interceptionby Bernie Fulton, Big Green halfback. With Navy on the 12-yard, line in the second quarter, Weaver fired to Owen (83) but Fulton charged in to grab the ball (top) and thenraced to his own 41-yard line, almost getting into the clear.
ONE OF THE DEFENSIVE HIGHLIGHTS of the Navy game was this pass interceptionby Bernie Fulton, Big Green halfback. With Navy on the 12-yard, line in the second quarter, Weaver fired to Owen (83) but Fulton charged in to grab the ball (top) and thenraced to his own 41-yard line, almost getting into the clear.
