Holy Cross 14, Dartmouth 8

In the most recent game, played on a beautiful fall afternoon before a near sellout crowd of 14,000 at Memorial Stadium, the Big Green suffered its first defeat of the season. The Crusaders, rated as one of the best in the East this fall, had previously lost to Pitt and then upset a powerhouse Syracuse team, so the game was billed as a real test of Dartmouth's ability. The Indians responded nobly.

Early in the first half the potent Crusader offense, sparked by quarterback Tom Greene and halfback Joe Stagnone, had twice pushed the Indians back to their own goal line, but Dartmouth took over on downs the first time, and on the second attempt the Indians took over on an automatic touchback when quarterback Tom Greene had the ball knocked from his arms as he attempted to crash over the goal line. However, well into the second quarter Holy Cross drew first blood when two passes took them to the Dartmouth 10-yard line where Joe Stagnone raced around end for the score. Greene ran for the extra two points and the Crusaders went ahead 8-0.

With the minutes ticking by, the Indians mounted their own offense with some fine play-calling by Gundy and running by Jim Burke and Jake Crouthamel. The Big Green went all the way to the Holy Cross 8-yard line and with less than a minute remaining, Gundy rolled to the right and went over to score. Jake Crouthamel then twisted into the end zone to tie up the game at 8-8.

In the second half Dartmouth seemed to slow up as the Holy Cross line began to dominate the play. Greene's passing also had the Indians wary, but the blow fell, oddly enough, when it seemed Dartmouth might pull ahead. The Indians had gone to the Holy Cross four-yard line when a clipping penalty pushed them back to the 19. After three plays had failed, fullback Brian Hepburn attempted a field goal which was deflected by Captain Jim Healy of Holy Cross into the arms of reserve fullback John Esposito who raced 81 yards down the sideline for the score. A Greene pass was unsuccessful but the Crusaders led 14-8, and that was the ball game.