Holy Cross 9, Dartmouth 8
The Holy Cross Crusaders came to Hanover with fire in their eyes. The week before they had come within a few yards of upsetting the nation's No. 1 team, Syracuse, and even though they were still looking for their first win of the season, they were potentially a fine ball club.
As over 14,000 fans watched, the two teams battled on almost even terms right up until the final fifteen seconds of the final quarter.
Both teams scored in the closing minutes of the first half. Holy Cross drew first blood on a pass play that covered 64 yards. Crusader halfback Al Snyder had gotten behind the Green secondary when he took a pass on the Indian 30 and scampered into the end zone.
The Green immediately came fighting back. Kinderdine uncorked two long passes, one to Cooke for 33 yards and the second to Rozycki for 30. This placed Dartmouth on the Crusader eight-yard line. It took the Green only four plays to cover the remaining distance, Rozycki scoring.
Gerfen attempted the extra point, but it went off the edge of his foot and failed to reach the cross bar. Previously the Crusader conversion attempt, a placement kick, had been blocked by DeHaven. So as the half ended the score read, 6-6.
In the third quarter, Kinderdine got off one of the finest punts ever seen on Memorial Field. The ball traveled 68 yards and bounced out of bounds just inside the flag on the one foot line. Holy Cross tried twice to run the ball out of danger, but the second time the ball-carrier was trapped behind the line for a safety. DeHaven made the tackle.
Leading 8-6, the Indians tried valiantly to get the clinching touchdown, but twice they were stopped inside the Crusader 15. Holy Cross, too, was thwarted on the Dartmouth 13 and saw a field goal attempt go awry on a bad pass from center.
Holy Cross started its final drive with 55 seconds showing on the clock. With a fourth down and ten yards to go on its own 30-yard line, the Cross decided to go for the yardage. It went for a short pass and it was good for 15 yards.
This set the stage for one of the most controversial plays seen here in many years. The Crusaders' Snyder, going deep, was covered by two Green backs Beattie and Krumme. The Dartmouth fans suddenly came to their feet as Krumme intercepted the pass on the eight-yard line and started back up field. Their cheers, however, were short-lived for the field umpire's red flag lay on the ground along with halfback Snyder. The call was pass interference.
This gave Holy Cross a first down on the Dartmouth fourteen with less than thirty seconds to play. Unable to move the ball on first down, Crusader Coach Eddie Anderson elected to go for the field goal. Bill Joern, a junior quarterback, was sent in to do the kicking. The ball went up and just made the needed height. The score read 9-8 in favor of Holy Cross.
Where minutes before victory looked within reach, the door now appeared all but closed. Dartmouth had time for only two plays and Kinderdine went to the air with two long passes. Both fell to the ground and with them the Green hopes.
The game marked the end of an eight-game winning streak for the Big Green. The streak started last year against Harvard and at the time it ended it was the longest in New England.
Commenting on the game, Coach Blackman said, "Unless I'm mistaken, I don't think this loss will hurt the spirit of our Dartmouth team. On the contrary, I think it will make them work that much harder in future games."
Rozycki scoring Dartmouth's lone touchdown against Holy Cross at Hanover
