WITH THE BIG GREEN TEAMS
THREE games do not make a season, but there is no one who will dispute that the Dartmouth football team is off to another fine start, and this despite a number of injuries which have continued to plague the Big Green.
After three games, the Indians have compiled a record of three wins and no losses; they have outscored their opponents 85-3; their goal line has yet to be crossed, and going into the Brown game they were ranked first nationally in both total defense and rushing defense. The achievements to date, however, should not be credited to just eleven men, but to the 33 who make up Coach Bob Blackman's three-platoon system.
The platoons are known as the Green team, the two-way unit which starts each game; the Tomahawks, who specialize in offense; and the Savages, a predominantly sophomore unit, who excel on defense. The Green team has remained the same with Captain Bill King quarterback, Tom Spangenberg. and Dave Lawson halfbacks, and Tom Parkinson fullback. The line has Chuck Greer and Scott Creelman at the ends. Bill Blumenschien and Dale Runge at the tackles, Ed Boies and Bill Curran the guards, and Don McKinnon at center.
The Tomahawks, who have scored in every game thus far, are led by quarterback Dana Kelly and are sparked by the running of halfbacks Chris Vancura and Mel Meyers and fullback Pete Benzian.
The Savages have proven their mettle and have contributed to the Indians' national ranking on defense. Behind the line, which averages 210 pounds, are Bill Madden at quarterback, Dave Perinchief and John McLean at halfback, and Dick Horton at fullback.
This then is the make-up of the 1962 Big Green which has already played up to preseason expectations. The injury factor, however, should not be overlooked for the Indians have suffered two more "key" losses since our last report, both at the halfback position.
Sophomore speedster Bob O'Brien of Worcester, Mass., received a knee injury one week prior to the opening kick-off and dropped out of college for the remainder of the fall quarter. One. of the most promising sophomores seen here in several years, O'Brien had been slated to start the opening game against Massachusetts in place of an ailing Dave Lawson.
The second key loss occurred two days before the Penn game when Gary Wilson, a sophomore halfback from Exeter Academy, injured a leg while participating in a passing drill. Though no contact was involved, the injury was serious enough to warrant an operation and Wilson is probably lost for the season. In the opener he scored one touchdown, recovered a fumble which set up another, and did a fine job on kick-offs.
Overcoming the many injuries which have hit them, though, the Indians have experienced an exceptionally fine season to date, establishing new records and running roughshod over all comers. One big reason for this fine start has been the quarterbacking of Bill King, who by the end of the season should be ranked among the finest signal-callers in Big Green history. Against Brown, King alone accounted for 180 yards offensively. He scored three touchdowns and passed for a fourth as the Green romped 41-0.
Another Indian who deserves individual mention at this point is end Bill Wellstead who has taken up where he left off in 1961. The Maumee, Ohio, senior has kicked 10 out of 11 extra points and three field goals.
For a closer look at the 1962 season, let's turn the pages in the record book back to September 29 when the Indians met the University of Massachusetts for the first time since 1919.
DARTMOUTH 10, HOLY CROSS 0 The Big Green won its fourth straight game and kept its goal line uncrossed by beating Holy Cross 10-0 in Hanover on October 20. Wellstead kicked a 31-yard field goal in the second period, and in the fourth Tom Spangenberg sewed up the victory and provided the big thrill of the day by intercepting a pass on the 4 and racing 96 yards for a touchdown.
