A 5-1 Record for '68 Football

IN ten years at Dartmouth, freshman football coach Earl Hamilton has produced 37 victories, only 17 defeats, and one tie. Some of this was luck; much of it was good material and all of it was good coaching. This was especially evident this past season when the yearlings rolled to easy victories over superior squads physically from Boston College and Holy Cross.

Ham can be noisy on the sidelines as he chides and cheers his Little Green squads but his boys are learning during every minute of games and practices. Typical of his philosophy was his reaction to the heart-breaking 8-7 defeat at Harvard when Dartmouth was beaten in the final eight seconds on a blocked punt. "Well," said Ham calmly, "I was a great coach for 59 minutes and 52 seconds."

In some respects the current Dartmouth freshman squad was the most exciting of any in Hamilton's decade. It defeated Brown, Yale, and U.N.H., plus B.C. and Holy Cross. The only loss was to Harvard. And most important it promised some individual help for next year's varsity.

The player whom most of Hanover watched was a fairly small quarterback named Gene Ryzewicz from Springfield, Mass. Gene is only 5-10 but he has strong legs and goes a durable 170 pounds. He also has outstanding speed and breathtaking open field agility. Gene ran for five touchdowns and passed for four others during the six-game season. Two of his runs were classics, a 45-yarder on a punt return against Brown during which many fans gave up hope at least twice, and a 20-yard gallop on a busted pass play against B.C. during which Ryzewicz twisted, reversed, changed pace and slipped through tiny openings barely visible among the huge Eaglets.

Then there was halfback Steve Luxford, a 195-pounder from McLean, Va. Steve played only two games before suffering a knee injury, but he displayed enough talent to be described by Hamilton as "one of the top all-around football players we've had at Dartmouth."

Another early injury victim was George Spivey of Mizpah, N. J., a breakaway runner with great promise. Lefthanded quarterback Paul Kiely came in as a two-year All-State choice from Plainfield, N. J., played second fiddle to Ryzewicz but may develop so well that Gene will be shifted to halfback. Right half Bob Thomas of Mifflinburg, Pa., was the team's leading scorer with four TDs, ten conversions, and a field goal.

The fullback corps provided the strongest position on the squad and the top three all had names beginning Mc. They were Randy McElrath, 6-1, 190, of Syracuse; Dennis McNeely, 5-11, 200, of Santa Cruz, Calif.; and John McNamara, 6-1, 185, of Fayville, Mass. A fourth full-back, 6-3, 208-pound Norm Davis of Sedro Woolley, Wash., was switched to left guard not because of his name but because of his size. Coach Hamilton singles out Davis as the top varsity prospect on the squad.

This was an unusual yearling group in that 26 states plus Washington, D. C., were represented on the roster. Yet one high school in Milwaukee - Marquette University High - provided two starters in the line, center Mike Machan and tackle Jim Eldridge, plus a promising right half in 210-pound Tom McCormack.

The captain also was a bit of a surprise. It isn't often that New Hampshire provides a football star at Dartmouth these days, let alone a freshman captain. But the squad chose Leonard (Skip) Small of Dover, a 6-1, 205-pound tackle whom Ham calls "an inspiring leader and a wonderful boy with good football sense and speed."

Coach Earl Hamilton and Captain SkipSmall, tackle, from Dover, N. H., areall smiles over a freshman season thatmissed being undefeated by 8 seconds.