Swarthmore College - Halcyon Yearbook (Swarthmore, PA)

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p VERSOM SHlMN DEGUTIS field took a serious crack at the scoring column when they blocked one of Ed Hannum ' s punts and took off from the Swarthmore 47. Line smashes and a pass brought the ball to the Garnet 20. Even the return of the Little Quaker startmg lineup to the game didn ' t block a pass to the ten-yard marker, and a cutback three plays later knifed through for the tally; the conversion was good and knotted the score. The second Little Quaker touchdown emerged like some major miracle from a threatening Washington onslaught: a Garnet attack bogged down on the Shoremen ' s 10, and Washington got the ball. Yerkies, the Sho ' men ace, whipped off another of his passes which was juggled by the receiver into the waiting arms of Lin Wolfe; picking up interference from nowhere, Wolfe zoomed down the sidelines for the end zone. Hannum ' s accurate placement set the final score at 14 to 7 in favor of Swarthmore. The second stanza of the game with Susquehanna on October 12 was fatal for the Swarthmore team. The Garnet team was driven back to its own l-yard marker by a long Susquehanna kick, and Wolfe ' s punt out of trouble was downed on the Swarthmore 33. Sparked by Crusader fullback Zeravica, a drive on the goal fol- lowed, which gained through tackle smashes and straight ground plays for a touchdown and a good conversion. The lone Garnet scoring threat in the fourth quarter was paced by Wolfe ' s passes, and came to an uncharitable end on the enemy 24 when Reed fumbled the ball. Throughout the game, the Swarthmore line demonstrated little ability to hold back Susquehanna thrusts that knifed rAViSEY RICHARDS LXza ' f- SilPI;

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THE FOOTBALL SEASON At the pre-season mark, Swarthmore ' s 1940 football team, which wound up with the enviable record of five wins and two defeats, was a strictly unknown quantity; still wearing the halo of a past season without a single defeat, the gridders waded into their fall practice with only two of the 1939 starters in the lineup, with an excep- tionally light line, and an untried backfield. Facing Coaches Lew Elverson and Walt Shinn was the task of moulding this untried combination into an offensive machine with speed and deception. Only starter from of a good share of speed, with possibilities of smooth co- ordination. Captain Tony Degutis carried the blocking back assignment; Fred Reed filled the regular wingback spot; Lin Wolfe and sophomore Bill Richards played in the starting tailback and fullback positions respectively. The inexperienced Garnet line acquitted itself with credit in the opening game at Washington College, tv»ice holding the advancing Shoremen squad for downs in the shadow of the Swarthmore goalposts. The new Garnet backfield also kept things rolling; early in the first period Front Row — Wolfe, Pease. Ackerman, Papazian, Miller, Carr, Degutis, Johnson, Ramsey, Heacoclc, Hannum, Trudel, Smith. Sccoy d Row — Elverson, Shinn, Beatty, Canister, Lyman, Dusan, Bowditch, Wright, Knjd-Hanscn, Adler, Cryer, Lcimbach, Trautman, Richards, Finley, Cooper. last year ' s contests in the new line was left tackle Fred Donnelly; George Wright at center, Bill Jones in the guard spot, and Smokey Ramsey, end, were other line lettermen from last season. Sophomores on the forward wall were tackles Chuck Cryer and Dan Canister, and right end Jack Dugan. The backfield showed promise the Little Quakers began to move from their own 2 5 -yard line. A reverse and a center plunge brought a first down. Several plays later, Reed worked a reverse from the 26-yard stripe and followed good blocking around left end for a touchdown. After a successful conversion, and the start of the second quarter, the Washington back- 22

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through consistently at tackle and around end. The final score of the game remained 7 to 0, in favor of the Crusaders. Things looked rosier on October 19, when the Swarth- more team took the measure of Earlham College for a 13 to 6 victory. The whole game boiled down to our running attack versus their passing, with the Garnet making more yardage on the deal. Swarthmore took the first kickoff to march 92 yards for a touchdown, scored by Richards from the 3 -yard marker. In the final frame both teams made pointage. To begin things the Garnet ran back an intercepted pass from its own 48, blasted its way down the field, and made the score when Lin Wolfe went over from the 4-yard stripe. With 45 seconds left in the game, the Hoosiers saved themselves from an inglorious whitewash by a last-minute drive and a successful pass across the Garnet goal line. The game with Oberlin was a tough one to lose. The Garnet squad looked decidedly superior in power and deception during the entire contest, but an inadequate pass defense on the part of the home team gave the visiting Crimson and Gold the game by the margin of one conversion, 14 to 13. The first half of the struggle pointed the way to what seemed to promise a Swarthmore victory. Starting on his own 23, Richards gained through the line, and Wolfe reversed his field for a beautiful run .iu IXR ,01 ES