Union College - Garnet Yearbook (Schenectady, NY)

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Top: Hal Ensticc, one of the foremost figures in Union gridiron history. Middle: Coach MeLaughry, a new and talented coach. Bottom: Tony Coppola, fast-developing pass-receiver and scorer. Napcar, Shaefler and Crone approach tackled foe. Dutchmen faced a strong St. Lawrence aggre- gation in the season's opener with high hopes of victory. When the smoke had cleared from the 'battlefield a series of bad breaks and boners on Union's part had made it the victim of a 27-6 drubbing. The call back of Charlie Snow's 70-yard touchdown run in the initial quarter was the straw which broke the camel's back, for after that point'it was a demoralized Garnet squad which did battle with the Larries. Union played haphazardly until the closing moments of the game when it finally started rolling. Eight passes were completed in the space of a few minutes as 'Captain Hal Enstice unlimbered his pitching arm. Roy Westland snared one Enstice pass and galloped into pay dirt to prevent the Dutchrnen from being whitewashed, but the Garnet score came too late to prevent defeat. Union played gamely in its second contest of the year and its 42nd meeting with the Uni- versity of 'Rochester eleven, but was unable to upset the Yellowjackets, 14- point favorites, as the visitors won 18-13. The victory gave Rochester a record of 21 wins, 18 defeats and three ties in the series. The Yellowjackets made full use of a sub- stantially heavier line and a confusing HT formation in bettering the Garnet. The The Band forms a Block U in halftime maneuvers Page Nineteen

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Page Enstice about to be brought down by two tacklers. fine. fad a. Seaman- 400114511 The prediction Mel Hein made in 1946 that the 1947 Union College gridiron squad would not do any worse than it did in 1946 was borne out as the 194-7 Dutchmen eleven hung up an identical record of three wins and Hve losses. Bolstered by the addition of a new coach, John McLaughry, and the return of 11 lettermen, the Garnet confidently faced its 194-7 schedule, only to find that erratic play and the breaks of the game foiled its efflorts for a winning season. Although 11 lettermen were on hand for pre-season drills, most of the candidates for positions lacked extensive experience in col- Eighteen lege football. This prompted Coach Mc- Laughzy to state early in the season that a T--formation does not seem feasible for Union at the present time.'l McLaughry therefore built his attack upon the tried and true single- wing principles. Administrative cooperation with members of the team -by adjustment of class schedules and the provision of room and board during pre-season workouts provided a lift in team morale. In the past, schedule conflicts have often hampered practice by making it impos- sible for a complete team to 'be on hand for daily drills. WVith things seemingly favoring them, the

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Dutchmen opened the scoring in the initial minutes of the tussle as a 40-yard Enstice- Tony Coppola pass set the ball on the visitors' eight yard stripe. Enstice carried the 'ball off tackle for a touchdown and Al Wade kicked the extra point to put Union ahead 7-0. Rochester powered through the Garnet de- fense in the next three quarters to gain an 18-7 advantage as the final quarter got under- way. The home forces rallied to the cause and gamely fought an uphill battle as Chuck Duggan stopped a Yellowjacket threat with a pass interception on his own five yard line. Duggan's interception placed the pigskin on the Rochester 47 and in two plays Enstiee had smashed his way through to a second touchdown. The kick for the extra point went wide and the contest ended as Union was vainly striving to tally the winning points. The Dutchmen came through with one of the biggest upsets in small college football as they tangled with heavily favored Vermont and emerged with a 20-7 triumph, their first under McLaughry's tutelage. The echoes of the opening whistle had barely died away from Alexander Field when Enstice broke through the Vermont line and raced 70-yards to the payoff stripe. Al Wade converted to give the Garnet a lead it never relinquished. Coppola snared a pass from Ken Whalen for a score in the third period and a few minutes later Enstice pitched to Jack Brisson for the Hnal tally. Wade again made the extra point good. Vermont blasted through for its lone touch- down late in the Final stanza after Union had already sewed up the game. In the 45th 'battle of the 61 year old rivalry with R.P.I. the Garnet took it on the chin for the third time in the season as the underdog Engineers copped a 33-24 win. Union has won 32, lost nine, and tied four of the 45 matches. Union looked like the victor in the opening minutes of the tilt as Whalen passed to Enstice to set the ball on the Cherry and White's five yard stripe. I-Ial Lundstrum blasted through center to score. However, the rough-riding Engineers sidelined Enstice with an injury 'before the game was five minutes old and the Dutchm-en greatly felt the loss of their sparkplug. Dave Strauss took over Ensticels passing duties and did excep- tionally well in that department but the Union eleven was somewhat lost without the great defensive playing of Enstiee. Coppola went around end in the second quarter to olllset a brace of R.P.I. touchdowns, but the halftime score favored the Engineers l3-12. Strauss pitched a 42-yard pass to Wade for a marker in the third, hut an R.P.I. spurt of three touchdowns gave them an imposing 33-18 margin as the tussle entered its final The football team stands in the dark for a picture after completing a fairly successful season under new coach McLaughry. Page Twenty