Win or lose, when the Freshmen go out tomorrow to give their all for the honor of the old school in the annual football game with Yale, Harvard followers can be assured that the eleven best football players that can be found in the Freshman class will be out on the field. All year long Stahley has been trying to find out just who these 11 best men were and combination after combination has been tried.
For example, there were three centers who appeared on Soldiers Field on Friday, September 20, each one of whom seemed to have enough stuff to win him a starting assignment. These men were Cliff Wilson, Jim Fearon, and Rick Hedblom. In the Exoter game, it was Cliff Wilson who received the starting call while the other two were relegated to the bench. Fearon, however, refused to be phased by such a little thing as having the captain of the team hold down the position which he himself coveted. He continued to show so much fight and spirit mingled with such a large amount of downright playing ability that when the Freshmen tangled with Worcestor, it was he who started while Wilson watched.
From Center, to Guard, to Back
Meanwhile, Hedblom was giving further problems to the coaches by showing that he was too much of a football player to be allowed to see the game only from the sidelines and was stuck in at a guard position. When the team travelled up to Hanover, however, Rick was cast in the role of bucking back and it is here that he will be seen when the Crimson and the Blue clash. Fearon has continued to show his class by holding down the center position, but that doesn't mean that Captain Wilson is going to be left out in the cold. He'll be right in there at the left guard position.
Although it has taken Stahley and his cohorts a whole season to decide on these shifts and others, they have finally got around to the place where they can say that this year's Freshman team is the best possible out of the material that they had at their disposal. It isn't a wonder team, but it's a steady one.
Freshmen Out to Win This One
In an effort to got 23 seasoned players for the varsity, substitution has been by teams rather than by players, and the second team has been is there about as much as the first. But this system is going to be dropped for the battle with the Elis, and the starters with be the 11 best on the squad.
It must be admitted that there will be need of the best players if Yale is to be licked. Experts rate this team as one of the strongest Freshman teams to come out of New Haven within the last few years. It is true that their only defeat was received at the hands of Exeter, the one team which the Harvard cubs have been able to take over, but it must also be remembered that this setback was received before the season was much more than a week old.
Read more in News
Eleventh Hour Truce Averts Marine Strike