A battered varsity football team was back at practice again yesterday, concentrating on individual blocking assignments, a long dummy scrimmage, and a preliminary session of setting defenses for Cornell.

John Coan and Sam Butler joined cripples corner, working out their Saturday bruises alongside of Chief Bender, Hall Mofile, and Howie Houston.

Jim Kenary was still not dressed for practice and he and Mofile definitely will be out for the Cornell game. It is too early to tell the status of the other three but Houston ran signals yesterday.

Passes galore

Perhaps because of deficiency in that department against Columbia, the squad ran through a stint of passing at yesterday's session, with Bill Henry, Cal Lowenstein, Jim Noonan, and Chuck Roche working in different combinations with the Freshmen putting up a passive defense. This was followed by running play drill, after which the squad retired to Briggs Cage to prepare their defenses for the Big Red next Saturday.

Cornell, according to the scouting report filed by Coaches Ben McCabe and Henry Lamar, has one of the four fastest teams in the country, as well as boasting depth in both lines and backfield. They use a complete two-platoon system, and their backfield includes such formidables as Hilary Chollet, Jeff Fleishman, Frank Miller, and Lynn Dorset.

Earlier this year it was reported that a head injury had ended Fleishman's playing days, but his appearance in last Saturday's victory over Colgate seems to scotch that theory.

Valpey Not Depressed

Coach Valpey was anything but discouraged over last Saturday's stunning loss at Baker Field. Watching the movies yesterday satisfied him that Harvard turned in "the best game they have ever played for me, from a coaching point of view."

He explained the various lapses on both offense and defense by pointing out that "A lot of men played on very short notice, and they did as well as you could expect."

The Crimson's manifold injuries left the team in a weak position to begin with, and made the whole game a tough problem from the point of view of physical resources. In addition to this, Lou Little confided after the game that his boys responded to his twentieth anniversary as Columbia coach by being "higher than I've ever seen a team before."

The grass of the fenced-in practice field is beginning to get threadbare, but the Stadium turf looks smooth and lush. The Building and Grounds Department has a small squad prettying up the area and wiring it for sound in preparation for the Saturday homecoming.