Harvard's freshman football players, undergraduates only a short three weeks, have kept with tradition surprisingly well. They brought the expected pile of press clippings, were tabbed as "loaded" by Soldiers Field onlookers, and of course, lost to Andover. They did, however, break with tradition by looking exceptionally good in defeat.

The team that Margarita took to Andover had played together for exactly five days and had run through Harvard plays for five days. Because he had so little time to choose so few men from the original 145 that turned out, Margarita wasn't even sure he had the right teams with him. As he said, before the game, "I haven't any definite first team--the third team today may come back the first team." He came very close to being right.

Starts Slowly

The game started out like almost everyone expected, a rout for Andover. Only three costly Blue fumbles kept the host from scoring at least two first period touchdowns. The Harvard team missed its blocks and the backs seemed confused--their ballhandling not sharp.

In the second quarter the coach sent in his second team, which aided by a benchside view of the Andover defense, went quickly to work. The way it played then, and the way the first team played when it went back in, "was more than I expected," according to Margarita.

The second team backfield of wingback Dexter Lewis, blocking back Jost Michelsen, tailback Russ Burgess, and fullback Art Painter, played as though it had been together five weeks instead of five days. The timing and ball-handling on the tricky buck lateral series was excellent, even though the buck lateral sometimes sends the ball from fullback to quarterback to wingback. Lowis drove through the Blue line for big gains, including a 23 yard run, and later a touchdown.

Lewis Stars

Margarita praised both his backfields. He singled out Lewis, "who played a fine game." Currently two deep in every backfield position, Margarita does not yet know his starting combination for Saturday's game with Worcester Academy.

The line play was, as erpected, spotty, sometimes very good--when it threw Andover back after the hosts had a first and goal to go on the five--and sometimes very bad, as in the third quarter, when Andover's left halfback Hort Smith drove through for big gains on almost every carry. The line will, as Margarita says, "need a lot of work." Yet here again the picture is bright, for two big lines played equally well, and showed much potential.

Is Everybody Happy?

As it turned out, Lewis' touchdown wasn't enough. Andover turned two very inopportune fumbles into touchdowns and went on to win.

But any team will fumble in its opening game. Some coaches are worrying about the Crimson's play, but none of them work in Cambridge.