A virtual four-way tie for first place in the House football standings highlights the House athletic picture as the fall season enters the home stretch. Dunster is holding a slim edge in soccer competition, and Winthrop is proving itself far and away the best of the touch football teams.

In tackle ball, the Kirkland squad currently holds the shakiest of leads with a 4-1 record. Eliot, 4-1-1, now rests in second place, with Dunster, 3-1, in third, and Leverett, 3-1-1, now occupying the fourth slot.

The Bunnies were cruising along undefeated until last week's contest with a fired-up Deacon squad. With Chuck Stuckey grinding out the yardage on the ground, and Bill Berman passing enough to keep the Leverett defense honest, Kirkland pounded out an 18-0 victory to take over the top spot.

The way the Bunnies tell it, they would still be the league leaders if they hadn't had the misfortune of having four games scheduled during one eight-day stretch. The only way they can take the title now is through the back door, since they have already played the three door, since they have already played the three teams currently leading them in the standings.

Eliot, last year's champions, fell 14-0 to a fierce Bunny ground attack two weeks ago for their first loss since October, 1961. The stunned Elephants then allowed themselves to be tied by a winless Winthrop eleven before they got back on the win track with shutout wins over Quincy and Adams.

Dunster's 3-1 mark is somewhat illusory since the Funsters have not yet played Kirkland, Eliot, or rapidly improving Lowell.

A surprise in this year's competition has been the occasional flashes of brilliance by the Dudley squad. Traditionally the league doormats, the Dragons have whipped Quincy and Winthrop and sport a 2-3 record.

The Lowell gridders were outscored 38-6 in their first two games of the season but have since come back to play some good defensive football. The Bellboys have yielded no points and only three first downs in their last two games, but with a 1-2-1 mark, they don't appear to have a crack at the title.

Adams shared the league lead early in the season, but losses to Dunster and Eliot in the last eight days have popped any Adams' visions of a game with the Yale college champion. The Gold Coasters face a gruesome schedule the rest of the way, with Lowell, Kirkland, and Leverett coming up in that order.

Resting securely on the bottom of the heap are Winthrop, 0-5-1, and Quincy, 0-4. The Puritans have been particularly in-ept, managing to push across only once touchdown all season.

Quincy has been playing better ball than its record shows. Their four games have been lost by a total of only 21 points.

In House soccer Dunster, 4-0-1, holds a slim lead over Kirkland, 3-0-2. Quincy, Leverett, Eliot, Lowell, Adams, and Winthrop fill out the league in that order.

Winthrop's touch football squad boasts six victories against no defeats, one of them a 73-0 pasting of Lowell. The Puritans, lead by Parky Keyes, appear to have the title clinched and should handle the Yale champion without much difficulty.