Thirty-one lettermen yesterday elected Justin Hughes, defensive end of Leverett House and Natick, captain of Harvard's 1966 football team.

And at the Harvard Club of Boston last night, Seniors Dave Poe of Leverett House and Mason City, Iowa, and Max Evans, of Winthrop House and Athens, Ohio, were awarded Harvard's highest football honors.

Poe received the Frederick Greeley Crocker Trophy, which in recent years has been recognized as a "Most Valuable Player" designation. Evans received he William Paine LaCroix Award, given yearly to the senior most outstanding for his enthusiasm, sportsmanship, and team spirit.

Hughes, who will be the 93rd captain in Harvard football history, suffered a knee injury in the first game of the season against Holy Cross, and did not see action again until the Penn game. The 6-2, 215 pound senior is the fifth end to be elected captain in the last 10 years.

Poe was moved from offense to defense with the return of platoon football this season. Signal caller for the defensive secondary, he led the Crimson in pass interceptions with five, and handled 16 punt returns. He made several spot appearances as an offensive halfback late in the season when the Crimson suffered a rash of injuries at that post.

Offensive guard Evans, who kept the locker room lively according to his teammates, battled his way into the Crimsons' starting lineup after spending two years in Varsity B ranks. At 6-0 and 192 pounds. Evans lacked the size usually necessary for interior linemen.

The Crocker Award, established in 1949 in honor of a popular 155-pound end on the 1933 team, killed in World War II, is voted on by the team's lettermen; the LaCroix award recipient is selected by a committee of coaches and friends of William P. LaCroix, who died in 1950 from injuries in World War II.