Victory at last. How sweet it was. Harvard had finally accomplished what its long--suffering fans and seniors wanted most out of life--a win over Dartmouth.

And the best part of it was that the triumph came on the Big Green's own turf before their maniacal followers.

The 17-15 final was not indicative of how thoroughly the Crimson dominated the action. By all rights the score should have read 35-7 Harvard, but some costly Crimson errors, and some poor officiating combined to keep the score down.

Mistakes Costly

"We came into the game knowing we were going to win," said Pat McInally, "and we were hoping to run the score up on them. But we made some mistakes, and there were a few bad calls."

Harvard struck first halfway through the first quarter on a seven-yard sweep by Alky Tsitsos. The key play in the drive was a 34-yard pass from Milt Holt to McInally that brought the ball to the Big Green 18.

Harvard continued applying offensive pressure and penetrated to the Dartmouth 14 the next time it had the ball, but a field goal attempt by Tsitsos curved wide.

The Big Green offense continued its ineptitude, and repeatedly gave Harvard the ball in good field position.

The Crimson launched two-more drives in the first half. The first was stopped on an interception by the Green's Mike Feasel at the Dartmouth 28. The second Harvard threat was nullified by a call against Pat McInally for offensive pass interference, after McInally caught the ball in the endzone.

"It was a lousy call," McInally said. "I blocked their cornerback and then took off downfield. But the referee waited until I caught the pass before he threw his flag."

However, Harvard was still deep in Dartmouth territory, when Holt attempted to pitch out to Tsitsos at the 11. Holt was hit as he pitched the ball, and it flew 11 yards past Tsitsos where the Green's alert linebacker Reggie Williams pounced on it.

That ended the half, and Harvard walked off with a tenuous 7-0 edge, though the Crimson deserved to have had the game wrapped up.

The second half, however, was a different story. After Harvard received the kickoff and got nowhere, McInally booted a 42-yard punt that the Green's Feasel hauled in at his own ten. He scampered 29 yards to midfield, where McInally made a touchdown-saving tackle.

This runback ignited the Dartmouth offense, which moved 51 yards in just eight plays to tie the score.

Dartmouth Charge