Playing in weather better suited to a duck symposium than a football game, the Harvard J.V. football team handed the Dartmouth squad its second loss in five years yesterday, surfacing to victory, 18-9.

A marshlike field, combined with wind and rain, dictated an early strategy of cautious football for both teams. Midway through the first quarter the Dartmouth J.V. converted this strategy into a score, driving 94 yards for a touchdown without throwing a single pass. The Harvard defense couldn't seem to get its footing as the Dartmouth backs picked up five and ten yards at a clip on sweeps and off tackle plays. The 12-play drive was capped by a quarterback keeper.

A short kickoff following the touchdown gave Harvard excellent field position on its own 40 and the chance for quick revenge. Quarterback Burke St. John capitalized on this opportunity by hitting Rich Horner for a long gain on the third play from scrimmage. The score came on a St. John bootleg from the five that made the Dartmouth defense look as animated as the trees in Hanover.

The snap for the point-after attempt was bobbled and kicker Bob Tetaldi's improvised end run was stopped by a swarm of green jerseys.

Turnovers

Early action in the second quarter was dominated by turnovers as both Harvard and Dartmouth took turns intercepting and fumbling. Defensive back Ed Casey set up the second Harvard touchdown, snaring a Dartmouth pass on the Harvard 17 and returning it to the 32.

The second score for the Crimson was engineered by Pat Daly. Faced with third and long at midfield. Daly found John Coffer for the first down to keep the drive going. On the following third down Daly went to the air again and found Tim McBride on the four, setting up a touch-down run for Charles Sandor.

McBridge

Harvard's third touchdown came in the third quarter on a pass from the third quarterback of the game, Mike Kelly, to Tim McBridge.

Dartmouth's only other score in the game came on a safety in the fourth quarter intentionally given up by Harvard.

Getting back to ducks, the secret password for the day was quarter backs.

There was only one reason why anyone in their right mind would stand in the pouring rain at Soldier's Field swamp yesterday watching the Harvard freshmen drop a 22-20 decision to their counterparts from Dartmouth: Paul Connors.

File that name in the back of your gridiron brains because the 5 ft., 10-in., 185-pound halfback is, to use the vernacular, a blue-chip stud. Yesterday, Connors was the Harvard offense, rushing for 214 yards on 24 carries and nabbing four passes for 55 additional soggy yards.

Add that to his 100-yard-plus performance in last week's 29-14 Yardling triumph over Naval Academy Prep and you begin to understand why the former Boston Clobe "Schoolboy Player of the Year" award winner is being touted as the future transfusion for Harvard's anemic varsity backfield.

Climson tackle Chuck Durst's block of a Dartmouth punt set up Harvard's initial strike, a one-yard plunge by quarterback Haywood Miller midway through the opening stanza. Kicker 'Wild' Bill Cody's extra point bid was blocked.

Connors then took to center stage, prancing 60 yards on a sweep to TD paydirt after the woodsmen couldn't move out of their own forest. Connors' two point run gave the Crimson a shortlived 14-0 bulge.

Conversion

Dartmouth quarterback Joe McLaughlin finally got the visitors' act together in the second period via a 12-play, 40-yard march for six and a two-point conversion run.

Harvard ran its six-point intermission edge to 20-8 off the second half kickoff. Connors's 48-yard gallop highlighting an 80-yard drive that culminated in Miller's second quarterback sneak TD. But the lanky playmaker's run for the extra deuce tell short, and would turn out to be costly in a surprisingly well played (considering the monsoon conditions) affair.

McLaughlin's 28-yard touchdown run and two-point conversion moved Dartmouth to within striking distance (20-16) late in the third period. Then came the classical big [Green] break, a blocked punt deep in Harvard territory midway through the fourth quarter. McLaughlin proceeded to hit wide receiver Dave Schula on a ten-yard touchdown toss, Dartmouth staving off a pair of late Harvard thrusts for the victory.