Colgate will have a tougher game this weekend against Niagara. They will be the toughest competition yet this season. Colgate's starting line has been juggled this past week. These is the first major roster changes made this year, where seveal first string players were removed from the line up without being injured first. Coach Kerr feels that the new starters were ready to be moved up, and have what it takes to do a better job at the position. The new first team has been practicing all week together, in some of the toughest practices of the season. Lew Brooke has won one of the tackle positions, Bart Ellis has been moved to the second team. Brooke, the sophomore, is best at hitting and tackling. Joe Pasquale has taken the other tackle position away from Ed Prondecki. Joe single handedly stopped the first 5 plays he faced when he was put in against Case. George "Tarzan" Von Heusen has won over the guard spot from Joe Hill. This big wrestlers time has come, and he seems intent on keeping his new position. Bob Samuel has been injured, did not practice this week, and most likely will not be in the game this weekend. Antolini and Ask will be starting at the halves. Bob Rowe will be the fullback, and Charlie Soleau will be the quarterback. Winnie Anderson has recovered from his injuries, and will be back in the starting line up.
Niagara brings a top notch defense into the upcoming game. They allowed only 7 points against Cornell last weekend, and nearly ran an interception all the way back for a game tying touchdown. However, they did suffer a bad loss on defense, when Don Lynch was severly injured. He was responsible for 50% of the tackles against the Big Red. Ed McLaughlin will take his spot on the line, while Kunego will be promoted to the first team. Another player to look out for, Kantak, made a 70 yard run against Cornell, but failed to score. The top three players, according to Coach Orsi, who scouted them at the Cornell game last weekend, are: Mott, McNally and Captain Seigg. Mott is one of the better guards we will face this year. Seigg is a plunging fullback, who along with McNally, will account for most of the teams offense. McNally does most of the throwing for Niagara, and a fair bit of the running as well. Against Cornell, the Niagara defense virtually stopped Cornell's running game. The line charges very fast and hard. However, they spent most of the past week practicing how to stop Colgate's passing game. This should be a real offensive challenge for us.
Coach Kerr has been scrimmaging his boys hard so they can get ready for this weekends game, as well as the new starting line up. Kerr is optimistic about this weekend, and is confident the team will do better than last week. Practices have been so tough, even the New York Times reported that the team has been having it's hardest practices of the year. Speaking about the media, tune in to ABC radio tonight at 6:30 to hear Eddie Dooley's show. You might remember him as one of the speakers at last years varsity banquet. He will be speaking about this weekends game. So, you might want to rush through dinner a little faster tonight so you don't miss anything.
This is the 10th anneversary of President Cuttens tenure at the University. So this is a time to reflect on his reign, and to just look back at the past few years here at Colgate. George Barton Cutten, is a former football player for the Eli's of Yale, and is an avid football fan. President Cutten introduced himself to the football team in a perculiar way. He had stopped by the field to watch a practice session, when one of the managers mistook him for a Cornell scout and sent a freshman to chase him off the field. But it was 10 years ago today that President Cutten made the biggest impression on the University students. At a football game as part of inauguration weekend, thousands turned out to greet the new President, and watch the game. However, pouring rain sent most of the fans home early. Everyone except for the most die hard fans remained in the stands. And then, as the alma mater was being sung at the end of the game. The students noticed a lone figure in the opposite bleachers. It was the President, his friends and fellow fans were long gone, but Cutten remained to cheer on the football team to a 19-0 victory, and had stayed to listen to, and bow his head for the alma mater. It was this show of support that won him the respect and loyalty of the Colgate football community.
Over the past ten seasons, Colgate football has undergone a rebirth as well. After having 3 coaching changes in the second half of the 20's, Andy Kerr arrived at Colgate, and that has made all of the difference. Not only in the final results. But one observer who had been watching the team for a number of years, commented on how much more the team enjoys the game of football since Kerr's arrival. If you ask any of the current players, they will tell you that they do not think of practice as work, and that it is something they look foward to each day.
Credit for Colgate's recent athletic success should also be given to Dr. Ellery Huntington. When Dr. Huntington arrived at the University in 1900, the athletic program was in poor shape. There was spirit, but not much else. The gym was in poor shape, there was barely enough money for uniforms and equiptment, and we were losing on a fairly regular basis. Dr. Huntington's plan was to concentrate on football and basketball first. By that winter, our first varsity basketball team was ready to take to the court. Focusing on football and basketball generated fan interest for the University, as well as money. Dances and fundraisers also helped bring money into the program. Huntington's early sacrifices started to pay off years later. Colgate's teams began to do better, and money was raised for the other teams as well. Now Dr. Huntington was the director of a one million dollar gym that bears his name, our teams no longer need to be as worried about having the proper equipment or uniforms. So, on this day, we would like to thank all of those who contributed to a great decade in Colgate atheltics.
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