University of Virginia Library

Muddy Opening Game

'Hoos Scuttled, 10-6

By BILL NACHMAN

"I didn't see anything out there
I liked," said Coach Don Lawrence
Saturday after his varsity football
squad fell to Navy, 10-6, in a
pouring rain at Scott Stadium.

However, the fans saw a few
things they liked including the
hard-nosed running of second
yearman Kent Merritt and a
herculean effort by a young
defense which was forced on the
field most of the second half due to
the inability of Virginia to move
the ball effectively.

Grabbing the opening kickoff on
his 11 yard line, Merritt raced 17
yards to put the Cavaliers into good
field position the first time they
had the ball. A Harrison Davis-led
13 play series culminated in
Virginia reaching the scoreboard
first with Billy Maxwell hitting a
field goal from 30 yards out.

Merritt showed the crowd how
he could handle the pigskin by

gaining 34 yards in the first series
alone while finishing the afternoon
with a net 89 yards.

Navy's only two sets of downs
in the first quarter got virtually
nowhere against a defense led by
the secondary, particularly Bobby
McGrail and Robbie Gustafson.

Late in the quarter Davis started
the Virginia offense downfield from
his own 31. The Cavaliers had
reached the 15 of the Midshipmen
when the quarter ended. As play
resumed Navy forced the Cavaliers
backwards on a delay of game call
and when Bill Davis was charged
with offensive pass interference
Maxwell was way off on a 49-yard
field goal attempt.

The rest of the first half was a
succession of run, pass, and punt.
Neither team was able to
accomplish much, as Larry Albert
(subbing at quarterback for Davis)
had a Wahoo charge checked on the
Navy eight on a pass interception.

Glenny again took command of
the offense and again directed them
steadily toward the Virginia goal
line. Andy Pease ran five times for
29 yards in the drive to fill in the
work-horse capacity. His final jaunt
of 15 took him into the Cavalier
end zone for six off a belly play
where the quarterback optioned to
Pease, who followed tackle Len
May's block off the line. Lanning
added the extra point.

Pass receiving was a bright factor
in the first half, as Davis grabbed
three aerials for 32 yards and Dave
Sullivan made one catch for a
14-yard gain.

Maxwell helped keep Navy off
the board in the first half as he
banged out two punts for 91 yards
total-a fine 45.5 average.

Navy received the second half
kick off and started from its own 41
as Bert Calland ran it back 31
yards. Allen Glenny then brought
the Middles out in a modified Veer
and worked down to the Virginia
15 where the defense held its
ground. Big play here was when
Chuck Belic, a linebacker, deflected
a Glenny toss on third down at the
15.

Kicking specialist Roger Lanning
then raced on the field just long
enough to knot the score at 3-3
when he kicked a 32-yard field
goal.

Greg Dickerhoof, who was
replacing an injured Gary Helman
for the second half (Helman has a
braised shoulder), was gaining good
yardage on the next series for
Virginia when he fumbled at the
Navy 23. Craig Kissell's recovery
proved Virginia's doom.

Virginia fought back on the next
series, but Navy held at the 17 so
Maxwell came in to boot a
35-yarder.

So Virginia lost to Navy. But
according to Coach Lawrence, "I
wonder what you all will say when
we win that one (Saturday's game
at Michigan)."