Gridders Brace for Saturday's Opener As Injuries Sideline Three Key Men

Harvard's injury-ridden Varsity football team suffered another setback in its preparation for the season's opener Saturday against Holy Cross with the loss of three key players.

Veteran cornerback Mike Ananis and sophomore halfbacks Richie Szaro and Vince Vaccarello wil be on the sidelines nursing injuries they received in last Saturday's intra-squad scrimmage.

The loss of Vaccarello and Szaro may be crucial to the Crimson's victory hopes since they normally give the offensive backfield solid depth, backing up starters Vic Gatto and Ray Hornblower.

Ananis' absence in Saturday's game leaves Coach John Yovicsin without an experienced cornerback. Neil Hurley, a junior who spent most of last year on the Varsity B squad, will fill in the left corner position and another junior, Jim Higgins, will replace Ananis.

Ananis' loss also reduces the number of starting lettermen to ten. Three of those lettermen, offensive guard Tom Jones, senior linebacker Gerry Marino, and senior safety Pat Conway are still recovering from injuries, which may hamper their effectiveness against Holy Cross.

Another questionable starter is sophomore offensive end Bruce Freeman, who is battling a virus infection which has settled in his legs.

In addition to persistent injuries, Yovicsin attributed the team's slow preseason progress to the shuffling of players to new positions.

230-pound Pete Varney, who was last year's top freshman rusher, has moved to offensive end and has been impressive enough in pre-season work-outs to start against Holy Cross. Yovicsin also shifted Fritz Reed, a 235-pound junior, from end to offensive tackle.

The offensive unit for Saturday's game will consist of sophomores Varney and Freeman at end. Reed and junior Bob Dowd at tackle, Jones and Bob Jannino at the guards and Ted Skowronski at center.

Senior George Lalich will fill the gap at quarterback left by Ric Zimmerman's graduation. Rounding out the backfield wil be Hornblower and captain Gatto in the halfback slots and Ken O'Connell at fullback.