Papagianis Enjoys Flexibility Of Booters' Rotating Offense

Back in 1969 when Southeast High School of St. Louis finished its baseball season by winning the Illinois Missouri championships. Chris Papagianis was in centerfield and 20 major league scouts were in the stands.

Several of his teammates were signed after the game, but Papagianis, who had led the team in hitting three years in a row, had other plans. Turning down football scholarships at dozens of colleges including Notre Dame and USC, he decided to go to Harvard to be a place kicker.

"It's a decision I regret sometimes." Papagianis, an All-State halfback his senior year, said. "Some of my friends are playing for the big colleges now, and I've always wondered if I was really good enough to make it."

Discouraged by the football program at Harvard, Papagianis quit the team after a week and went out for soccer. His 24 goals as a freshman set a new scoring record.

Papagianis was born in Epiros, Greece, and soccer was his first sport. His house was three blocks from the local stadium, and from the time he was five he played in pick-up games after school.

In 1963 his family immigrated to St. Louis. "St. Louis is a sports-minded town. There are more than 400 soccer teams in the area, and down at Forest Park over Christmas, there are as many as 20 soccer games being played at one time," Papagianis said.

Before going to college Papagianis had never heard of the Harvard soccer team, but he now feels that the Crimson have one of the best forward lines in the country.

The key to Harvard's explosive offense is its enormous flexibility. "No one has a set position," he said, "For example, at one point in the game against Amherst, Phil Kydes dropped back to halfback, and I moved in from my wing position. The fullback didn't know whom to cover and he left the entire right side wide open. Charlie Thomas and Emanuel Ekama started a passing combination which took advantage of this opening, and Emanuel got a goal."

The two linkmen in the 4-2-4 formation are integral parts of the offense, and the man with the ball will often have as many as five passing options. The offense will often try to isolate one defender by using short chip passes and return combinations. Another technique is to use cross-field passes which, if quickly returned to the center, will leave two or three defenders, way put of position.

This complicated type of offense calls for a great deal of anticipation of what your teammate will do in a given situation.

"When I get the ball I don't have to look up to know where Phil is," Papagianis said, "And if I'm going to give him a through pass, I can tell by the way his nose is pointing where to hit him."

Papagianis is confident that the team will gain more of this type of anticipation as the season progresses. He gives much of the credit to new assistant coach Elliot Klein. "Rotating positions was Elliot's idea, and he has been teaching us to utilize the combinations it creates," he said.

Coach Munro has been urging his players to take each game one at a time this year, but Papagianis finds it hard to keep from thinking about the nationals. Many of his former teammates from the St. Louis summer leagues are now playing for St. Louis University, the defending national champions.

"These past two years I have often thought that I should have gone to St. Louis. But not any more--I think we can beat them," he said.

Ivy Schedule

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