Dillon Cops Crown; Wins on First Downs

Dillon Hall, Champion of the West League with five straight victories, pushed through the mud on the Interhall field a week ago last Sunday for nine first downs to give them the Interhall football title over Zahm Hall after the teams had struggled to a 0-0 scoreless tie. Zahm, whole 5-1 record carried them to the top of the East League, could total only three first downs, and the winner was decided on that count. Five hundred people watched the game.

Only once in the battle did a team threaten, that being in the third quarter when Dillon's offense, a weapon which ran up 100 points during the regular season, stalled on Zahm's three yard line, inches short of a first down. The champions also failed on a second half field goal attempt from the loser's 20 yard line.

Zahm's plight was their inability to shake loose Norby Shew, their elusive speedtser who had scored 42 points, on runs never less than 40 yards, and who was the season's yard-gaining leader.

Placing behind Dillon in the West League were Howard and Lyons who were tied for second, Badin in fourth, Sorin in fifth and Morrissey last.

In the East League, Cavanaugh finished second. Off-Campus and St. Ed's tied for third while Breen-Phillips and Farley rounded out the League.

Dillon dominated the All-Campus team placing five on the club. Dick Murphy, a junior from Milton, Mass., was named Coach of the Year.

Pre-season

• New rules include 4 p.m. play time, 15-minute waits before forfeit counts, and loose weekly scheduling

• Frank Leahy Jr., son of former head coach Frank Leahy, is quarterback for Dillon Hall.

Season

• Zahm upsets a heavily favored Off-Campus team, but the real story is the score, 19–12. It was just the fourth game in the post-World War II era where both teams scored at least ten points, and the first since the 1950 season.

  • Norbie Shaw also scored Zahm's first touchdown on an 80-yard run off a statue of liberty play.

• Cavanaugh upset the division leader Zahm in week 4 and plunged the East into a four-way tie for first place.

• Dillon defeats Lyons in the West division championship. Both teams were undefeated, untied, and unscored upon.

Post-season

• Zahm battles Cavanaugh in an epic playoff game, winning 20–13.

• The championship ends in a scoreless tie, forcing the rule of first downs to be invoked for the first time since 1941. Dillon wins nine first downs to Zahm's three. Coincidentally, Zahm also played in and lost the 1941 championship, their only other title game appearance.

• Dillon is one of the most dominant teams in interhall history. They finished undefeated, untied, and unscored upon. They compiled a 6–0 record and increased their unbeaten streak to thirteen games. Over the past two seasons they have outscored their opponents by a total of 100 to 0.

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