Depth, Middle Strength Major Grid Concern As Ags Open Practice By JIM CARRELL “Depth at every position and strength down the middle” says Coach Paul “Bear” Bryant, “are weaknesses that must be rema- died”, when the 1956 Southwest Conference football' champion Tex as Ag-gies open Spring practice Monday. Greatest losses to the Aggies are in the middle of the line, at center and guard and the fullback slot in the backgield. Graduation of guards Dee Pow ell and Dennis Goehring and cen ter Lloyd Hale weakened the Ca det forward wall with losses of All-American fullback Jack Par dee and George Gillar, tabbed by Bryant at the end of the season as “the finest ball-carrier in the conference”, hampering an other wise experienced backfield. Candidates for the 1957 varsity will come from 19 lettermen off last ■ year’s squad and a “so-so” freshman squad that won one and lost four. Abundance of quarterbacks re solves a major problem of a year ago with the return of capable man-unders in all-conference Roddy Osborne, Jimmy Wright and Bob by Conrad, who doubles as a half back. Loss of the top men up front in the line, according to Bryant, will necessitate that the quarterback ing be “much more sound and con sistent”. To replace the formidable Par dee and Gillar at fullback only let- terman Richard Gay returns. But by many “Little Richard” is re garded as “more than able” to r.tep into the slot left vacant by his distinguished predecessors. Ray, a 5-11, 190-pounder from Shreveport, La., impresses with ex cellent defensive credentials, and is a fine ball-carrier and blocker to boot. All-American candidate John Crow of Spring Hill, La., and Loyd Taylor of Roswell, N. Mex., two- year lettermen at their respective left and right halfback positions leave little to be desired either on offense or defense, except suitable replacements. Other than the three quarterbacks only halfback Carlos Esquivel of Edinburg is a return ing letterman. Left tackle Charles Kreuger, 220- pound all-American from Cald well; left end Bobby Marks, 190- pounder from New Orleans and right end John Tracey, 215-pound- er of Philadelphia are returning starters from the forward wall which led Texas A&M to its first conference championship since 1941 and first undefeated season since 1939. Other returning lettermen in the line include guard Murry Trimble, Hanceville, Ala.; guard Jim Lang ston, Texas City; guard Tommy Howard, Galveston; tackle Jim Stanley, Lynch, Ky.; tackle Ken Beck, Minden, La.; center John Gil bert, Russellville, Ark.; guard Har old Price, Comanche; tackle A. L. Simmons, San Antonio and end Don Smith, Phillips. “Our freshmen will have to help us”, Bryant stated. “They were not impressive last fall in contact and speed. They’ll have to bow their necks this spring,” he ad ded. Coach Bryant lists as most im pressive among the freshman, quarterback Charles Mjlstead of Tyler, halfback Henry Colwell, a 5-10, 170-pounder from Abilene, end Ed Neill, a 6-3, 182-pounder of Port Lavaca and guard Albert Taylor, a 5-10, 210-pounder of Harlingen. Milstead, 6-2 and 185 pounds, an all stater in high school and fresh man quarterback last fall is a top- rated prospect at that position. Milstead runs the option play with finesse, is a fine passer and punt er and plays a sound defensive game at linebacker. Colwell, a halfback from the 1955 state champion Abilene team, com mands attention on the basis of his performance on defense and is a gifted ball-carrier. Taylor was re garded as one of the quickest and most aggressive linemen on the 1956 freshman squad. Other strong contenders expec ted from the freshman team are By appointment purveyors of soap to the late King George VI, Yardley & Co., Ltd., London THIS AFTER SHAVE LOTION CONDITIONS YOUR FACE, TOO Invigorates and softens the skin; soothes razor burn after any shave, electric or lather... $1.10, plus tax. YARDLEY Oft£/l Sh/jjwmj [<>twn \\ Idi. YARDLEY OF LONDON, INC. Yardley products for America are created in England and finished in the U.S.A. from the original English formulae, combining imported and domestic ingredients. 620 Fifth Ave., N.Y.C. YARDLEY PRODUCTS MAY BE SECURED AT ELLISON PHARMACY YOUR REXALL STORE College Station and Bryan Gordon LeBeouf, halfback from Port Neches; Gale Oliver, tackle from Refugio and Larry Ward, end at Nederland high school, switch ed to center as a freshman. Three new Aggie assistant coaches will be on hand for the spring training. They are Carney Laslie, assistant head coach and recent line coach under Earl Blaik at West Point; J. T. King, former line coach at Texas, and A. O. “Bum” Phillips, former head coach at Nederland high school. They will join the holdover as sistants: Phil Cutchin, Elmer Smith, Pat James, Sam Bailey and Willie Zapalac. ACE PORT-SIDE HURLER—Galveston’s Toby Newton, all-Southwest Conference pitcher in 1956 as a sophomore. Newton had a 3-4 record, but struck out 76 batters in 64 2/3 innings with a 3.0 ERA. —Photo by Chuck McCain. Vk<> ftnttalion College Station (Brazos County), Texas Friday, February 22, 1957 PAGE 5 Keii Hal! at Houston U; Declines Owens’ Bid Kenneth Hall, who dropped out of A&M suddenly last fall after the Baylor game, has enrolled in the University of Houston for the Spring semester. Contacted by THE BATTALION at his home in Sugarland last night by phone. Hall said he definitely would not play any football at the Houston school, but “. . might run track next year. I haven’t talked to anyone about that yet.” Hall, a 6-2, 210-pound fullback and one of the nation’s most high ly-sought athletes upon his grad uation from Sugarland High School in the Spring of 1954, revealed that ex-Aggie assistant coach Jim Owens, now head man at the University of Washington, ap proached Kenneth and wanted to take him to the coast. Hall de clined when he discovered that he would be eligible only one season in the Pacific Coast Conference. A high school star who broke all existing Texas scoring records in his four-year career, Hall was a standout on the ’54 Fish team that captured the Southwest Con ference Frosh title and was a sec ond-string fullback on the 1955 Squad before dropping out after A&M’s 19-16 victory over TCU. Want to help a Buddy? HERE’S HOW . . . Some Aggies need this book now! ME 327 (Going out of print) • LOUPOT’S TRADING POST 1 > j&jg:::# "i , ^ 1 " '-kskk < j mmm®. 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