# 1944 New Hampshire Wildcats football team

The 1944 New Hampshire Wildcats football team represented the University of New Hampshire in the 1944 college football season. The Wildcats were led by first-year head coach Herbert Snow and completed the season with a record of 1–3. The team played its home games at Lewis Field (also known as Lewis Stadium) in Durham, New Hampshire.

## Background

New Hampshire had not fielded a team in 1943, due to World War II. In mid-September 1944, university administrators approved an "informal" team, limited to four games, with a roster consisting of 17-year-olds and returning veterans. The program's most recent head coach, Charles M. Justice, had entered the Navy in April 1944. Selected as his successor was Herbert Snow, a Springfield College graduate who had been the head coach at Wellesley High School in Massachusetts. The team began practices in early October, with only one player from their 1942 squad—Claude Henry, a reserve back who had returned to the university after serving in the Marine Corps.

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Site | Result | Attendance |
| October 21 | | at Maine | Alumni FieldOrono, ME (rivalry) | L 6–13 | |
| October 28 | | Middlebury* | Lewis FieldDurham, NH | L 7–27 | |
| November 4 | | at Middlebury* | Porter FieldMiddlebury, VT | L 7–21 | |
| November 11 | 2:00 p.m. | Maine | Lewis FieldDurham, NH | W 19–14 | 1,200 |
| *Non-conference gameSource: |||||||
The 1944 games remain the last time that the Middlebury and New Hampshire football programs have met.

## Roster

Source:

## Game summaries
### October 21: at Maine

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Wildcats | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 6 |
| Black Bears | 7 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 13 |
at Alumni Field, Orono, Maine
* Date: October 21
* Game weather: Rain
* Referee: Daley
* Newspaper: The Portsmouth Herald (October 23, 1944), The Maine Campus (October 26, 1944)

### October 28: vs. Middlebury

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Panthers | 7 | 0 | 7 | 13 | 27 |
| Wildcats | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
at Lewis Field, Durham, New Hampshire
* Date: October 28
* Referee: Marston
* Newspaper: The Portsmouth Herald (October 30, 1944), Rutland Daily Herald (October 30, 1944)
Game information :
First quarter
Middlebury – Joe Dineen run (Barrett conversion kick good). Drive: 19 yards.
Second quarter
UNH – Joe Swekla 5-yard run (Bill Black conversion kick good).
Third quarter
Middlebury – George Long 20-yard run (Barrett conversion kick good). Drive: 56 yards.
Fourth quarter
Middlebury – George Long 13-yard run (Barrett conversion kick good). Drive: 45 yards.
Middlebury – Young 1-yard run (conversion failed).
First downs
Panthers – 20
Wildcats – 6
Rushing yards
Panthers – 266
Wildcats – 78
Passing yards (comp–att)
Panthers – 9 (1–2)
Wildcats – 23 (5–10)
Fumbles (total–lost)
Panthers – 8–5
Wildcats – 4–2
Punting average yards
Panthers – 33
Wildcats – 31.5
Yards penalized
Panthers – 50
Wildcats – 10 :

### November 4: at Middlebury

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Wildcats | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 |
| Panthers | 0 | 0 | 14 | 7 | 21 |
at Porter Field, Middlebury, Vermont
* Date: November 4
* Newspaper: The Portsmouth Herald (November 6, 1944), Rutland Daily Herald (November 6, 1944)

### November 11: vs. Maine

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Black Bears | 0 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 14 |
| Wildcats | 0 | 6 | 0 | 13 | 19 |
at Lewis Field, Durham, New Hampshire
* Date: November 11
* Referee: Eugene Callahan
* Newspaper: The Portsmouth Herald (November 14, 1944), The Maine Campus (November 16, 1944)

## Statistics
### Scores by quarter

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| All opponents | 14 | 6 | 35 | 20 | 75 |
| New Hampshire | 0 | 13 | 0 | 26 | 39 |

### New Hampshire scoring

    PlayerTouchdownsConversionsPoints Bill Black3321 Joe Swekla2–12 Bill Pizzano1–6 Total6339

## Honors

Quarterback Bill Pizzano was named to the All-New England Small College Team; he was later inducted to the university's athletic hall of fame, in 2004.