Union's All-TIme Leading Rusher
With 3,464 yards and three regular-season games still to play.
Senior tailback George Beebe (Salem, NY/Salem) made the most of his final regular-season appearance in front of the home crowd last Saturday (Oct. 26) as he rushed for 142 yards, including an 18-yard touchdown, while leading the Dutchmen over the Coast Guard Academy, 17-12.
Beebe put his name in the Union record books with his career-rushing standard of 3,464 yards. His three-yard run with just under 11 minutes to play in the third quarter was his 87th yard of the game, which enabled him to break the previous record of 3,408 set by Chris Irving, Class of 1995. The Salem, New York, native, who still has three games to play in this year's regular season, scored his 29th career rushing touchdown with the 18-yard scamper, and trails Irving's all-time Union record of 33. Beebe already owns Dutchman records for the longest run from scrimmage (96 yards) and yards in a game (272). He and his 17 senior classmates have compiled a four-year record of 32-8 and have been invited to postseason every year since putting on a Garnet uniform.
Beebe put the Dutchmen on top with 4:09 left in the second quarter when he scored from 18 yards out. Sophomore kicker Cliff Eisenhut added the first of his two PAT kicks giving Union a 7-0 advantage.
Meanwhile, Union head coach John Audino tied Al Bagnoli for first place on Union's all-time coaching list at 86 in Saturday's victory. Third place on the Dutchmen's all-time coaching list (in terms of career wins) belongs to P.E. Leary, who compiled an 11-year record of 33-40-16 from 1920 through 1930. Only three other coaches besides Bagnoli and Audino have a 20-win career at Union while coaching at least four seasons and finishing with an above .500 record. F.T. Dawson (27-10-3 from 1912 to 1916), W. Smith (24-12-4 from 1900 to 1901 and then again from 1903 to 1904), and Nelson W. Nitchman (Union Class of 1930…who was 21-15 from 1936-1940) are the other gentlemen on that list.
Now in his 13th season overall, Audino, an Albany native, has a career record of 94-34.
Speaking of records, Union College sports information director George Cuttita, now in his 23rd year, has seen the Dutchmen football team play 229 of 230 games during his career. The only game he missed came on October 4, 1986, when the Dutchmen won at WPI. He has seen 160 consecutive games since then.