Fordham 17 Holy Cross 10 It should be forever frozen as the definitive portrait of disappointment -- Holy Cross players huddled shoulder to shoulder in a circle after the match with heads bowed and without a word being uttered.

Barely 20 yards across the field, however, Fordham players were whooping it up, celebrating their 17-10 victory on Saturday in Bermuda Bowl III at National Stadium.

And they had a lot to be happy about since their last victory over Holy Cross came in 1930.

For Holy Cross head coach Peter Vass, the loss was just another setback during one of his most difficult seasons in college football.

The Crusaders fell to 1-7, but they have three games remaining against Bucknell, Lehigh and Colgate. The Rams, on the other hand, with a 4-4-1 mark, are now within striking distance of finishing the year with a winning record after enduring a miserable 0-11 season in 1994.

Holy Cross fans, clearly the most vocal on a warm, sunshine-filled day, watched in dismay as their team's last-ditch effort to tie the match with only a few minutes left was nullified by officials. Quarterback Chad Vaughn threw a spectacular 40-yard pass right into the hands of wide receiver John Myers, but the six-foot, 190-pound sophomore was stripped of the ball by Rams' cornerback Shane McAndrew.

Vaas strode quietly onto the field to argue the call, which would have made the score 17-16, setting up the conversion from the reliable boot of kicker Jamie Gornell.

But it was ruled a fumble and Crusader fans on the western side of the pitch booed lustily.

"It was a great play and a great pass,'' said Vaas, in his fourth season as Holy Cross coach. "But it was one of those situations where you have people who officiate football games that have to make decisions. I'm sure there are a lot of people who think that I don't make good decisions.

"But we had other opportunities and we fumbled two other times besides that one.'' Not surprisingly, Fordham coach Nick Quartaro said he had no doubt the officials made the right call.

"I'll be honest, I saw it as a catch and a fumble, but I'm sure that if you asked the 2,000 people here you'll get a different answer from whoever they were cheering for. (McAndrew) made a huge play. Over the course of 11 games the ball bounces one way and then bounces another. We've had our tough breaks.

And if it was a break we'll take it.'' Nothing was going Fordham's way early in the match. Holy Cross looking imposing by jumping out to a 7-0 lead at the 8:42 mark of the first quarter after a two-yard run into the end zone by tailback Rob Sanchez. That was quickly followed by a conversion by Gornell, who two minutes later booted a 39-yard field goal to make the score 10-0.

The Crusaders were unable to get on the scoreboard again, their fortunes sagging as heavily as the sweat-soaked uniforms of both squads. Vaas stayed with Vaughn, however, who completed just nine of 22 passes for 119 yards, his longest toss going 51 yards. He resisted calls to replace his quarterback with Brion Stapp, who roamed restlessly on the sidelines and was eager to get the call to kick-start the Crusader offence.

With minutes remaining Stapp walked over to Vaas hoping to enter the game, but when he finally did on the final play -- a classic case of too little, too late -- he was immediately blitzed by Ram defenders.

Vaughn was often jeered by spectators for failing to throw the ball -- late in the fourth quarter a frustrated tight end Bobby Andrews was waving his arms to get the QB to throw his way. Vaughn was eventually tackled.

"We got ahead with a 10-0 lead and we weren't able to sustain or generate anything,'' said Vaas. "So towards the end, Stapp maybe is a little bit better pocket passer than Vaughn. If we had gotten the ball back I was prepared to throw the football a lot and go with Brion.'' Surprisingly, both teams relied on a ground attack.

"I'll give Holy Cross a lot of credit,'' said Quartaro. "We needed to try and run a little bit more and they were doing some very funny things on defence...they were confusing us a little.'' Said Vaas: "We felt we could run the ball against them a little bit. I just wanted to keep on doing it.'' The Rams finally got on the scoreboard in the second quarter with catches by Randy Zingo from two yards and Jon Nelson from 14 yards, both on pinpoint throws from southpaw quarterback Joe Moorhead.

Suddenly the Rams, who didn't get a first down until their last possession of the first quarter, were in front 14-10 heading into the second half.

Moorhead was good on 14 of 32 passes in the air for 174 yards, but he relied heavily on the speed of running back Won Kyu Rim, who gained 180 yards on 34 attempts -- his longest gallop 42 yards on a perfectly executed quarterback draw.

"It was a great game and we all had a great time,'' said Rim, who had more moves than the Gombey dancers during the half-time show. "It took a while for us to get going in the beginning and we weren't used to this (heat). I don't know if the game plan was to give me the ball a lot, but I think Holy Cross played a good game, too.'' There would be no more scoring in the second half until just 3:19 remained on the clock. The Rams, with their seventh possession of the fourth quarter, appeared ready to strike again with wide receiver James Simmons in perfect possession in the end zone. Moorhead's pass, however, sailed over his head.

The Rams settled for a 20-yard field goal from kicker Bob Hagen to add to the Crusaders' woes.

"Our guys are now beginning to realise some things about themselves that they can believe in,'' said Quartara after the match. "We have a motto called `find the way' and last year we battled to even try for that to happen. But we stuck to our guns and things are falling into place.'' Vaas, meantime, was later consoled on the pitch by his wife and children. "I don't know if the pain (of losing) ever goes away,'' he said.

Although there was no official word on how many spectators were on hand, it was easily the largest and most enthusiastic crowd for a Bermuda Bowl match.

Next year Hofstra and Rhode Island are scheduled to play, while the game in 1997 will bring the best teams yet with Connecticut expected to battle Massachusetts.

WON-DERFUL DAY -- Fordham's Won Kyu Rim churns up the pitch for additional yardage, easily outpacing his offensive counterparts during Saturday's Bermuda Bowl.

Photos by Tamell Simons HEAVY TRAFFIC -- Holy Cross quarterback Chad Vaughn finds some open space during Saturday's Bermuda Bowl clash at National Stadium. In the background the Crusaders' offensive linemen keep their quarterback free from blitzing tacklers.