La Salle College High School Football: Chronicle Game 1, September 20, 1959: West Catholic 22 La Salle 0

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1 La Salle College High School Football: Chronicle 1959 Game 1, September 20, 1959: West Catholic 22 La Salle 0 Burrs Topple Explorers, 22-0; Sharp Attack Spoils Opener The Little Explorers met a formidable roadblock on their road to the Catholic League Championship September 20, at Bartram Field as the Burrs of West Catholic defeated the Blue and Gold, The defense was one of the highlights as it held the highly-touted West offense to a few, well-executed plays. Harvey Appleton returned the opening kickoff for good yardage. There then ensued a number of line plunges after which the team exchanged punts. Both defenses prevailed, and at the end of the first quarter, the tally stood at a scoreless deadlock. Fifty-Two Yard Run In the second quarter West and La Salle exchanged the ball on downs a number of times before the Burrs Nelson Townes slanted off the left side for a fifty-two yard gain to the Blue and Gold one yard line. West s Lenny DeFiore took the pigskin across the white stripe for the first score of the game. DeFiore then went around his right end for the extra points. The remainder of the period saw numerous attempts by the Little Explorers to get underway and break into the scoring column, but the Burrs managed to hold La Salle in check and make the Blue and Gold relinquish the ball. Thus the score at half-time stood 8-0 in favor of West Catholic. Burrs Start To Drive After Tom Koss kicked off to open the second half, West took the ball and began to move it on first downs to the deep La Salle territory. John Fitzpatrick then scored on a twenty-nine yard run for the second Blue and White touchdown. Tom Ostroski hauled in an aerial for the addition two points, which made the score, 16-0, at the end of the third period of play. Final Tally On Aerial West scored the final touchdown early in the fourth quarter when John Thornton managed to elude our defenders and haul in a pass just inside the end zone. The try for the two point conversion failed and the scoring ended. During the remainder of the game, the Little Explorers made short gains only to suffer losses on the next play. The game came to an end with the final score: West Catholic 22 La Salle 0. Game 2, September 27, 1959: La Salle 18 North Catholic 0 Explorers Overpower North Catholic 18-0; Ground Gains, Defensive Unit Gain Victory Last Sunday, at Lincoln High s field, the Little Explorers triumphed over a stubborn, but inferior North Catholic squad. The Blue and Gold took command early in the game and never relinquished it for the entire four quarters. The offense moved the ball for continual long drives while the defensive unit held the Red and White from any concerted effort. Guarini Runs Thirty-Five Yards After La Salle received the kickoff to start the game, the Explorers ran two plays from scrimmage good for forty-five yards. Howie Guarini then ran around his right end on a keeper play which gave the Blue and Gold their first touchdown of the season. The attempted pass for the extra points went awry. Biggans Scores 1

2 In the second period the Little Explorers received a punt from North and ran it back fifteen yards to the Red and White forty-five yard line. A few plays later, the ball was resting on the North Catholic fifteen yard line. Bob Biggans applied the finishing touch to this surge, when after a key block by Tom Crow, he skirted left end and scored standing up. Once again the conversion failed and the tally stood at 12-0 in favor of the Tex-men. Late in the first half, La Salle again moved the ball deep into North territory, but a Falcon intercepted and the clock ran out before the Blue and Gold could score again. North Stymied The Falcons received the kickoff at the beginning of the second half and as a result of their inability to move the ball by rushing, they took to the air. La Salle s line, however, broke in and rushed the Red and white passer into repeatedly hurried and inaccurate passes. North was forced to kick from a fourth down and twenty-four to go situation. Here the alert La Salle team ripped in to block the kick. The Explorers then recovered the ball and the quarter ended. La Salle had possession as the fourth stanza began, but penalties soon caused the Blue and Gold to relinquish the ball on North s twenty-seven yard line. Crow Tallies TD After a few futile plays by the Falcons, an alert La Salle defender intercepted an errant North aerial. With the ball on the 18-yard line, Tom Crow ran for the afternoon s final tally, making the final score, The waning minutes of the contest were spent in a few plays deep in the territory of the North Catholic Falcons. Game 3, October 4, 1959: La Salle 20 Cardinal Dougherty 8 The Little Explorers upset a heavily-favored Dougherty team by a 20-6 margin. The game opened with both teams exchanging fumbles, and this was a preview of the first quarter action. When the second quarter began, Ken Quigley intercepted a long pass and sped the full 57 yards to a TD. When La Salle again took over they moved the ball to the 4-yard line and, after steadily losing ground, Guarini hit Quigley with a 10-yard aerial for La Salle s second touchdown. Two additional points followed as Tom Crow hit Bob Biggans with a short pass. Dougherty retaliated with what proved to be its only touchdown. Fullback Charlie Ward ran 40 yards to the La Salle 8 and then John Boyle scurried the remaining 8 yards to pay-dirt. The third period saw no scoring, but in the opening moments of the fourth quarter La Salle commenced a successful scoring drive. Howie Guarini spotted Tom Koss momentarily open and hit him with a bulletlike aerial. Koss managed to elude a host of enemy defenders and slipped into the end zone with the final tally for the afternoon. Game 4, October 11, 1959: La Salle 20 Monsignor Bonner 12 La Salle continued its string of upsets when in conquered a highly rated Bonner team. Action was torrid in the first half with 26 of the 32 points being scored. 2

3 After Bonner received and was forced to kick, La Salle took over on the 35-yard line and in eleven plays scored a touchdown and the extra two points. This featured a 30-yard run by Howie Guarini and two runs by Tom Crow, which resulted in a touchdown and extra point. In one of the spectacular plays of the game Bonner s Larry Sullivan returned the kickoff 87 yards for a score. In the second quarter La Salle scored a touchdown on two passes; a 45-yard toss to Vic Gittens and a 20-yard pass to Tom Crow for the TD. The third quarter was scoreless. In the fourth period with the pressure on Bonner, they were forced to take to the air and Joe McCarty pilfered a Grubb pass on the Friars 40 and returned the ball to the 2. Gittens then scooted around right end for the score. Game 5, October 18, 1959: La Salle 28 Roman Catholic 6 Explorers Trounce Unbeaten Cahillites A highly touted Roman team was overcome by a strong La Salle team to the tune of La Salle asserted itself early in the first half scoring twice. The first score climaxed a 65-yard drive with Gittens covering the last 18 yards. The second score occurred when a Roman punt was blocked and Ed Dale recovered the pigskin in the end zone. The attempt for the PAT was successfully executed by Heinzl making the score at the end of the first half The third quarter ended scoreless but with La Salle in possession on the one yard line. As the fourth quarter opened Guarini plunged over from the one. Guarini then passed to Gittens for the two extra points. On the ensuing kickoff, Kahana took the ball on a lateral and raced 55 yards to paydirt. The final TD came on Heinzl s 3-yard plunge. Game 6, October 25, 1959: La Salle 28 St. James 0 Explorers Drop St. James, 28-0 Sunday, October 25, La Salle walloped St. James by the lopsided score of Upon attaining possession for the second time, the Blue and Gold drove from their own 48 to the Bulldogs 2-yard line. Howie Guarini went over on the quarterback sneak. In the ensuing action, Guarini dropped back to pass, but was immediately surrounded by a host of Bulldogs. Guarini, however, swept around right end for the two additional points. Koss Tallies The second period saw Tom Koss haul in a 30-yard Guarini aerial for his first of three TD s. With the conversion attempt going awry, the score at the half read: La Salle 14, St. James 0. The third quarter proved to be unsuccessful for both teams and as the fourth quarter began the Texmen had possession of the pigskin. Explorers Score Two In the last stanza, the Explorers scored twice. The first touchdown came when Tom Koss, the lonely end, took a pitchout from Guarini on the four-yard line. Again the pass attempt faltered and the score was Bogdan was chiefly responsible for the last La Salle TD, when he intercepted a Jimmy pass on the Bulldog 45. On the first play of this series, Tom Crow carried to the La Salle 40. Tom Koss then 3

4 highlighted the afternoon s play, when with the aid of a few well-timed blocks, he scampered 60 yards for the TD. Final Tally The last scoring for La Salle and the game came when the Bulldogs DiCamillo was brought down in the end zone by Ray Kuss. Thus, the final score was This win, coupled with Bonner s upset victory over West Catholic, placed these three teams in a tie for first place laurels. Game 7, November 1, 1959: La Salle 24 St. Thomas More 0 Gridders Whitewash Golden Bears November 1 st La Salle met a high-spirited St. Thomas More team at Roman s field at 29 th and Clearfield. It started off to be a one-sided affair as La Salle scored 16 points in the first quarter. The first of the three touchdowns was Howie Guarini s doing as he plunged over from the one yard line climaxing a 45-yard, 7-play attack. Then he passed to Tom Crow for the 2-point conversion. Before the period ended Harry Heinzl also made a one yard plunge for the second TD. Guarini then pitched to Tom Koss for another 2 points. All this finished a 37-yard drive. Dale Blocks Punt There was no stopping the Little Explorers as they got 8 more points in the second quarter. This started when Ed Dale broke through the St. Thomas More line to block and recover a punt on the More 6-yard line. On La Salle s first try they guided Tom Crow to a 6-yard touchdown run. Maiden went around end for the final 2 points. No Scoring In Second Half The second half provided little excitement as St. Thomas More decided to bear down and prevented La Salle from scoring in the third quarter. It was the same in the fourth quarter as More seemed to become stronger but failed to score. Barring a defeat, it seems that the Drexel Hill team (Monsignor Bonner) will play the defending champions, the Little Explorers, in the playoff. Game 8, November 8, 1959: La Salle 16 Bishop Neumann 0 Eleven Blanks Neumann, 16-0; Posts Fourth Shutout Victory The Explorers (7-1) scored a 16-0 victory over Bishop Neumann in the annual Homecoming game on Sunday, November 8. Faulty Punt Proves Costly With the ball deep in Neumann territory and a 2 nd and 9 situation, Ray Chiumento of Neumann punted the ball but it only carried to the Pirate 20. In three plays, the Explorers capitalized on this miscue. Harry Heinzl scored the TD; Howie Guarini then ran for the 2 bonus points. Thus the score for the first quarter was 8-0 with the Explorers out in front. Later in the second period, Bob Biggans and Howie Guarini teamed up to move the ball to the 1-yard line of Bishop Neumann. Guarini carried the ball for the TD on a quarterback sneak. The conversion effort was an 8 yard (penalized 5 yards) pass from Tom Crow to Biggans. 4

5 Neumann Defense Surprising The third stanza went scoreless as neither team threatened. Surprising in this stanza was the defensive play of a stalwart Pirate line. The fourth quarter, as well, proved even with challenge after challenge being met with considerable opposition. Thus the score at the conclusion of this game was a 16-0 whitewash in favor of our Champs. Game 9, November 15, 1959: La Salle 32 Father Judge 0 Explorers Blank Crusaders, 32-0 On Sunday, November 15, La Salle s defending titlists clinched a tie with Monsignor Bonner by pinning a 32-0 defeat on Father Judge. Dropped Punt Aids Explorers After being repelled early in the first quarter, the Explorers were aided in attaining a TD when a Crusader dropped a fourth down punt on his own 24. Ray Kuss recovered for the Blue and Gold and four plays later, Harry Heinzl bulled his way over from the two-yard line. Explorers Tally 2 TD s The second quarter saw a stalwart Blue and Gold offense roll to two additional TD s. The first tally came when Heinzl slanted off left end from the 6-yard line. Thus, the score was Howie Guarini ran for the additional conversion points. The second tally came when Judge was forced to punt from their own three. The ball carried to the 40. In five plays, Ken Quigley scored the TD from the 5. Thus, the score at the end of the first half was Heinzl Scores His Third Harry (Mungy) Heinzl provided the spark for La Salle s fourth TD. He was largely responsible because he continually advanced the pigskin. Finally, he scored from the 4-yard line. Soph Aids Attack Ed Brennan, sophomore halfback, scored the last TD of the afternoon late in the fourth quarter. This ended La Salle s league play. Bonner defeated North Catholic and both teams remained tied. The tie necessitated a playoff on November 29 th. by Matt Zabitka, Delaware County Daily Times November Bonner-La Salle Title Clash Rated A Tossup; Delco Friars Seek to Avenge Early Loss To Little Explorers Drexel Hill We re ready like we ve been never ready before. These were the words uttered with utmost confidence by Monsignor Bonner s head football coach, Jack Ferrante, this morning at 8, shortly after he rolled out of bed with a bad cold at his Springfield home. The ex-philadelphia Eagles grid great was referring to the condition of his boys on the eve of Sunday s battle with powerful La Salle at Franklin Field, Philadelphia, for the 1959 Catholic Football League championship. Kickoff is listed for 1:30 PM. The Friars and the Explorers finished in a dead heat for first place in the final standing, necessitating this special playoff, in which the winner will go up against the Philadelphia Public High School kingpin for the Philadelphia City schoolboy grid crown. 5

6 Asked how he felt about La Salle being favored over Bonner in most of the forecasts, Ferrante replied, That s exactly the way we want it to be. Connell, Triolo Were Out Ferrante pointed out that when his Friars bowed to La Salle, 20-12, in their regular league meeting this season, two of his star backs were missing, Dave Connell and Joe Triolo, and both will be ready for action Sunday. At the time of the last La Salle game, Connell was nursing a break in a shoulder bone, while Triolo had a broken ankle. Both boys have fully recovered and are reported to be in A-1 condition. Connell Among Best Ferrante rates Connell, the team s punter, one of the best schoolboy quarterbacks in this neck of the woods. His punting chores in the last La Salle game which he missed were taken care of by halfback Charlie Mongielle. Connell is not only a brilliant punter, added Ferrante, but he s also a terrific field general. And when you get a guys like Connell missing from the lineup, it hurts. But he ll be in there on Sunday. Hendricks Ready Another major reason for Ferrante s optimistic outlook concerning Sunday s title playoff match is something that his star halfback, Russ Hendricks said after Friday s torrid workout. Hendricks came up to me and said, Coach, I feel like I m going to have a real big day on Sunday. When I heard that comment, added Ferrante, my confidence zoomed sky-high, because this kid Hendricks rarely ever says anything like that unless he means it. Went Wild He made such a comment only once before this year. That was just before the game with Bishop Neumann. And you know what happened? Hendricks was sensational in that game. If I recall correctly, he ran for two touchdowns and picked up something like 150 yards rushing as we annihilated Neumann, Hendricks missed Bonner s last game of the season, in which the Friars crushed North, He had a sprained ankle which has healed perfectly. Makes No Difference Asked if he would like to see it rain for Sunday s game, Ferrante shot back, It makes no difference to use. We ll beat La Salle in the rain, snow or sunshine. We re ready. This is positively the greatest team I ve ever had in my seven years as head coach at Bonner. Brother, believe me, we are ready. And I do mean ready! Ferrante revealed that his Friars drilled every day this week, including Thanksgiving Day, when they hit the field from 8 AM to 9:45 AM. Needed No Prodding I didn t have to ask the boys to apply themselves in practice sessions this week. They went at it with gusto. They realize that this is it. This game coming up is for keeps, said Ferrante. Ferrante s starting offensive unit will line up with Warren Winterbottom Jr. and Frank Street at ends, Ed Leahy and Jim Casey at tackles, Jerry Metcalf and Gary Wolfe at guards, Chappy Moore at center, Connell at quarterback, Hendricks and Triolo at halfbacks and pile-driving Tony Dolceamore at fullback. 6

7 Game 10, Nov. 29, 1959: Msgr. Bonner 6 La Salle 0 (PCL Championship) by Richard Flanagan, Friars Usurp League Throne; Gridders Bow To Bonner, 6-0 An estimated 25,000 fans journeyed to Franklin Field to see Bonner edge La Salle by a 6-0 margin. Although the Little Explorers were outscored, they were far from outfought as they repeatedly repelled the Bonner backfield. Russ Hendricks managed to get away late in the game (6 minutes remained) and ran the big 80 yards, which gave the Friars their first Catholic League Championship. Defenses Give Stellar Play The first quarter opened with Bonner receiving. After being thrown for a few losses they punted on fourth down. Bonner likewise was able to keep the La Salle offense in check and the ball soon went over to Bonner. Once again, the Friars were unable to do anything and they punted out to the fifty yard line. Heinzl Carries For 25 Yards On the first play from scrimmage, Harry Heinzl ran 25 yards, spotting the ball on the Bonner 25. Two plays later, the Texmen had a first and goal situation on the Bonner 8. Howie Guarini then carried around right end to the 3 yard line. It was at this point, that a 15 yard penalty was imposed on the Blue and Gold. The ball went over to Bonner four plays later at their own 12 yard line. Explorers Repel Friars The second quarter saw the same kind of stubborn defense for La Salle. The Bonner squad, quarterbacked by Dave Connell, scarcely moved the ball for the remainder of the first half. La Salle Amasses Yardage The first half, scoreless, saw the Explorers amass a total of 82 yards in rushing in comparison to 31 yards for the weak Bonner squad. Third Stanza Emphasizes Defense Bonner received to start the third quarter and in a series of 3 first downs pushed to the La Salle 15 attaining another first down. This drive was halted with the aid of a 15 yard holding penalty against a Bonner lineman. A few minutes later, La Salle had the ball on the Bonner 9 yard line. The situation was 4 th down and 1 yard to go. Harry Heinzl, La Salle s standout halfback, was given the ball but Ray Cugini of Bonner cannonballed through the La Salle line and stopped him in his tracks. Thus, the last big threat for La Salle s defending champs was culminated. Bonner s Hendricks Wins Game When Bonner took over, Dave Connell gave a handoff to Tony Dolceamore who carried to the 13 yard line. Hendricks slanted off right end for 7 additional yards. Then it happened the speedy Hendricks bullied over tackle and took off down the sidelines with three LaSalle defenders in hot pursuit. The Bonner halfback was charged by his coaches sideline entreaties and turning on all the speed at his command, he sped for the deciding points. Explorers Fight To Score With 6 and a half minutes remaining, the La Sallites were visibly stunned but gamely fought to overcome the deficit. Thus it was that the team relinquished the Catholic League Crown. Noticeable to great extent was the defensive unit as they held the highly-touted Dolceamore and Triolo in check for most of the game. Dale and Dennery were chiefly responsible for this defensive success. Conspicuous by his absence was Vic Gittens, the 5-2 speedster. One can only guess that the only reason for his absence was that the leg that he injured earlier in the season had not completely healed. 7

8 But for a team with a shortage in depth and a few injuries, La Salle displayed the qualities of a true Champ. The defensive efforts of Dunleavy, Agin, and Yannessa were consistently strong and to further add to their chore was the fact that replacements for rest were sorely lacking. Surely no one can dispute that Howie Guarini played a spectacular game in his role as T-Quarterback. Time and again he would roll out or pass the team to within a hair s width of a TD. Delaware County Daily Times Bonner s The Champ The kid who said he was going to come through, came through, and Monsignor Bonner High School today reigned as the Catholic Football League champion of Sunday, at University of Pennsylvania s Franklin Field, 16-year old Russ Hendricks, 5-11, 175-pound 11th grader, broke away for a last period 80-yard run to give the Friars a 6-0 victory over La Salle, and thus qualify for this coming Saturday s Philadelphia City Schoolboy Football Championship game, against Philadelphia Public High kingpin Central, also at Franklin Field, starting at 1. Friday, after a torrid workout, Hendricks, usually a quiet-spoken guy, approached Bonner s head coach, Jack Ferrante, and commented, Coach, I feel that I m going to have a good day on Sunday. And if ever anyone kept true to this word, it was Hendricks the magnificent, who, besides scoring the only touchdown in the hard-played game, also emerged as the top ground gainer of the afternoon, with 116 yards in 16 carries for a per crack mark of Greatest Victory This was the greatest victory in the history of our school beamed Ferrante, an ex-philadelphia Eagles pro grid star, after the game. Ferrante didn t hold back on the adjective in praising Hendricks. Ferrante also had a barrel of kind words for 17-year old fullback Dan Cugini, 6, 195-pound senior. Cugini really saved the day for us, sighed Ferrante. La Salle had a fourth and two situations inside our 30 and they were on the move, when Cugini broke through and spilled the Explorer ball carrier for a loss to give us possession of the ball. Made Mistakes We made a lot of mistakes in the game, added Ferrante, and we ll be busy at work polishing up those bobbles all this week. I thought we didn t look anywhere near as sharp as we looked in practice. And our blocking was way off. Hendricks made his fabulous TD gallop with just a little more than three minutes remaining in the game. He took a handoff from QB Dave Connell, ripped off right tackle, veered to his right and raced like a scared deer for 80 yards to pay dirt. LA SALLE Ends Dale, Dennery, Appleton, Detwiler. Tackles Poellnitz, Cheney, Quinn, Boland, Yannessa. Guards Dunleavy, Kuss, Cangelosi, Emhof, Griffith, Fanelle, McCarty, Ginieczki. Centers Agin, McDonald. Backs Guarini, Koss, Crow, Heinzl, Tragemann, Stranix, Bogdan, Kelly, Mattia. Gittens, Quigley, Pressler, Biggans, Maiden, D Ambrosio, Brennan. 8

9 MONSIGNOR BONNER Ends Winterbottom, Street, Gallo, Novak, McAdams, Giambattesta. Tackles Leahy, Casey, Atkinson, Robak, Civitella, Richter, DiGregorio, Skowronek. Guards Wolfe, Metcalf, Lantieri, Coll, Levi, Glasgow. Centers Moore, Holmes. Backs Connell, Triolo, Hendricks, Dolceamore, Grubb, McIlhenney, Grillo, Mongiello, Martin, Sernyak, Sullivan, Padley, Cugini, Shiavi. LA SALLE BONNER Bonner Scoring: Touchdown: Hendricks (80 run). by Dr. Eugene Gallagher, M.D.,, November 30, 1959 To The Uncrowned Champions Of The Catholic League: Post-mortems or Monday morning quarterbacking are familiar to us both, myself in Medicine and to you in Football. In Medicine we go over the case history, the physical findings, the treatment and so forth to try and determine the cause, faulty treatment and perhaps a cure for the next case of similar circumstances that may be presented to us as a challenge. Many times we may find a little fault, an error of omission or perhaps the lack of an extremely new method of treatment which again later will help us in our Medical care of patients. A Doctor is sad and upset when he loses a patient, and occasionally like big grown athletes, there s many a night a tear may come to he eye, when he knows that he had rendered his best and still the results aren t satisfactory. During eleven years at La Salle, I have never written or lectured to the football team, nor have I ever had the opportunity to personally congratulate the team as a group, but I certainly couldn t let the weekend go by without trying to put something into words to edify the ball club that represented La Salle at Franklin Field. We ve had good clubs at La Salle, and in the dark past some pretty poor teams, but I can t remember when we have ever had as fine a group of individual men, molded into one of the greatest La Salle teams, that ever represented our School in a Football Classic. There should never by any reason for a member of this club to have to go back and pick out things that he did that were wrong, or errors of omission, because everyone from the starting team to the last member of the team to suit up, even though he may not have layed, showed the greatest attribute that any Coach or Teacher could ask, Desire. It was desire that put you on Franklin Field this year, when everyone including myself picked you for last place or somewhere in the vicinity. I looked around after the game and saw big fellows with tears in their eyes, but there were a lot of other big men that wanted to cry, but who, because of age and maturity, are not supposed to show emotions. Fellows, we were with you all the way and certainly still are in whatever you may do after you leave school. Don t leave and forget the Brothers and La Salle, because neither will we ever forget your club. I can t say anything more except, I sincerely hope that my son grows up and tried to fulfill the tradition of the club that didn t know they were supposed to give up after West, and ended up on Franklin Field in I feel extremely proud in a humble way, that I have been associated with this team, and that in some little way, served such a group of gallant men. Sincerely, Eugene Gallagher, M.D. 9

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