Benton Township High School - Scarab Yearbook (Benton, IL)

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ELDORADO 7. BENTON 9 The Benton Rangers won by the margin of a safety, September 29th. against the Eldorado Eagles. The held was covered with water and playing was made very difficult. The Rangers eleven was led bv Bill Seagraves who ripped olT a great 53 yard run for a touchdown early in the second quarter. A lateral from Mandrell to Seagraves made the extra point. A fumble by the Eagles on their own ten yard line resulted in Rangers trapping them behind their own end zone. The only touchdown for the Eagles came in the fourth quarter on a fumble made by the Rangers on their own ten yard line. Gene Brady, guard; James Fletcher, tackle; Bill Seagraves, halfback; Evan Woods, tackle; Jack Mandrell, quarterback; Joe Seymour, center. Page High teen

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FOOTBALL PIGSKIN SUMMARY OF 1945 The Ranger Eleven won the majority of its scheduled games during the 1945 football season. Of the eleven games, the Rangers emerged as victors in five games. This gave Benton fourth place rating in the South Six Conference. Coach Rollins changed the positions of the players a great deal until they were suited to the posi-tion in which they worked the l est. The back-field remained the same throughout the season. The fullback position was fulfilled very well by Howard Jones. Bill Chaplain's stubborness and Bill Sea-graves' speed and stamina represented the two Ranger hah backs. Football fans are still wondering how Jack Mandrel! could block so hard with his 126 pounds. It appeared that Benton’s weakest point of the year was the line as it is very important in the development of plays and stopping the opponent. The end positions were taken care of by Jack I’onset ti and Bob Warren; tackles. Harry Stewart and Jim Fletcher : guards. Gene Brady and Carroll Fletcher; and the center position was alternated between Joe Seymour and Tim l’onsetti. Surely the best game of the year for the Rangers was on Centralia’s home field when Benton was defeated by one point. Centralia was rated as one of the top teams in Southern Illinois and the Rangers were expected to come home trailing the Centralia Orphans by a very wide margin. The worst game of the year came when Benton journeyed to West Frankfort on a bad and very cold Thanksgiving afternoon. Many of the Rangers were injured, and fumbles and misfortune ruled the Ranger eleven. The Red Birds were at their best and their line and well-developed backfield worked to a 33-0 defeat over the ill-fated Rangers. Pane Seventeen

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The Freshman-Sophomore squad of 1945 was very promising although they received only one victory out of four hard fought games. Hill Chaplain, halfhack; Jack Ponsctti, end; Carrol Fletcher, guard; Walter Zcl oski. end; Bob Warren, end; Howard Jones, fullback; Tim Ponsctti, center; Harry Stewart, tackle; John Franklin, halfback; Hill Workman, fullback; Clarence DeMattei, quarterback; Fred Bruno, halfback. FKHSH MAN-SOPHOMORE SCHEDULE Kenton Benton.......14 Benton....... 0 Benton....... 7 Benton....... 0 Opponents Valicr ...........13 West Frankfort....18 Mt. Vernon........12 West Frankfort.... 13 Spring training in 1946 will undoubtedly take many of the faults out of these boys and will make them a credit to the Ranger Squad the following fall. Some promising players for the Ranger Squad next fall are—Fred Bruno, John Franklin, Clarence DeMattie, and Bill Workman. These Ikjvs will he a great contribution to the Ranger back held. I’aijc Nineteen