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

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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

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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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Back Rotv—Coach Rollins, Manager Cashen, J. Fletcher, Mortimer, Warren, Brady, J. Ponsetti, Shockley, Zc-boski, Manager Weathers, Coach Rhodes. Middle Row—Stewart. Jones, T. Ponsetti, Seagraves, Chaplain, Mandrell, C. Fletcher, DeMattei, Seymour. I-'irsI Row— )avis, Bruno, Hill, Woods, Loman, Frankli i. Workman, Carlton, Buroff, Snarr. MT. VERNON 18 — BENTON 6 The Rangers looked to Ik the underdogs in the fight against the Mt. Vernon Ranis in the chilling rain through all the game. The Rams backfield was strong and made hard stabs at the Ranger line. The Benton backfield looked greatly improved over the Carmi game the week before. The thrilling point in the game took place when Howard Jones took the ball, passed to Ponsetti. and Ponsetti. lateralled to Warren who raced over the goal line; thus a 55 yard pass-lateral was completed for a touchdown. CENTRALTA 13 — BENTON 12 The heart breaker and also surprise of the season resulted in the Centralia game when Benton, rated the underdogs of the Conference, pulled to a close finish with Centralia in a 13 to 12 loss. Centralia’s well-rated eleven received a great surprise all the way from the opening minutes of the game, when both Benton’s backfield and line started plugging together, till the final seconds ended the battle. The great receiving technique of Ponsetti was responsible for the two touchdowns made by the Rangers. Nevertheless, as luck would have it. the game ended in a 13 to 12 victory for the Orphans. Both of Warren’s kicks failed because the line weakened as he tried the conversions. The Orphans’ high velocity running attack was responsible for the defeat of the Rangers, followed by a completed conversion. Page Tu- r»t