Assumption High School - Assumption Yearbook (Davenport, IA)

Page 12 text:

From Practice Through the woods and over the bridge, from football practice they come. By now this trek is familiar to all AHS football players. It is not, however, known to the rest of the student body. Here we go behind the scene. Dick Hasenmiller leads the team from . . . . . . practice, practice and more prac- tice, where Coach Gene Walton directs the team efforts at least two hours each day. Here Jim Davies and Dick Ilasen- miller ponder the instructions just given them by Coach Walton. As though they were posing for a foot- ball program cover, juniors Sharon Belk and Mary Ann Keller flank AHS gridder Jim Anderson, ’60. Actually such a pose would never be seen on a football practice field, but Jim looks as though he enjoys it. 10

Page 11 text:

Interests center on the aerial artistry of quarterback John Fennelly as he hits end, Nick Miller, at last week’s game with Davenport. Assumption Knights Exorcise Blue Devils; Now Brace for Tough Opponents Ahead Despite their tremendous “victory” over high-flying Davenport, Assump- tion’s Knights still have a long row to hoe as they play six of their first seven games on the road. Tonight the Knights will journey to Niles, northwest of Chicago, to battle Notre Dame. Coach Gene Walton termed the Niles team “fast with a hard-hitting line and I don’t think they’ve been beaten yet.” Coaches Walton and Ambrose scouted Notre Dame when they buried St. Thomas of Rockford 14-0 in the mud last week. Dubuque Wallert’s Golden Eagles, formerly Loras Academy and St. Col- umbkille’s, will fly into town a week from tonight for the Knight’s first home game. The new central Catholic high school has been having its foot- ball miseries with losses in two of their first three games and injuries to key players. Galen Thomas, the Golden Eagles’ coach, predicted that his stellar grid- ders like big Fred Kummert and Dave Bierie may be below par for another two weeks because of the injury jinx. Last year Assumption shocked Loras Academy, then the number one rank- ing team in the state, with a 7-7 tie at the Gubs’ homecoming. October 17 the Knights will journey for the second time into the Chicago area to take on Joliet Catholic. In last fall’s Assumption kickoff game, Jol- iet was nailed with a 20-0 loss and lat- er they were routed by Alleman 32-7. Since then Joliet has lost all-state fullback Joe Podobnik by graduation. Alleman’s Pioneers will be host for the battle for the Quad-City Catholic title October 23 and Clinton’s sput- tering River Kings will come to Dav- enport October 30. Alleman scored im- pressive victories in their first two outings and will try to duplicate the 20-0 setback they handed Assumption last year with the running of Jim and Wood and Larry Barnett and the pass catching of Jim Watts. Quarterback John Raske, son of the Clinton basketball coach, will direct the River Kings in their quest to avenge the 14-13 loss handed to them in their homecoming last year by the Knights. Clinton lost one and tied one in their first two games. Assumption’s greatest hour! Well, almost although it was tarnished by a late Blue Devil splurge that pro- duced a 13-13 tie in the annual city championship skirmish Friday. As- sumption’s prestige as a football power grew by leaps and bounds as the stun- ned Imp fans watched their four touch- down favorites strive to contain the aggressive Knight team. A crowd of more than eight thousand watched junior quarterback John Fennelly engineer two long touchdown marches that were capped by two plunges up the middle to paydirt by Tim Goffar. The hard-hitting Knight linemen, Bill Bell, Joe Smith, Dan Hawley, Jim Anderson, and Dick Leonard, jarred the Blue Devils into making six fumbles that were par- layed into scoring opportunities be- hind the accurate throwing of Fen- nelly, who was making his first var- sity start, and the pass-catching of Nick Miller and Ron Fiese. Faced with the loss of nine regu- lars from the ’58 team including the entire backfield, Assumption opened the season at Fort Madison where the inspired Bloodhounds, ranked third in pre-season polls of the Little Six Con- ference, pulled a big surprise when they spilled the highly favored As- sumption eleven, 21-0. The Blood- hounds fell off cloud 9 when DeWitt nailed them with an 18-6 loss the fol- lowing week. Costly fumbles, a leaky pass defense, and an inconsistent ground attack led to the Knights’ downfall with only Ed Burke able to gain much yardage. Despite little enthusiasm by the students, the Knights bounced back on the victory trail with a 25-0 romp over Regis at Cedar Rapids September 17. Sparkling defensive play by Bob Schebler, the three touchdown splurge of Ed Burke, and the passing of John Fennelly highlighted the triumph over the inexperienced Cedar Rapids team. Fennelly connected on a 35 yard touch- down pass to Mike Lohf with time ex- pired in the first half. The varsity reserves, paced by Dave Price who blasted his way to three touchdowns, beat Bettendorf 21-7 in the initial reserve game September 21. The reserves will journey to Moline for their next game Monday. 9

Page 13 text:

• - To Pep Rally The team efforts are appraised by the student body at the pep rally. Here Mr. Carl Paarman leads the students in the initial singing of the new school song. With one unifying cheer, AHS students are ignited by cheerleaders, left to right, Kathy Arnold, Mary Fran Neu- field, Mary Bohrer, Eileen Dockery, and Mary McMeans. “There is no place like Assumption, Assumption high we mean,” echoes the band to highlight the rally.