Assumption High School - Assumption Yearbook (Davenport, IA)

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Last Year KNIGHTS KNOCK WAHLERT, 7-6 Dubuque, Iowa — A missed extra point was the difference here Sunday as Dav- enport Assumption won a bitterly contest- ed 7-6 decision over Dubuque Wahlert in the Loras College Rock Bowl. The win was the Knights’ second against three losses, while Wahlert now has lost four of five. Trailing 7-0 at halftime and badly out- played throughout the first two quarters, Wahlert got a break when it recovered Bob Solis’ fumble on the Assumption 36 yard line on the first play after the sec- ond half kickoff. The Eagles then scored in 11 plays, with two passes from Pat Dowd to John Abitz the key plays. Dowd hit Abitz for 10 yards to the Assumption 22 on a fourth down situation, keeping the drive alive, and then fired a scoring strike to Abitz with fourth and seven on the Assumption eight yard line. However, Dowd’s attempted place kick for the extra point was wide to the left and so the Knights held a slim 7-6 lead. Late in the second quarter, with the score 0-0, Wahlert had a fourth down on their own 22. Dowd faked a punt and passed to Abitz for a first down on the Eagles’ 35. On the next play, Dowd passed again, but Clarence Mason intercepted for the Knights on the Wahlert 37 and returned to the 15. Two running plays made seven yards, and on third down John Fennelly hit Karl Noonan with a pass for the touch- k down which came with just 28 seconds remaining in the half. Fennelly bootlegged the ball off his own left tackle for the extra point, which proved to be the winning point. Before scoring, the Knights had once driven to the Wahlert 35, only to lose the ball on a fumble — one of three bobbles lost by the Knights. Another drive in the second quarter moved the Knights from their own 15 to the Wahlert 15 where they lost the ball on downs. Then Mason came up with his interception which resulted in a TD for Assumption. Wahlert surged back in the second half to dominate play as completely as it had been outclassed in the first two periods. The Eagles had made only one first down in the first half and had been held to a net total of 20 yards on offense — never getting the ball beyond their own 48 yard line. But the story was different in the sec- ond half. Assumption, which had gained 144 yards the first two periods, was held to two first downs and 35 yards in the second half. It had the ball for only 17 plays and never crossed the 50 until Wahlert lost the ball on downs at its own 40 late in the game. — The Morning Democrat October 9, 1960