Bolivar Central School - Gusher Yearbook (Bolivar, NY)

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BOLIVAR HIGH SCHOOL BLIZZARD 21 the high school team to two touchdowns, both scored by Dougherty. The game was entirely lacking in thrills. This encounter served as good practice for the Wellsville game which came two weeks later. Wellsville High 14—B. H. S. 0. As a result of this victory Wellsville High emerged as champions of the Allegany county high schools. The score does not really show how evenly matched the two teams were. W. II. S. recovered a fumble on the B. H. S. ten yard line, and on the second play a halfback circled right end for their first touchdown. From this time on neither team was able to gain consistently by plunging tactics. In the last quarter, W. H. S. completed a forward pass, the only one which they completed during the game. This took them to the B. H. S. two yard line. From here they took the ball over by means of line plunges. Both teams showed a strong defense with little offensive power. Wellsville’s running attack was better than that of B. H. S. but the blue and white excelled in an aerial attack. Eight letter men, Capt. Bliss, Dougherty, Swarthout, Thomson. McKee, MacEwan, Brigham and Root will be lost to the 1924 team. The first four mentioned graduate in June. The others either have departed from or will leave school. The nucleus for 1924 will consist of Capt. Newell, Sackett, Potter, Sawyer, Kroh, Mead, ard, Wight man and VanCuren. There is some promising new material that may serve to bolster the veterans through the tough schedule which faces the team. Hornell, Port Allegany, Alfred Freshmen, Olean, Cuba, Belmont, and Wellsville are all scheduled to meet the blue and white in what is probably the heaviest schedule attempted by a team representing B. H. S. Of the men who are leaving, special mention should be given to Capt. Bliss who was a tower of strength to the B. H. S. team throughout the season. Always possessed of plenty of pep and fight and a defensive player of extraordinary ability, the gap that “Pete” leaves at right tackle will be hard to fill. He certainly should be successful on the collegiate gridiron. Brigham at fullback was a powerful offensive player, and was responsible for many long gains. A fast man for his weight, a good punter and passer, Brigham was easily the best fullback in the section. Swarthout began the season at fullback, was shifted to half when Brigham entered school, played several games in the line when an injury prevented his working in the backfield, and finally, after Root had become ineligible, accepted the post at quarterback. “Stub” was an experienced plaver and could be used in any position. He played bis best game in the Thanksgiving Day contest at Wellsville, running the team capably and efficiently. Thomson was new to football this year, but he showed plenty of fight and determination in the games that he entered. With more weight and experience he should be able to secure a berth on a small college varsity. McKee played a consistent game at half until he left school after the Alfred Freshmen game. He scored the B. H. S. touchdown against Olean, and his drop kicking ability was never doubted. “Lon” leaves us for the oil fields. “.Tim” Dougherty was a substitute lineman at the beginning of the season. Shifted to the back-field. his speed and dash soon won

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20 BOLIVAR HIGH SCHOOL BLIZZARD' Eldred High 12—B. H. S. 7. This was the most bitterly fought game that was played during the season. Although Bolivar outplayed their opponents during the first half, they were on the small end of a 6-0 score. However, early in the second half, Kroh intercepted a forward pass and raced for a touchdown. McKee drop-kicked the ball betwreen the posts for the extra point. The score remained thus until about two minutes before the final whistle when Eldred completed a long forward pass that resulted in the winning touchdown. It is needless to say that it was a hard game to lose, and it was the one game of the season which we should have won. Cuba High 19—B. H. S. 7 Playing their poorest game of the season, B. H. S. was easy prey for the Cuba team. The B. H. S. squad seemed to lack the old pep and fight, and at no time of the game did they seem able to really start an offensive. Cuba was able to shoot their backs through the line and around the ends for long gains. Alfred Frosh 34—B. H. S. 0. The Alfred Freshman team was the strongest team that B. H. S. encountered throughout the season. In fact, it was the only team that was really out of high school class. Nothing much can be said of the game except that B. H. S. fought hard, but were powerless to withstand the attack of the sturdy freshmen. Belmont High 0—B. H. S. 39. Plaving the best game of the season, B .H. S. easily defeated Belmont. After a series of disappointing games. B. H. S. finally seemed to come into its own. Belmont was not able to stop the crashing attack of Brigham and Dougiierty who tore off long gains time after time. At no time during the game was Belmont able to pierce Bolivar’s defense. Hornell High Reserves 0. B. H. S. 63. The light, inexperienced Homeli team was no match for the B. H. S. squad. Every member of the B. H. S. squad took part in the game and it was only a question of how large a score could be accumulated. No doubt if the team which took the field at the beginning had remained throughout a much higher score would have resulted. Belmont High 10—B. H. S. 25. In a weird game B. H. S. emerged triumphant over Belmont. During the first half, B. H. S. showed the spectators the poorest brand of football it had played all season with the result that Bolivar was on the short end of a 7-6 score, our touchdown being gained by a pretty 70 yard run by Root. In the second half the team regained all their old pep and fight. Beginning this half, Brigham received the ball on the kick-off and raced through the entire Belmont team for a touchdown. From this time on Belmont never had a chance, and two more touchdowns were scored. In the last five minutes of plav Ackerman, Belmont’s star halfback, kicked a beautiful field goal from the 35 yard line. Alumni 0—B. H. S. 12. Playing this game on a muddy iainsoaked field, fast football was out of the question. The Alumni showed lack of practice and it was cnlv a question of how long they could last. As they knew the B. H. S. signals, they were able to hold

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22 BOLIVAR HIGH SCHOOL “BLIZZARD him a regular place. Always a fighter and never thinking of the word quit, “Jim” was one of the most reliable hacks on the B. H. S. squad. The familiar grin was always seen on his face even when he emerged from the bottom of a pile. He was 1 lie best man on interference that B. II. S. boasted. MacEwan and his 175 pounds helped B. II. S. considerably at the left tackle position. He was a hard fighter and could always be depended upon to give his best in the games. A trifle inexperienced, he should, with more training, make good in the college game. His best game was against Belmont on the latter field. “Sliv” Hoot was a good quarterback. Despite his light weight he was a consistent gainer in short dashes through the line, and at times showed marked ability as a field general. Had he been regular in his attendance at school he would have filled the quarterback position throughout the season. His presence will be greatlv missed in the fall of ’24. Boys’ Basketball George Bliss, Captain Our basketball season was hardly what might be termed as an uproarious success. Out of the twenty games we played, we won eight and lost twelve for a percentage of .400. This should not be looked upon too harshly since basketball is a comparatively new sport at Bolivar, the village hall court being available for the first time during the 1922-23 season. With a squad of limited size and a schedule of twenty hard games before us, the prospects were anything but encouraging. The opening game of the season was played at Bolivar with Rush-ford as an opponent. We had taken but two practice sessions previous to this game, and were defeated by a 3A-24 score. This by no means discouraged us but the proverbial horseshoe seemed to be lacking for we lost several games throughout the season by not more than one field basket. Our best performance of the season was against Portville when we held, in the two games played against them, the fast P. TT. S. team which defeated Olean Harry Sackett, Manager by a 22-2 score, without a field basket for one and one-lialf games. One of the hardest games of the season was played with Wellsville. The W. H. S. came here with a record of ten straight victories and no defeats. The game was fast and furious from the start and at the end of the third quarter we were leading by a score of 24-17. Again the horseshoe disappeared and in the last quarter the opposing team crept up and within about a minute of the final whistle, a W. H. S. forward, closely guarded by B. II. S. threw the ball over his head in a desperate attempt to score. The ball slipped through the net and the game went to Wellsville. The boys wore especially anxious to win this game on account of the hard fought gridiron games with Wellsville on the fall preceding. Tt should be noted that Bolivar played hard games with both Wellsville and Cuba, winners of the county sectional championships, and lost to both by a margin of few points. One of the fastest games in which