Central Catholic High School - Florentian Yearbook (Lawrence, MA)

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- .. -N - .fl M -Jw THE Tr-:AM ' 5-Efm.t6LaZZ 7946-7947 Sports are unpredictable at times. Take the Cards and Red Sox for example. All pre-season dope had both clubs slated for top honors in their respective leagues. And at this June Writing both teams are snugly plant- ed in the second division for what looks like the duration. And so it Went with our gridiron heroes during the football season. Coach Hanley had quite a few of his veterans back. There were big Neil Twoniey, Roland Beaudoin, Gene Champagne and other seasoned griddcrs who figured in the successful 1945 season. Backs like Miles Moran, Herve Gallant and Jack 'Connors seemed slated to carry on the touchdown pa- rade of the year before. Recruits were plentiful, over one hundred and thirty boys turning out to try for a berth on-what was supposed to be the team in Central's history. Coach Hanley was back with his two-team system which had proved so practical and so successful the previous year. Yeah! it looked good. And the boys looked good in their pre-season tuneups with Leominster and Lowell High. But then something happened. You can never quite put your 'finger on those things in sports, but injuries crop up, regulars deve-

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7 1 Qs Cgame Gbug 5 ltlrager DEAR COD: Help me to be a sport in this little game of life. l clon't ask for any place in the lineupg play me where you neecl me. I only ask for the stuff to give You a hunclrecl per cent of what l've got. If all the hard clrives come my way l thank You for the compliment. Help me to remember that You won't let any- thing come that You and l together can't handle. And help me to take the had breaks as part of the game. Help make me thankful for them. And, God, help me always to play on the square, no matter what the other players clo. Help me to come clean. Help me to see that often the best part of the game is helping other guys. Help me to be a 'regular fellow' with the other players. Finally, God, if fate seems to uppercut me with both hancls and l'm laid up on the shelf in sickness or old age, help me to take that as part of the game also, Help me not to whimper or squeal that the game was a frameup or that l had a raw deal. lxfhen in the dusk l get the -final bell, l ask- for no lying, compli- mentary stones. l'cl only like to know that You feel l've been a goocl guy. -Chaplairfs Digest 400 F'lEt1 I OURTUW f--21 fs fa. F-x .1- Q f

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lop trick knees, recruits turn out to be too light or too small, the breaks just don't come and it all adds up to an unsuccessful season. But that's only one side of the picture. A lot of things happen in a ball game which scores and statistics fail to picture in their true light. ' There were a host of thrills and innumerable incidents to make any Centralifan proud of the boys who wore the Red and Blue. At times, both team and individual play were superbg there were moments indeed which helped to make up for the scores which found us on the short end. REMEMBER .... hard-charging CAPTAIN MILES MORAN. Miles was in there pile-driving in every game but really played his heart out in the Methuen deadlock, picking up most of Central's yardage .... rugged NEIL T VVOMEY, mainstay of the left side of the forward wall. Neil was one rea- son why we were the first team to score against Keith Academy .... wiry CLAUDE ST. LAURENT who handled some pretty big men coming a- round his left flank. Always a hard worker, Claude exmplifies guts . . ..Quarterhack JOE HACKNEY who, despite his troubles with injuries, managed to spark the boys on more than one occasion .... Quarterback JOE MESSINA, a great blocker and a smart field general, though it was his :first year on the squad .... GENE CHAMPAGNE, a sterling guard with two seasons of experience, who had to sit out part of the season with a shoulder injury. But brother! when Gene was in there!!! .... ROLAND ST. PIERRE who did such a man-sized job at center in his first year in that position. Saint was converted from a guard position .... DI-CK Mr'. Augustine Hanley, Coach Brother .lom-mes