Central Commercial Technical High School - Cog Pen Yearbook (Newark, NJ)

Page 90 text:

GAME OF THE SEASON WALTER SALABUN W CHARLES LESLI Practice Makes Perfect JOE LESINSKI JAMES TRESSITO JAMES RAIMO RON SHACKELTC

Page 89 text:

1947 CENTRAL BLUE DEVILS-Head Coach MR. SAL COMMISA - FOOTBALL Central's Blue Devils, City Champions of the '46 season, entered the Gridiron in '47 in a determined effort to repeat the difficult feat. Nutley High's Maroon was the first to chal- lenge the light blue and didn't make the grade as Central emerged with a 14-6 decision. Barringer's dark blue, a heavy team, the first city league obstacle, was removed in short order by a 19-0 decision. South Side High, next on the agenda, didn't have much of a team to brag about, but they did have the annoying habit of upsetting the favorites. Keeping this in mind, the Blue Devils played steady ball and gained their 32-6 decision. Following the South Side tilt we left the pleasant surroundings of City Stadium and raided Bloomfield. Tackling their team, we barely escaped with a 6-0 decision. West Side's Passing Green Wave was the biggest obstacle to a city league championship, and the game drew 17,000 at City Stadium. The tilt was the proverbial school-boy natural, with West Side the first team to mar our perfect record, winning the game in the last few minutes of play. Perth Amboy, Central Jersey Championship winners, was our next foe. On a rainy day in November, in a tightly-played game, Perth Amboy escaped with a 21-19 decision. From Perth Amboy the Blue traveled to Orange and there they again emerged on the short end of the score, this time 14-6. City Stadium was our next stop for the Thanksgiving Day game with East Side. The Red Raiders were determined to get our blood and played a brand of football which was unfamiliar as they won a 12-6 decision for the windup of their football campaign and ours. Our final record showed 4 wins and 4 losses for a .500 average, which is good in any man's league. The team fought hard and played their darndest and gained the respect of the entire school. 84

Page 91 text:

BASKETBALL REVIEW by MEL FALLIK and ED EAGLES For the past four years, Central High School's basketball squads have done a magnificent job. During this time we have seen players of a high caliber such as Joe Gallagher, Bill Saks, Eddie Stickle, Ed Sauchicki, Ed Weber, Whitey Nelson, Jimmy Walsh, Charlie O'Neil, and LeRoy Smith bring many honors to Central under the tutorship of Coach Henry Finck. Among these honors were two city championships, two sectional championships, county championship, and the state championship. The T947-'48 team did not have many stars, but boys such as Sam Convissor, Les Thornton and Tom Daniels played excellent ball to uphold this fine record. Playing a fine brand of ball, Sam Convissor took LeRoy Smith's place as captain. Thornton and Daniels played well, though the ineligibility of the latter at half season kept him from participating. At the start of the '47-'48 season, Central High's defending state champs showed their ability by downing a better than average Kearny team at the New Brunswick Invitation Tournament. This tournament was won by Central on a later date. Thus, one of the toughest basketball campaigns had begun. With single losses to Weequahic and East Side, our boys gained second place in the city league standings by defeating Barringer and South Side twice and Weequahic and East Side once. In the Weequahic game, LeRoy Smith bowed out of high school competition. In out-of-the-league competi- tion our boys downed Nutley, Kearny, and West Orange while dropping decisions to Columbia, Thomas Jefferson, Orange, Bloomfield, Belleville, St. Benedict's, and Irvington. ln the county tournament, Orange dropped Central in first round competition. ln first round pairings for the state tournament, Central met a favored Kearny team. Our boys, taking the lead at the opening whistle, and never slowing up, found themselves the victors when the final gun sounded. But all thoughts of gaining their second straight state championship crown were squelched as the state-bound Orange quintet took the measure of the Central With the final tabulation at the completion of the season, Central found itself at the .500 mark with a record of eleven wins and eleven losses, inclusive of county and state tournaments.