Georgetown Preparatory School - Cupola Yearbook (North Bethesda, MD)

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unify goofbaff G. Prep. 0 Charlotte Hall 0 6 Saint Albans 27 26 Landon 0 7 Wilson 6 13 Loyola 0 14 Iona 6 A glance at the record shows the spirit of the 1940 Varsity. The team began the season with a tie at Charlotte Hall. Throughout the game Bud Eckrich and Ben Decker had gained consistent'y, but there was a jinx on the goal line, and our scoring threats vanished in a scoreless tie. The second game was one of those overwhelming defeats that makes a team great, for instead of crushing the hopes for the rest of the season, the team's spirit rose in a grim determination to win every game. And the very next game proved it. A 26-0 victory over Landon saw Bud Eckrich score four times behind the bruising blocking of Ray Schneider who mowed down would-be tacklers in Bud's path. An upset was what the papers called our 7-6 win over Woodrow Wil- son. Trailing 6 to 0 with a few minutes left to play, and the ball deep in our territory, Bud Eckrich heaved a 40 yard pass to Mike Tobin, who out- ran the secondary and scored standing up. Bud crashed through tackle to gain the winning point. It was a story-book ending to a hard fought game -a game that was won because the Prep didn't know they could be beaten. Loyola was the last game for many Seniors on our home field. And the mud was everywhere, oceans of it. Still the line charged low and fast, and behind them came Bud Eckrich to score twice, and lead the team to a 13 to 0 victory. The season saw one misfortune which hampered the team greatly- the star quarterback and hero of many a previous game was injured early in the 'seas-on-Ben Decker. He wasn't able to play again until the Iona game, but he was with the team at every practise and in uniform at every game. The Blue and Gray salutes the following Seniors who have played their last game for the Prep- Thomas Coakley, William Cremen, Michael Daly, Ben Decker, Bud Eckrich, George Ghecas, Justo Lamar, Bob McChesney, Murray McDon- nell, John Nicolaides, Thomas Roche, Leslie Thompson, Michael Tobin. In conclusion, the sweetest victory ofthe season was the 14 to 6 win over Iona. The game was played at New Rochelle, and the local paper had headlines on the result. Its article was so full of superlatives for the team that we take the liberty of quoting it at length:

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W fr, afeaa, ,.,.6 Eckrich, Triple Threat Back of Georgetown Prep, Defeats Irish Almost Single Handedly Iona Prep's record of 10 unbeaten years in the Georgetown-Iona rivalry, which is exhibited annually at Haag Field on Thanksgiving Day, went by the boards yesterday morning when a big, heavy and tricky Georgetown Prep 11 made its trip from Garrett Park, Maryland, worth while by handing the Irish a 14-6 setback. In this the 11th year of competition between the teams, George- town had the better of the iight most of the way with the breaks helping them on. However, the outstanding ball player on the field yesterday morn- ing was Eugene Eckrich, one of the best backs we have seen this year. It was Eckrich against Iona-he didn't give the Irish time to settle back be- fore banging away first at the forward wall and then through the ozone. The visitors, expertly coached by Tommy Keating, Georgetown Uni- versity star on the 1938 team, exhibited their smartness when they quick kicked on three occasions to set the Irish back on their heels. Early in the second quarter occurred the play which aside from spelling defeat for Iona, will be talked about for some time to come. Slight- ly worn from the beating he was taking at the hands of the Iona forward wall, Eckrich went back to pass. In swarmed Iona tackles and every one of them hit him at the waist leaving his arms free. He stood there im- movable and when he saw George Ghecas free about 15 yards in front of him, drew back his right arm and shot the ball on the line to Ghecas, who was brought down by Babe Dowling, the last Iona player in sight, on the Irish 6 yard line. Iona 'stood up under the beating of this superman for three plays but on the fourth he slipped over his own right tackle for the second Hoya touchdown. McDonnell followed immediately with his line buck and the hole in the Iona middle was big enough to drive a truck through. As a matter of fact, he didn't run, he walked. A long forward pass and run, from Eckrich to Ghecas, a speedy halfback, covering 60 yards, set up the Hoyas' second touchdown. Eckrich went over his own right guard and tackle for the score after a fighting Iona line was blocked out. Again McDonnell converted with a line buck.

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FN V V7 - W - '-- .... A M M Y gr I .-A.. . VARSITY FOOTBALL SQUAD Front Row, left to right: Leslie Thompson, Thomas Roche, Robert Crowley, Murray McDon- nell, Louis Salb, Catesby Clay, John Lally, Vincent Scullin, Gerard Kunkel, John Showell, Joseph Lombardi, Manager. Second Row: Mr. Keating, Coach, Raymond Schneider, William Cremen, William Coakley, Justo Lamar, Donald Eckrich, Roger Goodspeed, Charles Dillon, James Toomey, Arthur Hiemenz, Thomas Coakley, Bud Eck- rich, Ben Decker, George Ghecas, Michael Tobin, Michael Daly.