Georgetown University - Ye Domesday Booke Yearbook (Georgetown, DC)

Page 118 text:

fPake iorcst ig (5M. 6 1 ROME SCHWAGEL, Graduate Manager of Athleti. © EORGETOWN opened their lQ4b football season by opposing the Demon Deacons of Wake Forest in Griffith ' s con erted ballyard. On October 4 at 8:30 p.m., the Hoya partisans waited impatiently for Jack Hagerty to unveil his first post-war team, and were rewarded b - the sight of a Georgetown touchdown in the opening minutes of the first stanza. Elmer Raba, first string quarterback, took the Wake Forest kickoff to the Deacons 38- yard line, a runback of some 57 yards. Then Raba hit Paul Walsh on the left side of the field, and Mr. Walsh flew over the rest of the stripes to rack up six points for Georgetown. It was not until the third quarter that the fireworks broke out again. The Deacons scored in the third quarter, again in the fourth period, a G.U. fumble in the end zone, and a Wake Forest recovery of the ball resulted in the third and final score of the day. Time and time again the forward wall of George- jAMES D. MOORE. Student Manager town halted the Deacons advance just when a score seemed inevitable. Twice G.U. ' s line dug in for goal line stands on the 4 and 13 yard stripes in the second period, on the three in the third period, and on the goal line in the final stanza. The G.U. line, playing its first game together, was outstanding in its refusal to allow the Deacons to gather mo- mentum, and except for occasional unfor- tunate relapses dominated the whole play. The backs, too, made their share of tackles, and the punting of Elmer Raba was a definite highlight throughout the entire game. .Mto- gether it was an excellent performance by a relatively inexperienced team, pitted against one of the best in the South ' s formidable array of good teams. The o erwhelming score against Georgetown that was expected by those would-be forecasters of the newspaper world did not materialize. The Wake Forest game pointed to a successful season for the Hovas. 114

Page 117 text:

football 1 46 Reason ' 1X14 hostilities at an end, and old familiar faces gracing the campus once again, and new ones appearing very day, talk turned to football possibilities. Very few players from the 1 42 team returned, but this handful was hailed as the nucleus of the new team. Linemen Bus Werder, Elmer Oberto, and Lou Robus- telli, backs, Paul Walsh, Lenny Bonforte. and end Larry Koncelik comprised the sextet. Coach Hagerty planned his first post-war team around these men. The six men were comple- mented by many promising new men. The team that functioned throughout the season presented George Benigni and AI Sara- she itz at the ends, with the pivotal spot fluc- tuating between Ralph Benso. Tony Kelley and Vic Banonis, the latter having a slight edge. Lou Rubustelli and George Antonowsky played outside of Elmer Oberto and Bus Wer- der. a solid block that frustrated more than one enemy advance in the course of the season. The usual backfield was Babe Baranowski at quarterback, Connie 0 Dougherty, fullback, and Lenny Bonforte with Paul Walsh held sway at the halfs. No one knew for certain, but that all the makings of a good team were at hand; the question was: Would proper use be made of them ? The first game with Wake Forest was viewed with apprehension. They had lost few from their 1945 team, and were rated as better than average. The Ho as met them and very nearly conquered them. The result of that first game was disappointing, but the team showed sparks of greatness, and there was hope for a successful season. After the first game the team was rolling, and when the season tallies were in, had won five out of their eight games. Coaches, Dubolsky. Hagerty and Murtaugh F.ATHER K.-XNE. Dii 113

Page 119 text:

(5M, $ f ordham 7 THE lights of Griffith Stadium beamed down on lb, 000 cheering spectators Friday night, October 1 1 , as the Hoyas seeking their first ' ictory in two starts eked out an 8-7 win over the Fordham Rams. In the first canto the situation was definitely serious with the Fordham eleven scoring within the first four minutes of play. Skapines of Fordham put the ball over the cross-bar for the extra point, and Fordham led 7-0. The game then became a prix ' ate battle of opposing linemen, with no further scoring until the third period. Midwa - in that quarter Bus Werder, G.U. ' s right guard, blocked Ososki ' s punt which the latter himself recov- ered in the end zone to give the Hovas two exentually important points. Later in this same period, a Baranowski pass to Joe Sullivan placed the ball on the Rams 3b. Then Baranowski, leaping high into the air in an exhibition of clever backfield play, flipped a pass to Len Bonforte who promptly spun goalward. From the two-yard stripe, Joe Murphy quickly crashed through center for a score. George Benigni ' s attempt to convert failed, but Georgetown then commanded an 8-7 lead which it ne -er relinquished. The punting of Lou Surman was excellent, and the all around play of Babe Baranowski, Paul Walsh and Len Bonforte in the back- field, Elmer Oberto, Bus Werder, Jim Arne- berg, Ralph Benso and Pete Baker in the line contributed heaxilv to the ictorv. 115