St Ignatius High School - Ignatius Yearbook (Chicago, IL)

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A C ww.. , 3 mx 1. , 2 tis . - - His 5 f ,, - Qs- Left to right: Iohn Brocollo, Ed Wood, Ox Harte, Ioe Rotunno each other, but the elements as well. Big- gest mishap, with the exception of a lump on the head suffered by Ref Ike Craig, when a stray hailstone came his way, was the fact that Rita's cheerleaders had wilted. Rather than subject the players to the ele- ments any longer, the coaches wisely chose to terminate the game at the half. ST. IGNATIUS 0. WEBER 0 Rain again! It was getting to be a habit! But the final score didn't tell the whole story of the Weber game. The first half was a succession of punts that kept play pretty even on both sides. Our big opportunity came in the fourth quarter when Big Her- mie Miskowicz' attempted punt was blocked on the Weber l4. The Wolves elected to try a field goal as Baci came in to try his spe- cialty. But the weather again did us dirt. After two hours of continuous downpour the field was in no condition for strategy. Ioe's kick was hurried, deflected, blocked. ST. IGNATIUS 7. ST. PHILIP 6 The toughest game on the schedule! Be- fore five minutes of the first period had elapsed the scoreboard recorded six points for the Gaels as a result of Petruzzi's 40-yard jaunt off tackle. Melligan's attempted con- version missed its mark. One of the heroes of the day was Ed Francoeur, who overtook and toppled Ioe Petruzzi when he was well on his way to a potential score in the same first quarter. In the third quarter Grimes faded to pass on his own 45, then eluded one tackler, raced around right end, reversed his field and covered the 55 yards to the goal line in a spectacular run that caused the hopes of every fan on the Philip's side to sink deep. In this tense situation Hank Deiters came in and, with the poise of an old-timer, deposited the ball squarely be- tween the uprights for his first varsity point after touchdown-and saved the day. The only mishap to spoil an otherwise perfect afternoon was the broken arm suffered by Bill Bordegan, whose devastating defensive play had been much in evidence that day. ST. IGNATIUS 45. HOLY TRINITY 0 The game with Holy Trinity, a new Catho- lic League entry, proved more of a picnic than a football game. After a first quarter wherein the Wolves garnered I9 points by virtue of a 3-yard plunge by Rotunno, a 30- yard aerial Grimes to Harte and a 12-yard drive by Francoeur. Coach Mailliard decided to give the varsity a rest. So sophs andjuniors played most of the last three quarters. Ru- mor has it that even the managers begged Coach Mailliard to play but were refused because then there would be no one to carry the water bucket. In the second quarter Stasha Wanucha skirted left end for 15 yards to score. In the third and fourth quarters Ioe Rotunno added to his rapidly mounting collection of points by scoring from the 8-yard line on a reverse from Hodek and later repeating the same play for 30 yards. Ox Harte's exercise came in the final period when he intercepted ta pass and followed the sideline 36 yards to record his second tally of the afternoon. Oh, and lest we forget, seven touchdowns were called back-but who ever heard of ta team winning by a score of 95-0, anyway? ST. IGNATIUS 14. LOYOLA 6 In his pre-game locker-room talk Coach Mailliard recalled a bitter upset of our '43 season at the hands of Loyola. With no intention of permitting this to happen again the Wolves took to the Loyola field. The rivalry that characterizes the Ignatius-Loyola games was certainly in evidence but not to such a degree as to prevent the spectator from telling which was the better team on the field. Our first rally came in the second stanza when Big Bill Keefe plunged 5 yards ll

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Lee Bennish handled the center spot very capably. Always a spark-plug, Lee was appreciated and valued not only because of his bang-up playing, but also because of his infectious pep and enthusiasm. Bill Bordegon alternated at end and center until he suf- fered a broken arm in the Philip game that sidelined until the Mel game. In the back field was Moose Broc- colo at quarter. Iohn was one of the best blocking backs in the league. He also rated high praise for his job of backing up the line. Big Bill Keefe was also a smart field general. He was one of the best team men on the squad. His popularity is shown by his election to the Presidency of the Senior Class. At the halfback spots: Ioe Rotunno, our lightest starting backfield man. He made up in speed what he lacked in size. He never lost his head in tight situations. Ioe Small, hampered by injuries at the season's start, showed his ability in the later games. His wide end sweeps will always be remembered. At the other half was Eddie Francoeur. He furnished much of the backfield speed. and was the key man in most of the pass plays. Besides, he was a tough, deadly tackler. At fullback stood Biff Grimes. His passes will linger long in the memories of Ignatians. His line plunges set up many a touchdown. Lou Hodek aided Grimes in the passing department. His speed and ball-handling contributed much to the team's achieve- ments. Due to lack of space everyone cannot be mentioned, but you can't forget fellows like Pat Geraghty, Ierry Raispis, Bob Gor- man, and Dick Saigh at endsg Art Pankau, Mike Hojnowski, Al Dobrovolskis and lack Donovan at tacklesg Stan Wanucha, Iohn Sullivan, Dick Abata, lim Casaletto, Ierry Witry, Don Mulvihill and many others at various positions on the squad who greatly helped to gain the successes of the heavy- weight team of '45. ST. GEORGE 21, ST. IGNATIUS 20 If our first practice game proved anything it was that the Iggies of '45 were real fighters. In the first five minutes of play George's Dragons had garnered 2l points. Their first touchdown came as they ran over a pass intercepted on our first play from scrimmage. After that first five minutes, however, the Dragons never again crossed our twenty-yard line. The first quarter was featured by a touchdown by Grimes with the conversion by Baci, and by a dis- play of fisticuffs after which Grimes and Francoeur with George's Carrigan and Coutre were expelled from the game. In the third quarter Soph Dick Abata sent a thirty-yard spiral to Turk Turek, who cashed in with it. 2l-I3. In the final quarter the Abata-Turek combine was good for an- other score, which, supplemented by Baci's conversion, m-ade it George 21, Ignatius 20. ST. IGNATIUS 26. MARQUETTE 0 The Marquette Hilltoppers were big, but apparently not half as tough as our products of Chicago's west and south sides. Our first score came late in the first period-, when Broccolo plunged over on a quarterback sneak. The Wolves again tallied in the second quarter on Grimes' 25-yard aerial to Rotunnog Baci added the point. Late in the third stanza Rotunno intercepted a pass and sprinted 35 yards to score: and Baci again converted. The final score came in the last quarter with Soph I. I. I. Sullivan doing the honors. ST. IGNATIUS 6. ST. RITA 0 IHGIH Early in the first quarter of the Rita game, the Wolves recovered a Rita fumble. Two downs later Turek scampered over the goal line for our only tally. And then the rains camel Now the teams had to battle not only Left to right: Bob Turek, Ed Frcmcouer, Biff Grimes, Ioe Small

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Bob Turek gains ten yards to set up a score against Marquette. Bill Barcal t52l, Lee Bennish l27l, and Ioe Bacigalupo 1151, pave the way with their blocking. over center for the score after brilliant runs by Grimes and Francoeur had advanced the ball to Loyola's 3. Early in the third quarter our lead was lengthened to 8 points thanks to the alertness of Guay and Wood in block- ing a Loyola punt in the end zone for an automatic safety. Later in the same period Ioe Small climaxed a drive highlighted by a pair ot passes from Grimes to Barcal and to Francoeur by scoring from the 3. Guess what happened then? That's right, it started to pour. Late in the fourth quarter Bill Roche scampered 72 yards down the sideline for Loyola's sole touchdowng this was, by the way, only the second touchdown scored against the 'Iggies in four games of league play. ST. IGNATIUS 20. DE PAUL 0 On the Winnemac Park field, the same field that last year saw Ignatius lose a close one to St. George C6-Ul, the Iggies routed 'xcornes a-runnin'. the De Paul Demons by the decisive score of 20-O. After a scoreless first quarter that didn't prove anything except that the De- mons were tougher than the final score indi- cates, the Wolves dug in and soon an- nexed B points. This score came when Eddie Francoeur ploughed 12 yards over left tackle on a reverse from Small, who later ran the ball for the p. a. t. Midway in the third quarter Grimes fired a 30-yard touchdown pass to Francoeur in the end zone. Again Ioe Small plunged for the point after. Early in the fourth quarter Francoeur repeated the same play that led to the first touchdown. again with the same result. The fact that the same man scored all three touchdowns seems to indicate that this was -a one man show, but this is far from being the truth. Li'l Bill Keefe, field captain for the day, along with Guay, Schneider, and Wood, did devastating work in the line. St. Ignatius 33, St. Patrick U Rotunno runs wide around right end tor a gain t twenty yards against St George. l'Broc t57l runs interference While Garrow