St John High School - Blue Book Yearbook (Jackson, MI)

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FOOT BALL SEASON John's assault was good for two scores against the Capital City eleven in the third period, with Tom OlDowd registering both of the touchdowns on passes to knot the score at 13-13. With about a minute re- maining in the contest, Tom Hagen sped back to fling a screen pass to George Schramm, but the tall Lansing line that charged in reached up and hit Hagen's pass and the ball bobbled around in the air until big Bruce Nakafor, Lansing guard, reached up and pulled the ball into his arms and raced to the St. .lonns two-yard line, where he fumbled and the ball went out of bounds. XVith 30 seconds left in the battle, Carmen Moceri, driving St. Mary's fullback, bucked over for the deciding tally as the game ended, to give the Gaels a heart-breaking 20 to 13 total. The Gaels hit the victory trail again in their next Catholic League game, when they traveled to Ann Arbor to dish out a 12 to 0 defeat to the Shamrocks of St. Thomas. Schramm crashed over for both of the St. Johnls scores and missed both of his boots for the extra points. In preparation for their big game with St. Mary s, the UHCLS released the fury of their scoring punch on straight football plays and produced a all to 19 victory over a scrappy St. Augustine of Kalamazoo eleven at NVithington Stadium. Despite the wet, muddy field, the Gaels went right to work to pile up a lead before the second and third stringers took over. A repetition of the Army's famous touchdown twins, 'tDoc Blanchard and Glen Davis, in the form of Fullback George Schramm and Left Halfback Tom Hagen cut loose to tally three touchdowns each. Schramm smashed over for two TD's on plunges of one and six yards and took a pass from McQuillan for the other score. Hagen dashed around end for two scores on a 40 and 50-yard dash and on a fourth down pass play he took an from McQuillan to romp ten yards to Schramm had a field day kicking points. His educated toe spiraled five out of six place kicks through the uprights for five extra points. XVith a league title and the Catholic foot- ball supremacy of Southern Michigan hang- ing squarely in the balance, the Celts of St. Mary's and the Gaels of St. .Iohn's clashed in Withington Stadium before 10,000 people, the largest crowd ever to witness a pigskin contest in this city. Late in the second period the unbeaten Southsiders completed a long pass to put the ball on the Gaels' 8- yard line. From here Fullback Weed plung- ed over, giving the Celts a 7 to 0 margin at half-time. Play seesawed back and forth, until St. Mary's ground out another TD late in the third stanza, to finish the scoring for the afternoon. Tackling and blocking were both sharp and crisp, with the clean play of both teams recognized by all, a game that was a credit to both squads. FOOTBALL TEAM 7. Ralph Skrockig 8. Bill liellyg El. Bill McCluskcyg 10. Jack Maher Not pic- tured, Pat XICQLIHILIII. Page Twenty-Ihreu

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FOOTBALL SEASON The football season of 1946 will always be remembered as one of the Gaels' most successful gridiron years, with a record of seven victories and two defeats. The crush- ing, running and passing atack of he Blue and Gold netted the Gaels an aggregate total of 203 points against their opponents' com- bined total of 9G markers. The Gaels opened their season with their old rivals, Vandercook Lake. To the tune of 19 to G the Gaels gained sweet revenge for past lickings at the Jayhawks' hands. Big George Schramm rammed over for two of the Gaels' touchdowns in this contest and Tom O'Dowd took a pass from .lim McQuil- lan for the other one. George Schramm con- verted on one out of three place kicks for the extra points. The Gaels tucked their lirst Catholic League of Southern Michigan victory under their belts in their next game when the Blue and Gold shut out a visiting Resurrec- tion of Lansing eleven 20 to 0. Fleet Tom Hagen broke away on a couple of long dashes for two touch downs and George Schramm barreled over for the other one. Scnramni sent two out .oi three boo.g from placement through the uprights for the extra points. A 26 to G victory over the Trojans of East .lackson was the Gaels' third straight win of the 1946 campaign, .lim McQuillan tossed aerials tO Tom O'Dowd and .Tim Cavender and Schramm. Jerry Sykes powered over for the other two touchdowns. Schramm split the uprightis with two out of four boots for the points after touchdown. A rampaging Gael eleven added St. Mary's of Flint to their list of victims in the Motor City in a free scoring 32 to 13 contest. Schramm topped the Gaels in scor- ing with three TD's, while Tom O'Dowd took an aerial for the fourth tally. Jim Mc- Quillan dashed over for the iifth score and Schramm converted two of five kicks from placements for the extra points. HVictory No. 5 was the Gaels' fifth straight and their second Catholic League triumph. The Blue and Gold administered a 10 to 19 thumping to the Tigers of Battle Creek St. Philip's in Withington Stadium, October 20. Schramm again was the big gun in the Gael attack, tallying three times, while Hagen scampered 64 yards for an- other, and Ralph Skrocki, Gael right tackle, pounced upon a Battle Creek fumble in the Food City team's end zone for the final TD. Schramm sent four boots through the cross bars for four extra points in six attempts. The Gaels met their Waterloo and their first defeat of the campaign at Lansing Sunday, October 27, in Pattengill Field. The bewildered Gael defense permitted the big Lansing St. Mary's team to score on them twice in the first half before the Gaels got back in the light. A determined St. FOOTBALL TEAM 1. Captain George SL'lll'2lI1lI1lQ 2. Al. 0'Dellg Ii. .linl Cave-mlm-rg -L Tom Tlugcng Jim Jlcljuillang ti. Tom 0'D0wd. Page Twenty-Iwo

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:sand Saw The Annual John-St. Mary Game BASKETBALL SEASON The Gaels entered the 1947 basketball season with a veteran team and were again under the tutelage of Bill Mault, who was starting his fourth season at St. Johns. Mault had available eight returning play- ers from last year's varsity from which he could mold his team. Bill McCluskey, Jim Cavender and George Schramm saw con- siderable action at. the forward posts, while .lim McQuillan, Tom Hagen, Bob Nichols, Tommy O'Dowd and Dick Schramm handled the guard duties for the Gaels. With these lads as the nucleus of the squad, St. John's presented an extremely formidable aggre- gation for all opponents. Making their season debut at Lansing against Resurrection, in a cold Lansing Eastern gym, the Gaels quickly took control of the game from the start and went on to win 33-16. On the day after Christmas, St. John's met Kalamazoo St. Augustine in the newly inaugurated Catholic Invitational basketball tournament. The game was played on the Jackson High School court and was recog- nized as a league encounter. Little could be said of either team, the Gaels dropped a 27-25 decision after leading 15-13 at half- time. The next evening Grand Rapids Catholic Central, a class A school, furnished the op- position for the Gaels, who went to work in the second half to white-wash the visitors -L7-19. Finals were held on Saturday night with a non-league St. John's-St. Mary's clash as the consolation game. The smaller Gaels fought valiantly against the Celts' height, but were turned back 39-33. McCluskey lead the Gaels, scoring with 11 points. The Hrst game of the new year was a league tilt at Ann Arbor against a stubborn St. Thomas quintet. St. John's lost in an overtime 39-35. It was close all the way. Witli an off-night from the league schedule, the Gaels invaded Napoleon and came home with a 47-31 victory. This gave St. John's a 500 percentage for the season, with three victories and the same number of losses. Back into league competition, the Gaels played host to a lanky Lansing St. Mary squad. Tom O'Dowd sent the game into an overtime, when he dropped in an all-inipor- tant free throw with a minute of play re- maining. St. John's iced the contest in the extra stanza on George Schrammis two- pointer, 26-24. The Gaels and Celts were tied for second place in the league standing with two wins to one loss each, as they clashed for the sec- ond time in the season. St. Johnls courage and determination were again wasted thc St. Mary's height proved too great a barrier to overcome. Hitting the comeback trail once more, St. John's whipped Battle Creek St. Phillip in a well played contest, 37-27. Tom Hagen led the Gaels, as he threw in 12 points. Getting their first taste of sweet revenge. St. John's flumped St. Augustine of Kala- ttiontinucd on Page 271