St Sebastians School - Arrow Yearbook (Newton, MA)

Page 68 text:

1944 GREATS .S'mm!.' Ellgxrrl, Dcwirc, Murphy, Sullivan, McGrath, Bob Shea, Phillips, Mulhcrn .S'tmzding.' Father Cuhrc, Gihhons, McAuliffe, R. Baker, Picard, Coach Murphy

Page 67 text:

X x 'A - -mm THE VANES THE ARROW, no matter how finely wrought, would be wildly errant were it not for the feathered vanes that give it balance. ln the scheme of things at St. Sebastian's, the sports program, in which every student plays a part, accomplishes the purpose of the vanes of an arrow. The scholastic demands are arduous, and the mental toll exacted must be counterbalanced by the development of normal, healthy bodies. lt is in this spirit that athletics are pursued and encouraged in the School.

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SPORTS HISTORY 1941-1945 -nu- THE athletic history of St. Sebastian's has been made in great part by the members of the class of 1945, and, for that reason, this chronicle, in which the names of our classmates Will appear time and time again, assumes the proportions of a labor of love. lt takes a long stretch of the imagination to visualize now, at this day and date, the humble beginnings of organized sport here on Nonantum Hill. The School had opened in September, 1941, hence our first athletic efforts were in the realm of Football. Super- intending our infant steps was a capable coach, Mr. Bernard T. Duffy, who could scarcely have been expected to enthuse over the motley array of candidates that con- fronted him. Every lad in the school went out for the team, but the squad had far more enthusiasm than it had talent. After having appraised our individual and col- lective capabilities, the athletic mentor wisely decided that we should confine our- selves temporarily to six-man football . There followed then several weeks of in- tensive drill, the backfleld men receiving specialized instruction and the line candi- dates amateurishly endeavoring to learn their assignments. Gur efforts were rewarded by the scheduling of a game with Shady Hill School of Cambridge for mid-October. The contest was scheduled for the opponents' field and was eventually started, after much confusion resulting from our inability to locate the gridiron and the failure of the long-anticipated Red and Black jersies to arrive before we left for the game. When astra? PPI ' the opening whistle blew, we Helded this im- posing collection of future football greats. Bob Baker and Barry at the ends, George Baker at center, Co-Captain Richie Donahue and jimmy Collins together with Dailey in the backfield. To say that these stalwarts functioned as a smoothly operating machine would be hyperbole , but our heroes rallied after a rocky first half and managed to eke out a 12-12 tie. The grandstand quarter- backs, however, saw hope for the future in Richie Donahue's 80-yard break-away from scrimmage for a score and Collins' accurate passing. On the strength of our showing against Shady Hill, it was decided that we could take the field again-this time against Cambridge School of Weston. Our opponents descended upon us supported by a large cheering- section, but this did not daunt our warriors who pushed across four touchdowns and followed them up with an equal number of conversions. The final score was 28-13 and just about demonstrates the relative superi- ority ofthe Red and Black that day. The time had now arrived, we felt, to hazard an attempt at orthodox football with an 11 man complement. We played two games of that type, both of which resulted in defeats: the first at the hand of the Rindge Tech J.V.'s to the tune of 18-7, and the second to the Malden Catholic lI.V.'s by a 25-0 score. In these last two contests, the original nucleus of six stars was aug- mented by the presence of Kickham and Shaun Kelly at the tackle positions, and