St Sebastians School - Arrow Yearbook (Newton, MA)

Page 91 text:

just before the goals changed, Boyle suc- ceeded in making the distance and Ed Quirk followed with a 7 yard thrust, but a fumble nullified this advance. Ed had hit his stride, however, and when Somerville kicked to our 23, Quirkie, carrying 3 out of 5 times, proceeded to rip off 3 consecu- tive first downs and put us within threaten- ing distance of a score. The march con- tinued via the air route, two short passes clicking to the rival 28, after a mammoth 50 yard heave by Boyle just eluded jack Cremmen's frantic grasp in the end zone. To vary the attack, Richie Doyle pulled a 13 yard sneak and, then three plays later, went all the way to the l yard line, only to have the play called back for two men in motion. At that point the attack petered out and St. Clement's took over to kill the clock with line plays. We did have a chance at one more try just before the final whistle, but a desperation pass boomeranged and the alert Hartigan intercepted and raced 45 yards for a touchdown. The conversion at- tempt was also good, so the final score read, 19-6. In the traditional Red-Blue game that followed the competitive season, johnny Ellard's Blues insured him a plaque at the expense of joe Ford's Reds. With the two teams evenly matched, joe Jenks broke the scoring ice for the Blues when he toured right end in the first quarter and Ed Quirk followed with a drop-kick gem that put the Ellardmen out in front, 7-0. The Reds, however, had something to cheer about shortly thereafter when a Boyle bomb to Tom Hartnett was good for a 55 yard gain to their rival's 30. Again in the second chapter, the elongated Tom starred when he recovered a fumble on the Blue 28, but Dave Hanron's tally on a reverse was Called back and the incipient threat thus failed to materialize. Red jim Ryan's recovery of a fumble set the stage for another Boyle- Hartnett aerial that was good for 22 yards, but the midway whistle found joe Ford's aggregation stopped at the Blue 5. After the rest period, the Ellardmen lengthened their lead to 14-0. Joe Jenks set up the score by intercepting a Boyle pass on his own 40 and lugging the oval to the Red 19. TOUCHDOWN Andy breaks away for a long gain against Lawrence Academy. END JAUNT right wing. Green fakes to jenks and shovels to Doyle as they try St Mary s

Page 90 text:

attack died on the Lawrence 25 when an enemy back snared a Boyle pass. When ac- tion resumed after half-time, the game set- tled down to a battle of frontiers, both for- ward walls proving stubborn to the point where they refused to yield the necessary yardage. Groton received a temporary ad- vantage when it recovered a fumble on our 19, but on the very next play Jack Boyle restored the status quo by intercepting on the Arrow 25. The final period witnessed the launching of our last threat of the day. Set up by Pete Pitts' recovery of an enemy fumble on the visitors' 35, McAuliffe and Boyle chopped their way to the 12, only to see their work undone when Frank Hernberg, the Groton safety man, pocketed a pass that was intended for Jack Slattery in the flat and raced 90 yards along the sideline to register six more points. For the second time, McNeil's placement was good and the game ended shortly thereafter with Law- rence the victor, 14-0. The defeat was our third in three years, and occasion marked our first loss to a Massachusetts eleven in the same period. Due to the inability of a Boston high school team to keep an engagement with us, the St. Clement's of Somerville contest on November 17th was our next engagement and also our final gridiron battle of the sea- son. Entering the game we were severely handicapped by the absence of four regu- lars who had fallen under a scholastic ban, but Coach Murphy did a splendid job of re- vamping the line-up in the emergency and a competent eleven lined up to represent the Red and Black on Dilboy Field that rainy Sunday afternoon. We started off successfully enough, Boyle and Jenks carry- ing for consecutive first downs to Somer- ville's 45, but a 15 yard penalty called against us was followed by a freak pass from center that St. Clement's recovered back on our 25. Capitalizing on this break, the home team swept our end for 23 yards and then plunged across for a touchdown. Johnny Ellard frustrated the conversion ef- fort, however, by falling on a fumbled oval and keeping the margin to 6-0. Out to get back on even terms at least, Jack Cremmen returned the kick-off to our 38, Boyle, Jenks and Hanron collaborated to reach midfield, whereupon the Belmont Bul- let powered a solo to the home 37. In the next series of tries, when it was fourth down and 2 to go, we elected to send Jenks through the line rather than kick, but Joe's valiant effort was inches short and we sur- rendered ownership. Minutes later the fates smiled on us for a change when we re- covered a bad pass from center and found ourselves on the St. Clement 13. Striking while the iron was hot, Quarterback Tom Green came up with a highly deceptive play that caused even the officials to follow the wrong man. Green, having taken the ball from center, faked a routine present to Boyle and handed the oval instead to Half- back Dick Doyle who played his role so well that an enemy simply brushed him aside as a casual blocker. With the entire Somerville secondary devoting their atten- tion to Boyle, Dick was able to amble across the goal line leisurely and hold up the pig- skin before the startled gaze of officials and opponents. Pete Pitts' placement try was beamed well, but it hit the upright and we had to be satisfied with a 6-6 tie. The first chapter ended at that point, but the home team used the second period to forge into the lead again. After Bill Har- wood's kick, we succeeded in wresting the pigskin from St. Clement's only once and that series ended with us failing again by inches to make the required distance. Vary- ing their attack from ground to air, the Somerville lads marched steadily on our goal. Vin Greene gave everything he had on a splendid tackle that delayed the score temporarily, only to have the enemy plunge across on a fourth-down try from our 2. We checked the point after, however, by bat- ting down a pass. When the two teams returned from the field house, they spent most of the third quarter in fruitless quests of a first down.

Page 92 text:

STOPPED IN HIS A lofty Danvers kick drives us back to the shadow of our goal line. TRACKS 545' FUMBLE St. john's gets a break when McAuliffe fumbles. From there in, Larry McAuliffe and Pete Pitts, the latter having been shifted to the backfield for the occasion, alternated in plunges with Pete registering the six points. Tom Green's placement made it 14. Avoiding the ignominy of a shutout, the Reds took advantage of Dick McCarron's fumble recovery on their own 25 late in the game and on the following play Jack Boyle reeled off 28 yards on an end sweep. It was his last effort of the day, however, for he left the field with a shoulder injury shortly thereafter. Carrying on in Boyle's stead, Jim Ryan took over the passing duties and got off a beautiful spiral which jack Crem- men took on the 20 and carried all the way for the lone Red score of the contest. The shades of darkness were making their pres- ence felt as Ed Quirk galloped 25 yards on the final play of the day. Thus the 1946 gridiron wars ended and we could look back complacently enough on a season that brought us the stiffest testing ever undertaken by a Red and Black eleven. To measure the season's laurels by the yard- stick of total victories would be grossly un- fair, for we scaled great heights in the tied games and did not readily accept defeat. St. Sebastian's had every reason to be proud of this season's warriors for they carved their names indelibly in the School's Hall of Fame.