St Sebastians School - Arrow Yearbook (Newton, MA)

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left tackle for 16 more to encourage Murph and Larry to carry the rest of the way, Bob delivering the T.D. and the P.A.T. as well to reduce the margin to Z0-13. That status quo did not last long, however, because Ferri took Bob joyce's kick on his own 30 and raced it back to our 19, to set up a left end jaunt by Audet that crossed our last white line and swelled St. John's lead to 26-13. In the remaining minutes the Arrows continued to fight back, reaching the enemy 12 on three successive first downs before the whistle ended their exertions for the season. Disappointed as they were by the defeat, the Red and Black gridders made plans for another campaign by unanimously electing Tom Green to lead them in 1948 even before they left the locker rooms. Be- fore they left for their homes, most of the squad dropped in for a visit to Monsignor Mclnnis at St. Elizabeth's Hospital and they were rewarded by his characteristic cheerful- ness that served to dispel any remnants of gloom. With the Varsity season ended, the tradi- tional Red-Blue game remained to be played before the moleskins could be put away for another year. Although jack Boyle was un- able to play in the contest, he was designated Honorary Red Captain while Vin Greene was appointed Game Captain of the Red forces. The honor of leading the Blues was accorded to Bill Morrissey in recognition of his stellar work as a St. Sebastian lineman for three years. When the squad lists were posted, it was noticed that the first team strength was rather evenly divided between the two camps, the Reds appearing to have an edge in the frontier, and the Blues seeming to have the preponderance of power in the back- field. Played on the raw, cold Friday of November 21st, the contest proved to be a see-saw affair with the action confined chiefly between the two 35 yard markers. Blue Captain Bill Morrissey pulled up with an injury early in the fray and was not in the game when his quarterback, Tom Green, broke the stalemate late in the third period with a timely pass that carried 20 yards to Andy McAuliffe who raced the remaining ten yards for the only score of the day. The Reds countered with a single wing formation and Bob Murphy plunges that drove deep into Blue territory in the dying minutes of the contest, but an unfortunate choice of second down - ten instead of first down --live nullified any chance they had of knotting the count. The team's record of 5 victories, 2 defeats and 1 tie was noteworthy enough to be honored publicly, so the School sponsored a testimonial banquet on Sunday evening, November 30th, with the Varsity players the guests of honor. Every place in the refectory was taken by parents and friends who had EVEN -STEVEN The rival coaches congratulate each other after the 6-6 tie at Hopkins. -I 96 1-

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over from the 3 to register the first score of the day. Harry Field stopped the same Mr. Ferri when he tried to rush the P.A.T. and kept the damage to 6-0. On the ensuing kick-off, Dave Connor foiled an attempt at an onside kick by fall- ing on the pigskin at our 47, so the Red and Black put on a sustained offensive that tied the score. A short pass from Green to Deignan began the attack, power plunges by Murph kept it rolling and a long-awaited penalty against St. John's for unnecessary roughness helped considerably. When Bob had consumed 13 yards in two cracks over right tackle, Tom Green wisely varied the attack by flipping a short pass to Hilt Collupy over the goal line and the count was dead- locked at 6-6. Bob Joyce tried a pass for the extra point, but it failed to click. Almost as soon as the second half opened, the officiating began to assume most prom- inent proportions. Earlier in the day, Gene Pierotti's father had been banished from the lines for trying to protect our rights in his capacity as stake-holder and Mr. Frank Coyle had to replace him at the insistence of the referee. On the fourth play of the third period, Ed Fleming uncorked a pass which Andy McAuliffe intercepted but the whistle blew and a double penalty was called: clip- ping against St. John's and uroughing the passer against St. Sebastian's. Feeling that the penalty was charged to him, jim Ryan asked Why ? and was promptly put out of the contest for the day. Unable to gain, the home team kicked to our 11 but, when Andy attempted to punt out of danger, the snap- back was off the beam and he was smothered on our 8. Immediately afterwards we lost the services of Hilt Collupy through injury and two plays later Fleming passed to Opper- man for a touchdown. This time Ferri hit left tackle and made it, 13-6. A fumble on the following kick-off was recovered by the Prep's Beichert but it did no harm for Bob Murphy intercepted a Fleming pass on the very next play. Shortly thereafter, however, Andy's punt was blocked on our 24 and the double lateral play that followed produced 8 yards for St. john's together with 15 yards called against us for piling on . With the ball on our 1, Ferri hit center for a score and a line plunge added the point after to run the total to 20-6. Early in the last period we hung up our last score of the game, chiefly by virtue of a 44 yard run by Andy on the Villanova Play . This piece of strategy had advanced the pigskin to the Danvers 31, whereupon Andy danced through ROYAL ROOTERS AT CRANWELL -I Q5 1-

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followed the fortunes of the Arrows during the season and they heartily enjoyed the varied program. When the tables were cleared away, Monsignor Mclnnis paid his personal tribute and that of the School to the gridiron warriors and then turned the microphone over to Fr. Flanigan who acted as Master of Ceremonies and introduced the principal speakers of the evening, Dan Kelly, dean of top-flight Football officials, and Artie Gore, popular National League umpire. Noticing Herb Kopf, former coach of the Boston Yanks, in the gathering, Fr. Flanigan invited him to address the assemblage, and he rivalled the well-received speeches of his predecessors so brilliantly that everyone present agreed that the speaking program left nothing to be desired. To bring the festivities to a close, the annual athletic honors were bestowed, jackets for the veteran players and letters for the neophytes. Jack Boyle was accorded a personal plaque for all-round athletic excellence, while Bill Morrissey hung his shield in token of the triumph achieved by his Blues. As a complete surprise to all present, Gene Pierotti's father was awarded the Varsity S in recognition of his services and loyalty to the Red and Black over a period of years. Thus another volume of St. Sebastian Foot- ball history was written in the Fall of 1947 and it has been reproduced here in the pages of The Arrow as a tribute to the athletes who disported themselves so creditably on the gridiron that they added to the ever- increasing laurels of the School. 'S C0UN7p,, 'G 1 -141-+5-r. Q ,WM f lu ff' QW qo- 5' - '5 +55 fi, 'ii w Q ,q i xkqly 'MASSACB -I 97 1-