St Sebastians School - Arrow Yearbook (Newton, MA)

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SEASON'S OPENER Capt. Tommy Green meets The Cambridge Latin Leaders and the Oiiicials, STOP HERE, MISTER! Billy O'Brien Meets An Immovable Object. PUNT RETURN Paul Carey Lugs It Back On Russell Field.

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When the teams changed goals, Tommy Green took to the air as soon as we came into possession of the ball, thanks to Bill Carey's recovery of Gaudet's fumble. After failing to complete a heave to Obie, the Red and Black captain, aided by beautiful block- ing, gave Bill Gibbons plenty of time to get behind the C.L. secondary before unloosing his throw. just at that point, however, a charging end hit his arm and changed what was to be a long pass into a blooper that was easily caught by Cambridge's Pitchwall who ran it over for a touchdown with scant opposition. just to add insult to injury a forward pass earned the extra point and St. Sebastian's trailed, 19-6, Far from being counted out, we managed to rally and rack up two Dave Keelan first downs but the final whistle was not far off and its shrill tones were soon lost in the victorious roar that emanated from the Cambridge side of Russell Field. In the game report given after dinner in the refectory the next day, Father Flanigan awarded the defensive laurels of the contest to Ed Ryan whose tackle play was so efficient that less than 5 yards was gained through his terrain during the whole afternoon. The following Saturday had been designated Parents and Friends Day to accord a suitable reception to the Hopkins' Country Day School team that had been so hospitable to our lads when they visited New Haven in 1947. Added interest was injected into the meeting of the two teams by the recollection that the previous year's struggle had ended in a 6-6 deadlock that each eleven was anxious to break. Eager for the fray, the Connecticut lads arrived before Noon and we were quick to realize that in physical appearance they resembled a College Freshman squad. Favored by ideal weather, the two teams lined up at 2 o'clock for the opening whistle and as it cut the air Duke Demeo, substituting for the ailing jim Hefler, was the only new face in the starting line-up. The visitors lost no time in demonstrating their powerful and varied attack. Smashing out three consecutive first downs, they had advanced to our 3 until Bill Gibbons was opportunist enough to recover a fumble and save a very likely score. At that point, Bob Murphy stepped back into the end zone and booted out as far as our 40. Once again we were forced to yield ground the hard way, but Lady Luck favored us once more and Tom Green captured a rolling pigskin on our 5 to avert another crisis. This time, however, Murph's hurried kick carried only to our 21 and on the third ensuing play, Hopkins' Brown powered his way over for the score. The fact that the conversion effort was fruitless helped to revive our flagging spirits. After Tom Green had picked up 15 yards on the return of the kick-off, we had our first chance to cheer when Frank Murphy clutched a Green pass out in the right flat and lugged it to the Hopkins' 45 for a first down. Our success was short-lived, however, and we were forced to kick to the rival 12, whence the shifty Hitt carried it back to within a yard of midfield. Immediately the battering ram offensive was called into play and, after three successive first downs, Endriss piled over from the 8 to make it 12-0. No extra point was added, but we were put on the defensive shortly thereafter when a backfield fumble on our part gave Hopkins possession on our 27, With a comfortable lead, the visitors could afford to vary their attack and they took to the air but Paul Carey's last second jump batted down the most critical threat and the half ended with the score 12-0 against us. While the second half started auspiciously enough with Paul Carey bulling his way to a first down on the initial play, it soon cost us the services of Bob Murphy for the remainder of the year. Skirting his own right end beautifully, Bob threaded his way down the sideline for 34 yards only to slip and fall at the Connecticut 18. As he fell a pursuing opponent landed on his ankle in such a way as to cause a severe sprain much more painful than a fracture or a break. Deprived of the services of our climax runner, our attack petered out and we grudgingly yielded up the oval after Tommy Green's passing efforts were nullified by the opposition. Before the period ended, how- ever, a stonewall defense forced the enemy to kick to us and gave Dave Keelan the satis- faction of chalking up a first down. Once again a St. Sebastian fumble proved deadly l2O I-:

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when the enemy capitalized on it to penetrate our defenses and score their third touch- down early in the final period, Although Hitt's placement was good, Hopkins was off- side on the play and on the second attempt a pass failed and the margin against us remained at 18-0. In a desperate try for a single score at any cost, Tommy Green gambled on four consecutive passes after the kick-off and a breach in our defenses caused him to be smeared at the Red and Black 32 on fourth down. That did not seem too costly until a substitute back, who was apparently stopped by our frontier, broke through the right side of our line to scamper 26 yards for the final T.D. of the day. This time Fred Hitt's placement was on the beam and it made the final score read, Hopkins 25-0. There still remained time enough for Wally MacKinnon to put on a neat demonstration of his passing prowess under pressure, but we could not get beyond the Hopkins 40. During the contest, Jack Cochran, Bud Fisher and Frank Renaud saw service and contributed their best in a losing cause. The pleasant Coffee Hour in the refectory after the game did much to dispel the gloom exuding from such a one-sided defeat, but even our most partial rooters were quick to admit that we were outclassed by a much more power ful team. While the third game on our schedule was originally arranged for Friday, October 8th, a driving rain was excuse enough to postpone the contest to the following Monday, the eve of Columbus Day. When that evening arrived, it proved scarcely better than the original date and the light drizzle prompted one anxious mother to phone the School and ask the Monsignor whether the game was being played indoors or outdoors. The Red and Black squad enjoyed an early supper in the refectory and then repaired by bus to Riverside Park, Hudson, for the thrill of the second game to be played under lights by a St. Sebastian eleven. In the shuffle necessitated by Bob Murphy's loss, Wally Mac- Kinnon made an appearance in the starting line-up, although Reed Gomperts and Murray Regan were to see frequent service during the evening. Winning the toss, the home team lost no time in staging an offensive fiurry that pounded out three consecutive first downs and might have proven dangerous had not jim Hefier pounced on a fumble at our 22 to win possession of the ball for St. Sebastian's. Aided by the offensive pounding of Bill O'Brien, Paul Carey and Bill Gibbons, we eked out two first downs, but a fourth down gamble in the next series did not pay off and we surrendered the oval to Hudson on their own 34. With their ground attack functioning well, the home team varied its offensive with tackle thrusts, center plunges and end runs that advanced the country boys to our 8 yard stripe before we stiffened sufficiently to take over. It was already well into the second quarter and Bill Gibbons thought that it was time to rise and shine, so he proceeded to deliver three personal first downs that were interrupted by a Green pass to Bill Carey for 10 yards. Because time was running out in the half, the Arrows took to the air exclusively but four consecutive aerials failed to click and the second quarter ended with Dave O'Connor smearing an enemy back for a very substantial loss. When hostilities were resumed, the drizzle had developed into a rather substantial rain and Hudson took advantage of our failure to capitalize on our receipt of the kick- off. Starting at their own 45, the home team mixed up reverses and tackle thrusts to penetrate to our 20 and at that point a jump pass from the signal caller to the left end produced a score that threatened to be decisive. Fortunately the conversion attempt proved futile and we had only a 6 point handicap to wrestle with, After receiving the kick we made no great progress, but Gibby's boot set the enemy back on their 20 and a 15 yard penalty made them retreat to the 5. They did manage to eke out a single first down before punting to Bill Gibbons who put down his head and bulled all the way back to the rival 30, and we were within striking distance at last, After Paul Carey had escorted the pigskin to the 19, Reed Gomperts broke away on an end sweep to the 6 for a first down. Try as they might, Gomperts, Gibbons and Greene were inches short of the goal in the next series and all seemed lost when the ball was awarded to Hudson. To make matters worse, a 15 yard penalty brought the ball out to the Hudson 16 and it was like a bolt from the blue when Ed Ryan suddenly pounced on a fumble in the enemy -I 122 1-1