St Sebastians School - Arrow Yearbook (Newton, MA)

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ploughing 7 yards and Murray Regan contributing 3, we had four chances to play with but one was enough for Paul Carey and he scored through right tackle to make the score, 13-6. The try for the extra point failed. Although the final quarter was coming to an end, St, Sebastian's still had some uncomfortable minutes to squirm through before the game ended. To begin with, Clark Hallissey broke through right tackle and sprinted down the side line for a 74 yard jaunt that raised the Thayer score to 19-6. Then, on the ensuing kick-off, Murray Regan slipped and fell on his own 9 and that put the oval perilously close to our citadel, how- ever, the mighty mite responded shortly with a brilliant end sweep that took the ball out to our 33. The remaining plays were pass attempts by Tommy Green and Wally MacKinnon on which losses were sustained and these, together with a 15 yard penalty, pushed us back to the 1 yard stripe. jim Coleman was equal to the occasion once more, however, and his boot from the end zone to midfield averted this danger. Thus the final score read 19-6 and yet these figures fall far short of telling the story of the courageous spirit manifested by a plucky underdog in the face of overwhelming superiority. To bring the season to a welcome close, we paid our third visit to Dilboy Field to meet St. Clements of Somerville in a Sunday contest on November 14th. As if we had not been plagued sufliciently by injuries earlier in the season, two more faces were missing from the pre-game warm-up, Bob Joyce and jim Hefler, the former laid low by the grippe and the latter rendered hors de combat by a bad fall. The net result was that our starting line-up bore a very slight resemblance to the eleven that had opened the season against Cambridge High and Latin: the backheld was composed of Tommy Green, Murray Regan, Reed Gomperts and Paul Carey, Duke Demeo and Dave O'Connor were at the ends, Ed Ryan and jack Cochran at the tackles, Marty Fisher and Dick Schiffman in the guard slots and old reliable Ralph Donnelly at center. Return- ing the opening kick-off to our 43, Tommy Green then called upon Murray Regan and Paul Carey and they blasted out a hrst down between them, before jim Coleman had to be sent in to punt at the end of the second series. As soon as they took possession, St. Clements put on a touchdown march in which their speedy trio of Cassell, Fenton and Waldron featured, even though two successive clipping penalties were called against the home team. The score came on a plunge from the 8 by Waldron, after a Cassell- Fenton aerial had carried to that spot. The same forward passing combination clicked For the conversion and we trailed, 7-O. zji-1, s K1 in k s js . ' 2, -51 - f w- 1 f V V ' f was 1 i ' A - it AERIAL A Tom Green Gets Off A Long One Against St. Clement's. l27

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END JAUNT Bill Gibbons Carries Against St. Marys of Brookline. heavy artillery at that point to have Clark Hallissey complete a pass from Thurlow and then make a 20 yard end sweep that carried him across for the first score. The extra point was missed and, on the kick-off, the visitors were penalized 15 yards for roughness. Even that was no help, however, because a fourth down fumble on our part let the Braintree lads take over on our 28. Hoping to beat the clock and chalk up another score before half-time, Hallissey passed to Dick Cox and it took everything Murray Regan had to bring down his fellow Townsman short of the goal line. A moment later, jim Harnedy stepped into the hero's role by falling on a Dunphy fumble and preventing the expected score, The Thayer hrst backfield was still present when play resumed and they took full advantage of an early fumble of ours to drive for a second T.D. In this offensive, Dunphy, Tagliano and Cox divided the carrying and it was Dunphy who bulled his way through center for the score after which the conversion put us behind 13-O, Quite appropriately it was a Paul Carey fumble recovery that spurred us on to a counter attack that was productive of three straight first downs. In this surge Wally MacKinnon, Paul Carey, Tommy Green and Dave Keelan played the principal parts and the high point was a 20 yard aerial from Tommy to Paul. just then our luck changed when a back in motion nullified a brilliant pass completion by Jim Coleman and shortly thereafter we lost possession. Another fumble recovery in the final stanza, this one by Frank Renaud, set the stage for a very consoling St. Sebastian score. Taking over at midneld, Tommy Green coolly faded back and fired a close to 50 yard pass right down the middle. Mean- while Paul Carey had streaked down the right sideline and suddenly he cut in sharply to take the bomb over his shoulder in the midst of three defenders. Witli Bill O'Brien T-1 126 1-1

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In the second quarter, a sparkling 24 yard runback of the kick-off by Murray Regan as well as a neat Green-Coleman 20 yard pass brought our fans to their feet, but, when we yielded the ball, the Somerville eleven set up another T.D. via a Cassell-Sliney pass to our 12. At that point our frontier really dug in, just barely allowing a first down in four plunges and making it hard to decide that Flanagan had crossed the line in his plunge from the 1. That do-or-die spirit communicated itself to the offense as well, for, after Cassell had tossed to Sliney for the 14th point, we roared back to cut the St. Clement's margin in half. To get the attack rolling, Tom Green took the kick-off on our 20 and fought his way to the 47 before being downed. On the next play, interfer- ence with the pass receiver gave us a first down on the home team's 27. Varying the attack, Regan zipped through his own right tackle for 17 yards and Paul Carey hit the middle for 5 more. The score came easily at that point for St. Clements were looking for another plunge, but Green feathered a pass to Dave O'Connor in the end zone and then placekicked the 7th point. After the rest period, a fumble on our own 35 caused anxiety, but Dick Schiffman intercepted a Cassell pass shortly thereafter to restore the status quo. When we failed to roll, the Somerville lads took over and blasted their way to a final score, four first downs preceding Cassell's plunge into pay dirt. We did prevent Cassell's aerial attempt for the extra point, but the home team was equally alert in nullifying the pass plays that we unleashed during the remainder of the game. Once they intercepted at their 47, but Wally MacKinnon returned the favor on our 30 to give Tommy Green several more tries through the air, the best of which was an 18 yard completion to Paul Burke at mid- field. On these last pass flurries, the blocking accorded Tom Green was superb, Paul Corcoran's work being especially effective. Two short passes to Bill Carey were good for 6 and 9 yards respectively, still the game ended with us on the wrong side of the enemy goal line and the score reading, 20-7 in favor of St. Clement's. The following Friday, the traditional Red-Blue game was played on St, Sebastian Field to ring down the curtain on the 1948 season. To reward their stellar play all during the campaign, Ralph Donnelly and Bob Joyce were appointed captains and, when the rival rosters were posted, it was noted that the Blues strength in the backfleld was offset by the Red edge in the line. Although Bob Joyce won the toss, he elected to kick and the Reds lost no time in pounding out a first down on thrusts by Sam Hefler and Reed Gomperts. When they took to the air, however, Wally MacKinnon intercepted a long Paul Carey pass, but the Blues could do nothing against the Red line and Jim Coleman was forced to punt. To their utter disgust, the Reds lost a neat 20 yard gain, made by Bill O'Brien on an end sweep, when a whistle called the play back, yet they continued to dominate the play by chalking up two more first downs before the end of the quarter. The change of goals seemed to put new life in the Blues, for they refused to be pushed beyond their 37 yard stripe and, when they obtained possession, they took to the air to score. To get the offensive under way, Tom Green tossed a short pass to Wally MacKinnon and the Brighton boy carried just beyond midfield before he was downed. Three line plunges almost netted the required distance for a first down, so it came as a complete surprise to the Reds when the wily Green fluffed a pass to Paul Burke on fourth down. Taking the oval in the flat, the Wollaston lad galloped down the sideline on a 35 yard jaunt that put the Blues out in front, 6-0. Although Bob Joyce missed the P.A.T., he more than made up for it in the five remaining minutes of the half by blocking a Red punt and then falling on it in the end zone to make his team's edge, 12-0. After Dick Keelan's plunge for the conversion failed, Paul Carey ran back the kick-off 34 yards, but the half ended with the ball at midfield. When play was resumed, Reed Gomperts put on a one man show by lugging the kick-off 15 yards and then following it up with two 20 yard scampers that carried his realli into Blue territory. At that point, a costly fumble gave the oval to the Blues and, 1-1 128 1-r