St Sebastians School - Arrow Yearbook (Newton, MA)

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by the time the Reds regained the pigskin, they had lost the formula and had to give ground as far back as their own 13,' Dave O'Connor's lengthy boot carried out to mid- field, but Tommy Green raced it back to the Red 13 to put the Blues in scoring position once more. Again an aerial paid dividends when Green passed to jim Coleman in the right flat to enable the West Roxbury boy to tally the last T.D. of the day. After the try by placement failed, Bill O'Brien returned joyce's kick-off from the Red 20 to their 45 and three successive first downs brought Ralph Donnelly's team as far as the Blue 8. Once more, however, the Reds fumbled and Frank Murphy pounced upon it to snuff out the threat, With 11 seconds remaining in the game, pass interference with Duke Demeo gave his Reds the oval on the Blue 10, but there was not enough time for them to achieve the consolation of a single score. Thus Bob joyce's eleven kept the Blue escutcheon free from defeat for, strangely enough, the Reds have never achieved a victory in the inter-squad Football battles. Traditionally, the members of the gridiron squad are feted at a banquet in the School refectory at the close of the season, so, despite the victory-less campaign, the team was honored in splendid fashion on the evening of December Sth, The parents and friends of the gridders manifested their abiding loyalty by over-subscribing the banquet within two days after the event was announced. Guest speakers for the occasion were Bill McConnell, nationally known Football referee, Doc Gautreau of the Boston Braves and Butch Songin, B.C.'s great back. While Monsignor Mclnnis could not be present for the dinner, he arrived in time to address the gathering and make the individual awards. Top honors of the evening were shared by Tom Green and Bob Joyce who hung plaques amid the applause of the entire assemblage, The '48 captain received his shield as a reward for his sterling play and leadership all season long, while Bob's was won in the Red-Blue fray, In addition, 26 jackets and 13 letters were awarded, more than ever before in the School's history, because the spirit of the players had been magnificent all through the season and the School was genuinely proud of the high type of sports- manship displayed by the team. A few days after the season ended, the lettermen gathered in the refectory to elect the 1949 Football captain and Wally MacKinnon was chosen unanimously to be the School's new gridiron leader. With the honor he received also the best wishes of his departing comrades who were quick to assure him that his eleven could not help but benefit from the experience gained in the 1948 campaign, 5 COU 'K ,gi 'Wy 2 0Y.MAsSAogNS I-1 129 1-2

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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

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FOOTBALL SUMMARY we 1945 Cofzrlw - VINCENT C. MURPHY A.r.ri.rlfwl C rmfb - FRANK J. Court Ckzpffzifz - THoMAs H. GREEN, '49 Manager - JAMES CLIFFORD, '49 SCHEDULE Sept. 26 Cambridge Latin ............. Oct. 2 Hopkins Country Day School .... T Oct. 8 Hudson High .............. Oct. 16 Weston High ........... . . Oct. 24 St. Charles of Waltham . . . Oct. 31 St. Mary's of Brookline . . Nov. 6 Thayer Academy ........... .... ........ Nov. 14 St, Clements of Somerville ................... Blues fRobert Joyce, Captainj 18 - Reds QRalph D Captain Thomas Green Manager James Clifford Robert Joyce Ralph Donnelly Edward Ryan Murray Regan William Carey Charles Sullivan Martin Fisher JACKET AWARDS David Connor Robert Murphy William O'Brien William Gibbons Palmer Demeo Reed Gomperts Paul Carey Richard Schiffman David Keelan LETTER AWARDS N ll! Rain onnelly, Captainj 0 James Coleman John Cochran James Hefler Paul Burke Paul Corcoran Francis Renaud Wallace MacKinnon James Harnedy Richard Keelan David O'Connor Peter McHugh Edward Connors John Condon Owen Dugan William Volante WW N -BI , Q qVM,455A0N ' .img 411. ' fl sl A 'D' ef 1-I 13,0 J-. Joseph McCarthy Francis Murphy Ernest Woelfel Richard Sullivan James Evans James Delay