La Salle College High School Football: in Retrospect
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La Salle College High School Football: In Retrospect NOTE: This is the thirty-fourth in a series of retrospectives highlighting some unique history of the football program at La Salle. Please continue to provide me with suggestions for future topics. Hope you enjoy these. Bill Wasylenko, ‘69 Issue Number Thirty-Four: A Falcon Never Lets Go This is the story of the rich football rivalry between the La Salle Explorers and the North Catholic Falcons. In the early 1920’s, Dennis Cardinal Dougherty, Archbishop of Philadelphia, foresaw the need to expand the reach of the Archdiocese. He acquired many plots of land in the outer reaches of the city of Philadelphia, and beyond, into what we now know as the suburbs. His visionary plan allowed for many parishes and parish schools to be built on these plots of land years after their acquisition. But, in the field of secondary education, the needs were more pressing. With just two diocesan high schools for boys (Catholic High, West Catholic) located in the city of Philadelphia, it was time for another boys’ high school to be built to meet the growing demand for Catholic secondary education. The land for Northeast Catholic High School (“North” Catholic started to appear around 1937) was purchased from the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, and the school opened on September 7, 1926, to 277 freshmen and 172 sophomores. Eight Oblates and 5 other teachers formed the initial faculty. The first class at Northeast Catholic chose a Latin expression for its motto; the translation: “What I have, I will not lose”. To reflect this motto, the school symbol was chosen to be the falcon, a bird of prey that is completely faithful to its trainer, and never lets go of what it has captured. The students also chose the school colors to be Cardinal red and white, with red honoring Dennis Cardinal Dougherty’s sponsorship of the school. In just their second year of existence, in the fall of 1927, the Northeast Catholic Falcons fielded a football team in the 7-year old Philadelphia Catholic League. Though their 0-7- 1 inaugural record was probably expected, they played some close games, with a scoreless tie against St. Joseph’s Prep, and losses to West Catholic 8-6, and Catholic (not yet Roman Catholic) 6-0. La Salle (not the Explorers just yet) eked out a 7-6 win over the fledgling Falcons, on their way to a share of the regular season title with Catholic (Catholic won the playoff game, 26-0). In 1928, the Falcons started their long rivalry with the Frankford Pioneers, and the following season started their Thanksgiving traditional game. Banished from the Catholic League after the 1927 season, La Salle did not play Northeast Catholic during the 1928 to 1933 seasons. Meanwhile, the fledgling Falcons grew bigger and stronger, and by 1934 were a force to be reckoned with on the gridiron. In 1930, a familiar La Salle name took over the fortunes of the Falcon eleven. Kenneth “Cy” Simendinger, great star of the undefeated 1917 La Salle football team, became head coach of the Falcons, and also was the hoops-master, staying on to 1940. Simendinger had a few average seasons at first, but 1934 saw the Falcons rise to the top of the Catholic League, sharing the title after a scoreless playoff game against Salesianum. In that first year back in the Catholic League, La Kenneth “Cy” Salle was welcomed back rudely by Northeast Catholic with a Simendinger, former 33-6 drubbing on October 5, 1934. La Salle great By the fall of 1935, enrollment at Northeast Catholic grew to 2,300 students, and the football team went undefeated, their season only blemished by a scoreless tie with West Catholic, but they won their first outright Catholic League championship in front of 15,000 fans at Baker Bowl with a 9-0 playoff whitewash of the Burrs. On November 9, 1935, the Falcons had dispatched the Explorers by a 54-0 bloodletting. Simendinger’s charges won again in 1936 with an perfect 8-0-0 record, including 6 shutouts. La Salle was not one of them, though; led by star back John Edinger, they gave the Falcons a tough time in a 12-6 loss. Frank Reagan, of Penn and Philadelphia Eagles fame, led the Falcons to a 32-0 regular-season clinching of the title against St. Joseph’s Prep, with two TD runs (one off a fake punt) and two TD passes. The Falcons won their 4th straight Catholic League title in 1937 in a playoff game at Baker Bowl against St. Joseph’s Prep. Their 8 wins in an 8-1-1 season were all by shutouts, including a 17-0 victory over the Explorers in the mud and rain. During this time, Northeast Catholic featured some great players, including backs Ed Reagan and Frank Reagan, end Buzz Howlett, backs John Sadlik and Marty Toohey, and lineman Frank “Bucko” Kilroy, who went on to play at Temple, and then for 13 years with the Philadelphia Eagles, where he was known as one of the toughest (and dirtiest!) players in the NFL. Kilroy was an assistant coach for the Eagles in the late 50’s, and went on to work for the Boston Patriots of the American Football League. Though the PCL championships stopped for a while for North after the 1937 season, their dominance over La Salle continued. In 1938, the Explorers lost a season-ending game to the Falcons, 26-6, yet again in the driving rain and mud. 1939 was a much closer affair, with La Salle coming up short, 12-7, despite netting 13 first downs to North’s 5. The turning point was a 96- yard interception return by North’s Ed Garaffe to make the score 12-0. Johnny Krystkiewicz’s TD run made the score close, but La Salle went down yet again to the Falcons. The Falcons had slipped under Simendinger during 1939 and 1940, winning only 3 times each year, but he continued his undefeated mastery over his Alma Mater with a 12-0 blanking of the Bondermen (Jim Bonder was the Explorer coach). This was Simendinger’s last year at the Falcon helm; Babe Marshall took over in 1941, and the transition was not smooth, as the North limped home with a 0-8-1 record, including a rare loss to La Salle, 20-0. Bunky McMenamin ran off-tackle on the second play from scrimmage for a 45-yard touchdown, and the Explorers were never headed in notching their first win over North since 1927; in both of those seasons, the Falcons won nary a game. North Catholic opened its doors to 3,149 students in the fall of 1942, and it was still growing; annexes in nearby parishes were used to accommodate many of the students. Babe Marshall righted the ship as the Falcons won 7 games, including a 7-6 edging of a good La Salle team. Explorer fullback Paul Gibbons scored early for La Salle, but North’s All-Catholic back Jim Dugan bowled over for a 4th-quarter touchdown, and end Jim Begley’s extra point sent the Blue and Gold home with a heart- breaking loss. Begley baffled the Blue and Gold in 1943 too, scoring on an end-around in a 13-0 victory over the Explorers. 1938 Wisterian The Falcon fortunes were rising again, as Babe Marshall led them to a 9-1-0 record in the 1943 season, falling just short of the PCL title won by West Catholic. LS’s Tommy Byron (#17) gains 1st down in 1943 game But Marshall left prior to 1944, probably joining the service, and John Gillespie took his place. He continued a real Golden age of Falcon football with a 7-1-2 record in 1944. La Salle battled North to a 7-7 tie in their league finale; Jim Sundstrom scored in the first quarter for the Explorers, but North tied the game in the third quarter. 1945 saw the two teams play in the season opener, and North won easily, 20-0. La Salle had a unique season in 1945, losing their first 4 games and winning their last 5. In 1946, both clubs were contenders for the Catholic League title. On September 29, 1946, La Salle and North squared off in yet another bad weather game, and the Falcons edged out the Explorers, 18-13, on their way to a share of the regular season lead with West Catholic. But the Burrs won the playoff game, 8-0, at Shibe Park, in front of 40,000 fans. North Catholic, West Catholic, and Catholic League football were at its peak of popularity; North’s enrollment in 1946 exceeded 4,000 students. North crushed La Salle, 26-0, in 1947, as Harry Connor scored three times, twice on rushes and one on a pass reception. 1948 was no different, as North, now under young Jack Gillespie, whitewashed the Blue and Gold, 27-0. In 1949, the Falcons returned to championship glory with an dominant 11-0-0 season, culminating in their first City Title over Gratz, 21-6. North bested La Salle at Yellowjacket Stadium on October 16, 32-13. 1947: La Salle defenders after Falcon The Falcons won the Catholic League again in 1950, but lost the City Title to Bok, 13-0. The powerful Falcon line, outweighing La Salle by 20 pounds a man, stifled the Explorers in an 18-0 victory. 1951 saw another North shutout, this time by 35 points, and 1952 was marginally more competitive, as North won, 19-7, on their way to another PCL Championship and a City Title, defeating Lincoln, 25-0.