La Salle College High School Football: In Retrospect

NOTE: This is the thirty-first 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 One: The Fall of Forty-Four September of 1944 was a most interesting time to be a La Salle College High School student. D-Day occurred three months before, and the news from Europe and the Pacific was becoming more and more encouraging. La Salle students from recent years had hurried through their senior years, some graduating in January in order to enter the service. The Class of 1945 at La Salle had an unknown future awaiting them.

Major League baseball had debated whether to suspend the sport during the war years. Several colleges did suspend intercollegiate athletics due to lack of available players. But Philadelphia Catholic League sports continued on, and at the very least it was a respite from the more serious happenings of the day.

La Salle’s football fortunes had turned upwards in the early 40’s, as Coach Jim Bonder built a competitive program. But, after the 1942 season, Bonder joined the Navy, and La Salle was left with finding a coach to replace him. The Return of Bernie Bradley

Bernie Bradley went to Roman Catholic High School, and then played two years of college ball at La Salle, under Marty Brill, the former Notre Dame star. After graduating college in 1935, young Bradley was handed the reins of the high school program, inheriting the remnants of Snapper McLaughlin’s team that went 0-8-1 in 1934. In the three years from 1935 to 1937, Bradley’s La Salle teams won only 6 games, but they became much more competitive.

After the 1937 season, Bradley left La Salle High School, and in 1939, became the assistant coach at the college under Brill. When Brill left La Salle College to become at Loyola Marymount in Los Angeles, Bradley went with him to become the line coach. When Brill was inducted into the Army in early 1942, Bradley was handed the head coaching job at Loyola, and his 1942 Lions went 5-4-1. He also Bernie Bradley, coached the Loyola basketball team for two seasons, who coached La Salle compiling a 27-16 record. But the war had an impact on the on two different athletic program at Loyola, and they disbanded intercollegiate occasions, from athletics for the 1943 season (as well as 1944 and 1945). 1935-37 and 1943-48 Bradley looked back east, and was re-hired as La Salle High School’s head football coach for the 1943 season. The Modernized T-Formation

Bernie Bradley brought something back with him from . He had become an advocate of the T-formation, modernized by Stanford’s head coach Clark Shaughnessy. Shaughnessy took over a Stanford team that went 1-7-1 in 1939, introduced the T- formation to a reluctant and disbelieving team, and went 10-0-0 in 1940, including a Rose Bowl win over Nebraska. He became an advisor to the that year as well, as the Bears used a T-formation to douse the Washington Redskins in the 1940 NFL Championship game, 73-0.

The T-formation at Stanford was the “” (Stanford or ) or “Spread Offense” (Oregon Ducks) of its day, and every football innovator wanted to utilize it. Bradley brought it back to 20th and Olney for the 1943 season.

In 1943, getting used to the new system, the Explorers went 5-4-0, winning three of their last 4 games, and notching their 4th straight winning season. The following year, Bradley’s T-formation would reap dividends.

Preparation for the 1944 Season

The 1943 team was quite inexperienced, but several players on the 1944 squad got a lot of exposure in 1943. John Garvin was a RAINEY punishing runner who scored several . Bob Noonan was a starting , as was Bob Rainey. Jim Smith, John Fanuka, and Bill Gaynor played on the line regularly, and all would return in 1944, and all would receive All-Catholic honors.

Joining this group were some great skill position players, like junior Bill “Lefty” Whiteside, a craftsman who could run and throw. Bill Pfaff was a burly, bruising fullback. Jim Sundstrom was a shifty halfback, known for his broken-field running. Murt Nicholas and Jim Bracken were junior running backs who also would contribute significantly on offense. SUNDSTROM Additional line help came from seniors George McDermott, John Drach, Bill Zink, Tom Donnelly, and Ben Ventresca, in addition to juniors Bill Oschell and Tom Voigtsberger. And junior ends John Sabia, Mart Vesey, and soph Fran Donohoe complemented the senior ends.

Jim Smith and Bill Gaynor were named co-captains of the team. Jim Henry, former head coach, and the at the College, would join Bradley as an advisory coach for the season.

This was a solid, well-rounded squad that Bernie Bradley had molded into a contender in 1944. McDERMOTT Capts. Smith and Gaynor

The Games

La Salle opened their season by hosting upstart St. James, in their second Catholic League season, on Sunday, September 24, 1944. Bradley’s T-formation, affectionately referred to as the “Model-T”, was operating on all cylinders in a 34-0 trouncing of the Bulldogs. After a scoreless first period, Bill Pfaff scored on a 28-yard, broken-field run. A few minutes later, Bill Whiteside burst over from 4 yards out. In the 3rd quarter, Whiteside passed to John Garvin for a 31-yard , and Jim Sundstrom scored from 6 yards. In the 4th quarter, the final touchdown was scored by Murt Nicholas on a 5- yard run. Bill Gaynor kicked three extra points, and Whiteside got one for himself. Junior fullback Pfaff gained 140 yards rushing in a dominant performance.

The referee for this game was none other than Ken “Cy” Simendinger, recent North Catholic football and basketball coach, and former star of the La Salle High School football and basketball teams in the 1917-1918 school year.

It was now time for the Blue and Gold’s most significant test of the season, taking on the juggernaut Burrs of West Catholic.

In front of an overflow crowd of 18,000 at Finnessey Field at St. Joseph’s College, La Salle struck first on a Whiteside to Sundstrom pass that covered 60 yards. Gaynor’s kick gave La Salle a 7-0 lead. But West Catholic dominated the second half, scoring on two touchdown passes by quarterback Connor, and a McGarvey 6-yard run clinched the game for the Burrs, 19-7. La Salle’s offense had sputtered in the second half, and they just couldn’t keep pace with the Burrs. Action in the The offensive doldrums continued the next week against Roman West Catholic game Catholic. After a scoreless first half, fullback Pfaff sent a long pass to Sundstrom, and he took it in for the first touchdown of the day. The first play of the 4th quarter was a one-yard run for a touchdown by Whiteside, which was set up by another long pass from Pfaff, this time to halfback John Garvin, and La Salle blanked the Cahillites, 14-0. After a bye week, the Explorers headed to Manayunk to battle the Eagles of St. John’s. The game wasn’t much of a contest, as La Salle scored a touchdown in each quarter, on runs by Jim Bracken, Jim Sundstrom, John Garvin, and another by Bracken. The Model-T was in full gear this day, as the Blue and Gold blanked St. John’s, 27-0, to run their record to 3-1-0.

DRACH PFAFF

GARVIN BRACKEN Action in the Roman game FANUKA NICHOLAS SMITH VESEY

On Sunday, October 29, 1944, La Salle manhandled the Pirates of South Catholic, 25-6. First-half scores by Pfaff, Garvin, and Bracken got the Explorers out to an 18-0 lead, and then Jim Sundstrom intercepted a pass in the 3rd quarter and took it to the house to make it 25-0. South Catholic’s only score was on a long return, as the defense had not given up a touchdown in four of the five games so far.

Like we say for our games against the ancient foe in the 21st Century, it was now Prep week. La Salle had not defeated St. Joseph’s Prep since 1919, a year before the Catholic League was started. The Hawks were a powerful team, and the defenses dominated in a scoreless first half. In the third quarter, La Salle got going on a 70-yard scoring drive, culminating in a run by Sundstrom, and took a 6-0 lead. A few minutes later, a similar drive resulted in another Sundstrom score, and the Explorers led, 13-0. The Hawks got close with a touchdown in the 4th quarter, but La Salle held on to win this game for the first time in 25 years, 13-7. They now were 5-1-0, tied for second place with North Catholic, both looking up at West Catholic, unbeaten at 6-0-0.

WHITESIDE

GAYNOR Explorers try to stop St. Joseph’s Prep sweep The Golden Bears of Tommy More were no match for the Explorers, as the 34-19 victory featured two rushing touchdowns apiece for Jim Sundstrom and Mart Vesey. In the 4th quarter, Bill Pfaff added a 5th touchdown. Bill Gaynor converted on 4 of 5 extra points, and the Bears scored a couple of late touchdowns to make the game respectable.

With one remaining game, La Salle still had some hope of ending in a tie with West LARKIN DONNELLY Catholic in the standings to force a playoff. Two things had to happen: West would need to lose to St. Joseph’s Prep, and La Salle would have to beat the Falcons of North Catholic, also at 6-1-0. The odds were certainly against them.

The North Catholic game was a very frustrating game for the Explorers. They came out of the chute and threatened to score on three different occasions in the first quarter, but came away with just one SABIA ZINK touchdown, a run by Sundstrom to make it 7- 0. In the 3rd quarter, North Catholic completed a long pass for a score, and the extra point tied the game at 7-7. La Salle’s offense sputtered in the second half, and a defensive struggle in the 4th quarter resulted in no more scoring, and both teams were disappointed in the 7-7 tie.

Meanwhile, the Hawks gave the Burrs all they could handle up at Finnessey Field. Only a VENTRESCA O’BRIEN 4th quarter touchdown pass for the Burrs allowed them to escape with a 7-0 victory, and an undefeated Catholic League season. They had won 18 games in a row, and were undefeated for 35 straight games, but they lost the City Title at Franklin Field to Southern High, 13-7.

The 1944 Explorers ended their season with a 6-1-1 record, their best as a member of the Catholic League. In 1921, and also in 1928, La Salle was 7-1-0, but both times were in a hiatus from the Catholic League.

A defensive struggle in the North tie Post-Season Accolades

First team All-Catholic honors went to seniors Bill Gaynor at , and Jim Sundstrom at back, as well as junior John Fanuka at guard. Senior Jim Smith was a second team All-Catholic at tackle. Sundstrom led the team with 10 touchdowns; Garvin, Pfaff, and Bracken had three each.

Other members of the 1944 team won All-Catholic honors in 1945. Bill Whiteside was a second team selection as a back, and Tom Voigtsberger was also second team as a guard. John Fanuka repeated his 1944 first-team selection as a guard.

Collegiate Players, and Beyond 1944

Sometimes the measure of a talented team is in the number of players who went on to play in college. Though that’s not always true, the 1944 team had its share of future collegiate players. Guard Tom Donnelly and tackle Jim Smith went on to play at Villanova. John Fanuka headed west and played for the Gaels of St. Mary’s (CA). Bill Pfaff became an Ivy-Leaguer at Penn, and Lefty Whiteside became a quarterback at Notre Dame.

Bernie Bradley continued to coach at La Salle High School through the 1948 season, but he didn’t have a year as good as 1944. In 1949, he left La Salle to become the line coach at Villanova. When he was older, he lived in the Holmesburg section of Philadelphia, and, at age 76, he died on July 24, 1986 at Nazareth Hospital.

Bill Gaynor returned to La Salle High School as a teacher and coach. He eventually moved to Florida, and passed away in 2006.

Four members of the team became medical doctors: end Henry Pletcher, tackle Bill Oschell, QB Joe Steelman, and end Cornelius Sullivan.

Junior end John Sabia started a family business that has spread its wings all over the Delaware Valley.

In an amazing coincidence, the two managers of the team, Joe Moran and Bob Breen (the future Father Robert Breen), were both inducted into the La Salle Hall of Fame. Moran taught at both La Salle High School and La Salle University, and Father Breen was both a parish priest and also a long-time teacher at Cardinal Dougherty High School.

SULLIVAN OSCHELL MORAN BREEN Guard Tom Donnelly became a Maryknoll priest, and lives in California.

And Bill “Lefty” Whiteside (shown to the right) is also in the La Salle Hall of Fame, and is still active in many Alumni activities, including being a member of the selection committee for the Hall of Athletics.

Postscript

The 1944 team was a unique blend of an innovative system with a large group of talented players, and a great mix of seniors and juniors. They led in every game they played, and I’m sure the players looked back on the second halves of the West and North games wishing they had a chance to play them again.

There were great expectations for the 1945 team, but they started off the season with 4 straight losses, as the T-formation could garner only 13 points in those games. But the Model-T started to hum, and the Explorers won their last 5 games, amassing 128 points in those 5 wins.

The 1944 team remained the best La Salle team in Catholic League play from their entry in 1920 until the undefeated City Champions of 1955.

Remember the fall of forty-four!!

I welcome your comments, corrections, and additions. Go La Salle!! Bill Wasylenko, ‘69 [email protected] January 24, 2013, revised December 8, 2013