Chronicle 1939 Game 1
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La Salle College High School Football: Chronicle 1939 Game 1, September 23, 1939: La Salle 19 – Roxborough 0 The Wisterian Explorers Trounce Roxborough 19-0; Fighting Aggregation Scores in Opening Battle of Grid Season Completely outplaying a fighting aggregation from Roxborough, the Little Explorers put on an impressive show to down the Blue and White 19-0 at McCarthy Stadium. The first quarter was a kicking duel between Tex Flannery, of the Bondermen, and Krystopa, of the Roxies, neither side doing much damage. In the second quarter after Flannery had punted to the Roxies 6 yard line, the blue and Gold took the ball on the 18 yard line. A pass from Murphy to O’Brien was completed on the 8 yard line. After two plays Joe O’Brien took the ball on a quarterback sneak to score from the two yard stripe. Murphy’s placement went wide of the posts. In the third quarter the Indians foiled a La Salle threat. Flannery blocked Krystopa’s kick and it was recovered by McGeary. The Blue and White then held and took possession of the ball. The final quarter netted thirteen points for the Bondermen. Little Murphy dropped one of his aerial bombs in Joe O’Brien’s arms from the 18 yard line and Joe went in standing up. The final counter came in the closing minutes of the contest. A desperate Rox pass was intercepted by Johnny Krystkiewicz and he set sail 33 yards down the sidelines to score standing up. Flannery drop-kicked the extra point. The game was marked by penalties and it was interesting to note that the whole game was played in Rox territory. Standouts were the kicking of Tex Flannery, the passing of Murphy and the job of handling Joe O’Brien did on the end of Murphy’s passes. The whole line and team itself was very impressive, especially the way the forward wall held up against the fast charging Rox backs. The lineups: La Salle Roxborough Flannery L.E. Cook Cannon L.T. Konopka Wherrity L.G. Jansen O’Rourke C. Maher Shields R.G. White Donnelly R.T. Janischeck McGeary R.E. Knipe O’Brien Q.B. Imsenik Mlodzianowski L.H. Krystopa T. Crawford R.H. Egrich Patane F.B. Modress Game 2, September 29, 1939: La Salle 12 – Germantown 0 The Wisterian Bondermen Upset Germantown Squad With 12-0 Tally; McGeary, Flannery Score For La Salle In Second Straight Win 1 La Salle College High School Football: Chronicle 1939 La Salle’s Little Explorers ran through a heavy highly-touted Germantown High eleven last Friday afternoon for their second straight grid victory of 1939. Final scored read La Salle 12, Germantown 0. Starring for the Blue and Gold was one of the best backfields and lines ever developed here. Mighty- mite Mlodzianowski whipped passes, Joe O’Brien and Ed Day ran back kicks, Johnny Krystkiewicz charged through the line for repeated gains, and Joe McGeary, Rolly Kneller, Tom Crawford, Len Whalen and Frank Rowe blocked passed and received. La Salle’s first touchdown was scored by Joe McGeary, who received a pass thrown into the end zone by Mlodzianowski. On that play, the ball was deflected by the wind enroute from the center, throwing “Murphy” off balance. He recovered the ball in time to whip a fifteen yard counting pass. The conversion trial was no good. The second six points was set up within two minutes of the end of the game. Staging a drive to the twenty-seven yard line, the Explorers got a first down. On the second play, Rolly Kneller arched the ball twenty-five yards through the air to Captain “Tex” Flannery, waiting on the two yard line. Flannery evaded Green and White defenders to score. Kneller’s attempted conversion failed. Credit for the victory must be shared equally by a hard-hitting and blocking line and the stepped-up backfield. La Salle Germantown Flannery L.E. Walker Cannon L.T. Lutz Wherrity L.G. Cazin O’Rourke C. Wolfinger Shields R.G. Christman Donnelly R.T. Gothrop McGeary R.E. Miley O’Brien Q.B. Luongo Whalen L.H. Duffy Mlodzianowski R.H. Walters Krystkiewicz F.B. Martin The Wisterian, October 6, 1939 Little Explorers Primed For West Catholic; La Salle Sees Best Occasion In Years To Avenge Defeat; Bondermen Anxious To Take Burr Squad In First League Tilt Saturday afternoon in McCarthy Stadium, the Little Explorers officially open their Catholic League campaign with West Catholic. West Catholic, always a tough adversary, are sure to give the Bondermen a long tough fight but the Blue and Gold had a marvelous opportunity to emerge victorious. The Burrs have been hit hard by graduation and lost several of their top notch gridders. La Salle on the other hand is manned by experienced juniors and seniors, who have been together for some time. Led by Captain Tex Flannery, potential All-Catholic end, and other veterans like “Homo” O’Rourke, Danny Shields, Joe O’Brien, Frank Cannon, and good looking newcomers Marty Keane, Johnny Murphy and Herman Oschell, the Little Explorers should come through in fine style for Coaches Jimmy Boners and Charley Glenn. 2 La Salle College High School Football: Chronicle 1939 With the bright outlook the Bondermen are showing this year the students are expected definitely to support the team. Being a dark horse in the league this fall the Little Explorers can sky-rocket in either direction and with a little cheering and support from the students should shoot to the top. The Bondermen are boasting a 185 pound forward wall to rip open holes for a 155 pound backfield. This pony backfield should have plenty of time to get started behind this heavy experienced line. Evidence of what La Salle has in store for the Burrs was brought out in our first two games with Roxborough and Germantown Highs, in which we looked very impressive. In the words of Coach Bonder, “If you didn’t support the team last year I can’t blame you, but the team this year deserves your support.” Come out and see us win tomorrow. Game 3, October 7, 1939: West Catholic 13 – La Salle 6 The Wisterian Explorers Tripped By West Catholic; Tom Crawford Sparks Second Half Rally But Threat Fails; Score, 13-6 Coach Bonder said, “They may beat us,” Little did he realize how much truth he said, because featuring a first half drive that netted them 13 points, the Burrs from West Catholic tripped the Bondermen, 13-6, before 4,500 fans at the Olney Heights stadium. The Blue and White lost no time in scoring. After the opening kickoff the Burrs put on a relentless march of 56 yards to cross the La Salle goal line. With Tony Quinn ripping the Explorers’ line to shreds before beautiful blocking, the Westerners carried to the La Salle 17 where Jack Kelly took a lateral pass from Quinn and went over into paydirt standing up. Kelly attempted a placement but the kick swerved to the right, hit the upright and bounded away. In the second quarter the Burrs again struck quick and sure. Returning Flannery’s kick to their own 47 yard line they took exactly five plays to cross again into payoff land. Tony Quinn and Jack Kelly, coupled with a pass to Sharkey, moved the ball to the La Salle 16 yard line, where Curley plowed off tackle to clock up six more points. McCreesh split the uprights with a perfect placement to make the score 13-0. The second half was a different story. The Blue and Gold went right to work to score their first touchdown. Kneller and Joe McGeary coupled up in a passing duet to move the ball to the 6 yard line where Murphy passed to Flannery who made a leaping catch of the aerial. Murph’s kick went wide of the bar. The Little Explorers again threatened in the fourth quarter. Tom Crawford ripped off tackle for 25 yards to move the ball to the West’s 45 yard stripe. Again Crawford tore off tackle to move to the 13 yard line. Here La Salle fumbled and the threat was stopped. La Salle West Catholic Flannery L.E. Campbell Cannon L.T. Harkins Shields L.G. Thum O’Rourke C. Magee Wherrity R.G. Cerreglia Donnelly R.T. Murphy McGeary R.E. Sharkey O’Brien Q.B. McCreesh 3 La Salle College High School Football: Chronicle 1939 Mlodzianowski L.H. Quinn Rowe R.H. Kelly Krystkiewicz F.B. Curley Game 4, October x, 1939: North Catholic 12 – La Salle 7 The Wisterian North Catholic Ekes Out Close Victory; La Salle Outplays Falcons But Fails To Make Use Of Breaks Just as Johnny Murphy’s pass seemed about to break a 16 year jinx with North Catholic the ball popped out of the receiver’s hands on the 4 yard line, was snatched by Joe Garaffe, who dashed 96 yards up the field to give the Falcons a 12-7 upset while 2,000 fans sat dazed. The game was played at the Frankford Memorial Stadium. The Cherry and White scored in the first period by taking advantage of a La Salle fumble. Denny Cherico hit tackle to go over for North. Crispo’s kick missed the bar. Several times the Bondermen were on the march but the plucky Falcon forwards seemed to hold at the right time. In the second quarter Murphy completed a 35 yard pass to Tex Flannery on the 27 yard line. Murph connected with another to Ed Day on the 12 yard stripe.