La Salle College High School Football: Chronicle 1951 Philadelphia Inquirer, August 26, 1951 La Salle Departs For Grid Camp La Salle high School’s football team, one of the four participants in the Quaker Bowl in September 14 at Temple Stadium, leaves tomorrow for Gladstone, NJ where the Little Explorers will get down to serious training for the games. North Catholic, Pottstown, and Abington, the other Quaker Bowl contestants, already are in training for the contest which will lift the lid on scholastic football in this area. Coach Johnny Meyers, of La Salle, will take a squad of 45 men to Mt. St. John’s Academy in Gladstone. The team will stay there for 12 days, returning home on September 7 to get in their final lick on their 20th and Olney terrain. Faces St. Matthews Meyers has quite a formidable job on his hands since he doesn’t have one regular back from last year’s squad and only six lettermen in all. His task is doubly difficult in that he not only must ready his team for the Quaker Bowl but also for the battle with St. Matthews in Conshohocken on September 16, only two days later. Of the six veterans, four are linemen and two are backs. Tackles Bill Schumacher and John DelVecchio and guards Buddy Bauer and Al Behner will be the nucleus for the forward wall, while halfbacks Bill Sommers and Gerald Chesnes are the experienced backs. In his T formation system, Meyers needs a quarterback that can run the offense and he believes he has that man in Ronnie Boyle, a slim junior who is consider a budding passing star. Meyers doesn’t have any ends at all returning and figures that position to be the biggest weakness on his team. Sommers to Kick Sommers will likely handle the kicking chores, and Meyers calls Bernie Burke the leading candidate for the vacant fullback billet. However, Meyers emphasizes that every position is wide open, and the boys must battle to win them. La Salle scored heavily in Catholic League and non-league games a year ago but encountered difficulty in stifling the opposition’s scoring. They wound up with an overall 5-4 slate and fifth spot in the league. Aware of this failing of 1950, Meyers is going to devoted more time to defense this season. Philadelphia Inquirer, September 14, 1951 4 Schools Play In Bowl Tonight Four of the area’s outstanding high school football teams will play in the first annual Quaker Bowl game tonight at Temple Stadium, starting at eight o’clock. North Catholic, defending Catholic League champion, La Salle, Abington, and Pottstown are the schools take part in the first attempt at a game of this type in the East. Sides Pool Points In the battle alignment, North Catholic meets Pottstown in the first period with La Salle facing Abington in the second. The third quarter will bring together La Salle and Pottstown, while North and Abington will meet in the last period. Under the special rules for the Quaker Bowl, North Catholic and La Salle will be teamed against Abington and Pottstown. The sides will pool their points and the combination with the greater number will be declared the winner. 1 La Salle College High School Football: Chronicle 1951 If there is a tie in points then first downs will determine the winner. If there is still a tie, then total yardage will be used as the yardstick. The winning teams will receive trophies. To Select Best Players Under the rules there will be no kickoffs at the start of the second and fourth quarters even though the teams will change. The start of the second and fourth quarters will be just resumption of where play ended in the first and third sessions as the team partners take over. A board of coaches headed by John “Ox” Da Grosa, State boxing commissioner, will select the two outstanding players – one on the winning side and one on the losing. Philadelphia Inquirer, September 15, 1951 North, La Salle Football Victors North Catholic’s late surge gave the Falcons and La Salle a 20-14 victory over Pottstown and Abington in the first annual Quaker Bowl last night at Temple Stadium before 9500. Each Philadelphia team played a quarter against the suburban elevens. Ed Graczykowski, who tossed the winning touchdown, and Pottstown’s kicking, passing, and hard- running Stan Chaplin, who scored both visitors’ tallies, were picked as the outstanding players of their respective sides by a board headed by John “Ox” Da Grosa. North’s Harold James raced 18 yards to tally against Pottstown in the first quarter and Bob McKay booted the point. Bernard Burke split Abington’s middle from the two for La Salle in the second quarter, but a rush for the point failed. Pottstown gave the visitors the lead, 14-13, in the third quarter as Chaplin blasted two, then drive and sprinted 23 for touchdowns against La Salle. Bob Sutton converted. North finally got rolling late in the fourth period and Graczykowski flipped nine to Don Healy to end a 55-yard, seven play blitz. McKay again made good. The Wisterian North, La Salle Pool Points For Victory In Quaker Bowl Game On Friday evening, September 14, at Temple Stadium, a nine-yard pass by North Catholic insured a victory for North and La Salle in the first annual Quaker Bowl game. The losing squads were Pottstown and Abington. The action started in the first few minutes of the game with Pottstown returning the kick 34 yards only to fumble on the 44 with North recovering on the 41. Harold James, North, raced into the end zone only to have the play nullified on a penalty. Shortly after, James found his way into pay-dirt again and it was ruled a touchdown. Bob McKay added the point, giving the Catholic schools an early lead of 7-0. Again in the second quarter, La Salle, taking over North’s position (according to special rules) powered over the Abington eleven for the second Catholic School score. A rush for the point failed, and the score remained 13-0. With La Salle kicking off in the third quarter to Pottstown, the underdogs made their first bid for the lead. Stan Chaplin, in a spectacular show of running, passing, and ball handling, scored twice with Bob Sutton converting both times to give the Public Schools their first lead of the game, 14-13. The fourth quarter brought North and Abington together. North seemed to have lost some of its power as Abington held firm, but nearing the end of the period the Falcons picked up and scored the winning seven points. 2 La Salle College High School Football: Chronicle 1951 Awards for the outstanding players went to North’s Ed Graczykowski for his ball handling and blocking, and to Stan Chaplin for his running, passing, and kicking on the offense and for his excellent defensive play. Game 1, September 16, 1951: St. Matthew’s 31 – La Salle 7 Conshohocken Recorder Mirrors Swamp La Salle, 31-7, Avenging Last Year’s Defeat Scoring three times in a wild and wooly last quarter, Charlie Heavey’s Mirrors thumped a tiring La Salle High School eleven by a convincing 31-7 score yesterday, at the Community Center field. At least 3500 fans watched the passing of Zeke Borkowski and the scoring of Tom Kolanko gain sweet revenge for the 34-0 downfall the Little Explorers handed the Saints last year. Tight defenses kept the first period scoreless, but early in the second Borkowski commenced fire and found Al Hissner on the end of a 25-yard touchdown toss for the game’s first score. Borkowski himself got the drive going when he intercepted a pass by Ron Boyle, La Salle quarterback, on his own 39. Fullback Jack Stanish went for a yard and Borkowski picked up 11 in two carries for a first down at midfield. Scatback Bill Kelly ploughed for two and then broke loose for a 13-yard scamper to the enemy’s 26. From here, after a pass flopped, Borkowski pitched to the leaping Hissner in the end zone. The run for extra point failed and the teams opened the second half with St. Matt’s on the long end of a 6-0 score. The half ended none too soon for La Salle, however, as Tom Kolanko made the first of his two memorable interceptions, latching onto a Boyle toss on his own 10 and legging it all the way to the Philadelphian’s 20, thirty seconds before the gun. Second half scoring festivities were inaugurated when Hissner dove on a La Salle fumble on his own 42 and Borkowski toted 13 yards in three plays for a first down on the losers’ 45. Five tries later Borkowski heaved to Bill Kelly for thirty-five yards and what should have been a touchdown. But the Blue and White were detected off-sides and they had to try again from the 39. Five yards made little difference to the Heaveymen, though, and on the next play Zeke found Kolanko standing alone on the 17. Tom had little trouble making it to the end zone as the nearest visitor was ten yards away. Then came the fearsome finale. Borkowski, who with Kolanko snared more La Salle passes than La Salle did, pulled one down on the Reflectors’ 46 and ran to his opponents’ 33. From here he proceeded to hang one out for Kelly, who took the ball in stride 3 yards from the goal.