The Football Reunion Part 2
February 16, 2015The First Coach and The Last Coach by Jack Coll
March 1, 2015The Great Football Reunion – A Few Guys shared their memories
The Great Football Reunion
A Few Guys Shared Their Memories
Part Three of Four
By Jack Coll
The location was The Great American Pub located at 123 Fayette Street. The scene was in the Pub’s main ballroom on the second floor, (If you’ve never seen it, the next time you’re at the Pub jump on the elevator and take a ride to the second floor, you’ll be amazed). The event featured more than 200 former St. Matthew’s/Archbishop Kennedy football players gathering to discuss their families, the places life has taken them, their children and grandchildren, and they gathered to discuss the great American sport of football.
In the corner of the room at the far end of the bar you couldn’t miss Ray Bowman, for many years Ray was the fly on the wall, he’d seen and heard everything as Team Manager under Chris Bockrath, and it was good to see Dave Carroll, Dave was also a manager for the team from the time he was able to walk, and finally as a player for the Saints in his senior year of high school. Dave’s father, Davey Sr. played for the mighty 1954 St. Matthew’s team, a team that was blessed with talent.
Wow, I was surprised to see a couple of old familiar faces, Charlie Corrrado was making his rounds throughout the room along with Dave Tomlinson. A longtime coach Jerry Conicello was there along with another former coach Chuck Rocconi, and Bill McAvoy. I also recognized a couple of guys from the 1986 team including Ted Franks, Nick Matteo, and TJ McGuire.
I did get time to ask a few of the former players about their fondest memory, Dom Conicello who played in the fall of 1962 was quick to point to his coach Joe Valerio as being a good coach who managed to get everyone involved in the game, a couple of quick memories in the front of his mind included scoring a touchdown against Lansdale Catholic in a 14-6 loss and scoring another set of touchdowns in the Bishop Shanahan game in a 12-6 victory. But what Conicello really wanted to talk about was a number of his teammates including Johnny Galie, Joe Logan, and Bobby Moore. “Bob Moore was one of the greatest players to ever suite-up for a football game” noted Conicello.
With that statement in mind I scanned the room and locked in on Bobby Moore, Moore played from 1959-1962, and I wandered over to him to ask him about his fondest memory on the gridiron. Without hesitation Bob told me his fondest memory was a game played in 1962 at the “A” Field against Bishop Kenrick. “It was a hot and humid October afternoon a crowd of more than 10,000 fans packed the stands, sidelines, and end zone to see the game, that number was confirmed with both the Conshohocken Recorder Newspaper and the Times Herald Newspaper, perhaps the largest crowd to ever witness a football game in this borough, the crowd must have been twenty people deep in the end zones. St. Matthew’s took a 6-0 lead into the half thanks to a 57 yard touchdown pass from quarterback Tony Girardi to Dominick Conicello, but Conicello was hurt and didn’t play much of the second half.
With just a few minutes remaining in the game St. Matthew’s was fighting to take the lead as they were down 12-6, but an unfortunate chain of events happened allowing Kenrick to score back to back touchdowns, one by Kenrick’s quarterback Pete D’Achille and the other by the halfback Richie Branca, with minutes remaining the score went from 12-6 to 26-6. Moore sat back in his chair and reminisced, “That team was loaded with talent, we were a pretty good team but they had Judge Joe Smyth, (of course he wasn’t a judge at that time, he was just another guy playing for the enemy) and their quarterback was good, yea, they had a number of good ball players on that team.”
I noticed this white haired guy standing in the corner talking to Brian Coll and Andrew Guano, I drifted around to get a look at his face, turns out it was Kevin Flanagan, the quarterback for the 1991 team, turns out he’s teaching at Methacton High School, I said Kevin, “Give me your favorite football memory at Kennedy.” He said without hesitation, “I have two of them, without a doubt it was getting Bockrath his 100th victory as Kennedy’s coach, which was a proud moment for the entire team.”
And what a game it was, Kennedy’s home field was at Plymouth Whitemarsh in 1991 due to “A’ Field renovations. The Saints had won three out of their last four games to give Bockrath his 97th, 98, and 99th career victories. The team was 4-4 with two games remaining in the season, Bishop Kenrick, who was having a pretty good season with seven wins under their belt, and Springfield, who was having a really good season. The Kenrick game was a low scoring affair and going into the final two minutes Kenrick held onto a 6-3 lead. The Saints just couldn’t get the offense going and it looked like another heartbreaking loss to the longtime Norristown rivals.
With the Saints stuck on their own 39 yard line Flanagan called for play “991” in the huddle, dropped back to pass, he looked deep and with everyone covered he hit Joe Schrieber with a dump off pass, Schreiber then sprinted down the sideline about 60 yards for the go ahead touchdown and the stadium went wild, the Saints had a 9-6 lead with a minute to go in the game, but it wasn’t over. Kenrick’s quarterback had a little magic of his own left in the tank as he sprinted towards the end zone on the final play of the game getting pushed out of bounds about twenty yards short of the victory and the Saints players and fans celebrated. It was a night for Chris Bockrath, he was so much more than a coach and well deserving of a hundred victories, for sure that was a great memory.
I started to walk away from Flannigan and looked back and said, “By the way what was your second favorite memory, and without hesitation he said, “The fight after the game.” THAT’S RIGHT, the fight after the game. The Kennedy players in all their excitement with smiles on their faces headed to Kenrick’s side of the field for the post-game handshake. I was on the field and witnessed it, out of nowhere a BIG FAT SUCKER PUNCH came from one of the sore losers and the brawl was on. I was standing at mid field when this happened and Kennedy players started kicking some Norristown ass so there was no need for me to jump in and stop anything. Spectators started coming down from the stands on both sides and I noticed ten year old kids racing from the Kennedy stands with their fist clenched looking to get a lick in on the sore losers, I remembering thinking “go get ’em kid.”
In the end the sore losers left the field with their heads hanging, the old saying is if you don’t win the game make sure you win the fight after, these dumb asses lost the game and the fight after, how sad is that, I almost felt sorry for them, no I didn’t.
Hey Kevin, thanks for the memories, two great memories at that, however Kennedy lost the following week to Springfield 14-0 to finish the season 5-5, still, a great year!
Scanning the room I noticed a ton of guys who played in the 1970’s including Ray Alexander, Eddie Connor, Larry Czermanski, Tom Farzetta, and Dave LaCrosse. Harvey McCloskey and Mike Kelly were the only two from the class of 1979, who played football in 1978. I asked McCloskey about his favorite memory pertaining to football and he said with a laugh, “Listen, when you only win two games and lose seven you don’t have a lot of good memories.” Although he did have a moment, when he intercepted a ball in the end zone, apparently his moment only lasted about three seconds, “I intercepted the ball about eight yards deep and decided to run it out, I got tackled on the two yard line and got chewed out when I got back to the sideline.” GOOD TIMES!
In the fall of 1952 St. Matthew’s went 6-4 with a 40-21 victory over St. Patrick’s, a 20-14 victory over LaSalle, they won a game 35-0 to go along with a 35-19 win over York Catholic. The team had a talented bunch of players including Al “The Cat” Hissner, Johnny Maloney, Doc O’Connor, Ron Greco, Pete “Pistol Pete” Bruni, Hank Zimmer, Danny Wilson, and Walt Kobyrinski among others. The early 1950’s were exciting times for football in the borough, I walked over to Ron Greco at the reunion who had played in 1950, 1951, and 1952. I said, “Ron, What memory comes to mind when you think back to your playing days at St. Matthew’s? Was it a particular game? A play? A touchdown? Something in the locker room? What was your favorite memory?” Without hesitation he said, “I remember a game when I was in the bottom of a pile of tacklers, and this guy was biting the hell out of my leg, I twisted my body to see who it was and I see Al Hissner, a teammate of mine going to town on my leg like it was a piece of chicken, he thought it was a leg from the other team, man I’ll never forget that!“
Okay, more GOOD TIMES!
The 1953 St. Matthew’s Football Team recorded a 6-2-2 record, one of the ties came on Thanksgiving against Conshy High in front of 6,000 fans with a 7-7 finish. Larry Moyer intercepted a pass and ran 50 yards into the end zone for an early third quarter 6-0 lead, Curt Hissner hit the point for a St. Matt’s 7-0 lead. In the fourth quarter Conshy High quarterback Reese Whitley hit Carmen Rappatone for a 45 yard TD, Vic Smith tied the game with his kick and that’s how it ended. The 1953 turkey day classic was the second time the two schools had tied up to that point in time with a 0-0 game in the books from 1947.
Thanksgiving Day Football in the 1950’s was the most anticipated and attended event in the borough. The Conshohocken High School Band in the 1950’s often consisted of more than 80 students with instruments plus Color Guard, all directed by Joseph Blewitt. They would march up Fayette Street from the school located at Seventh Avenue, and together with St. Matthew’s All Girls Band of 70 pieces directed by Joseph Colantonio, head of the music department at LaSalle College High School would put on a magical halftime show.
(There is a segment on the school bands of the 1950’s in the documentary film “One Hundred Years of Football in Conshohocken” showing movie footage of the bands. This film can be purchased at Coll’s Custom Framing located at 324 Fayette Street.)
The 1953 squad also tied St. John’s 6-6. St. Matt’s had big wins over St. Patrick’s, 53-14, a 33-12 whipping over Allentown and a 13-12 victory over LaSalle.
At the reunion I asked Doc O’Connor who played for that 1953 team about a few of his memories. “I enjoyed the guys and I enjoyed going to football camp, which was always a good time.” But what Doc loved most was beating LaSalle by a point. They beat LaSalle by a point in 1953, but also beat them in 1952, 20-14 in front of nearly 5,000 fans at the “A” Field.
The 1953 victory over LaSalle was Doc’s shining moment of the season, LaSalle scored early in the game taking a 6-0 lead. The lead only lasted a few minutes when Joe Gravinese scooped up a fumble and ran it 38 yards to the end zone to tie the game. LaSalle took the lead with a third quarter touchdown to go up 12-6.
In the fourth quarter St. Matthew’s was at mid-field when Doc O’Connor hit Johnny Maloney for a 50 pass completion placing the ball at the five yard line, O’Connor went off tackle for the tying touchdown. Hissner hit the point with his leg giving St. Matt’s a 13-12 lead late in the game. LaSalle had the ball on the one yard line when the game ended following a stiff goal-line stand from St. Matt’s.
St. Matthew’s High School played LaSalle College High School six times in the early to mid-1950’s going 3-3, all games were played at the “A” Field, formerly called Center Stadium, and the Community Center Stadium. LaSalle played in the rough and tumble Philadelphia Catholic League and always outweighed St. Matt’s teams by at least 10 pounds, in 1953 St. Matt’s was outweighed by at least 15 pounds per man. Beating those Philadelphia Catholic League boys was always sweet, thanks for the memory Doc.
Bob Pickell didn’t play varsity football, but in the fall of 1951 he played junior varsity and one of the great memories he had was beating West Catholic 20-0. Doesn’t sound like a big deal but considering St. Matthew’s had 17 players dressed for the game, and West Catholic had over 50 guys suited up, the victory was pretty sweet.
Brian Turtle from the class of 1991 enjoyed playing for Archbishop Kennedy in 1989-1990, back to back Bicentennial League championship years. When asked about favorite memories Turtle quickly stated he enjoyed “Bull in the Ring,” (That should tell you something about him, let’s play along.) He said that squaring off with Jason Leflar in Bull in the Ring always gave him a lot of confidence for the game. The Saints had a really good team in 1990 going 9-1 on the season losing to William Tennant. During the Tennant game they ran a sweep to Ronnie Keaser, Turtle was the lead blocker on the play and they turned the corner near the Kennedy sideline with one man to block and Brian lunges toward the defender and totally whiffs, missed him clean. Brian said he’s lying on the ground and looks up to see Doc D’Addona leaning down into his face screaming “What the Hell.” Doc was this easy going, fun loving guy, always enjoyed the Good Times with Doc around!
The 1990 team was loaded with talent including Chris Helverson, Joe Hendrzak, Brian Turtle, Rich Pownall, Steve Obrimski, Jason Leflar, Ray Jones, Sam Lawler, Brian Griffin, Mark Kowalczyk, and Chris Specca. Anthony Calvanese was also a member of that championship team in 1990 and noted at the reunion that the success of that team was we entered the field as a team, and we played as a team, nothing from outside the football field was ever carried onto the field, we were a team.
I went looking for Lou Manetti from the St. Matthew’s class of 1951, Lou played football in 1948, 1949, and 1950. As I scanned the room I saw a couple of his classmates including Sal Gambone and Win Dougherty. I also noticed Bobby Braun, Jim McAllister, Mike Mullahy, all guys from the 1970’s. I also noticed Tom Jones, I’m pretty sure he played with the 1973-1974 teams. There was Jeff Stanley, Jim McMenamin, Jimmy O’Brien, and Jim McGettigan, and then I spotted Lou.
Lou Manetti could run like the wind in his day, the 1950 team had six wins and five defeats, but should have been 8-3 with close loses to Lebanon Catholic 25-19, and St. John’s 12-7. Lou explained the best game he ever played in was a 40-19 victory over Pottsville Catholic. It had been more than 20 years since St. Matthew’s played Pottsville to a scoreless tie. The early November afternoon game belonged to Manetti and Bill Kelly, Manetti led the way with three touchdowns with long runs.
Manetti’s biggest memory of his playing days came on a long run during the 21-2 victory over York Catholic. As Lou tells it, “I was very excited about the game, my mother had never seen me play football due to concerns about me getting hurt, and she made the trip to Center Stadium to watch me play against York.” Lou breaks off a run and was streaking for the end zone, (Streaking—He-He!) A defender catches him from behind, grabs him by the pants and pulls his pants down around his ankles as Lou hit the ground. Well the players all rushed out onto the field to surround Lou so he could get his pants pulled back up, (there was only 3,000 spectators at the game that day.) Lou’s mother thought because the players all formed a circle around Lou that he must be hurt, in reality Lou was just trying to get his pants pulled back up. Lou’s mother never saw another game in her life.
And that my friend’s was the beginning of Conshohocken’s Golden Era of football in the 1950’s.
The 1973 team under head coach Chuck Rocconi had a cast of characters fit for Hollywood. There was Art Kehoe, Pat Testa, Kurt Schaab, Steve Schwegal, Matt Sabia, and then we had the tri-captains including Wayne Champagne, Jim McGettigan, and Jeff Stanley. Then there was Brian McCarthy, Joe Paris, Kevin Gavin and of course Don Sabia. Standing close to six feet tall as a senior Sabia had a quickness about him and could often get around the corner chewing up yardage.
I asked him about a light moment during his playing days and he immediately responded, “Well, I remember this time, it was the first game of the year and I broke off a long run that was gonna be an easy touchdown. I looked back and nobody was near me so I turned around and ran the last fifteen yards backwards into the end zone. (Ala Desean Jackson) It was the only time I ever did something like that and after the game I remember my father asking me why I did that.” I’m not sure Don had an answer for his dad but I think he was simply a man ahead of his time, dancing into the end zone backwards is very common place in the NFL today.
On that backwards touchdown game the Saints beat Darby Colwyn at the “A” Field 24-0.
Looking back at the headlines in the Norristown Times Herald more than 40 years ago the headline screamed: “Sabia Leads Kennedy to 24-0 win.” The sub-headline said it all:
“Rushes for 227 yards and four touchdowns”
The Times Herald Sports writer Jon Marks described Sabia’s backwards incident like this.
“Don Sabia had already carried the ball 19 times for 179 yards, including three touchdowns.
He had also made 10 unassisted tackles on defense
and one touchdown saving tackle after an enemy interception on offense.
But now came the climax of a spectacular evening for the brilliant senior.
From the Darby-Colwyn 48 the Archbishop Kennedy halfback took a handoff
and started to sweep left.
A small opening was made in the Darby line (Don Sabia only needs a small opening)
And Sabia turned on his 4.6–40 yard speed, and rocketed through.
By the time he reached the 40 it was obvious he would not be caught from behind.
But the Rams defenders were chasing him anyway.
Suddenly at the 25 yard line Sabia turned halfway around to laugh at the opposition
as he continued towards the end zone.
Then at the 10 yard line he turned all the way around, held the ball high over his head,
And ran into the end zone backwards.
That gave him 227 yards on the night and all 24 points in a
Convincing 24-0 victory for the Saints.
But after the game people must have wondered what had caused a
normally level-headed kid to go into a showboat act like that.
Sabia Explained:
“These guys (Darby) think they’re so great. They were looking past us to start out
and then they were hitting me late after every play.
I just felt like doing something to them.”
*****************************************************
I gotta tell you Don, that’s quite a memory, the article went on to say that Head Coach Chuck Rocconi had no comment about the backwards dance into the end-zone but did say that everything the 5’11, 177 pound flash did before that left him filled with admiration.
St. Matthew’s enjoyed a championship season in 1958 finishing with a 7-1-1 record. The season started with a 7-7 tie with Allentown, St. Matt’s lone score started with a Franny Arnone fumble recovery and scored when quarterback Don DiRico hit George Lochetto at the one yard line leading to a Bill Haines touchdown. Jim Neve, a talented guard kicked the point for the tie. Haines scored three touchdowns in a 37-7 rout against Gloucester Catholic two weeks later.
Talking to Joe Barnyock at the reunion, I asked him about his best memory as a player and without hesitation he said my best memory was beating Bishop Kenrick 12-7 in the second week of the season. It was another game at the Community Field before 10,000 fans, the Kenrick Knights were heavy favorites for the game. Trailing 7-6 going into the final quarter St. Matthew’s mounted the winning drive with just minutes on the clock. St Matt’s took over on their 47 yard line, George Schools called the plays and Haines and DiRico move the ball towards the goal line, finally DiRico scored from two yards out taking a 12-7 lead. Lochetto, Hanger, Fazio DiDonato and of course Joe Barnyock played a tough game in what the newspaper called “A Thrilling Upset Victory by St. Matthew’s High School.”
Barnyock also stated that he enjoyed being around the guys like Jim Neve, Bob DiRicco, Bill Haines, George Schools, Wilson, Clark Bello, Moore and all the other guys. The 1958 Saints went on to crush Bishop Shanahan 38-0, and beat Pottsville Nativity for the title 33-0. After falling behind 7-0 to Conshohocken High School on Thanksgiving Day the Saints scored 26 unanswered points for the borough championship. 1958 was the last time the two schools played each other on Thanksgiving Day due to a Chest Mont League ruling affecting the Conshohocken High School team, the two continued to play each other until 1964, just not on Thanksgiving Day.
I spotted Bart Pettine, class of 1964 hanging out with Bobby Moore not far from the buffet, Bart played in 1961, 1962, and in 1963. I asked him to share a favorite memory from his playing days and all he could do was talk about how talented Bobby Moore was, “He was the finest player I had ever seen or played with,” noted Pettine. In 1963 St. Matthew’s pulled out a couple of close victories including a 13-0 win over Bishop Shanahan. The game was scoreless mid-way into the third quarter when George Farrell sliced off tackle from two yards out, and the second touchdown came after Charley Gambone intercepted a pass in the fourth quarter, several plays later Gambone also scored from two yards out for the win.
The 1963 St. Matt’s team also beat Malvern Prep and although the score was 19-2 the game was a lot closer than the score would indicate. Ciavarelli was the standout for St. Matt’s carrying the ball 19 times racking up 155 yards and a touchdown. The 1963 season was capped off with a St. Matt’s victory over Conshohocken High school beating them in a Thanksgiving Day thriller 25-18.
I ran into Joe Kozeniewski, class of 1970, I asked him about a favorite memory and without hesitation he said the Thanksgiving Day game in the fall of 1969, As Joe put it, “We were like 0-23 or something like that going into the Thanksgiving Day game against Lansdale Catholic and we beat them 12-0, what a way to end the season.” Actually Joe, it was 0-21 over the three previous years, and you didn’t just win 12-0, according to Jim Gauger, a sports writer for the Norristown Times Herald Newspaper at the time, the paper was the Friday edition, the day after the game dated November 28, 1969, Jim wrote, “After losing 21 straight games over the past three years, Whipped—and that is the proper word—Lansdale Catholic 12-0.”
Lansdale was playing in the Inter-County League and had a 4-3 league record and a 4-4 overall record going into the game. The Saints had only scored three touchdowns all year. The two teams played a scoreless first half before Mike DeVito scored a touchdown on a 55 yard run and Vince Flocco scored on a 57 yard interception. A number of players mentioned in the article included Mike DePallo, Bob Baer, Nick DiRenzo, Bill Shirley, Phil Welsh and a number of others.
On a side note, when the whistle blew officially ending the game the referee walked over to first year Saints Head Coach Chuck Rocconi and handed him the game ball, the ref told Rocconi it had been a long season, the season didn’t seem so long as the players walked off a soggy field at North Penn High School on that Thanksgiving Day forty five years ago. Thanks for the memory Joe!
Then there was Dominic Coccia, class of 1977, sitting at a table, (I don’t know who let him out during prime-time tax season, when you’re a highly respected accountant like Coccia you tend to stay busy twelve months out of the year.) I asked Dominic if he had some sort of memory that he managed to hold onto from his playing days, “You bet I do,” was the response. “In 1974 we lost a game to Lower Moreland 41-0, they really ran the score up on us,” And that’s your memory I asked, “well part of it.”
It turns out I went back in my files to re-visit the game, Dominic was right, Lower Moreland scored two touchdowns in the final minutes of play, even calling time out with about thirty seconds remaining in the game, and up 35-0. Following the time out Lower Moreland scored another touchdown with seconds remaining in the game making it 41-0.
Man, that’s a lousy memory I said to Dominic, “Well the second half of that memory was Lower Moreland parading into the “A” Field the following year.” I’m sure head coach Chris Bockrath didn’t need to remind the team of the blowout from the previous season, but I’m just as sure he did remind the team. In a game where Lower Moreland was the defending Lower Bucks champions and was the favorite to win, Kennedy won the game 14-11 with help from Joe Kelly, Nick Sabia, Art Kehoe, Tom Bramowski, Glen Leonard, Mike Connor, Dom D’Addona, and Dennis O’Brien among others.
The Saints scored a first half touchdown on a 17 play, 93 yard drive that took nearly 10 minutes off the clock. Joe Kelly finished the scoring drive with a 9 yard burst up the middle from the nine yard line. Lower Moreland drove to the 7 yard line with seconds remaining in the half and settled for a field goal.
Tom Gare scored a third quarter TD making it 12-3, Kehoe blocked a punt out of the end zone for the other two points and a 14-11 in your face victory.
Now that’s a good memory Dominic!
In 1944 St. Matthews resumed their football program after a 12 year layoff, Charlie Heavey put a team together that wasn’t expected to compete, somebody under estimated Heavey and the Mirrors spirit. I’m not quite sure when or how the school was nicknamed the “Mirrors” but they were referred to as the Mirrors in 1944. St. Matthew’s was a catholic school but the team was stacked with tough kids whose fathers worked in the steel mills, guys like John Burns, James Fondots, Franny Carr, John and Jimmy Gavin, Matt O’Connor, Joe O’Donnell, Ray Borzelleca, Donald Moore, George Lucy and a number of other tough kids were part of the team, Jimmy McTammany, Charlie Beck, Gus Kasapsky and Jim Logan were talented kids on the team as well.
The 1944 team had a very interesting season according to Joe O’Donnell, a member of that team and was credited with contributing to one of the two Mirrors victories. I spotted Joe and asked him about a favorite memory, considering Joe played football 70 years ago, he had some great memories to share, while talking to Joe I got a little concerned about a lot of the younger players in the room, Joe was sharp, remembered details, and talked with spirit, some of the younger guys I talked to weren’t half as sharp as Joe, of course the younger guys without a doubt consumed a little more booze than Joe, but still, Joe was really sharp.
So I asked Joe, in less than a minute give me a couple of good memories from your playing days, well that’s all I needed to say. “First of all the Community Field was under construction so we played all our home games at Villanova University.” The Community Field located at Eleventh Avenue and Harry Street was undergoing renovations, paid for by Albert A. Garthwaite, President of Lee Tires, Lee Tires still owned the field at that time. Joe recalled playing Holy Spirit Catholic in Atlantic City, a game St. Mathew’s lost 12-0. Joe recalled with great enthusiasm a night game played at Albright Collage against Reading Catholic, (It was St. Matthew’s very first game played under the lights) “It had rained like hell most of the day and night,” recalled Joe, “Although we lost the game 7-0, Charlie Heavey had arranged with the Conshohocken Pros, (A semi-professional Conshohocken football team who played from the late 1930’s into the mid 1940’s) to borrow their big heavy winter rain coats, the kind you put over your shoulders with a hood, man we looked and felt sooo-good, the other team and fans were really impressed.”
“Then there was the game we played at Shibe Park in Philadelphia.” It was at this point that I started wondering, has Joe lost it a little bit, my goodness, playing a game at the legendary Shibe Park, home games played at Villanova University, playing in a night game in a sea of mud at Albright College wearing the Pros rain jackets, (Playing night games back then was extremely rare) and what about that game in Atlantic City, was Joe pulling my leg,? We’re talking about a first year team.
I headed for the micro-film library at the Historical Society of Montgomery County, I dialed up the 1944 season, and sure enough, spelled out in the 1944 editions of the Conshohocken Recorder and the Norristown Times Herald, every word that Joe told me was true, Joe had details about each game, he told me about the games Borzelleca and Bob Ehlinger were injured, he told me everything, everything but what a key role he played in the game against St. Patrick’s Fighting Irish” on Thanksgiving Day when the two teams battled to a 7-7 tie. When Ehlinger got hurt O’Donnell replaced him and according to Charlie Heavey it was O’Donnell who played a key role in preserving the tie.
So back to this game at Shibe Park, the atmosphere had all the components of a big college game according to the Conshohocken Recorder newspaper, thousands of spectators screamed and yelled, two large high school bands and scores of cheerleaders with nationally known Shibe Park as the back drop the Mirrors played on a beautiful mid-October afternoon. The park was great, the bands, cheerleaders, and certainly the fans did their part, and then St. Matthew’s took the field and got their asses kicked 32-0 by a much bigger and much stronger Dobbins Vocational School. YO JOE, What the hell happened?
The Mirrors had a very exciting first year, they finished with a 2-5-1 record, the following year the team posted a 7-1 championship season. One final memory from Joe, “We didn’t have locker rooms at the school, every day when school let out we all had to go home, take off our school clothes and put on our football uniforms. I lived at First and Maple Streets, once I had my uniform I had to walk to Sutcliffe Park for practice, and then after we practiced for a couple of hours or when it got dark we would all walk back to our homes.”
I gotta tell ya Joe, I don’t care what the record was, you guys had the best year ever, Thanks for the Memories from 70 years ago.
Andy Franks from the Class of 1981 played for Chris Bockrath in the fall of 1980 and was quick to tell me that the best game of his life was against Jenkintown when he scored the only touchdown of his high school career. “I think the great memories of any football player are just being around the guys, it’s a great time in our lives” noted Franks.
John Boudreau was a talented quarterback who played on the 1982 team and John came to the reunion with a pocket full of memories, but he had one memory sitting at the top of all the other memories. The Saints played Plymouth Whitemarsh in the final game of the season, the powerhouse Colonials came into the “A” Field with a 7-3 season record and a bus-load of talented players recalled Boudreau.
Chris Shaffer was the Colonials quarterback capable of hitting a talented Tony Trave anywhere on the field. Five seconds into the game heads were hanging on the Saints sideline when Terry Phinizy took the opening kickoff 95 yards for a Plymouth Whitemarsh 6-0 lead. However the Saints, led by Boudreau had a little bit of talent on their sideline with Jimmy Borkowski, Andy Mitchell, Mike Giongo, Joe Bello and a number of other players.
So Boudreau’s best memory of his high school playing days was this; it had rained all day and softly throughout the game, the field was extremely slick to say the least, P-W had carried a 20-13 lead late into the fourth quarter. The Saints started a drive on their own 20 yard line and marched 80 yards in 10 plays to pull within a point 20-19. Then Bello scored the touchdown from eight yards out. He made a great shoestring catch on a fourth and three at the Colonials 25 yard line running it to the ten yard line before scoring the touchdown.
The Saints weren’t about to settle for a tie so they lined up for two points, Boudreau dropped back and hit Matt McMenamin who made a great sliding catch giving the Saints the lead and the victory. In the end Joe Bello claimed that the team wanted to win that game for the coaches especially Bockrath and assistant coach Frank Suntheimer.
Hey John, when you make great memories, you always have those memories to recall the rest of your life, and beating P-W my friend is a memory that will never get old.
And finally, a few of my memories, I didn’t get to share my memories at the reunion, I was a little too busy enjoying everyone else’s memories, but I have more than a few good memories. I’ll just give you my top three and remember, I don’t have memories as a player, my memories come from running up and down the sideline with a camera strapped around my neck and a notebook in my hand.
My All Time Number One Archbishop Kennedy Football Sideline Memory!
It was sometime in the late 1980’s, maybe 1988 or 1989, Kennedy was playing Lansdale Catholic at the “A” Field. For reasons unknown apparently Chris Bockrath didn’t like Lansdale Catholic or one of the coaches or something like that, maybe they ran the score up on the Saints during one of their down years, I heard things about why Chris didn’t like them but never confirmed them, I never asked Chris.
So I’m on the sideline, depending on the situation of the game photographers would crowd the line of scrimmage, if it was a third down and long, photographers would expect a pass so we would drift down field maybe 10 or 12 yards hoping to snap a receiver make some kind of dramatic catch, although some photographers would prefer dropping five yards behind the line of scrimmage hoping for a sack, coverage forcing the quarterback to scramble, hopefully in their direction, or a batted pass, maybe an interception that would force the action right into the photographers lens or something like that.
So I’m on the sideline, Lansdale Catholic has the ball, I forget the situation, downs, yards needed, or even the quarter, I have my camera raised, lens pointed at the backfield waiting for what I thought would be a run play. Lansdale Catholic quarterback, (I forget his name) drops back to pass but the play breaks down and he starts racing for the sideline straight in my direction, I’m snapping away in my glory, I guessed right, stayed at the line of scrimmage and I have the perfect shot. (Hold on a moment, I just want to take a minute, and remember what a great photographer I really was, there I was right in front of the play, Greatness!) So two Kennedy defenders hit this kid knocking him ten feet out-of-bounds rolling over him once or twice.
The quarterback was flat on his back and looking a little bit like batman after the hit, and he’s lying right at my feet, I did my best to get out of the way but the play rolled into me, and I’m looking down on this kid wondering if he’s gonna get up.
Out of no-where the Archbishop Kennedy ball-boy runs over in front of me, bends down in the Lansdale quarterback’s face, and yells, “YEA, YEA, YEA” and then spits a hocker down into the kids face, I’m watching this thinking Holy $#1T, this kid just spit a hocker into the quarterback’s face as he’s lying on the Kennedy sideline, and some of the spit got caught on the kids facemask dripping down on his face.
The ball-boys name I think was Kevin Groarke, he must have been all of 12 or 13 years old and I’ll never forget it I’m thinking this kids my effen hero! With the play winding up on the sideline it also brought the referee’s as they were covering the play, the ref witnessed the hocker incident and actually grabbed for his back pocket, as though he wanted to throw a flag, but he looked confused about penalizing the ball boy.
I thought it was a great effort by the ball boy, but as an adult I gotta say that it was a terrible thing to do, but in reality I was in my early 30’s at the time of the “Hocker Incident” and I found to be extremely funny. A couple of plays later I went looking for the kid, I wanted to take a picture of my hero and I was told he was thrown out of the game. I’m not sure if he was welcomed back after that.
It’s an image I’ll never forget, and will always be my greatest sideline memory.
I hope I got his name right and I hope he’s doing well today, I think he was the brother of Dan “Bundy” Groarke who played for Kennedy in the late 1980’s, Good Times!
My All Time Number Two Archbishop Kennedy Football Sideline Memory!
It was common knowledge that newspaper sports writers and photographers had sideline privileges at all area high school football games, I’m sure that goes for football games across the country. All coaches want publicity for their teams, players and schools. It was very common back in the day for kids to send copies of newspaper clippings to area colleges in hopes of some type of scholarship offer to play football. The more times the kids name or photograph appeared in area papers, the better the look he got from the schools coaches.
I not only shot photographs for area newspapers, but I also shot photographs for the school yearbook, and had a checklist from Bockrath of pictures he needed for the Kennedy football banquet, where he would hand out photographs of each and every kid that played that year. (Perhaps a lot of you guys still have those photographs in a scrapbook somewhere!)
Once again I forget the year and even forget the game, but I do remember this, it was an important game being played at the “A” Field, perhaps for a championship, and things weren’t going well for the Saints. Kennedy’s sideline coaches were getting somewhat hostile, a play on the field didn’t go well for the Saints and Doc D’Addona, a coach at the time, spins around hard yelling something about “I told you to watch for the screen” or something like that. As he spun around hard he knocked into one of the sports writers, I’m not sure if it was a writer for what used to be called the “Today’s Post/Colonial” or the writer for the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Inquirer used to have a section that came out on Monday’s and Thursday’s called “Neighbor’s” and on Monday it was called “Neighbor’s Sports Monday” or something like that covering all the high school weekend sports.
I was about five/ten feet away when it happened and when Doc banged into the writer he almost knocked him over but it also knocked Doc off balance, he lost it!
Doc starts racing around the sideline like a mad man throwing all the sports writers and photographers off the sideline cause they were in the way. I think one or two of them tried to challenge Doc about their right to be on the sideline but Doc was having nothing to do with it, everybody out.
A few of the writers and photographers retreated to the opposite sideline where they could work in peace, a few others just left the game. (Maybe one or two, you have to understand that most sports writers didn’t cover the game because they followed or cheered for a particular team, nothing they liked better than going home early on a Friday and telling their boss that a coach threw all the writers out of the game so he has no story)
I retreated to the end zone, but taking pictures at a night football game from ten yards deep in the end zone doesn’t make for good photographs.
I don’t know when, or who told Bockrath about Doc losing it on the sideline and excusing all the writers and photographs, I do know he later heard about it from the Norristown Times Herald. In typical Chris Bockrath fashion he apologized to the Times, and he apologized to me when I informed him of not getting many banquet photos
Doc is a good man and a good coach, and on a chilly evening all those years ago he just lost it in the heat of the game, I think Chris assigned Doc to the top of the announcers booth for a couple of games to coach from the sky with Joe Lewis and Matt Giorgio.
I know, I know, a story only a writer could appreciate.
This book of memories from the reunion has grown a little long, and perhaps I’ll save my number three all-time memory for the next reunion. Former football players have a pocketful of memories, writers and photographers only get a handful of good memories.
Please join Conshystuff.com next week:
We will present the fourth and final installment
of the great St. Matthew’s/Archbishop Kennedy Football Reunion.
Charlie Heavey and Chris Bockrath
