OCTOBER 29, 1951
CHAPPELL SHINES AS COWBOYS DOMINATE IN PRAIRIE PARK OPENER
You could not have written a better script for the grand opening of Prairie Park. The new home of the Kansas City Cowboys was sold out as the Cowboys, after winning each of their first four games on the road to start the season, delighted the local faithful with a 29-3 win over the Los Angeles Tigers. The victory leaves the Cowboys at 5-0, and a full two games ahead of second place Detroit as they bid to win their second consecutive American Football Association title.
It was classic Pat Chappell, as the Cowboys star signal caller threw for his season high 237 yards while completing 13 of 24 pass attempts on the afternoon. Chappell's favourite target on the day was Collie Lovacs, the often overlooked end who is usually the third choice to catch deep passes behind Ernie Orr and Bill Tammaro. On this afternoon Lovacs had four catches for a game high 98 yards. Pat Hill took care of the ground game, as the speedy back ran for 86 yards and also caught a 21 yard touchdown pass to put the game away early in the fourth quarter.
Second place Detroit failed to keep pace with the powerful Cowboys in the race for the West Division crown. The Maroons, who surprisingly won three of their first four games, came up short at home against the Cleveland Finches, falling 20-9 as the Cleveland ground game proved to be far too much for the Maroons defense. Former St. Blane star Mark Ravellette led the way for the visitors, gaining 122 yards on 25 carries and scoring a pair of touchdowns. Larry Breig also passed the century mark as the 30-year-old veteran ran for 110 yards in the win.
More bad news for the Pittsburgh Paladins, although they did rebound from last week's loss with a 27-7 win over St Louis. Wally Dotson, their star halfback, returned for the victory over the Ramblers after missing each of the last two weeks with an injury, during which time the Pioneers offense fizzled. The worry now is that quarterback Dusty Sinclair will miss at least next week's game with New York after he was hurt late in the St Louis win.
Josh Briggs kicked the game winning field goal in overtime after the Philadelphia Frigates scored on a 14-yard Ed Paulson to Victor Nash touchdown pass in the final minute to force the extra frame as the Frigates trimmed New York 20-17 spoiling a 267 yard passing day by Stars quarterback Dick Metcalf.
Chicago is still searching for its first victory of the season after Boston dumped the Wildcats 21-12, dropping the Chicago squad to 0-5 on the year. A pair of fourth quarter touchdowns in a span of less than two and a half minutes was the key to the Americans third victory of the season.
Finally in the nations capital Sam Gerst ran for 168 yards and two touchdowns to pace the visiting San Francisco Wings to a 21-10 victory over the Washington Wasps. Gerst leads the AFA in rushing yards on the season with 685.
HAWKS BLANK DARNELL STATE TO REMAIN UNBEATEN
The Lubbock State Hawks, overlooked for a New Year's Classic game a year ago despite a perfect 10-0 record, are doing their best to ensure that won't happen again this season. The Hawks stretched their winning streak to 15, including 5-0 this season, with a 16-0 shutout victory over preseason top ten Darnell State. Quarterback Jesse Costner led the way as the lanky Lubbock State T-formation trickster tossed two touchdown passes in the second half to break open what for the first thirty minutes was a defensive struggle. The victory leaves the Hawks at the top of the Southwest Alliance with a 2-0 section record and all but ends any section title hopes for the Legislators, who are 0-2 in conference play after being upset by Amarillo Methodist last week.
Speaking of New Year's Classic, Detroit City College and Redwood are the early favourites to meet in Santa Ana for the annual East-West Classic. Each is 3-0 in section play after the DCC Knights thumped Minnesota Tech 31-14 while the Mammoths stampeded over Rainier College to the tune of 48-7. Out of the Great Lakes Alliance things have not gone as well for Detroit City College as the Knights are just 3-2 overall but the Mammoths have matched their perfect 3-0 section record with 3 out of conference victories and, at 6-0, hold down the 5th spot in the latest top ten rankings.
The Lincoln Presidents may have something to say about DCC's intentions of making the trip to Santa Ana for the third time in six seasons. Lincoln has never been invited to southern California for New Years but the Presidents are 5-0 and ranked third in the nation after their 14-9 victory over Great Lakes Alliance rival Indiana A&M. Lincoln is 2-0 in section play and play the Knights this coming Saturday at home in Springfield, IL. At stake may well prove to be the Great Lakes Alliance title.
While Cumberland remains the top team in the nation after the Explorers blanked Cookeville State 37-0 to run their perfect record to 5-0, most of the talk in the south was centered on Georgia Baptist after the Gators, who were a dismal 5-6 a year ago, tamed the Bluegrass State Mustangs by a 48-3 score. Another school to keep an eye on is Maryland State as the Bengals are also 5-0 and ranked in the top ten. Their most recent triumph was a 34-7 rout on the road in New Orleans over Bayou State, a win that left an impression that may bring the Bengals back to Louisiana for a Cajun Classic engagement in eight short weeks.
Finally, news this week that Rome State and their scandal depleted roster finally earned a victory as the Centurions shutout Henry Hudson 10-0 to end a nearly unprecedented stretch of 4 consecutive losses to start the season.
WEEKEND COLLEGE FOOTBALL RESULTS
EAST
Rome State 10 Henry Hudson 0
St. Blane 45 Whitney College 14
Pierpont 17 Annapolis Maritime 13
Sadler 23 Brunswick 12
George Fox 19 Empire State 17
St. Pancras 24 Brooklyn State 10
Penn Catholic 38 Ferguson 20
Liberty College 24 Huntington State 7
Boston State 34 Conwell College 10
Grafton 38 Dickson 10
St. Patrick's 43 Ellery 0
Bethlehem College 31 Bigsby College 20
SOUTH
Cumberland 37 Cookeville State 0
Georgia Baptist 48 Bluegrass State 3
Maryland State 34 Bayou State 7
Baton Rouge State 17 Opelika State 0
Central Kentucky 20 Western Florida 3
Noble Jones College 24 Commonwealth Catholic 10
Mississippi A&M 17 Miami State 3
Alabama Baptist 20 Northern Mississippi 0
Coastal State 14 Columbia Military Academy 0
Bulein 23 Potomac College 23
Mobile Maritime 31 Charleston (IL) 17
Charleston Tech 24 Chesapeake State 14
Eastern State 30 Carolina Poly 17
Alexandria 47 Salisbury Christian 14
Cowpens State 21 North Carolina Tech 21
Lexington State 44 Central Carolina 10
Richmond State 23 Petersburg 12
MIDWEST
St. Ignatius 31 Pittsburgh State 3
Lincoln 14 Indiana A&M 9
Central Ohio 13 Western Iowa 0
Wisconsin State 17 St. Magnus 0
Detroit City College 31 Minnesota Tech 14
Daniel Boone College 20 College of Omaha 17
Iowa A&M 34 Lambert College 24
Lawrence State 41 Eastern Kansas 9
Waltham Meridian 13 Central Illinois 3
Queen City 35 Texas Panhandle 10
Wisconsin Catholic 38 Ohio Poly 12
SOUTHWEST
Lubbock State 16 Darnell State 0
Oklahoma City State 43 Boulder State 31
Travis College 17 Red River State 3
College of Waco 56 Valley State 0
Payne State 37 Topeka State 6
Arkansas A&T 34 Sunnyvale 21
Abilene Baptist 37 Canyon A&M 6
Eastern Oklahoma 16 Northern Minnesota 10
FAR WEST
Northern California 45 Lane State 16
Coastal California 17 Amarillo Methodist 17
Redwood 48 Rainier College 7
Spokane State 41 Portland Tech 3
California Catholic 19 Minns College 13
San Francisco Tech 62 San Diego Navy 0
Tempe College 34 El Paso Methodist 0
Colorado Poly 55 South Valley State 7
Mile High State 27 Utah A&M 6
College of San Diego 31 McKinney State 6
Cache Valley 24 Custer College 13
Wyoming A&I 27 Provo Tech 16
DUKES KEEP WINNING, VALS KEEP LOSING
The two Canadian based teams in the NAHC kept their streaks alive as the league completed its third week of the season. The streak is a good thing in Toronto where the first place Dukes remain perfect on the season. Toronto played just once this week but came out on top, dropping Detroit 4-3 for the Dukes sixth win a row to begin the campaign. Dukes star center Quinton Pollack had three points in the game and leads the league with 11 points on the season.
The streak is not a good one for Montreal as the two-time defending Challenge Cup champions continue to struggle. The Vals were defeated three times last week and have lost five in a row, dropping Montreal to last place in the NAHC with a 2-6-0 record. Montreal has played the most games in the league but has also surrendered the most goals - and by a wide margin with 25 against but it was the offense that let the Valiants down this week. Montreal scored just once and was shut out in back-to-back games.
NAHC RESULTS FROM LAST WEEK
MONDAY OCTOBER 22 Detroit won its third in a row, downing the defending Challenge Cup champions 4-1 behind a two goal, one assist outing from Ben Witt. As seems to always be the case this season, goaltender Millard Touhey was busy in the Detroit cage as Montreal outshot the Motors 42-26 in the game. The loss was Montreal's third in a row.
WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 24
Boston 3 at 2 New York : 19-year-old rookie defenseman Ben Voyechek scored his first career goal and assisted on a second Boston tally as the Bees nipped New York 3-2. It was the first NAHC points for Voyechek, who was selected third in the summer NAHC draft. Jacob Gron and Robert Walker also scored for the Bees while Orval Cabbell and Joe Martin replied for the Shamrocks.
THURSDAY OCTOBER 25
Montreal 0 at 2 Chicago : Norm Hanson stopped all 20 shots he faced for the league's first shutout of the season as the Chicago Packers blanked Montreal 2-0, handing the Valiants their fourth consecutive defeat. Max Ducharme and Jeremy MacLean each had a goal and an assist to pace the Chicago offense.
SATURDAY OCTOBER 27
Detroit 3 at 4 Toronto : Toronto remained perfect on the season, improving to 6-0 as the Dukes held on to edge Detroit 4-3. Quinton Pollack scored twice, to give him a league leading 7 goals on the season. Pollack also added an assist while his linemate Lou Galbraith had three helpers.
SUNDAY OCTOBER 28
Montreal 0 at 1 New York : Tom Brockers stopped 39 of 40 New York shots but it was not enough to stop the Valiants from losing for the fifth consecutive game as the New York Shamrocks claimed a 1-0 victory. Rusty Mullins scored on the powerplay midway through the third period to account for all the offense. Alex Sorrell was perfect in the New York net but faced just 15 shots.
Boston 3 at 1 Chicago : After starting the season winless in five games, the Boston Bees won for the second time this week, handling Chicago 3-1. Oscar James made 33 saves whie Craig Simpson, Conn Cundiff and Willie Beane were the Boston goalscorers. Tommy Burns had the lone Chicago marker.
UPCOMING GAMES
MONDAY OCTOBER 29
Toronto at Detroit
New York at Montreal
WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 31
Montreal at Toronto
THURSDAY NOVEMBER 1
New York at Chicago
Boston at Detroit
Toronto at Montreal
SATURDAY NOVEMBER 3
Detroit at Montreal
New York at Toronto
SUNDAY NOVEMBER 4
Boston at Chicago
New York at Detroit
DUKES SKATE TO SIXTH STRAIGHT WIN
Toronto continued their hot start skating away with a 4-3 victory Saturday night over the visiting Motors from Detroit in front of 13,550 in what was the Dukes only game last week. The key to the victory for the Dukes was special teams. They scored on 3 of 6 man advantages while only allowing the Motors 1 power play goal on 5 chances.
Toronto took a 2-0 lead into the dressing room after the first on a pair of power play goals by Quinton Pollack, both within 15 seconds after a Motors' player was sent off for boarding. Both teams played a wide open style in the first with a total of 27 shots on goal and Dukes veteran netminder Gordie Broadway turned aside all 16 shots he faced in the period. The second twenty was a little tighter checking with each team scoring once, both goals were scored while on the power play. Nick Tardif narrowed the gap to 2-1 just before the six minute mark before Carlson's 4th of the year restored the two goal lead at 12:10. The third was mirror image of the first with both teams testing the opposition's netminder often with high quality shots. Adam Vanderbilt scored his first of the season at 4:24 knocking home a stray rebound. The scored remained 3-2 until Dubois' first made it 4-2 at 15:02 on a goal mouth scramble in front of Detroit goaltender Millard Touhey. Detroit did not back down throwing everything into a desperate attack, they were rewarded with a 117 seconds left in the game with a Vincent Arsenault goal, a marker coming once again after the Dukes defense could not clear a puck from the crease. Broadway shut the door to secure the win in a highly entertaining game for those on hand.
Coach Barrell- "We escaped again thanks to the solid work between the pipes by Broadway. I thought we had a good week of practice but the Motors showed us there is still work to do in our zone, we cannot be giving up over 40 shots a night then expect to win night in, night out. Offensively we are fine though guys have to start picking up their checks faster after the other team gets possession of the puck. We go into Detroit Monday before a home and home with the Valiants Wednesday, Thursday then finish the week at home to the Shamrocks, tough four games this week. Quinton has 5 goals, 2 helpers in 2 games against the Motors, I expected they will have something new in store to try to shut him down at Palladium on Monday. We have to work on giving the guys in net a little more support, Scott, Gordie have been outstanding so far though we have to cut their workload. Time to get back to work."
WHITNEY COLLEGE FAVOURED IN TWIFS AIAA CAGE PREVIEW
The 1951-52 collegiate basketball season is just a couple of weeks away from its opening tip-off and by all accounts it is expected to be a banner season for the Whitney College Engineers. The Engineers, who won their second-ever AIAA tournament five years ago but have not advanced past the second round since, have a loaded roster that may just be the most talented group in all of collegiate basketball.
Federal Basketball League scouts will be watching the Engineers very closely all season as the early rankings from the OSA, which handles the central scouting duties for several professional sports leagues, names a pair of Engineers in 1950-51 All-American forward Solly Morris and center Edd Petty as its top two prospects for next year's Federal League draft.
Morris was the top high school recruit in the nation three years ago when he arrived on the Chicago campus of Whitney College from Chattanooga, TN. He has been a three starter for the Engineers, a freshman All-American, the Great Lakes Alliance player of the year last season as a junior when he was also named a first team All-American. Petty, a 6'9" center from Texas who averaged 10.5 points per game a year ago, is a perfect sidekick for Morris. There are also a pair of talented guards in junior Sam Doane, a hometown product from Chicago's Lakeview High School, that also earned preseason All-American accolades, and senior Bill McCaffrey. Rounding out the starting five is junior forward Vic Jennings, a reserve each of the past two seasons who is expected to play a key role this year.
There will be plenty of competition for the Engineers and not just in the Great Lakes Alliance, from which we had two other schools crack our preseason top ten. The biggest threat to a Whitney College national title may well come from the west coast where Rainier College and Coastal California hold down the number two and three spots on our preseason rankings.
The Majestics always seem built for success, having not missed the AIAA tournament since 1933 and winning three national titles in that span. This year's team will rely heavily on a pair of juniors in guard T.J. Grimm, who was an All-American last season, and forward Doc Daniels. The Dolphins are the defending National Champions, having finally broke through and won a title after decades of close calls that came up just short. Star scorer Chris Martines has graduated by look for Gary Moore and Tookie Brown to pick up the slack. Moore, along with fellow Coastal California sophomore Herm McShane are already on the radar of Federal Basketball League scouts.
Number four on our preseason top ten list is Western Iowa. The Canaries seem to always field a competitive team and have reached the National Semi-Finals each of the past two seasons, falling to Coastal California in the title game a year ago. Their best season may well be a year from now with a trio of young stars in sophomore Leo Beck, and juniors Dick Landry and Tim Jacobus leading the way.
Rounding out our top five is the Carolina Poly Cardinals, the powerhouse school of the South Atlantic Conference. The Cardinals won it all eight years ago and reached the quarterfinals last season - the third time in the past four years they won at least two tournament games. They have produced a number of talented guards in recent years highlighted by current Toronto Falcons star Major Belk and this season is no exception. The Cardinals strength will be the backcourt duo of senior Art Radcliff and sophomore Charlie Glidewell.
We go back to the West Coast Athletic Association for the sixth team on our list. That would be the Redwood Mammoths who will go as far as the shooting of junior guard Hank Adkins will take them. The California product averaged 14.4 points per game as a sophomore and is expected to exceed that total this time around. The Mammoths missed the tournament a year ago, but were AIAA champions in the spring of 1948.
Number seven is Liberty College as the Bells try to rebound from an awful season a year ago. The independent school missed the tournament for the first time since 1934. From 1935 until last year they won three AIAA titles and reached the title game on three other occasions. Those three trips to the finals came with either Ward Messer or Luther Gordon leading the offense but with both gone last season was a struggle although they did still finish with 21 victories. Junior Bernie Stainbrook has some experience as a starting center now but even with that no one will ever mistake him for Messer or Gordon. However, they do possess an elite guard in junior Joe Cesarini. The Miller Place, NY, native is a gifted shooter who we have named to our preseason All-American team.
At 8th on our list we have the Central Ohio Aviators who returned to the tournament last year after a one-year absence. They need a strong showing just to survive in the competitive Great Lakes Alliance but with the junior combo of guard Charlie Stark and forward Lee Woolridge, from nearby Cincinnati, we think the Aviators may fly high this year.
Charlie Barrell and the Noble Jones College Colonels are slotted in at number nine. The school led by Barrell, when he was a sophomore and a dynamite freshman center named Jim Graybeal two years ago had a perfect season and won the national title. They made a much quicker exit from the tournament last season but we expect Barrell, who averaged 11.5 ppg a year ago, to have a big season in his last hurrah at college sports before he moves on to the Cincinnati Cannons, although there is always the possibility a Federal Basketball League team or an American Football Association club convinces the three sport star to leave baseball behind for a different calling.
Rounding out our top ten is another coast school in CC Los Angeles. The Coyotes won it all in the spring of 1946 and reached the title game two seasons later. Last year was the 16th consecutive season they qualified for the tournament but bowed out in the quarterfinals. There is no elite superstar to carry the team but rather this is a well coached balanced group that will spread the scoring around between forwards Gus Barnett and Del Marmaduke, center Ken Vaught and guards Allan Clark and Mack Blaha. A team that relies heavily on local talent as seven members of the current roster including expected starters Barnett and Blaha, are Los Angeles natives.
Other schools to watch this season include the Detroit City College Knights, Indiana A&M Reapers, North Carolina Tech Techsters, Brunswick Knights, Annapolis Maritime Navigators, Chesapeake State Clippers and Frankford State Owls.
Here is the This Week in Figment Sports preseason AIAA All-American team.
FEDERAL CAGE CAMPAIGN SET TO TIP OFF
The Washington Statesmen will begin their quest for a third straight Federal Basketball League championship when they face the Philadelphia Phantoms tomorrow night in one of four games on the opening night docket. The Statesmen, with a deep and balanced club led by veteran center Ivan Sisco, were pressed to the full seven games before finally knocking off Toronto in each of the past two league finals but will have their work cut out for them this time around if the OSA predictions are to be believed.
The league scouting service tabs the Statesmen to finish dead last in the five team Eastern Division and miss the playoffs for the first time since 1937-38, back in their debut season in the old American Basketball Conference. OSA, which is the official league scouting service for each of the four major team sports, is calling on the Boston Centurions to finish in first place in the East, with Baltimore second followed by Philadelphia and New York. The top three teams in each division qualify for the playoffs.
The scouting service is very high on the Toronto Falcons chances of reaching the league finals for a third straight season. It calls the Falcons the team to beat in the Western Division with Rochester and Cleveland finishing second and third. The service believes the Detroit Mustangs and Chicago Panthers will each miss the playoffs.
COUGARS SIGN STRONG AS COACH
The Chicago Cougars have introduced a name very familiar to baseball fans as their new third base coach. That would be slugger Mahlon Strong, the five-time FABL all-star who was most valuable player of the 1935 World Championship Series. The often-injured slugger, who spent probably a quarter of his career on the disabled list, still managed to play 1,900 FABL games with the New York Gothams and Pittsburgh Miners and accumulated 2,242 career hits including 279 homeruns. Strong had been out of the FABL spotlight the past two seasons but was still playing and a pair of productive years with the Portland Green Sox of the Great Western League after the Gothams elected not to resign him following the 1949 season.
Now 42 years of age, Strong not only played for the Green Sox the past two years, he was also their manager which allowed him to gain experience before joining the Cougars. It is expected that Strong will be on the short list of FABL managerial candidates in the coming years.
RECENT KEY RESULTS- A busy week of boxing with a number of highly touted fighters in action. It got started Wednesday in Buffalo where 25-year-old rising welterweight Brian Pierce rebounded nicely from a loss to Rudy Perry in his last outing. The California native knocked out Clarence Broderick in the second round of their bout to run his record to 19-4-1. It was just the third time that Pierce has won by stoppage.
- On the same night in Oakland, Ca., veteran welterweight Artie Irwin scored a unanimous decision over experienced west coast fighter Jamie Rotz. Irwin, a New York City native, runs his record to 31-10-1 while Rotz drops to 40-14.
- Saturday night at Keystone Arena in Philadelphia, Tommy Cline staked his claim for the heavyweight title now vacated following Hector Sawyer's retirement. Cline, 26 and a top contender in the division, improved to 20-4 after knocking out another potential contender in John Jones, who drops to 20-3-1.
- In Pittsburgh, welterweight Ben Burns returned to the ring for the first time since losing by TKO to world champion Danny Rutledge in early June. The Rutledge loss was the first of Burns career, but the 25-year-old bounced back nicely with a strong effort in scoring a unanimous decision over John Bolton (22-7-2)
UPCOMING MAJOR FIGHTS- October 30- Lakeside Auditorium, Chicago: former welterweight champ Mac Erickson (22-5) meets Dave Sullivan (28-13-1)
- November 3 - Kansas City, MO: Heavyweight contenders Brad Harris (20-2-1) and Evan Rivers (19-2-3) meet
The Week That Was
Current events from the week ending 10/28/1951
- After Britain added reinforcements to the Suez Canal area, Egypt began steps to move its military to war preparedness and formally demanded that the British pull out of the area immediately, calling British occupation of the Suez a "shameful violation" of the UN charter.
- The Soviet envoy to Egypt met with the Egyptian Foreign Minister for two hours last week and there is speculation that the Russians have offered the Egyptians arms, but Cairo denies that armament affairs discussed.
- Winston Churchill has returned to power in Britain after his Tories claimed 317 seats in Commons, to 293 for the Labor Pary of now former Prime Minister Attlee.
- An "infant A-bomb", the smallest United States atomic explosion on record, was set off in the dessert near Las Vegas this week. A let-down to those expecting to see another brilliant flash of light, it was a big thrill to scientist working to better control the atom and its power.
- More reports of Allied success in the air of Korea, with multiple reports of dozens of Communist fighter planes being shot down in jet battles, including one that is said to be the largest jet battle in history.
- Everything appeared set to finally resume Korean truce talks as soon as Red negotiators ratify a security agreement. Unfortunately, little progress was made as the UN negotiators made it perfectly clear the proposed buffer zone cannot not be considered "any further" as it was hard earned ground gained by combat and will not give it up.
- President Truman says that Congress has failed to give the administration adequate tools with which to deal with inflation.