The Football Tradition for the Prep League in
1944:
Now, for the official
article on the BIG GAME played on Sunday, Nov. 19, 1944
Copyright © 1944, The Times-Picayune Publishing Company
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HOLY CROSS BEATS JESUIT 21-6, TO CLEAR WAY TO TITLE
Tigers, Rebs Clash
Sunday
Daly, Choillet Lead
Bengals in Triumph
By
Carol Hart
The Holy Cross Tigers cleared the decks for their city prep
championship battle next Sunday against the Nicholls Rebels when they turned
back the Jesuit Blue Jays, 21-6, Sunday afternoon at City Park Stadium before a
crowd of close to 10,000 fans who were on hand in spite of cold weather.
The Tigers notched their sixth victory against no defeats.
The game, played on a wet field, was thrilling and by no
means one-sided. The Blue Jays
offered the Tigers the stiffest competition they have encountered in the city
prep league and didn’t bow out of the game until three quarters had been
played.
Included in the contest, which saw Coach Lou Brownson score his first victory over a Jesuit team since he took over at Holy Cross, were a 75-yard kickoff return for a touchdown, a 61-yard gallop from scrimmage and a 47-yard payoff pass.
Daly, Choillet Lead Tigers
Captain Rudy Daly and Hillary Choillet led the Tigers to victory. Daly scored two touchdowns and an extra point and turned in his best game of the season. Choillet, though he didn’t add a point to his already large total, was the thorn in the Jesuit side. He was always dangerous when running and equaled his superb performances of the past two Sundays. Substitute end Bob Vetter scored the third Tiger touchdown, and also an extra point, while Ed Robin accounted for the other Holy Cross extra point. Alvin Brinker and Pat O’Sullivan were standouts in a fine Holy Cross line.
Merlin Remmers and Caswell Brown were the Jays’ individual stars. Remmers’ punting was a feature and Brown’s touchdown run gave Jesuit fans something to yell about. Albin Tauzier and Kirby Bernich turned in some good Jesuit line play.
The statistics tell the story of the game. Holy Cross chalked up 12 first downs to four for Jesuit. They gained 210 yards rushing, of which 158 were made by Choillet, alone, to just 83 for the Blue Jays. And in the air, Holy Cross completed three of nine for 93 yards against one completion in seven attempts for 15 yards for Jesuit. The total net gains from scrimmage were 338 total yards for Holy Cross and 98 for Jesuit.
Holy Cross’ first score came late in the first quarter after a recovery of a Jesuit fumble on the Jay 32. Choillet, Daly and Ted Mace led the way on the ground to the four from where Daly plunged over.
The fans weren’t well seated at the start of the second half when Jesuit made a strong bid to get back in to the thick of the fight. Caswell Brown took the kickoff and, picking up heavy interference, raced 75 yards for a touchdown without a hand being laid on him. The “crucial” try for point failed as Remmers kicked wide. Jesuit presented a strong threat after that until Choillet turned the tide of battle with a 61-yard dash from his own eight-yard stripe. Spurred by this, the Tigers went on to score with Daly doing the honors from the seven-yard stripe on a wide end run.
It didn’t take Holy Cross long to score again as dependable Joe Ernst rifled a 47-yard aerial to Bob Vetter for the third and final Tiger tally.
The Blue Jays found themselves deep in their own territory for most of the first period.
Mace made a good runback of Remmers’ kickoff from the 15 to the 38. The Tigers made one first to the midfield stripe but were held and O’Sullivan punted out on the Jay 19.
On third down Remmers kicked back to midfield and, after a 12-yard dash by Choillet, the Blue Jays held firm on the 30, forcing O’Sullivan to kick again. Another good boot went out on the six and the Jays booted again. Remmers got off a good one to the Holy Cross 43 but Mace ran it back to the Jesuit 43.
Once more the Tigers failed to net a first down and, after an attempted pass proved futile, O’Sullivan punted out on the 22. On first down, Remmers got loose for nine yards but was hit hard and fumbled. The Tigers took over on the 32 and drove for a score with Choillet, Mace and Daly leading the way. Choillet picked up 12 to the 20. Daly added seven and Mace made a first on the four. Daly plowed through for the first Tiger score and Ernst tossed to Robin for the point. The first period ended with the Tigers in the lead 7-0.
The second period was scoreless and the half ended with the score at 7-0.
Choillet got free and went for 20 yards at one point and Jesuit made its first first down of the game on bucks by Craig, C. Brown and Remmers. The Jays also made another first on a 10-yard trip by Banowetz later in the quarter and before the half ended the Tigers, too, picked up two more firsts, but neither team could put on a sustained drive for a score in this quarter.
Before the third period got started good, the Blue Jays were back in the ball game. After Daly had kicked to the 20, C. Brown scooped up the pigskin and dashed 75 yards for the Jays’ only score of the game. But in an attempt to tie the game, Remmers’ kick was deflected and the score read 7-6.
After the kickoff went out of bounds, Holy Cross made a first down to the Jesuit 47 on a 20-yard pass from Ernst to Mace and a plunge by Daly. After a variety of penalties by both teams, O’Sullivan punted to the seven and Remmers returned to the 30. ON the play, Mace of Holy Cross was ejected from the game and a 15-yard penalty moved the ball to the 45, but on the next play Jesuit suffered a penalty back to the 30. Remmers got off a beautiful quick kick for 44 yards to the Tigers’ 26.
After Daly gained four, Choillet went for a first on a 21-yard stint to the 49. But on the next play, Butera fumbled and Ford recovered for Jesuit. A 15-yard penalty gave Jesuit a first on the 35. The Holy Cross line held solid and forced Remmers to punt from the 32. Butera returned from the five to the eight. On the next play, Choillet turned in the day’s longest run from scrimmage as he dashed 61 yards before being overtaken by Remmers on the Jesuit 31.
The Tigers went to their second touchdown from here as Choillet led the way in making two first downs to the Jesuit seven. Daly circled end for the score and Ernst pitched to Vetter for the point.
After the kickoff to Monteiro on the 34 Jesuit was held and a pass went incomplete. Remmers punted out of bounds to the Holy Cross 49. Choillet gained four to the Jesuit 47. Vetter went in for Holy Cross and on his first play he took in a 47-yard pass from Ernst to score the game’s final marker. Daly plunged over for the point. The third period ended with the score 21-6 in H. C’s favor.
Like the second, the game’s final period was a back-and-forth affair. The fans had one thrill early in the period when Daly of Holy Cross broke loose and traveled 55 yards for what would have been a touchdown had not a holding penalty nullified it. Instead of a score, the Tigers were penalized 15 yards to their own 30.
Holy Cross registered one first on a 25-yard pass from Ernst to Choillet down to the Jesuit 42 but the advance was stopped there and O’Sullivan booted out on the 19. Jesuit made two firsts as Remmers dashed 19 yards and Brown passed to Remmers for 16 yards up to midfield. Just when it looked like the Jays were driving, one of Brown’s passes was intercepted by Schmalz on the Holy Cross 41. The final whistle sounded with Holy Cross in possession of the ball on its own 45 and a 21-6 score registered in favor of Holy Cross.
The Lineups:
Jesuit (6)
Holy Cross (21)
Curry
L.E.
Robin
Santana
L.T.
O’Sullivan
Tauzier
L.G.
Brinker
Golden
C
Schmalz
Ford
R.G.
Cusimano
R. Brown
R.T.
Stadler
Foreman
R.E.
Rucker
Monteiro
Q.B.
Ernst
Remmers
R.H.
Choillet
C. Brown
L.H.
Daly
Craig
F.B
Mace
Substitutes:
Holy Cross: Butera, F. Duffy, Heap, Vetter, Prats, Hanzo, Buckles
Jesuit: Banowetz, Roushar, Oser, Stringer, Rooney, Foto, Thomas
First Downs: Jesuit 4, Holy Cross 12.
Net Yardage: Jesuit 98. Holy Cross 338
Penalties, Jesuit 52 yards, Holy Cross 115 yards.
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Cumulative record, Jesuit leads the series 17-4-2
Season Record:
Jesuit: (Gernon Brown, Coach)
Peters
65-6
Baton Rouge
13-27 (L)
St. Aloysius
12-25 (L)
Lake Charles
12-20 (L)
Fortier
28-0
St. Stanislaus
52-0
Nicholls
12-13 (L)
Holy Cross
6-21 (L)
Warren Easton
19-7
Season Record: (4-5-0)
Holy Cross: (Lou Brownson, Coach)
Notre Dame (Biloxi) 81-6
Istrouma
13-13 (Tie)
Bogalusa
18-18 (Tie)
Peters
29-6
Fortier
73-0
Easton
39-0
St.
Aloysius
46-13
Jesuit
21-6
Nicholls
0-0
Baton
Rouge
19-29 (L) So La. Playoffs
McComb
28-2 (Toy Bowl)
Nicholls
46-0 (CYO Bowl)
Season Record: (8-1-3)
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