Tuesday morning quarterbacking: Merger in 1961 meant no English-Classical showdown

The Powder Puff games are history, and it’s onto Thanksgiving.We pay a lot of attention to all the things that happen on Thanksgiving ? all the upsets, all the memorable games, turns of events, etc.But oddly enough, it’s been 50 years since something didn’t happen on Thanksgiving. Fifty years ago, Classical did not play English. Together, they played St. Mary’s. And lost.What was also noteworthy about that game, in particular, is that future Red Sox star Tony Conigliaro played on that St. Mary’s team.Lynn’s Bob Keaney – in an email to The Item – recalled the quirky year.Said Keaney, Lynn’s public school teams were all in down cycles by 1961. It had been a while since Harry Agganis had patrolled Manning Bowl for Classical, and the Tippy Johnson and “Pistol Pete” Pedro eras were history at English and Lynn Trade, respectively.Lynn at the time had the three high schools, plus St. Mary’s, and a fifth in St. Jean’s, so the talent was spread pretty thin.So, it was decided to combine all the public school teams into one in hopes of getting some of the “Glory Days” back. It didn’t exactly work out that way.The three programs merged to form the Lynn Lions, and because of the conglomeration of schools, all the leagues associated with the three teams expelled them.This forced citywide athletic director Elmo Benedetto to schedule a full slate of non-league games,The coach of this group was Bob Jauron (whose son, Dick, a water boy on the team, later became one of the area’s best athletes ever).But rather than blow the competition away – the way everyone thought they would – the Lions were 2-6 heading into Thanksgiving. Some of the names on that team? Bill Hollow, who ran a successful appliance business in Lynn for years, was a captain, as were Bobby Nash, George Caithness and Dick Condos. Other names: Dave Giarla, Charlie Campbell and Mike Chiaradonna, Joey Silvonic, Mel Willard, Charlie Flamer, Richie Benedetto, Tom Abernathy, Ed Laurino, Al Bogart, Jackie McClory, Frank Carbone, Dick Gaudet, Frank McNeil, and Wayne Jauron, the coach’s other son, to name a few.Still, the move caused as many problems as it purported to solve. Kids who would have normally played didn’t, and – judging from the record – there wasn’t much chemistry.The Lions went into the Thanksgiving Day game as the Goliaths to St. Mary’s Davids ? and if you know your Bible, the same thing happened in 1961, too. David slew Goliath, 22-6, with Conigliaro, Tom Iarrobino, Freddy Burt and Billy Martin.And starring for the Marians – as they were called at the time – were Richie Nobrega, Jim Driscoll, Dick Corcoran, Phil Randazzo, brothers Mark and Paul Cavanagh (Paul ended up going to English the next season, became an FBI agent, and died tragically in a plane crash in 1990. English’s field house is named in his honor), Paul Calvani, Bill Kaloust and Ed Lipson (that was his daughter, Lynda, who, after attending Bishop Fenwick and North Carolina, became a US Olympian in track and field).The experiment only lasted a year. By 1962, it was back to the way it was before, and the Classical-English rivalry resumed.And it would appear pretty safe to say that’s a good thing. There have been many memorable games in the last 50 years, including the one where ninth grader Tim Frager scored five touchdowns to beat English (Matt Durgin’s senior year at Classical), the 1976 game where the two teams were vying for a Super Bowl (Classical won, 7-0), the one in the late 1980s where both teams came into the game without a win and a late field goal won it; and so many more, up to and including last year when English stunned the heavily-favored Rams.So that’s why, even though it’s been 100 years since the games began, there have only been 99 of them.So it’ll be Happy 100th next year ? and Happy Thanksgiving to everyone this year.And again, a special thanks to Bob Keaney for digging up all this information.Steve Krause can be reached at [email protected].