NHS Hall of Fame Profile: The 1937 football team, part one
By Tom Rowe
Sun Contributing Writer
Editor’s note: Today’s look at the 1937 football team is the final profile of the 2012 Norwich High School Sports Hall of Fame induction class. The article will run in two parts with the completion in Friday’s edition.
Perfection!
In an instant, the word conjures up an array of ethereal splendor that rivals Charles Martel’s meeting with Dante in the Heaven of Venus, during the author’s final chapter – “Paradiso” – of his classic “The Divine Comedy.”
Like Dante, all people strive to find that perfect something. It could be the perfect mate, the ideal vacation spot, that most appealing outfit, the ability to ace the big exam or owning the car of your dreams. But, unfortunately, those quests usually hit a quick and very imperfect brick wall.
The world of athletics, however, can produce that much sought-after nirvana. Steeped in numbers crunching, sports has long elevated individuals and teams to mythical heights. For example:
Nadia Comaneci of Romania scored the first-ever 10 on the uneven bars at the 1976 Olympics in Montreal. She would go on to record six more perfect 10s before the Olympics closed.
Twenty-one times during major league baseball – 18 since the modern era began in 1900 – there have been perfect games. The most notable of these gems is Don Larsen’s perfecto back on Oc. 8, 1956 in a 2-0 victory over the Brooklyn Dodgers in Game 5 of that year’s World Series.
Basketball, an afterthought for years, finally inched its way into the headlines when John Wooden’s UCLA cagers started their unparalleled run to success. Besides giving the Bruins 11 NCAA titles, those Wooden-coached ensembles recorded four unblemished seasons – 1964, 1967, 1972, 1973 – to set themselves apart from any other hardwood five.
And, to this day, no NFL team has been able to match the sanctity of Miami’s run to perfection in 1972. The Dolphins went an unprecedented 17-0 overall, outscoring their opponents 440-209 en route to the title in Super Bowl VII.
But, some 19-plus years before Larsen’s claim to fame, a horde of young Norwich men secured their place in local football history by not only recording an undefeated and untied season, but, in so doing, blanked all eight of their foes en route to their perfect campaign.
With the Depression’s tentacles still wrapped soundly around the country, many of the Norwich High students – athletes as well as not – were forced to work either prior to or after school. Yet 40-plus would-be gridders reported for fall practice, 10 of whom were returning lettermen. “We had a lot of good teams back then, but this club was special because we were fortunate to have 18 very good players,” noted head coach Kurt Beyer in an interview with this writer back in 1987. “We could substitute without ever minimizing our strength. They were tough times, but we had tough kids. “Most of these kids worked before or after school, and so when it came time for football, well that was fun.”
In an article in the Wednesday, Sept. 22 edition of The Norwich Sun, then sports editor Perry Browne surmised that, “Spectators at the Alumni Field workouts have agreed that the Purple should have a pretty fair team on the grid this fall.”
Anchoring the starting front line on the left side were Frank “Sonny” Wassung at end, tackle Tom Byrne and guard John “Piker” DiStefano, while completing the front wall on the right were Jim Rotundo at guard, tackle Walt Odenkirchen and Vernon “Yank” Robertson at end. Jerry Farnham and Vince Panaro split most of the season initiating the fray at center. Team captain Burt Palmatier called the shots at quarterback, Sal “Toots” Mirabito was the fullback horse and the halfback duties were filled by Stan Burdnell and Elmo Robertson. First off the bench to spell either Burdnell or Robertson or to make an occasional start were Tom Mirabito and Lee “Bunky” Morris.
That core remained intact throughout the season also because of a much-different substitution rule in 1937. If a player left the game, he could not return until the next quarter, hence the present constant shifting of players in and out of the game did not exist.
Also, of a different nature then was the way team rules were established. Wassung, Palmatier and Rotundo headed a committee for formulating an honor system of training for the season. Thus, the players policed themselves, rather than the school setting down the standards.
The season was set to convene at home on Saturday, Sept. 25 when Kingston came to town and conclude with a road trip to archrival Oneonta on Saturday, Nov. 13. What transpired during those 50 fall days nearly 75 years ago would not only change the lives of the players involved, but Norwich gridiron history forever. A complete synopsis of those eight contests follows.
THE ROAD TO GLORY
Kingston (24-0) – Sept. 25 (Home): With weather more like July 4 rather than four days into autumn, the Purple opened their season under a blazing and scorching sun against the Colonials.
Although Norwich was able to produce seven first downs, en route to a gamewise 15-5 edge, in the opening quarter, neither team was able to cross the goal line. But early in the second quarter, Toots Mirabito broke the scoreless battle with a 1-yard burst. After a Kingston punt, Mirabito and Morris took turns marching the ball to the Colonials’ 10-yard line, from where Mirabito found Burdnell on an aerial strike to up the halftime score to 12-0.
Kingston, bolstered by the intermission, ran off four of its five first downs to start the third quarter, but a fumble recovery by Byrne on the Purple’s 47 ended any further threats by the visitors. On the very first play from scrimmage, the speedy Morris skirted around right end, escaped three potential tacklers and fell in behind interference provided by Mirabito and Burdnell to streak 53 yards for the third touchdown of the game. The final tally of the day was on another pass, this time from Morris to Burdnell.
“I really think the feeling of a good season came about after that Kingston game,” recalled Beyer in that aforementioned interview. “But, I really believe the players began thinking about the undefeated, untied and unscored on season coming home from the Cortland game.”
Both teams made frequent substitutions during the game for experimental purposes and due to the intense heat. Coming in to spell some of the Tornado starters were Dominic “Dusty” Annesi, Fred Burdnell, John Caezza, Glen Cushman, Fred Johnson, Willard Mowry, Armand Ramaccia, Bernie Thompson and Andy Zaia.
A humorous anecdote to the game was intoned by Sun writer Browne in a sideline to the contest. “The majority of fans snubbed the new bleachers for the old ones rather than be sun-blinded. If more new bleachers are to be added on the east side of the grid, some ambitious high school student ought to take on a sun-glass concession.”
Cortland (21-0) – Friday, Oct. 1 (Away): Unlike their home opener, which was played under a scorching sun, the Tornado’s first road game was contested on a warm and beautiful late-Friday afternoon. The game, which was originally slated for Saturday, was moved up a day so that all interested could attend the Colgate-Cornell rivalry in Ithaca.
To accommodate NHS students wishing to attend the game, Norwich principal Russ Hogue announced that senior high sessions would convene at 7:55 a.m. and continue until 12:05 p.m. Those Tornado teens who combined a day of school with an afternoon of football were not disappointed.
Both teams went to the airways often and with considerable success. Norwich, which was 6-for-12 in the passing department, struck first in the opening period when Burdnell pulled in a 10-yard spiral from Toots Mirabito. After Rotundo’s point-after kick, the score remained 7-0 through the first half. Midway through the third quarter, Tom Mirabito produced the second six-pointer on an end run, while Morris hit Wassung on a short slant to cap the scoring. Rotundo, again, added both PATs.
Although the host Purple Tigers completed 13 of 21 pass attempts and lost out on first downs only 11-8, they couldn’t penetrate the Tornado goal as their four incursions inside the Norwich 10-yard line proved fruitless.
Tom Mirabito started in place of Elmo Robertson, but the latter as well as Morris, Cushman, Farnham and Mowry saw considerable action.
“It was a very hard-fought game, and on the way home on the bus the guys got to talking about an unscored on season,” surmised Beyer.
Johnson City (27-0) – Saturday, Oct. 9 (Home): Expected to give the Purple their toughest test of the young season, the Wildcats – undefeated with victories over Nottingham and Onondaga Valley of the Syracuse region – proved to be no more than docile kittens by the time they departed Alumni Field.
Norwich held a 243-90 edge in total yards, and chimed in with 12 first downs to JC’s five, one of which came on an off-sides call against the Tornado in the opening stanza while the other four were produced in the fourth quarter, with the game out of control and a plethora of Purple subs on the grid. For its 33 rushing attempts, JC averaged only 2-plus yards.
That brilliant defensive effort was championed by the tackling of Byrne, DiStefano, Odenkirchen, Panaro, Yank Robertson, Rotundo and Wassung. Also contributing valuable playing time were Annesi, Fred Burdnell, Caezza, Cushman, Farnham, Johnson, Tom Mirabito, Mowry, Ramaccia, Thompson and Zaia.
Norwich’s initial score came following a JC punt; Morris returned the boot 39 yards before he and Toots Mirabito took turns maneuvering the pigskin to the Wildcat 1-yard line. Following the blocking of his backfield mate, Mirabito, Morris scored standing up around left end. Following Morris’ early success, Mirabito took over to ice the contest. Running for one TD in the second quarter, he followed that with a pass to Burdnell in the third before capping his afternoon with a 33-yard pass interception to paydirt. Rotundo and his reliable toe booted three of four conversion kicks.
Despite the shellacking, it could have been worse as Norwich missed out on two other touchdowns because of dropped passes, and another when JC intercepted an errant Purple aerial on its own 7-yard line.
Although only three games into the fall campaign, Sun sports editor Browne proved to be an oracle as well as a well-respected scribe. Writing in the Tuesday, Oct. 5 edition of the local paper, he predicted that, “…if Beyer can get his club past the shoetown battle the Purple will come pretty close to a perfect season.”
An amusing sideline to that victory over JC was the fact that Beyer, fresh off his team’s dismantling of Cortland the previous Friday afternoon, scouted the Wildcats that same night against Onondaga Valley. The next day, while taking in the Colgate-Cornell fray, he ran into the JC assistant coaches who queried why he would be in Ithaca while his squad was playing Cortland. They didn’t know of the game change from Saturday to Friday, so Wildcat head honcho George Ellert made the trek to Cortland for naught.
Binghamton Central (25-0) – Saturday, Oct. 16 (Home): If any one game was the cornerstone to the Purple’s remarkable season, it was the campaign’s midway battle with the Blue Bulldog. Like Norwich, Bingo came roaring into town undefeated, untied, and unscored upon.
Entertaining its second Broome County 11 in a row, the bite of the Bulldog proved to be as harmless as the claws on the previous week’s Wildcats of JC. Outgained 165-22 ½ , Bingo didn’t record a first down until late in the third quarter, at which time the visitors trailed 18-0. Late in the game, however, the visitors mounted a drive that threatened the Purple goal. Utilizing the 1880 sleeper play, the Bulldog almost cracked the elusive Norwich end zone, but Toots Mirabito and Elmo Robertson forced the would-be Bingo hero out of bounds at the 8-yard line. Four subsequent cracks at the line netted seven yards and two feet, and Norwich took over on downs. No team would come closer to scoring the remainder of the fall.
Following that goal-line stand, Toots Mirabito cut through left tackle for three and Palmatier followed suit with 10 more before Mirabito capped the day with an 87-yard scamper to muzzle the Bulldog for good. Rotundo’s lone extra point finalized the arithmetic.
“Toots was more than just the physical leader, he was the spiritual leader of the team, too. He had a great knack for picking up little things on the field,” recalled Beyer. “The play before, where Burt (Palmatier) ran 10 yards, was a fake play where Mirabito got the ball but handed it back to Palmatier. Having watched someone make the tackle who shouldn’t have, Toots called the same play again, but this time didn’t give up the ball.”
Mirabito and Palmatier figured prominently in the Tornado’s other three scores, each one scattered out over the game’s first three quarters. Mirabito teamed up with Burdnell on a 22-yard TD strike in the opening period and added a short plunge just before halftime to up the ante to 12-0 at intermission. After exchanging punts to initiate the third quarter at their own 33, Mirabito knifed through right tackle for 23 yards and Palmatier did likewise to score from 44 yards out with some nifty broken field running to improve the Tornado’s lot to 18-0 before a standing-room-only crowd of more than 3,000.
With Farnham and Panaro sharing the center duties, the Purple used only three substitutes – Tom Mirabito, Morris and Mowry – all day as the hosts held a 12-6 edge in first downs over their Parlor City opponents.
Little Falls (53-0) – Friday, Oct. 22 (Home): Any thoughts of a letdown following their impressive triumph over Binghamton Central, were quickly dispelled as the Purple raced out to a 33-0 cushion after just one quarter of play.
The Mounties, who came in to Tornado town with a pair of wins (Dolgeville and Hamilton) and a scoreless tie with Herkimer, had yielded only eight points all season, those coming in an 8-0 setback to Johnstown. They were no match for the Purple, however, as the latter held an 11-2 edge in first downs en route to scoring in each of the four quarters.
During that devastating first quarter, Tom Mirabito hauled in two passes – one a perfectly pegged goal line spiral from Palmatier to start the numbers brigade and polished off the period with a 9-yard reception from Johnson. Sandwiched in between were a trio of jaunts by Toots Mirabito from 57, 26 and four yards out. Rotundo and Elmo Robertson added PAT kicks, while Toots teamed with Yank Robertson on a conversion aerial.
With the entire Norwich bench seeing action, Johnson scored from the 7-yard line and Elmo Robertson converted the boot to close the opening half at 40-0. Morris tacked on an 11-yard scamper, following a Little Falls fumble in the third period, with Rotundo converting on the extra point.
Since this game was the final home contest of the season, and for the Purple seniors their last Alumni Field fray, the Norwich starters took the field one final time during the game’s closing minutes. Aptly enough, Toots Mirabito aired out a 42-yard pass to Burdnell to cap the day and the season’s most lethal offensive outburst.
The game was played on Friday afternoon as both schools were closed due to a state zone convention for teachers in Syracuse.
Sun Contributing Writer
Editor’s note: Today’s look at the 1937 football team is the final profile of the 2012 Norwich High School Sports Hall of Fame induction class. The article will run in two parts with the completion in Friday’s edition.
Perfection!
In an instant, the word conjures up an array of ethereal splendor that rivals Charles Martel’s meeting with Dante in the Heaven of Venus, during the author’s final chapter – “Paradiso” – of his classic “The Divine Comedy.”
Like Dante, all people strive to find that perfect something. It could be the perfect mate, the ideal vacation spot, that most appealing outfit, the ability to ace the big exam or owning the car of your dreams. But, unfortunately, those quests usually hit a quick and very imperfect brick wall.
The world of athletics, however, can produce that much sought-after nirvana. Steeped in numbers crunching, sports has long elevated individuals and teams to mythical heights. For example:
Nadia Comaneci of Romania scored the first-ever 10 on the uneven bars at the 1976 Olympics in Montreal. She would go on to record six more perfect 10s before the Olympics closed.
Twenty-one times during major league baseball – 18 since the modern era began in 1900 – there have been perfect games. The most notable of these gems is Don Larsen’s perfecto back on Oc. 8, 1956 in a 2-0 victory over the Brooklyn Dodgers in Game 5 of that year’s World Series.
Basketball, an afterthought for years, finally inched its way into the headlines when John Wooden’s UCLA cagers started their unparalleled run to success. Besides giving the Bruins 11 NCAA titles, those Wooden-coached ensembles recorded four unblemished seasons – 1964, 1967, 1972, 1973 – to set themselves apart from any other hardwood five.
And, to this day, no NFL team has been able to match the sanctity of Miami’s run to perfection in 1972. The Dolphins went an unprecedented 17-0 overall, outscoring their opponents 440-209 en route to the title in Super Bowl VII.
But, some 19-plus years before Larsen’s claim to fame, a horde of young Norwich men secured their place in local football history by not only recording an undefeated and untied season, but, in so doing, blanked all eight of their foes en route to their perfect campaign.
With the Depression’s tentacles still wrapped soundly around the country, many of the Norwich High students – athletes as well as not – were forced to work either prior to or after school. Yet 40-plus would-be gridders reported for fall practice, 10 of whom were returning lettermen. “We had a lot of good teams back then, but this club was special because we were fortunate to have 18 very good players,” noted head coach Kurt Beyer in an interview with this writer back in 1987. “We could substitute without ever minimizing our strength. They were tough times, but we had tough kids. “Most of these kids worked before or after school, and so when it came time for football, well that was fun.”
In an article in the Wednesday, Sept. 22 edition of The Norwich Sun, then sports editor Perry Browne surmised that, “Spectators at the Alumni Field workouts have agreed that the Purple should have a pretty fair team on the grid this fall.”
Anchoring the starting front line on the left side were Frank “Sonny” Wassung at end, tackle Tom Byrne and guard John “Piker” DiStefano, while completing the front wall on the right were Jim Rotundo at guard, tackle Walt Odenkirchen and Vernon “Yank” Robertson at end. Jerry Farnham and Vince Panaro split most of the season initiating the fray at center. Team captain Burt Palmatier called the shots at quarterback, Sal “Toots” Mirabito was the fullback horse and the halfback duties were filled by Stan Burdnell and Elmo Robertson. First off the bench to spell either Burdnell or Robertson or to make an occasional start were Tom Mirabito and Lee “Bunky” Morris.
That core remained intact throughout the season also because of a much-different substitution rule in 1937. If a player left the game, he could not return until the next quarter, hence the present constant shifting of players in and out of the game did not exist.
Also, of a different nature then was the way team rules were established. Wassung, Palmatier and Rotundo headed a committee for formulating an honor system of training for the season. Thus, the players policed themselves, rather than the school setting down the standards.
The season was set to convene at home on Saturday, Sept. 25 when Kingston came to town and conclude with a road trip to archrival Oneonta on Saturday, Nov. 13. What transpired during those 50 fall days nearly 75 years ago would not only change the lives of the players involved, but Norwich gridiron history forever. A complete synopsis of those eight contests follows.
THE ROAD TO GLORY
Kingston (24-0) – Sept. 25 (Home): With weather more like July 4 rather than four days into autumn, the Purple opened their season under a blazing and scorching sun against the Colonials.
Although Norwich was able to produce seven first downs, en route to a gamewise 15-5 edge, in the opening quarter, neither team was able to cross the goal line. But early in the second quarter, Toots Mirabito broke the scoreless battle with a 1-yard burst. After a Kingston punt, Mirabito and Morris took turns marching the ball to the Colonials’ 10-yard line, from where Mirabito found Burdnell on an aerial strike to up the halftime score to 12-0.
Kingston, bolstered by the intermission, ran off four of its five first downs to start the third quarter, but a fumble recovery by Byrne on the Purple’s 47 ended any further threats by the visitors. On the very first play from scrimmage, the speedy Morris skirted around right end, escaped three potential tacklers and fell in behind interference provided by Mirabito and Burdnell to streak 53 yards for the third touchdown of the game. The final tally of the day was on another pass, this time from Morris to Burdnell.
“I really think the feeling of a good season came about after that Kingston game,” recalled Beyer in that aforementioned interview. “But, I really believe the players began thinking about the undefeated, untied and unscored on season coming home from the Cortland game.”
Both teams made frequent substitutions during the game for experimental purposes and due to the intense heat. Coming in to spell some of the Tornado starters were Dominic “Dusty” Annesi, Fred Burdnell, John Caezza, Glen Cushman, Fred Johnson, Willard Mowry, Armand Ramaccia, Bernie Thompson and Andy Zaia.
A humorous anecdote to the game was intoned by Sun writer Browne in a sideline to the contest. “The majority of fans snubbed the new bleachers for the old ones rather than be sun-blinded. If more new bleachers are to be added on the east side of the grid, some ambitious high school student ought to take on a sun-glass concession.”
Cortland (21-0) – Friday, Oct. 1 (Away): Unlike their home opener, which was played under a scorching sun, the Tornado’s first road game was contested on a warm and beautiful late-Friday afternoon. The game, which was originally slated for Saturday, was moved up a day so that all interested could attend the Colgate-Cornell rivalry in Ithaca.
To accommodate NHS students wishing to attend the game, Norwich principal Russ Hogue announced that senior high sessions would convene at 7:55 a.m. and continue until 12:05 p.m. Those Tornado teens who combined a day of school with an afternoon of football were not disappointed.
Both teams went to the airways often and with considerable success. Norwich, which was 6-for-12 in the passing department, struck first in the opening period when Burdnell pulled in a 10-yard spiral from Toots Mirabito. After Rotundo’s point-after kick, the score remained 7-0 through the first half. Midway through the third quarter, Tom Mirabito produced the second six-pointer on an end run, while Morris hit Wassung on a short slant to cap the scoring. Rotundo, again, added both PATs.
Although the host Purple Tigers completed 13 of 21 pass attempts and lost out on first downs only 11-8, they couldn’t penetrate the Tornado goal as their four incursions inside the Norwich 10-yard line proved fruitless.
Tom Mirabito started in place of Elmo Robertson, but the latter as well as Morris, Cushman, Farnham and Mowry saw considerable action.
“It was a very hard-fought game, and on the way home on the bus the guys got to talking about an unscored on season,” surmised Beyer.
Johnson City (27-0) – Saturday, Oct. 9 (Home): Expected to give the Purple their toughest test of the young season, the Wildcats – undefeated with victories over Nottingham and Onondaga Valley of the Syracuse region – proved to be no more than docile kittens by the time they departed Alumni Field.
Norwich held a 243-90 edge in total yards, and chimed in with 12 first downs to JC’s five, one of which came on an off-sides call against the Tornado in the opening stanza while the other four were produced in the fourth quarter, with the game out of control and a plethora of Purple subs on the grid. For its 33 rushing attempts, JC averaged only 2-plus yards.
That brilliant defensive effort was championed by the tackling of Byrne, DiStefano, Odenkirchen, Panaro, Yank Robertson, Rotundo and Wassung. Also contributing valuable playing time were Annesi, Fred Burdnell, Caezza, Cushman, Farnham, Johnson, Tom Mirabito, Mowry, Ramaccia, Thompson and Zaia.
Norwich’s initial score came following a JC punt; Morris returned the boot 39 yards before he and Toots Mirabito took turns maneuvering the pigskin to the Wildcat 1-yard line. Following the blocking of his backfield mate, Mirabito, Morris scored standing up around left end. Following Morris’ early success, Mirabito took over to ice the contest. Running for one TD in the second quarter, he followed that with a pass to Burdnell in the third before capping his afternoon with a 33-yard pass interception to paydirt. Rotundo and his reliable toe booted three of four conversion kicks.
Despite the shellacking, it could have been worse as Norwich missed out on two other touchdowns because of dropped passes, and another when JC intercepted an errant Purple aerial on its own 7-yard line.
Although only three games into the fall campaign, Sun sports editor Browne proved to be an oracle as well as a well-respected scribe. Writing in the Tuesday, Oct. 5 edition of the local paper, he predicted that, “…if Beyer can get his club past the shoetown battle the Purple will come pretty close to a perfect season.”
An amusing sideline to that victory over JC was the fact that Beyer, fresh off his team’s dismantling of Cortland the previous Friday afternoon, scouted the Wildcats that same night against Onondaga Valley. The next day, while taking in the Colgate-Cornell fray, he ran into the JC assistant coaches who queried why he would be in Ithaca while his squad was playing Cortland. They didn’t know of the game change from Saturday to Friday, so Wildcat head honcho George Ellert made the trek to Cortland for naught.
Binghamton Central (25-0) – Saturday, Oct. 16 (Home): If any one game was the cornerstone to the Purple’s remarkable season, it was the campaign’s midway battle with the Blue Bulldog. Like Norwich, Bingo came roaring into town undefeated, untied, and unscored upon.
Entertaining its second Broome County 11 in a row, the bite of the Bulldog proved to be as harmless as the claws on the previous week’s Wildcats of JC. Outgained 165-22 ½ , Bingo didn’t record a first down until late in the third quarter, at which time the visitors trailed 18-0. Late in the game, however, the visitors mounted a drive that threatened the Purple goal. Utilizing the 1880 sleeper play, the Bulldog almost cracked the elusive Norwich end zone, but Toots Mirabito and Elmo Robertson forced the would-be Bingo hero out of bounds at the 8-yard line. Four subsequent cracks at the line netted seven yards and two feet, and Norwich took over on downs. No team would come closer to scoring the remainder of the fall.
Following that goal-line stand, Toots Mirabito cut through left tackle for three and Palmatier followed suit with 10 more before Mirabito capped the day with an 87-yard scamper to muzzle the Bulldog for good. Rotundo’s lone extra point finalized the arithmetic.
“Toots was more than just the physical leader, he was the spiritual leader of the team, too. He had a great knack for picking up little things on the field,” recalled Beyer. “The play before, where Burt (Palmatier) ran 10 yards, was a fake play where Mirabito got the ball but handed it back to Palmatier. Having watched someone make the tackle who shouldn’t have, Toots called the same play again, but this time didn’t give up the ball.”
Mirabito and Palmatier figured prominently in the Tornado’s other three scores, each one scattered out over the game’s first three quarters. Mirabito teamed up with Burdnell on a 22-yard TD strike in the opening period and added a short plunge just before halftime to up the ante to 12-0 at intermission. After exchanging punts to initiate the third quarter at their own 33, Mirabito knifed through right tackle for 23 yards and Palmatier did likewise to score from 44 yards out with some nifty broken field running to improve the Tornado’s lot to 18-0 before a standing-room-only crowd of more than 3,000.
With Farnham and Panaro sharing the center duties, the Purple used only three substitutes – Tom Mirabito, Morris and Mowry – all day as the hosts held a 12-6 edge in first downs over their Parlor City opponents.
Little Falls (53-0) – Friday, Oct. 22 (Home): Any thoughts of a letdown following their impressive triumph over Binghamton Central, were quickly dispelled as the Purple raced out to a 33-0 cushion after just one quarter of play.
The Mounties, who came in to Tornado town with a pair of wins (Dolgeville and Hamilton) and a scoreless tie with Herkimer, had yielded only eight points all season, those coming in an 8-0 setback to Johnstown. They were no match for the Purple, however, as the latter held an 11-2 edge in first downs en route to scoring in each of the four quarters.
During that devastating first quarter, Tom Mirabito hauled in two passes – one a perfectly pegged goal line spiral from Palmatier to start the numbers brigade and polished off the period with a 9-yard reception from Johnson. Sandwiched in between were a trio of jaunts by Toots Mirabito from 57, 26 and four yards out. Rotundo and Elmo Robertson added PAT kicks, while Toots teamed with Yank Robertson on a conversion aerial.
With the entire Norwich bench seeing action, Johnson scored from the 7-yard line and Elmo Robertson converted the boot to close the opening half at 40-0. Morris tacked on an 11-yard scamper, following a Little Falls fumble in the third period, with Rotundo converting on the extra point.
Since this game was the final home contest of the season, and for the Purple seniors their last Alumni Field fray, the Norwich starters took the field one final time during the game’s closing minutes. Aptly enough, Toots Mirabito aired out a 42-yard pass to Burdnell to cap the day and the season’s most lethal offensive outburst.
The game was played on Friday afternoon as both schools were closed due to a state zone convention for teachers in Syracuse.
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