The Bold, Brave Men of Archbold 1954: Fordham

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In the days of old, when knights were bold
Every city had its warrior man.
In the days of new, when fights are few
You will view them from a big grandstand.
In our college town one has great renown
If the game of football he should play.
With his pig-skin ball he is cheered by all,
He's the Saltine Warrior of today.
The Saltine Warrior is a bold, bad man,
And his weapon is a pigskin ball,
When on the field he takes a good, firm stand,
He's the hero of large and small.
He will rush toward the goal with might and main
His opponents all fight, but they fight in vain,
Because the Saltine Warrior is a bold, bad man,
And victorious over all.

We are early in a new era in SU football- the Doug Marrone era. 60 years ago, another era began- the Ben Schwartzwalder Era, during which SU rose from its greatest depths to its greatest heights, and then all the way back down again. It was the era into which I was born, the one I remember from my youth. I can still recall listening to the games on the radio and waiting until Tuesday to see the grainy black and white films of the previous Saturday’s games on the local news. The music played over these highlights was not “Down, Down the Field”. It was “The Saltine Warrior”. My Dad thought he knew the beginning of it and would sing “The Saltine Warrior was a bold, brave man”. I later found that the line was “bold, bad, man”. But that’s not the way I learned it and it’s not the way I like it. My heroes were not “bad” men. They were “brave” men. They were the “Bold, Brave Men of Archbold”.

 

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THE BUILD-UP

The Fordham Rams had been playing football since 1882 and in the 1920’s and 30’s they had been one of the top programs in the East, playing before sell-out crowds in the Polo Grounds and Yankee Stadium. Famed for their line “The Seven Blocks of Granite”, (one of whom was Vince Lombardi), they had four straight 0-0 ties with Pittsburgh at a time when the Panthers were a major national power under Jock Sutherland. One of those was against the second ever AP (writer’s poll) national champion in 1937. The Rams were ranked #4 in the nation that year. They lost to Texas A&M 12-13 in the 1941 Cotton Bowl, and beat Missouri 2-0, (yes, 2-0) in the 1942 Sugar Bowl. SU had never beaten the Rams at the Polo Grounds, (or any other team at that venue since 1923). If you were to ask people in 1954 who the more prestigious football program was: Syracuse or Fordham, they would likely have picked the Rams.

But things were not going well at Fordham in the 1950’s. The team was costing the school money rather than making it for them. They’d been 7-15-2 since the beginning of the 1952 season. Sadly, the school had made the decision to give up the sport at the end of the 1954 season. This was not their last game- they had a game scheduled in the Polo grounds vs. Villanova on 11/27- but it would be the last game against the Orange, who were, in any case, looking for new opponents to test themselves against.

Rocky Pirro had scouted the Rams in their game vs. Holy Cross, which they had barely lost 19-20, and warned against a let-down following the Colgate game, such as happened last year when the team lost the finale on the road to Villanova. He said that the Rams are “far from the poor squad their record would indicate.“ That’s pretty faint praise. Billy Reddy was also wary of déjà vu: “That’s the trouble with the game. We saw what happened last year, after Syracuse beat Colgate. The Orangemen went to Philadelphia to play Villanova, and they didn’t look like the same players who had won the climax contest. A Villanova team which had no business to turn the trick beat a Syracuse team which didn’t have it’s mind on the business at hand.” Bill Reddy suggested that in future the Syracuse-Colgate game might end the SU season as a “Thanksgiving Day fixture”.

A dozen SU seniors would be playing their last game for the Orange: Backs Ray Perkins, Bill Wetzel, Vince Vergara, Art Trolio, Sam Alexander and Mickey Rich; Lineman Paul Slick, Mike Skop, Joe Cappadonna, Paul Reimer, Paul Kernakian and Joe Orzehowski. Alexander was expected to miss the game due to a knee injury. Fullback Don Laaksonen had a “puffed up ankle” and was questionable for the game.

Perkins was the team’s leading rusher with 429 yards on 81 carries, (5.3) but “soph Jimmy Brown, one of the most powerful runners ever to wear Orange”, had gained 385 in 64 games, (6.0). Mickey Rich had completed 17 of 52 passes, (.327) for 234 yards while Eddie Albright was 5 for 20 for only 47 yards. That was our total passing attack in 1954.

Fordham was noted as a passing team with Dick Broderick throwing to Bob Donahue and Bill Liptack. Dick Ruth was a good fullback while Andy Romeo and Joe Palmieri manned the halfback positions. But their biggest threat was end Andy Nacrelli who had led the team the previous year with 28 catches. This year he had 23 catches for an impressive 470 yards. He’d also punted for a 36.9 average, fourth best in the East. SU had given up 7 TD passes in 7 games but four of them came vs. Boston. U. “Coach Ben Schwartzwalder and his staff feel that in Jimmy Brown, Ray Perkins, Bill Wetzel, Vin Vergara and Billy Micho, Syracuse has the weapons to control the ball against the Rams.“

On Friday there was a report that Nacrelli was in the hospital with a virus. The next day it was reported that Paul Slick of Syracuse had tripped down the steps of Slocum Hall and sprained his ankle, “Syracuse University’s chances to finish the season with a .500 record diminished considerably. The Carbondale, Pa. senior has been one of the mainstays of the orange line.” Halfback Sam Alexander, fullback Don Laacksonen and quarterback Mickey Rich were also “among the limping.”

The Varsity Club held a dinner for the team on the Thursday night before the game. The players were introduced univocally before a film presentation of some highlights of the season. The players got up and filed out before the projector began to whirl. Art Trolio was asked why they weren’t staying for the film show. “No thanks, we see them often enough. And, brother, do we ever see them slowly!”

Traveling squads were getting bigger: Ben Schwartzwalder announced that 55 players would be traveling to New York. In this one platoon era, less than 40 players was more the norm for a traveling squad. The fact that it was the last game for the seniors, including walk-ons may have had something to do with that. Sam Alexander made the trip even though he wasn’t expected to play.

Fordham chose to wear white at home so SU brought it’s orange jerseys on the road for the first time. The Big Apple was shrouded in fog so it was possible that a passing game would be problematic.

 

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THE GAME

“A warm, cloudy day turned into an almost dark one and , though the game ended at close to quarter to four , the day was so dark it was difficult to tell the numbers on the soiled jerseys.”

It was not a day for the passing game. The Orange attempted three aerials and completed only one- to a Fordham Ram. The home team managed to complete 7 of 13 but for only 56 yards. They also had an interception. “The Orange line crashed the Fordham passes so effectively that their passing game was nullified. It wasn’t until late in the fourth period that Fordham made any appreciable progress and in that drive it scored it’s lone touchdown.” Syracuse won the game with the running attack, pounding out 255 yards on the ground to 49 for the Rams.

Syracuse moved to the Fordham 46 with in the opening drive but a bobble recovered by Wetzel slowed the drive and they punted to the Fordham 23. The Rams moved the ball to the 45 but them fumbled. A long gain on a double reverse was nullified by a holding penalty and SU had to punt again to the Fordham 31.

Cal Smith hit Dick Broderick so hard he fumbled and Jerry Cashman pounced on it for the Orange at the 27 “Jimmy Brown ran to his right and shook off three tacklers to move the ball to the 17...three Fordham players had a hold of Brown but the big boy shook them off and ploughed to the 17. Perkins slanted to the 9. The next play saw Perkins bang his way into the end zone on an inside reverse.” That “inside reverse” would be the famous Syracuse scissors play where the quarterback fakes to one back going off tackle in one direction and spins, handing the ball to another back shot slants in the other direction. (It’s the sort of thing you can do with more than one running back in the backfield.) Brown’s conversion made it Syracuse 7 Fordham 0, eight minutes in.
Talk about time of possession: due to a typographical error, the New York Daily News reported that “The Orange sized on a Fordham miscue on the 27 and in three DAYS was over for the first score.” Fatigue may have been a factor.

SU got a scare when Brown fumbled on the Fordham 41 and, “on the first play, Palmieri outran the last Orange defender and grabbed a pass from Broderick and went all the way into the end zone. Unfortunately, for the Rams , they were offsides and the touchdown play was nullified.” One reason Palmieri may have been able to outrun the Orange defenders is that he was the one who was offsides.

After a Fordham punt, Big Jim bolted for 36 yards on the return to the Fordham 39. Perkins and Wetzel alternated 9 carries until Bill went over from the one. Brown again converted to make it 14-0.

“Fordham moved the ball to the Syracuse 27 and there three consecutive pass plays went awry as the Orange line led by Cashman charged the passer.” Syracuse took over on downs and then drove to the Fordham 17, despite having a 21 yard run by Trolio called back for another holding penalty. But Eddie Albright was sacked and the clock ran out before the Orange could score for the third time in the half.

Bill Wetzel returned a third quarter punt for 38 yards to the Fordham 46. Runs by Perkins, Wetzel and brown got it to the 17 but Andy Romeo intercepted a pass in the end zone to shut down the threat. “The Rams couldn’t get rolling and, on an attempted pitch-out, Tom Richardson jarred quarterback Gene Callahan and the pitch went wide of the intended receiver. Jimmy Brown attempted to pick it up and kicked it toward the Ram goal. Richardson finally recovered on the 32.” Vince Vergara ran it to the 19 and runs by Vergara and Perkins gained another first down on the 9. “The gainer was on an inside reverse, which Ray worked very effectively all afternoon.” Perkins then took it to the 5 and “Vergara plunged into the end zone for his second score as a Syracuse University player and the final score of the 1954 season for the Orange“ This time Jim missed the conversion. But it was 20-0 and Fordham seemed no threat so Ben went with his sophomores, the guys who would have to replace those lost seniors in 1955, the rest of the way.

Joe Orzehowski intercepted a Fordham pass early in the fourth period and returned it to the Ram 32. I’ll let Bill Reddy explain what happened next: “With sophomore quarterback Jack Pannucci operating at quarterback and with Syracuse in possession of the ball on the Fordham 32, Pannucci handed off to Billy Micho for a two yard gain. On the next play, Micho again was the ball carrier but his short gain on this play was nullified and Syracuse was penalized 15 yards for clipping. Besides the delay, while the penalty was being marched off, there was another delay because Joe Orzehowski was injured and he had to be helped off the field. When play was resumed, the officials ruled that it was fourth down, although only two plays had preceded it.”

The Rams then went 65 yards in 8 plays for their only score. “Bill Lipak made a brilliant, one-handed catch of Broderick’s pass for a 30 yard gain and Andy Nacrelli grabbed another good for 12 yards”. But the key play was an old-fashioned “Statue of Liberty” play from Broderick to Hanlon that gained 16 yards to the 7 yard line. Two runs by Romeo broke the shut-out, allowing the Rams to extend a streak they were proud of: they had scored in 46 consecutive games. He also kicked the conversion to make the final Syracuse 20 Fordham 7. Syracuse kept it on the ground and ran the clock out to end the game and the season.

The win enabled the team to achieve a .500 record after a 1-3 start. “After winning the opening contest with Villanova, the Orange fell before Penn State, Boston University and Illinois in consecutive engagements. Loss of three games in a row offered a problem for Schwartzwalder to convince his boys that they still had the ability to win.” He did so and the Orange would not have a losing season for 18 years.

Fordham had one more game, literally, before their football history came to a close. Villanova, starting with opening loss to Syracuse, had lost 9 straight games by a combined 54-297. But the Rams players must have ceased caring for the Wildcats routed them 41-0, ending their streak of scoring in 46 straight games and everything else in their major college history. A decade later, the school started a club football team that grew into a Division III program and finally into the 1AA/FCS program that they are today. They have never played Syracuse again.

Bill Wetzel closed out his injury-plagued career by leading the team with 74 yards rushing in 12 carries. Ray Perkins had 70 in 17, Vince Vergara added 52 yards and his touchdown while “Jim Brown, although he wasn’t as sensational as he had been in the Cornell and Colgate games, gained 53 yards and converted two of his three conversion attempts.”

The photographic coverage of the game in local papers was limited to three pictures. The best one showed a photographer on the side-lines with an old-fashioned tripod getting a close-up shot of Ray Perkins knocking Fordham’s Bob Biscaha out of bounds in the first period. The two players are coming right at the intrepid cameraman but the caption assures us that he managed to get out of the way and save himself and his camera from any damage. But the picture he took does not appear in the paper. In another Fordham’s Dick Broderick leaps with Syracuse’s Tony Richardson for a pass, both in similar poses, Broderick with his left arm up and Richardson with his right. It looks like a football Rorschach test. Both failed- to come up with the ball. The other is a great action shot of Bill Wetzel straight-arming Biscaha on his big punt return. He’s stepping between him and at least two other tacklers while on the ground behind them is a Syracuse blocker and the man he has just knocked over, looking up at the play. The Orange is orange, with that being the color of their jerseys, pants and helmets, (hey, it beats grey!). The stripe over the helmet is blue and so is the trim but the numbers are white. The Rams Have white jerseys with dark numbers. Their helmets and pants appear to be some kind of lighter color. Fordham’s’ traditional colors are maroon and white. The pants could be maroon but the helmets are clearly a lighter color but not white. Checking the “helmet project”, I think the helmets are gold. They must have looked very much like Boston College.

Jack Slattery predicted a fine pro career for Ray Perkins, whom he said ranked with Penn State’s Lenny Moore as one of the two best backs in the East. “Should he decide to play professionally, he should develop into one of the really fine defensive backs even at an early stage of his career. More offensive skill will be developed later.” Our Ray Perkins doesn’t appear on ProFootballReference.com, (there’s a more famous one who played for Alabama and later coached the Giants).

Slattery did have praise of an SU back who would make it in the NFL: “One the first touchdown drive Brown’s strength and determination enabled him to run out of the arms of three tacklers who had excellent shots at him and just couldn’t hold on to the big fellow. Brown, in his last two performances stamped himself as a future great. Improvement during his junior and senior years will make him out to be one of the finest backs in the country.”

Ben and his coaches stayed in the New York for an affair at Toot Shor’s put on by the Football Writers association. Then they attended the Sunday game between the Giants and the Rams at the Polo Grounds, (Big Blue moved into Yankee Stadium in 1956), which the Rams won 17-16. Ted Dailey was not at the Fordham game. Instead, he was in Pittsburgh scouting SU’s next opponent. Ben Schwartzwalder was already preparing for the 1955 season.
　
My primary source is the Post Standard Archive. I also used Street & Smiths 1954 football preview, Upperdeck’s site for roster numbers and Jim Brown‘s autobiography, “Out of Bounds“.