The Bold Brave Men of Archbold: 1956

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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.
Chorus: 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 Scot Shafer era. 64 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”.


(My primary sources for this series is the Post Standard Archive, which also includes the Herald Journal, various publications I have collected, including Street & Smiths and the NCAA Guide, Ken Rappoport’s The Syracuse Football Story and The Nittany Lions, The Terrapins by Paul Attner, Syracuse University Football by Michael Mullins and various internet sights- including Upperdeck's - as noted.)

 

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THE BIG BREAK THROUGH

1956 was the break-through year of the Schwartzwalder Era. Ben had taken over a 1-8 team from 1948 and gone 4-5 in his first year in 1949. They improved to 5-5, then 5-4 before the apparent breakthrough in 1952, when we went 7-2 losing only to a service team and national champion Michigan State and winning the Lambert Trophy as the best team in the east. But it was a down year of the east with perennial power Army laid low by the cribbing scandal. The Michigan State loss was a huge blow-out, 7-48 and the Orange Bowl was even worse, a 6-61humilation vs. Alabama. Everybody concluded that Syracuse wasn’t much of a team, despite their mild success. 5-3-1, 4-4 and 5-3 seasons followed. We were still pretty much irrelevant. But there were signs for those who looked for them. Wins over Army, (which was back on its feet) and West Virginia, who had become a power under Pappy Lewis were impressive. Schwartzwalder had been building up the talent in the program. And one of his players would become the greatest running back in the game’s history.


The glory era for Ben was 1956-67. The Orange went 89-31-1(.740), the 7th best major college record in the country during that stretch:

http://football.stassen.com/cgi-bin...=1956&end=1967&rpct=30&min=5&se=on&by=Win+Pct

Four of the teams ahead of us were what would be called “mid-majors” now. Bowling Green was actually a small college team until 1962. Dartmouth dominated the Ivy League in that era. It hadn’t been a formal conference until 1956 and in that year the member schools de-emphasized football. They are now FCS schools, of course. Arizona State was in something called the Border Conference and Wyoming in the Skyline Conference before becoming charter members of the Western Athletic Conference in 1962. The Sun Devils didn’t really make it big until the 1970’s when they became the Boise State of that era and then joined what became the Pac 10. Wyoming never made that move. The only teams ahead of Syracuse in the period that would now be considered “BCS teams” would be Mississippi and Alabama, both of whom neither used nor played anyone who used black players. In this period of a dozen years, Syracuse out-performed Texas, Arkansas, Ohio State, LSU, Oklahoma, Auburn, Penn State, (against who we were 8-4), Florida, Southern California, Tennessee, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Miami, Florida State and Michigan.


It was helpful that one-platoon, limited substitution football prevailed through most of this period. That required far fewer players: even the kickers were not specialists: they were the best kickers among the position players. Traveling squads were often less than 40 players. There isn’t a single key player form that period that wasn’t from New York State or an adjacent state: Jim Brown, (Manhasset), Jim Ridlon, (Nyack), Ron Luciano, (Endicott), Maury Youmans,(Mattydale), Roger Davis, (Ohio), Art Baker, John Brown, (New Jersey), Fred Mautino, (Pennsylvania), Al Bemiller, (Pennsylvania), Ernie Davis, (Elmira), Dick Easterly, (Syracuse), John Mackey, (Freeport), Walt Sweeney, (Massachusetts), Dave Meggyesy, (Ohio), Jim Nance, (Pennsylvania), Wally Mahle, (Pennsylvania), Pat Killorin, (Watertown), Floyd Little, (Connecticut), Gary Bugenhagen, (Clarence), Larry Csonka, (Ohio), Jim Cheyunski, (Massachusetts), Tony Kyasky, (Connecticut), Art Thoms, (New Jersey), etc. These players grew up as fans of the program- or at least they had Syracuse on their short list from early on. It made them easier to recruit. An ageing stadium and lack of other facilities didn’t matter nearly as much as they do today.


With two platoon, (unlimited substitution) football, you needed to fill a two deep on both sides of the ball and have situational players and specialists. Teams sometimes now have 100 or more players on their rosters, including walk-ons. They have to recruit from all over the country to fill those rosters. Most of the players have barely heard of the school and hardly cared about it until serious recruiting began. When they come here, we need to dazzle them with the stadium and facilities to get them interested. Back then all you needed was a coach who knew what he was doing. And we had one.

 

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PREPARING FOR THE SEASON

Ben Schwartzwalder was happy that the school was letting him hold spring practice sessions, rather than following the Ivy League, which had banned the practice. Most of SU’s opponents were practicing in the spring and it gave the Orange parity in that area. He was happy about something else, too. “Schwartzwalder is pleased to notice the increased interest of Jimmy Brown in spring work-outs. Last year Jim didn’t participate in the drills, devoting his entire time to track and lacrosse. However, although he doesn’t report in pads, Brown is at grid workouts for the first half hour each afternoon before reporting to the stickwielders. He is perfecting his timing on running plays.” Speaking of timing, in the southern hemisphere, their summer is our winter and the Melbourne Olympics were scheduled for November. Jim Brown was seriously considering going there to compete in the decathlon. But he decided not to and to concentrate on his football career. That was the best news of all for Ol’ Ben.


Herald Journal columnist Jack Slattery reported on “the first time I had ever seen Jimmy Brown play lacrosse. Too see that big boy thunder down the center of the lacrosse field armed with a lacrosse stick can’t be described in any other term than awesome. …Brown is the one that draws gasps of amazement from the crowd. When he gets the ball cradled in his stick and starts in the direction of the goal he literally explodes. Jimmy doesn’t wear pads as do other players. The size of his shoulders fooled me and it wasn’t until just before the end of the game that someone pointed out that Jimmy doesn’t wear shoulder pads. “ Jack noted that the sophomore goal-keeper, Oren Lyons, “looked every bit the part of an All-America goal tender. He handles his job with such nonchalance that he sometimes appears bored with it all. His work doesn’t affect the spectators that way, though.”


A picture in the paper showed Ben supervising a blocking drill. The caption read “Little Ben gets ‘em started”. The article reported that 80 candidates reported for spring practice. It was a bigger squad than we’d seen before, “both in numbers and physically as well…the Orange looked like they had some speed afoot.” Another picture showed Ben directing players to climb ropes, a conditioning drill he favored. That summer Ben did his two weeks in the Army reserve “advanced command and general staff schools”. He was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel but admitted to “being somewhat dazed with the enormity of being a soldier in the up-to-the-minute, modern fashion”.


In June Frank Woolever of the Herald-Journal reported that advance ticket sales were no less than four times greater than in 1955 and season tickets were selling at twice the 1955 rate. “Maybe a $19.50 outlay for the same pew for the five home games is not such a foolish investment….The keen interest in collegiate football here is a healthy sports sign. It indicates to school authorities the fans approve the schedules being arranged and adds a vote of confidence in the combined abilities of the versatile coaching staff. Bantam Ben Schwartzwalder may be guilty at times of emitting extra loud moans over the rugged charts but friends who should know say the aggressive little leader loves it all…. It may sound boastful but the experts are hinting Schwartzwalder has 25 over-the-average boys ready to return and take up the downward march on the Archbold field turf for touchdown-land.”


60 players showed up to begin fall drills on August 26, (20 candidates had been voted off the island.). Ben scheduled drills six days a week with Sundays off. There were also “blackboard and movie sessions”. “Heading the list of returnees is Jimmy Brown, the bread and butter halfback who received All-American and All-East recognition from a number of sources following the 1955 campaign. As a senior, the 212 Manhasset, New York athlete should be ready for a banner season.” Actually, Jim’s fall practice was delayed for a week while he recovered from a bad case of the mumps.


Also returning were Jim Ridlon who could play end or halfback, guards Ed Bailey, Rudy Farmer, Mike Bill and Ted Warholak, centers Bill Brown and Joe Krivak, tackles Jerry Cashman, Chuck Strid and Jim Podraza, ends Don Althouse and Dick Lasse, quarterback Ferd Kuczala, halfback Ed Ackley and fullbacks Gus Zaso and Alan Cann. One concern was Kuzala’s shoulder, which was coming off surgery: he was our only experienced quarterback. Ridlon was described with Brown as perhaps the most gifted halfbacks playing on the same college team this fall. These players had had considerable success but also considerable frustration in going 4-4 and 5-3 the two previous years. They were ready for a bust-out season in 1956.


Joining them were some promising but untested sophomores: quarterback Chuck Zimmerman, a local high school hero at CBA who transferred back from Fordham, Dan, (aka Chuck), Fogarty, another quarterback,(whose father had been one of the famous “reindeer Five” basketball teams at SU in the alter 20’s), end Tom Stephens, guard Ron Luciano, (yes THAT Ron Luciano), tackle Maury Youmans, (of North Syracuse High School), halfbacks Ernie Jackson and Dean Danigelis. An article listed Luciano as 6-3 222, John Seketa as 6-2 216 and Roger Groce as 6-0 222 and said they were an indication of the size and strength of the sophomore class.

 

[SWC75]

I have both the Street and Smiths and NCAA Guides from the 1956 seasons. In the Guide, Murray Olderman of the Newspaper Enterprise Association said “Syracuse, eager to form a combine with the East’s other top independents, might scare them off with material like the versatile Jimmy brown , who could be the big name back in this sector…Syracuse, tougher than it’s 5-3 slate last year indicates, should make Floyd Schwartzwalders’s dozenth season on Piety Hill festive. Few backs can be classed with Brown, both strong and elusive and surrounded by familiar faces.” (Ben’s ‘dozenth’ season was 1960,not 1956).


In Street and Smiths Jesse Abramson of the New York Herald-Tribune noted that Syracuse might have won the eastern title the year before except for the Penn State loss, where a 20-7 lead turned into a 20-21 defeat in the late-going. He said that Ben Schwartzwalder “isn’t one to shrink from challenging the best” and that “his current vehicle (is) both faster and deeper” than the 1955 team. “Jimmy Brown, 212 pound workhorse left half, durable and hard-running, is heading for a big senior year, operating behind a more mobile line and complemented by other good backs, provided the new boy at quarterback delivers as the director of the unbalanced T.” That was a battle between Kuzala and Zimmerman. “Jimmy Ridlon converted to wingback last year but literally knocked back to end by Maryland when he suffered a concussion, is installed at right half for his defensive quality as much as his running and receiving. He caught only 6 passes but 5 were for touchdowns.” I guess ends don’t’ get hit as hard as backs. Abrahamson noted that the line averaged an impressive 205 pounds per man. He also described the schedule as “murderous” and said that Syracuse had resumed spring practices to prepare for it. There were two small pictures of Syracuse players, Brown and Kuczala, both portraits.


The Herald-Journal got a new sports columnist just before the season began, Arnie Burdick, who had been the SID at Syracuse. In one of his first columns, he described the high expectations SU fans had for the season:


“The Salina Street quarterbacks are rolling in expectation these days. Old faces that have been missing for decades are coming out of the woodwork and climbing aboard the Syracuse bandwagon. And the full-throated, husky cheers all sound something like this “BEN SCHWARTZWALDER’S LOADED.” Not with whiskey, but with football players…Ben, admittedly is high on his eighth Orange squad that will be reporting for drills on the Hill, September 1 but unlike a good many of the well-wishers, his feet are still touching the ground. Twenty three years in the coaching game makes a fellow realistic- makes him aware of the shortcomings and pitfalls- makes him realize that a key injury here plus a costly mistake there and the whole bloomin’ mess might come part at the seams.


No matter how long fans or sportswriters have been at it, most of them have short or convenient memories. They like to dream, for instance, that every Saturday this fall will be a replay of the Army and West Virginia games of a year ago: they like to forget how Maryland out-speeded the Orange and Pitt over-powered them. And, as luck would have it, Maryland and Pitt open Syracuse’s new season, both away from home to make matters worse…Whipping the Black Knights and the Mountaineers was something special. They were the shots in the arm that the Hillmen have been searching for ever since their Orange Bowl bubble was ed so violently by Hurricane ‘Bama three years ago. Those big wins made believers out of the “Show-Me” fans and it meant, basically, that the Orange belonged with the Big Boys….


Ben’s brand of football is exciting and daring because it’s unorthodox much of the time. As often as not, Orange quarterbacks will go against the book and run on fourth down plays when a punt is due. Or they’ll pass from deep in their own territory when more conservative football is dictated. This catches up with him every now and then, like last year’s Penn State game. But it wins games, too, like the Fordham affair of 1952, when Pat Stark hit Art Trolio with a sleeper pass from his own end zone. Gus Pfan sort of likes it that way, for he doesn’t know what’s coming next.


Win, lose or draw, though, the best thing that Schwartzie’s teams do is play good, hard, bruising, aggressive, old-fashioned, rough-tough football. They block and tackle with fire. All good teams do. And this year, the Orange should have even more bounce to the ounce, for they should have gained a lot of poise and confidence from playing footsie with the Big Boys and not coming off second best….No longer should the Orange hold an opponent in awe as they did Maryland last year nor should they get exhausted as they did late in the games against Pitt and Penn State. …a deep bench is a must if the Hillmen are to be successful in the league that they’re now operating their store.”