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Thirty-five to 45 years ago, on a typical Sunday in
fall, I’d watch the football team from my high school, St. Cecilia of
Englewood, NJ, from this vantage point of the stadium. At that time, the stands were packed, as you
might expect from a school that looked back to Vince Lombardi for its football
tradition.
Saints has been closed for nearly three decades now,
and the public high school that permitted use of the stadium, Dwight Morrow,
plays its football games on Saturdays. That leaves the stands with a far
quieter feeling than it had years ago. An ideal time, perhaps, to take in the
surroundings on a glorious Sunday when the temperatures were crisp and the
landscape was still glorious.
Watched the Saints beat Brooklyn Prep 14-7 on a beautiful fall day in 1943 ( who had two quick running backs named PATERNO).
ReplyDeleteI’ll never forget the thrill, goose bumps and excitement of walking down the hill toward Winton White Stadium and then you enter the stadium and see all of those gold helmeted Saints warming up on the field in their blue and gold uniforms. Who could ever forget the likes of players like Tony Cirutti, Ken Clare, Larry Higgins, Frank Kushela, Dick Doheney, Billy White, Johnny Degasperis. I was 7 years old and totally in awe of that place and those players.
My Mom and Dad both graduated from Saint Cecelia——Dad was class of 1930 and Mom was Class of 1932. Dad played halfback position on Saints 1929 team and then went on to play four (4) years of college football for Canisius College along with Manuel Varella who was the QB of the 1929 Saints team.
Can still smell the burning leaves in the street on those Sundays as we walked down the hill to the Stadium. Mom and Dad are still watching over that stadium today as they are buried on the opposite side of the stadium in Mount Carmel Cemetary in Tenafly, NJ.