Turkey, dressing and pigskin
What do you plan to do today, this Thanksgiving Day? Sure, you are going to have a big dinner and then stretch out and sleep it off, or maybe relax in the easy chair and watch whatever NFL teams are playing. Maybe you’ll enjoy a family get-together for visiting and reminiscence. Sounds like my own type of day.
While all this is taking place, somebody in the older age bracket might remind the others of a time when Thanksgiving Day meant something else in a local sense.
How many others can recall a few years back when Thanksgiving Day plans called for a local football game as well as an excuse for gluttony. There might be a game in the morning, or early afternoon, and a big dinner afterward.
There are still a few football fans around who can remember when old rivals like Masontown and German Township would schedule a game on the holiday, and when a couple of them reminisced a few days ago, it gave me another chance to dig back into the old files.
Back on Thanksgiving Day, 1938, Masontown was scheduled to play at German Township. Their two previous holiday games had been a scoreless tie and a 7-0 Masontown win, and in the week leading up to this scheduled meeting, Masontown had taken the weekend off but German had collared Georges Township, 8-0.
When the big day arrived, it was one of being a little less thankful if you were a football fan. A snowstorm hit the county, leaving a blanket of six to nine inches of snow, and school officials said the game had to be postponed. One report noted that “the snow could have been removed, but at a heavy cost. In addition, the weather was more conducive to pneumonia and influenza than it was to football.”
So, the game was reset, and while it was a bit later than scheduled, the fans still considered it their Thanksgiving Day game.
The postgame report noted that “amid flying snowballs, footballs, and mud, Old Man Football was effectively removed from the fringes of the Fayette County scholastic gridiron yesterday afternoon. A large and colorful crowd turned out to watch the athletes battle through knee-deep mud. It was a common sight to see snowballs flying as Masontown fought valiantly, but unsuccessfully, to stop the German scoring machine.”
In the end it was German 18, Masontown 0.
The Uhlans, who also led in first downs, 6-1, scored in the first quarter. Kopec blocked a punt with German recovering on the six. Three plays later, Klinger scored. In the third quarter, German had a short drive of 30 yards, with Klinger scoring again. In the fourth, Kolick ran 23 yards to the Masontown seven, and Albani swept around right end from the six. There were no stats listed, no first names of players, and no subs named.
German’s lineup included: Ends, Kopec and Kobacha; Tackles, Konetsky and Burke; Guards, Zalenka and Lewis; Center, Selgman; QB, Demarco; LHB, Kolic; RHB, Albani; and FB, Klinger. For Masontown, it was: Ends, Guy and Sabesta; Tackles, D. Snyder and C. Snyder; Guards, Carmello and Marcinek; Center, Sholts; QB, Fidek; LH, Zimmerman; RH, Kasinko; and FB, Zimmerelli.
The officials were O.R. (Rube) Herwick of Connellsville, who refereed more football games and track meets than some people have seen in two lifetimes; Sepic was the umpire; and Van Bremen head linesman.
German finished the season 5-4-2, outscoring the opposition 104-83, while Masontown was 4-6-0, holding a slight scoring advantage over its opponents, 101-96.
The same weekend, the Fayette County Coaches Association selected its annual All-County football team. The first-team included (some first names not listed): Ends, Barton (Georges Township) and Al Olszewski (Connellsville); Tackles, Dan Snyder (Masontown), Kielbasa (Brownsville); Guards, Floyd Konetsky (German Township) and Disey Mondalak (Uniontown); Center, John Barbour (Connellsville); QB, Haley, Redstone; HB, Mike Fedutes (Brownsville) and Joe Goode (Georges Township) and FB, Bill Hornick (Brownsville).
The All-Class B team included: Ends, Coudoux (Point Marion) and Guy (Masontown); Tackles, Dan Snyder (Masontown) and Ferguson (Belle Vernon); Guards, Hegedus (Washington Township) and Marcinek (Masontown); Center, Oliver (Belle Vernon); QB, John Wozniak (Washington Township); HB, Cyrus (Point Marion) and Turik (Fayette City), and FB, Still wagon (Point Marion).
Brownsville was recognized for winning the County and Big Six Conference titles.
The All-Stars were guests of Congressman J. Buell Snyder at the Army-Navy Game that weekend, accompanied by coaches Art Ruff of Connellsville, Jack Adams of Georges Township, Gene Franks of Masontown and Carl Aschman of Brownsville.