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Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley has long been a hot-bed of scholastic
football - producing outstanding teams at least as long ago as the
early 1920's. One of the very best - one in a long series of strong
Allentown teams - was the Canary squad of 1944. Unbeaten and untied
through a grueling eleven game schedule, Coach J. Birney Crum's team
was denied the Big 15 championship only by the vagaries of the
system used to determine conference standings. The Canaries had won
the required six league games and were the only perfect record team
in the conference.
Allentown had actually won the Big 15 title in 1943 with a team led
by All-State first team back Billy Kline and second team center Bob
Bossons, a junior. Kline was a talented quarterback who could "do it
all." The Canaries were perfect in Pennsylvania but lost a tough 8-0
decision to Philipsburg, a traditional foe of the big schools in the
valley, on a rainy day in New Jersey.
In 1944, Allentown was perfect, including a 12-0 redemption victory
over Philipsburg. A strong Williamsport Millionaire team, with the
last of the Stebbins brothers gave Allentown a tough fight, but the
Canaries prevailed 19-12 when Ray Dini threw a late touchdown pass
to John Hipple. Another rival, Hazleton, had high hopes when
Allentown visited the Mountaineers. A "tremendous" Canary team
dashed the home hopes with a 24-6 victory. Slashing halfback Frank
Fischl scored three times in a 41-0 romp over Reading.
The always tough Red Rovers of Easton were finally subdued in a 7-2
battle. In the climactic 12-0 Thanksgiving Day win over arch-rival
Bethlehem, Bobby Kurtz returned an interception 50 yards for a TD
and passed to halfback Harry Hartman for another score.
Coach Birney Crum was one of the first to employ the T-formation,
and, in 1944, young Bobby Kurtz and Dini directed the show at
quarterback. Fischl, Hartman and Bill Flamish ran the ball well
while big Bill Wanish, who was a second team All-Stater the next
year, and Hipple at the ends were the principal passing targets.
Fischl's season TD total was 16. Dini had broken his ankle playing
summer baseball but returned in time to contribute to the team's
success.
The unquestioned team leader was captain and All-State center Bob
Bossons, a two-year starter. He was "tough but respected". With
Bossons at linebacker and big Fred Shankweiler, also second team
All-State at tackle, Allentown was just as strong on defense. Seven
of the eleven opponents were shut out.
The 1944 squad had a very talented core group of athletes who
excelled in all sports.
The Canaries, under Coach Crum, went on to capture the state
basketball championship the following March. Wanish, Dini, and
reserve back Elmo Jackson starred on the hoop team. The 6-2 Wanish
was selected to the All-State first team.
According to those who played on this great grid squad, Coach Crum
was " 50 years ahead of his time." His training in football
fundamentals was outstanding. He was said to run a college type
program at the scholastic level. Center Bossons remembers how well
organized the Allentown program was under Crum - particularly during
the summers and down through the junior highs to the grade school
level.
Backs Dini and Fischl recall Crum as a tough taskmaster who ran
brutal practices, particularly "Bloody Wednesday". After each
practice, the squad members ate dinner together in the school
cafeteria - a "training table."
Crum was sought after for clinics at both the high school and
college level. In the spring of 1946, he demonstrated the
T-formation with three of his players at a General Bob Neyland
college coaching clinic at Tennessee.
Raised in Alton, Illinois, Crum played for two small midwestern
colleges, then came east to become a star three-sport star at
Muhlenberg College in Allentown. He returned to Muhlenberg later in
his career to coach the basketball team. |
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After two years as head coach in Somerville, NJ and Carnegie in
Western PA, Crum took over as football and basketball boss at
Allentown in 1925 and coached both sports for the Canaries for 25
years.
While a consultant to the Bethlehem Bulldogs pro team, he was
approached by Los Angeles Rams owner Dan Reeves about becoming his
head coach. Crum and the legendary Amos Alonzo Stagg were friends.
The 1944 trip to Hazleton came, of course, during World War II.
Travel was difficult. In a typical Crum innovation, he hired enough
taxis to transport his team to Hazleton and back - three players to
a cab -dressed in uniform ready to play.
Starting for the Canaries in 1944:
E 39 Bill WANISH 6-2 175
T 44 Fred SHANKWEILER 6-3 210
G 49 Joe AUGUSTINE 5-11 165
C 59 Bob BOSSONS 6-0 195
G 34 Glen THOMAS 5-11 165
T 68 Chester GIERULLA 6-2 195
E 35 John HIPPLE 6-0 185
Q 28 Bobby KURTZ 5-8 155
33 Ray DINI 5-10 185
H 31 Harry HARTMAN 5-10 155
H 54 Frank FISCHL 5-10 155
F 28 Bill FLAMISH 5-9 165
Key reserves included huge tackle 57 Ralph WALTERS, speed back 23
Wesley FARMER 26 Ray SNYDER, a back who scored seven touchdowns, and
future super star 55 Elmo Jackson..
In addition to Bossons - Hipple, Hartman, Farmer, Fischl, Flamish,
Dini, Wanish, Shankweiler, Thomas, Walters, Jackson and Farmer were
all experienced veterans from the 1943 Big 15 champions.
The unbeaten, untied, uncrowned 1944 record:
56 FRACKVILLE 0
38 MCADOO 0
37 SCRANTON CENTRAL 0
24 HAZLETON 6
41 READING 0
12 PHILIPSBURG NJ 0
28 POTTSVILLE 0
19 WILLIAMSPORT 12
7 EASTON 2
25 KINGSTON 14
12 BETHLEHEM 0
Many of these Canaries went on to successful college football
careers. Bob Bossons starred at Georgia Tech and coached at Tech and
three other schools. Bill Flamish was a regular at defensive back
for North Carolina, including two Sugar Bowls. Frank Fischl was a
starting running back on Army's great 1949 and 1950 teams. Chester
Gierulla played at Maryland. Elmo Jackson stayed home to play at
Muhlenberg.
Ray Dini was a star for the Bethlehem Bulldogs and, in 1949, reached
the roster of the NFL champion Philadelphia Eagles.
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