History of St. Aloysius Football

Brother Lambert, S.C.

The recent (October 1929) stock market crash had not yet demol­ished the world economy as the new decade began. On Espla­nade Avenue in New Orleans, a new administration, new look, new nickname, and a return to a previous football division marked significant changes for the St. Aloysius program. Brother William had resigned as principal midway through the 1929-30 school year. So Brother Julius headed the school for the remainder of the session. In the summer of 1930, Brother Lambert, S.C., took over as president of the school. St. Aloysius High School needed eleven homerooms for its high school students: two senior, two junior, three sopho­more, and four freshman. The school also included fifth-, sixth-, and seventh-grades but not eighth. 7th-graders went directed to the freshman class. Brother Justin, S.C., was the new athletic director, and C. P. Kessler returned for his fourth season as head coach. Kip gained an assistant in Eddie Reed, "formerly a great grid C on Tulane's team," who began coaching after the opening game. The school changed its colors to purple and gold. The teams would now compete as the Panthers. Previously, accounts of games referred to St. Aloysius teams simply as "the Saints." The school returned to the A division of the prep league af­ter six seasons in Class B.

Brother Justin, S.C.

At the annual prep league meeting on September 19, the hottest topic of discussion was a new rule of the Louisiana State Athletic Association.

Any boy transferring from one high school to another shall remain in that school for one year before becoming eligible in athletics unless his parents move in the vicinity of the latter school.

According to Clifton Dreyfus's article in the Times Picayune:

Although no definite charges were brought out, it was rumored that certain schools in the New Orleans Preparatory Athletic Association were offering inducements to athletes so that these athletes would leave one school and attend another. The lack of specific charges caused the matter to be dropped with the announcement that if any specific information were obtained and direct charges made that they would be fully dealt with.

The incident that provoked the discussion was the transfer of two players from Commercial High to Jesuit the day before the league meeting. The Peters principal was so incensed that she submitted her school's resignation from the league. Although Commy did in fact play its schedule, the principal demanded that Jesuit not use the two players in question against Commy. Since Blue Jay coach "Doc" Erskine felt he could beat the Stenogs anyway, he held both boys out of the 28-6 victory. They sat out the game against Easton also.

• The new entrant in Class B was E. D. White School at 3519 Trafalgar Street. Named for the first Justice of the Supreme Court from Louisiana, White replaced Warren Easton Annex as the freshman/sophomore wing of Easton. The school played only one year in the prep league be­fore Fortier High School opened on Freret Street in January, 1931.
• So the two divisions lined up like this.

  Class A: Jesuit, Warren Easton, Holy Cross, St. Aloysius, S. J. Peters Commercial
  Class B: Isidore Newman Manual Training, New Orleans Academy (NOA), Rugby Academy, Westwego, and E. D. White

• A national rules change awarded possession of backward passes and fumbles going out of bounds to the last team that touched the ball. (This rule would be changed in 1938 to give the ball to the team with posses­sion at the start of the play.)
• Class A games would continue to consist of 15-minute periods.

• "Captain Jimmy Miltenberger is a fine speciman of man. He is about 5 feet 10 inches and weighs 188 pounds. Jimmy has been a star for three years in Class B ... [His] main forte is plunging ...
• "Eddie Daigle is the brother of Tom [of Jesuit] and possesses almost as much fleetness of foot as his illustrious brother."
• "In the line the Kessler boys have lost [George] Sins, an all-prep C last year, but have [Harry] Daniels to take his place. Daniels has been go­ing great in preseason work and seems sure of capturing the pivot berth."
• "At the G positions ... there is Gus Miltenberger, a star for the past two years. He is a hefty man and is also fast. He charges well and plays a stellar game on the defense. [Fabian] Wambsgans is at the other G berth ..."
• "At tackles there are [Frank] Thriffiley and [Forrest] Boutte, both well able and seemingly destined to stop many an opposing back."
  

Note that one lineman is not identified. It is Frank Thriffiley, second from left.

SA lineup: Soph. Louis Carite LE, fr. Forrest Boutte LT, soph. Fabian Wambsgans LG, sr. Harry Daniels C, jr. Gus Miltenberger RG, soph. Frank Thriffiley RT, jr. Roy Lomax RE, sr. Charles Richardson QB, sr. Milton Fritch (C) LH, sr. Jimmy Miltenberger (C) RH, fr. Eddie Daigle FB
Subs: Sr. Charles Cabibi LT, jr. Charles Schaefer QB, fr. Joe Walle C, sr. R. J. Ariatti LE, jr. Edward Clark LG, jr. Joseph Miller LH, fr. Edward Noullet FB, sr. Frederick Koehl RH, soph. Marcel Fontana RE, soph. Edward Scheurmann LH, fr. Carter Colongne RT, sr. Thomas Smythe LT

The game was switched from the stadium itself to the field behind the stadium. Brother Justin issued an apology to the fans for the poor accomodations that required the vast majority to stand at the edges of the gridiron. He guaran­teed that "no more St. Aloysius games will be played under such condi­tions."

SA lineup: Ariatti LE, Cabibi LT, Fritch LG, Daniels C, G. Miltenberger RG, Thriffiley RT, Lomax RE, Richardson QB, Daigle LH, Koehl RH, J. Miltenberger (C) FB
Subs: Mooney RH, Boutte RT, Walle RH, sr. Joseph Martina LE

Kessler and Reed shuffled the lineup considerably to no avail as Easton started its 1930 campaign in midseason form. Dreyfus sing­led out several Panthers. Eddie Daigle "got every tackle that came his way. He could not get far offensively because his interference was lacking." "Captain Jimmy Miltenberger also played a fine game backing up the line. He made more than his share of the tackles." "Of the linemen Gus Miltenberger was the outstanding star. Roy Lomax, a little fellow up against a tough crowd, was in the game all the time and got many pretty tackles." The Eagles wasted no time taking control. Q1: SA once again started off on the wrong foot, fumbling the opening kickoff. Val Aucoin recovered on the Panther 25. The short march ended on QB Pete Menge's TD run. His pass for the PAT fell incomplete. Another fumble set WE up on the SA 35. This time Aucoin did the honors, sweeping E for 13. Val crossed the goal again before the period ended. Q2: After Easton finally had to punt, the Panthers went no­where and punted back. Menge returned it 39y to pay dirt. Sambola tacked on the next TD to build the lead to 31-0 at intermission. Q3: Another exchange of punts resulted in Aucoin returning a boot 29y to the EZ. Q4: Backup QB Doug Johnson directed the Eagle second string to three more TDs, two of which he scored himself. He ran in from the 13 for the seventh six-pointer. Then he threw to Pailet for 25y to set up Howard Sambola's 5y run up the middle for TD #8. The final scoring play was the most exciting of the game. Easton advanced to the 2 only to have a holding penalty set them back to the 17. Johnson tried to pass but, finding no one open, circled the entire Aloysius team to the EZ. SA mounted one threat during the game. QB Charles Richardson recovered a dropped pass by Menge at the Eagle 30. (Apparently the rules, which generally discouraged passing, required the offen­sive team to down an incomplete pass before the defense could re­cover it.) Richardson tossed to R. J. Ariatti to the 15. However, two passes failed. Since the second one went over the goal line, the rules called it a touchback with the ball going over to Easton.

Jimmy Miltenberger Gus Miltenberger Charles Richardson

The Panthers broke into the win column with a victory over a sister Brothers of the Sacred Heart school. St. Joseph Commercial Institute, as the school was officially titled, was coached by Brother Charles Jette, S.C. His boys had lost to Commy High two weeks earlier 41-0.

With no TP article on the game, the following information comes from the Aloy­sian and an article in the Donaldsonville Chief. (Thanks to Tommy Bennett.)

Frank Thriffiley

Eddie Daigle returned a kickoff about 50y. In Q2, T Frank Thriffiley picked up a fumble and ran about 20y for the only TD of the game. Bottled up by the effective punting of Willard "Bull" Casso, SA threatened two other times but lost the ball, once by fumble and the other time on downs. The Bulldogs mounted a threat through the air as the game wound down. From the Chief: Another feature of the game, which was a nuisance to the Saints and completely baffled them, was the passing combina­tion of [Captain "Foxie"] Hymel to ["Speedy'] Blanchard. In the fourth period, it worked most effectively. First down after first down was ripped off with this dainty pitching and catching outfit, and chances for a Dog score were bright; but like many stories that whip the breath from you, they lost the ball on downs. Kessler made only one substitution the entire game, Fontana at E in place of J. J. Martina. Top players were: Daigle and Koehl in the backfield and Gus Mil­tenberger, Lomax and Thriffiley on the line. "Snakey" Landry was "the most dangerous man for the losers."

Once again, the Saints were used as a measuring stick to see how Commy stacked up against Jesuit and Easton. The Stenogs won but not as impress­ively as their two Class A rivals had. SA "played creditable ball all the way" on the wet field. Four regulars were out: Richardson, Ariatti, Thriffiley, and Daniels.

Q1: Late in the period, captain Benny Perkins scored the first of his three TDs when he circled RE from the 7. Two plays earlier he had dashed 17y to the 10 before FB Labiche gained 3. After two runs were stopped in their tracks, Perkins got loose on fourth down. Labiche had been the subject of a charge of ineligibility several weeks earlier when the Jesuit president, Father M. J. Walsh, S.J., responded to the letter of resignation from the league of Commy's principal. Q2: Perkins made two almost identical runs to pay dirt in a two­minute span. He cut inside the defensive E, then headed out, dodged the HB and ducked the S in brilliant dashes through the sloppy mud. The first jaunt covered 47y and the second, 49. Q3 and Q4: SA braced and held [Perkins] to short gains in the second half, and the Saints were strong when Commy threatened. Lomax was especially good at RE. The Stenogs also suffered from penalties, amassing 90y altogether. The Saints made only two first downs. One came on a penalty and the other resulted from a 7y run by Daigle and a couple of line bucks. Daigle and Perkins exchanged strong punts with the slip­pery ball throughout the contest.

Roy Lomax

SA lineup: G. Miltenberger LE, Cabibi LT, Wambsgans LG, Daniels C, Boutte RG, Thriffiley RT, Fritch RE, Schaefer QB, Daigle LH, Koehl RH, J. Miltenber­ger (C) FB
Subs: Scheurmann LE/C, Clark LT/RG, Mahoney RT, Noullet LH, Smythe LE, Lomax C/RE, Martini RE, Moynan LH

Fred Koehl Milton Fritch

The Panthers played the second of three Brothers of the Sacred Heart schools. The Bears had lost to Holy Cross 44-0 the previous Sunday. Playing without three regulars, they fared only 3 points better against another New Orleans aggregation. Brother Gerald of St. Aloysius was listed as the field judge for the game. Q1: Daigle scored the first of his three TDs on a 3y plunge after Jimmy Miltenberger had done the heavy lifting. Charles Schaefer's pass to Fred Koehl for the EP was incomplete. Q2: Daigle dashed off RT for 9y to the end zone, and Miltenberger "crashed the line" for the extra point. Near the end of the half, Mil­tenberger hurled a long pass to Lomax over the goal line. The pass was slapped by a defender, but Lomax gathered it in before it touched the ground. Miltenberger added the point on a line smash. Q3: Shortly after play resumed, Milton Fritch blocked a punt by FB Ernest Lessard, picked up the pigskin, and ran 38y for a TD. Daigle added the EP over RT. Shortly afterwards, Daigle swept RE for 70y on an exciting broken field run. Miltenberger piled through C for the extra point. Q4: Catholic High staged its only threat by using the forward pass to garner their only first downs of the contest. However, the Bears threw one pass too many as "a flashy little Saint sub," Edward Noullet, only a freshman, intercepted Dennis Brennan's pass on the 3 and sped 97y for the last score. Miltenberger again added the PAT.

This was the Saints' fourth try at defeating the St. Stanislaus varsity. In fact, they had not scored a point in the three games (25-0 in 1921, 59-0 in 1922, and 24-0 in 1929). The Esplanade Avenue school had a 1-1-1 record against the Stanislaus Reserves, having tied them 0-0 in 1924 and defeated them 17-14 in '25. It was homecoming and Dads' Day at the Bay St. Louis school. The festivities included the dedication of a new wing of the college quadrangle by Rev. R. O. Gerow, bishop of Natchez.

• The visitors lost QB Charles Schaefer in Q1.
• Baquet intercepted a pass and ran 45y for an SSC score.
• Daigle, Thriffiley, and Gus Miltenberger stood out for Aloysius.

A game was listed on the schedule for Sunday, November 9 @ Leon Godchaux High in Reserve. However, there is no article reporting the result. It's possible Kessler cancelled the game because of the numerous injuries to his team.

On that Sunday, the Aloysius "seconds" (B team) lost to the Stanislaus C team 12-0 in Bay St.Louis.

SA lineup: G. Miltenberger LE, Cabibi LT, Wambsgans LG, Daniels C, Boutte RG, Thriffiley RT, Fritch RE, Schaefer QB, Daigle LH, Lomax RH, J. Miltenber­ger (C) FB
Subs: Richardson QB, Martina FB

• The muddy field hampered both teams. Fumbles also proved costly to both offenses.
• The Panthers scored their first points of the year in an A league game in Q1 when Daigle got away behind perfect interference for 65y. However, the PAT was missed.
• Holy Cross scored in Q2 on a pass from Joe Beach to Lou Massett, who circled his LE, then reversed his field to scamper across of the right side of the field unhindered. A line plunge for the extra point put HC ahead.
• For the second game in a row, QB Schaefer had to leave the game, this time with an ankle injury.

Warren Easton defeated Jesuit 18-13 on November 22 before 12,000 at Loy­ola Stadium for the Class A crown. However, it was subsequently determined that an Easton player, Howard Sambura, had turned 21 on September 3, ma­king him ineligible. So the president of the Louisiana High School Athletic Asso­ciation ordered the six games in which Sambola participated, including the Al­oysius contest, to be forfeited. As a result, Jesuit took the Eagles' place in the state playoffs although star back Tom Daigle would not participate since he just made 21. Without him, the Jays lost at Lake Charles, 21-6.

St. Aloysius placed only one player on the Class A All-Prep team.

• FB Jimmy Miltenberger earned a spot on the second team.
• Except for Commy's Benny Perkins, Jesuit and Easton filled out the en­tire first team.
• Eddie Daigle and Gus Miltenberger made Honorable Mention.

Summary

• Injuries hampered the team late in the season. At full strength, the Pan­thers may have upended HC.
• Freshman Eddie Daigle, who had shown so much promise near the end of the 1929 season, didn't contribute as many long runs as was hoped, although he was a standout on both sides of the ball.
• Over 150 boys played football on other SA teams. Brother Jerome coached the "second team" (the junior varsity in today's lingo). Brother Anselm sheparded the 120-lb team, and Brothers Aloysius and Edwin put the 100-lb group through their paces.

Kessler had laid the foundation that would enable a new coach to lead the Saints to a winning record in 1931.

1931 Season

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