St. Aloysius College sailed into 1941-42 fresh off the school's first state basketball championship with the same leadership as the previous five years.

• Brother Lambert, S.C., continued as president.
• Brother Martin, S.C., returned as the Vice-President (principal) and Athletic Director.

Construction on a new building began in September 1941 and would be completed in May.

• The second floor of the three-story structure contained four classrooms that were "large enough to accommodate about thirty-five boys each, and are equipped with every modern class room convenience."
• The third floor contained sixteen private rooms for the brothers with furnishings to be contributed by the Mothers' Club.
• The first floor contained a cafeteria. "It is spacious, well lighted, and has a tiled floor. It has a well appointed kitchen with all modern improvements." (A Century of Service for the Sacred Heart in the United States by the Brothers of the Sacred Heart 1847-1947, by Brother Macarius, S.C.)

The football program also exhibited stability.

• Harry "Wop" Glover entered his third season as head man. He was assisted for the second year by George "Mud" Clay.
• Glover coached the backfield while Clay took the line.
• There was no demarcation between offense and defense in those days when every player had to play both ways.

Glover welcomed back two senior stars.

• Two-time All-Prep G Leon Chaplain
• All-Prep and second team All-State HB Johnny Campora, who had led the Prep league in 1940 with 984y.

Stanford Opotowsky, the Times-Picayune prep writer, tabbed the Crusaders as a dark horse in his preseason survey of the prep squads.

If you want a team to pit against Jesuit and Holy Cross - take St. Aloysius. There's a club which is going to give the big boys fits, and if the Crusaders have their first title at the end of the season it shouldn't be too much of a surprise. Johnny Campora, all-prep sensation of last season, is back in the lineup this season. Also back are most of the other boys who did so well last year.

The New Orleans States' preview included this paragraph.

Aloysius' problem this year is the lack of reserves who can rate on a par with the star-studded first eleven. If "Wop" Glover can hurdle that deficiency he's liable to find himself with a prep championship on his hands.

The head manager was Ellis Quigley ('42) assisted by Ferd Daussin ('42), Bob Rhem ('43), and George Vega

Jesuit coach Gernon Brown, Louisiana's representative on the national high school football rules committee, explained the new high school rules in an article in the TP. The major changes were these.

1. Fourth down forward passes thrown by team A falling incomplete in team B's end zone will be ruled merely as an incomplete pass and not as a touchback.
2. Players may re-enter the game any number of times. In 1940, only two re-entries were permitted in each period. As before, any entry must be made during a timeout.
3. When a kickoff goes out of bounds beyond the receiving team's 40 yard line, the receiving team takes possession at the 40 instead of the 35 as in previous years.
4. During a forward pass which is complete or incomplete behind the line of scrimmage, interference rules will not apply.
5. During a down on which a team scores, if there is an unnecessary roughness or disqualification foul by the opponent, the penalty will be enforced on the ensuing kickoff.
6. When a backfield man is illegally in forward motion when the ball is snapped, the referee will kill the ball immediately. This agrees with the procedure from previous years for other illegal shifts.

For the third straight year, the Saints opened with Moss Point, this time in the Mississippi city.

• Aloysius won 13-6 in 1939 and battled to a scoreless tie in '40.
• Like Glover's team, the Tigers of Coach Eddie Khayat returned a goodly number of lettermen, including five linemen who would get another crack at stopping Campora.

SA	0	7	0	7	14
MP	0	7	0	3	10
TD: SA Campora 2, MP Faggard; FG MP Roberts PAT: SA Pechon (buck), MP Roberts (PK) First downs: SA 13, MP 3 Penalties: SA 50y; MP 5 Passing: SA 9-2-1; MP 13-3-1

Johnny Campora

"(Special to the Times-Picayune) A heavily outweighed Moss Point team subdued a superior Aloysius Crusader eleven for 47 minutes of play here tonight, only to have almost certain victory snatched from their grasp in the last two seconds of play when Johnny Campora, sensational Crusader triple-threat back, streaked over from the 20-yard line on the last play of the game to win, 14-10, for the invaders." After a scoreless Q1, both teams tallied 7 before halftime, Campora's TD matching C. D. Fazzard's for the home team. With the teams still tied in the last period, Ray Roberts put the Tigers ahead with a FG to set the stage for Johnny's last-second heroics.

Next on the schedule was a widely anticipated battle with another Mississippi team, the St. Stanislaus Rock-a-Chaws from Bay St. Louis.

"Doc" Blanchard vs Johnny Campora! There's a duel which could draw football fans away from their best girls, their favorite movie houses, or their most interesting books. ... After all, these two boys rank among the most sensational individual high school stars in these parts.

So began the TP article (with no byline) a week before the game. Doc, a senior like Campora, had led his Rocks "almost single-handed" to a victory over Catholic High in their season opener. Blanchard hailed from South Carolina and followed in his father's footsteps as a boarding student at the Gulf Coast school.

In 1940, the Saders won at SSC 6-0 thanks in large measure to the fact that Blanchard played only a few minutes because of injuries. Coach Pete Burge had only three more starters returning from that team, including 150-pound QB Elmer Breerwood from New Orleans.

A week before the game, Brother Martin announced that the Stanislaus game, originally scheduled for Friday night, would be played Sunday afternoon instead. The Behrman-Easton match was moved the opposite way to accommodate the switch.

SA	0	0	0	0	0
SSC	0	7	7	0	14
TD: Blanchard, Kieffer PAT: Blanchard 2 (place kicks) First downs: SA 11, SSC 11

Q1: SA started strong when sophomore Anthony Chetta intercepted Blanchard's pass on the 50. Six plays later, SA had a first down on the 20. But Campora fumbled, and E Henry Reynolds recovered. From there, the Rocks drove to the 7 thanks primarily to runs of 24 and 16 by Doc. But Blanchard fumbled, and Johnny recovered on the 3. Q2: Hugh Kiefer intercepted Campora's pass on the SSC 32. After two line plays, Blanchard lateraled to Breerwood, who faded back and tossed a long pass to Reynolds for 26y and a first down on the SA 35. After a penalty, Doc passed to J. T. Prosser for 32. With first and goal at the 8, the Rocks hit the line three times for 6y. Then, on fourth down, Blanchard dove over for the TD, then kicked the PAT. Q3: Early in the period, Doc punted out of bounds on the SA 8. After three line plays gained only 6, Campora booted to Kiefer on the Saints 48. "The Rock safety started a beautiful jaunt down the right sideline. Shaking off and side-stepping would-be tacklers from all sides, he dashed into the EZ." Blanchard's placement split the uprights to put SSC 14 ahead. Q4: The visitors nearly scored again when they drove from their 26 to the Crimson 6. However, Campora intercepted Blanchard's pass to repel the threat.

Anthony Chetta

The 1-1 Crusaders now moved on to their next foe, Jesuit, a school Aloysius had never defeated on the gridiron. Hopes of ending that streak were never higher despite the fact that the Blue Jays were the defending state champions and had won their first two games of 1941, 55-0 over Behrman and 15-6 over Baton Rouge High to run their winning streak to 13 games.

Opotowsky three days before the game:

If those St. Aloysius Crusaders have any serious designs on the Prep League title, and you can bet your best gal's phone number that they do, then they'd better be in rare form Sunday when they meet Jesuit. And therein lies the reason why the traditional Jay-Crimson clash will be the hardest fought in many years of the rivalry.

The Jays had their own counterpart to Campora.

• FB Tony DiBartolo, the "Jay Juggernaut" (Opotowsky's term), was three players rolled into one. His defense work in the secondary will avert many a touchdown before this season is completed. Tony ranked as one of the greatest prep players ever seen here, bar none.
• The Jays' TB, Jay Schulte, was still slightly bothered by a bad knee. As it would turn out, he didn't get into the game.

The game was broadcast on radio station WJBW (1230 kilocycles).

8,500 fans watched Aloysius achieve something the school had never done before - tie Jesuit. For league standings, the contest counted a Blue Jay victory thanks to their 9-8 edge in first downs.

Tony DiBartolo Sal Tassistro

Opotowsy: The contest was extremely disappointing in that it failed to produce even half of many thrill plays the fans were expecting. Both teams played almost annoyingly cautious football, leaving little opportunity for any slipups which might have been converted into scoring breaks. Big Tony DiBartolo, Jesuit's great 190-pound fullback, could get nowhere through the game Aloysius line. Those Crusader forwards who last week looked pitiful against St. Stanislaus turned in a great game ... One of the reasons why the game was so dominated by defenses was the wonderful kicking of Campora and Tom Lokar of Jesuit. Their boots out of danger throughout the contest produced one of the principal reasons why almost the entire game was played between the two 30-yard lines. Jesuit led in first downs from the beginning, with a 5-3 margin at halftime. The Blue and White maintained their first down advantage but just barely: 7-6. In the final minutes, the Jays mounted the only real scoring threat of the afternoon. That drive produced the game's lone penetration of the opponent's 20. It was set up when Ray Coates intercepted Campora's pass on the Jay 20 and returned it 44y to the Aloysius 36. One play later, Al Widmer passed to BB Wally Schmitz for 12. Then Widmer romped through a hole off tackle to the 9. After DiBartolo gained 3, he was stopped for no gain on second down. So Jesuit tried a pass, but E Sal Tassistro blocked Tony's aerial. With less than a minute to play, Loker tried a FG, but his boot went wide. There was time for one more thrill. Campora passed to Fred Chaplain who rambled 43y to the Jesuit 37. But an incompletion and a 5y run failed to gain the tying first down in the remaining seconds. The scoreless tie ranked as the Crusaders' fourth in two years after an incredible three in 1940.

The Crusaders' next opponent, Jack Pizzano's "mighty green" Fortier lads, had lost to Holy Cross 25-0 and played a scoreless tie of their own with Peters, a game in which the coaches "experimented with the press-box-to-bench radio communication system." Aloysius had compiled a 3-5-1 record against the Tarpons in the ten years since the Freret Street school began football.

Fortier's "diminutive ace," George Price, weighing only 140 pounds, was expected to provide the biggest challenge for the Crusaders. Price gained notoriety during the summer by rescuing some friends from drowning.

SA lineup: Rini LE, Ghergich LT, Grisoli LG, Cronin C, Riso RG, Juan RT, F. Chaplain RE, Jones QB, Campora HB, Chetta HB, Pechon FB
Subs: Lacombe, Wilson, Woods, G. Chaplain, Tortorich, Bach, Smith, Moloney, Brocato, C. Hubble, W. Hubble

Dom Rini

"It was a case of too much Campora" as the Knights drubbed the Tarpons before "a small crowd." "The game as a whole wasn't exciting. Except for those times when Campora treated the crowd to his nifty hip-swiveling runs, the contest was just a matter of one team plodding against the other." (Opotowsky) Q1: After several punts, the Crusaders began a drive from their 27. Campora cracked off tackle for 14. After several penalties and two runs, Johnny circled end for 24y and a first down on the Tarpon 20. Chetta carried the pigskin to the 8. Two plays later, Campora slipped through a hole at LG to break the scoring ice. Going nowhere after the kickoff, Fortier sent Schlueter back to punt from his 25 on third down. However, he fumbled and recovered on the 5. On fourth down, E Dom Rini broke through and blocked the boot. FB Ernie Pechon fell on it in the EZ for TD #2. Q2: The Saints added another tally when Campora raced off tackle for 47y to pay dirt. "It was one of the prettiest runs of the season." Q3: Aloysius scored its last TD of the evening late in the period. Receiving a punt on the 20, the Crimson gained 15y on two line plunges. From there, Campora faded back and tossed a long pass to Fred Chaplain, who gathered in the pigskin on the 35 and raced down the left sidelines to the EZ. Q4: There was no further scoring as Glover emptied his bench.

Ernie Pechon

The Crusaders next hopped the ferry to visit the Behrman Bees in Algiers.

• The Bees boasted a triple threat player of their own in Jay Quartana.
• Behrman would have to work hard to pull the upset, which would be their first victory of the season after falling to Jesuit (55-0), Istrouma (14-6), and Peters (26-0), and tying Nicholls (6-6).
• Star G Leon Chaplain would miss his second straight game for Glover.

SA	7	0	0	13	20
Beh	0	0	0	0	0
TD: SA Campora 2, Pechon; PAT: Pechon (run), Tortorich (pass) First downs: SA 8, Beh 9; Penalty yds: SA 25, Beh 5

The Crusader D ran their string of scoreless quarters to 13, keeping the Bees in check until the O finally broke open the game in Q4. Q1: In the opening minutes, the Saints drove from their own 45 to the 12 "from where Campora's brute strength and ball-carrying scored." Pechon circled RE for the EP. From then on, the Crimson were on the defensive thanks to Quartana's running and passing. Q2: The Bees marched all the way to the 3 for their deepest penetration, but Rodney Woods grabbed a pass on the goal line and raced back 45y. Later in the period, Woods stopped another drive with an EZ interception of a pass from the 14. The half ended with Behrman behind 7-0 on the scoreboard but holding a 6-2 edge in first downs. Q3: Neither team threatened as they exchanged punts. Q4: Campora passed 35y to Fred Chaplain to put the ball on the 30, then connected with Buford Jones to the 13. On the next play, Johnny tossed a short flat pass to Pechon on the 10. Ernie dashed across the goal untouched. Campora's pass over the center to Charles Tortorich put the 14th point on the board. With time running down, Behrman lost the ball on downs at its own 42. Campora shot through the line to the 10. Several plays later, Johnny side-stepped his way around LE for the last points of the afternoon.

Rodney Woods Buford Jones

• The Crusaders had beaten the Eagles only once, in 1932.
• Johnny Brechtel's team was led by "two brilliant halfbacks," Audie Gill and Charlie Donnelly.
• Easton entered the game with a 2-1-1 record against Behrman (63-0), Istrouma (6-14), Peters (26-0), and Nicholls (6-6).

SA lineup: Rini LE, Ghergich LT, Hubble LG, Cronin C, L. Chaplain RG, Juan RT, F. Chaplain RE, Jones QB, Campora HB, Chetta HB, Pechon FB
Subs: Lacombe, Riso, Tortorich, Woods, Tassistro, Grisoli

Dick Ghergich

A "disappointing crowd of about 5000" watched the Saints and Eagles play to a tie again on Halloween night. Easton gained the victory thanks to a slim 12-11 lead in first downs to maintain their league lead. Audis Gill's 29y Q1 pass to Charley Donnelly brought the Eagles their only TD of the evening. Campora crashed 20y through the defense for the Crimson tally in Q2. The loss was the Crusaders' second of the season by reason of first downs. Aloysius showed a slight advantage in total yardage: 226-202. Chetta was acknowledged for his fine play in the backfield, while Leon Chaplain returned to the forward wall and teamed with his brother Fred and giant Dick Ghergich to corral the Purple and Gold offense.

The next opponent for "the Prep League's hard-luck team" was S. J. Peters.

• The Wildcats had lost to graduation the three players who had teamed up to defeat the Crusaders 14-13 the year before - Maurice Cheramie, Johnny White, and Joe Meade.
• Coach Johnny Beattie's squad had defeated Lafayette 32-0 in the opener, lost to Nicholls 12-0, tied Fortier 0-0 but won on first downs, then fell to Easton (0-26), and Holy Cross (7-13).
• Beattie utilized the T-formation extensively a season after the Stanford "Wow Boys" of Clark Shaughnessy (former Tulane and Loyola coach) went undefeated using the T.

SA lineup: F. Chaplain LE, Ghergich LT, Grisoli LG, Cronin C, L. Chaplain RG, Juan RT, Tassistro RE, Jones QB, Campora HB, Chetta HB, Pechon FB
Subs: Rini, C. Hubble, Wilson, Tortorich, Woods, Lacombe, Riso, Brocato, Stein, G. Chaplain

"1,000 shivering fans" watched Aloysius dominate the Wildcats from the beginning. Q1: Campora climaxed a lengthy march by crashing over from the 3 within the first three minutes. Johnny's pass to Pechon for the PAT fell incomplete. A few plays after the kickoff, Leon Chaplain recovered a fumble on the 27. Pechon plowed through the line to the 15. After Campora fought to the 6, Pechon, running from the T-formation, scored on a dash around E. The PAT again failed. Q2: "Campora unleashed his passing arm" but Ray Dourroux broke up this threat with a fine defensive play. George Watler led the best Peters march of the half, but the Saints tightened on their 25. Q3: Chetta began the fireworks with a 23y sprint to the 15. Campora carried to the 6. On the next play, Johnny lateralled to Pechon who circled E for the third TD. Campora booted the extra point to make it 19-0. The Crusaders struck again a few minutes later when Marvin McCain punted to Campora on the SA 34. Johnny wiggled 66y through the entire Peters team to score a spectacular TD. Q4: Midway through the period, Dourroux lateralled to McCain who threw a pass to Heldman that put the ball on the 14. However, the Crusaders stiffened and preserved the shutout. SA had now held opponents scoreless in 20 of the last 21 quarters.

Johnny Campora

As St. Aloysius prepared to play its final scheduled opponent, Holy Cross, a movement had developed to pit the Crusaders against a local foe that they had not scheduled, the Nicholls Rebels. Opotowsky on 11/23 (after the Aloysius-HC game):

St. Aloysius and Nicholls did not contract for a football game for the 1941 season. There's nothing so shocking about that since prep league teams are only required to play four other loop aggregations. Of course, it is unfortunate that the Rebs and the Crimsons didn't arrange for a contest since it has turned out that they both have such fine squads.

For weeks now letters and telephone calls have been pouring into the Times-Picayune's offices demanding a match between Aloysius and Nicholls.

Officials of the two schools are no saps. Seeing the possibilities of such a game, they tried to sign it up. But Nicholls cannot go into a postseason affair without the approval of Nicholas Bauer, superintendent of public schools.

Ernest Becker, principal of Nicholls, sought out Bauer's permission to play St. Aloysius this week or next but he was flatly refused. He was refused in spite of the fact that Easton's season will not be over until December 6.

Now we don't see anything wrong with the Eagles playing Jesuit on that date - in fact, we're very much in favor of it since the boys get two weeks of rest before such a hard game, a benefit they could not realize if a deadline were set on their season. But we do object to letting one team play in December and force another one to terminate its schedule the middle of November.

But Bauer is all-powerful in that department, so Nicholls cannot play St. Aloysius. So please don't write any more letters inquiring about such a game.

What Opotowsky left unsaid was that both Aloysius and Nicholls boasted outstanding senior running backs, Campora, of course, and Don Fortier of the Rebels.

So Johnny would close out his great career against the Tigers. Opotowsky again:

For three seasons now this youngster has been the most versatile footballer in the loop, and his parting is a sad occasion for Aloysius fans although a joyous one for opponents of the Crimson and White.

Campora is the kind of player coaches dream about but seldom find. It's a pity he's not a big boy (he is a stocky kid weighing about 173), or else he'd be a sure-fire all-American. Perhaps he'll achieve that goal anyway.

His running, especially in the open field, is something to behold. He packs speed and ability. Then he's also a fine passer, accurate and cool. He can block with the best of them and he has few equals as a line backer.

• The Holy Cross game would also be the swansong for G Leon Chaplain, who was shooting for his third straight all-prep berth.
• The Tigers entered the game with a 5-1-1 mark: Istrouma 7-6, Fortier 25-0, Nicholls 7-7, Gulf Coast Military Academy (MS) 20-6, Peters 13-7, Behrman 27-8, and Easton 0-21. Jesuit remained on the schedule following Aloysius.
• Coach Ray Scheuering's club was led by Bobby Driscoll, "whose long passes have at times produced some of the most spine-tingling thrills of this season."
• Glover hoped to break the school's eight-game losing streak to the Tigers.

SA	6	0	0	12	18
HC	0	0	0	0	0
TD: Pechon, Campora, Chetta 1st Downs: SA 12, HC 5; Penalty yardage: SA 10, HC 25 Rushing: SA 280 HC 52; Passing: SA 8-1-1/19, HC 8-1-0/-5

Campora bowed out in a blaze of glory before a crowd of 8,000. "He kicked off and he punted and he made extra points. He ran, he passed, and he backed up the line. He blocked and he broke up interference. ... Sunday, after Campora finished his career, he was hoisted onto the shoulders of his teammates." Ernie Pechon played his "finest (and also his last) game for the Crusaders." Q1: The Saints scored within the first three minutes. They took possession on the HC 30 following a terrible kick by Mike Davy that sailed straight up and out of bounds. An offside penalty and two line plunges moved the ball to the 20. Chetta then took a lateral and sped around LE for a first down on the 10. Pechon carried the pigskin the rest of the way around the other end. The remainder of the period was played almost entirely in Tiger territory. Q2: The Red Knights threatened but were stopped every time. Q3: More of the same - Aloysius dominating but not adding to its 6-point lead. Q4: SA finally broke open the contest on a beautiful 40y end run by Campora. "He started off towards the right side of the field, and sticking close to the sidelines, he swished around would-be tacklers as if they were so many telephone posts. Speedy, he left the Crossmen behind as he dashed into the end zone standing up." Shortly thereafter, SA executed a 60y drive for their third and final TD. Pechon's 17y run and Chetta's 9y gain moved the ball to the HC 25. From there, Campora slammed through RT to the 5. Then Chetta dove through C for the TD with less than 30 seconds to play. The Crusaders amassed an astounding 280y on the ground, with Campora averaging 8.1 yards per try and Pechon 8.2. "In the line, little Joe Cronin continued to play havoc with opposing ball carriers. His tackling, along with Campora's, was the best on the field."

Three weeks to the day after the final game against Holy Cross, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor to change everyone's future.

The scoreless tie against the Crusaders and a 7-6 loss to Doc Blanchard and Stanislaus marked the only blemishes on Jesuit's slate as they defended their state championship, blasting Ouachita 30-7 in the finals.

Leon Chaplain

The Crusaders were well-represented on the All-Prep squads. Leon Chaplain and Campora made the New Orleans Item's first team All-Prep. Campora was named captain of the team although Donald Fortier was given the MVP title. Dick Ghergich took a second team spot at T. Ends Fred Chaplain and Sal Tassistro merited Honorable Mention as did Cronin and Pechon. The Times-Picayune/States all-star aggregation also included Leon, the only third timer on the team, and Johnny for the second year in a row. Fred Chaplain made the third team along with Tassistro. When the state's prep writers released their All-State team, the Big C's, Chaplain and Campora, made the first team, Fred for the second time and Johnny for the first time after a second team slot in 1940. Fred Chaplain earned Honorable Mention.

Johnny Campora

Johnny Campora played football at Tulane in 1942 thanks to an NCAA rules change that allowed freshmen to play on the varsity because of the loss of players to the military. Don Fortier, the Nicholls star that so many wanted to see tangle with Johnny in 1941, played alongside him for the Green Wave. Campora then enlisted in the Marines and served as a Staff Sergeant in the Pacific Theater. He served with Fortier, a sailor, in the Marianas Islands. Both resumed their football careers at Tulane in 1946. Johnny lettered that year and the next. He lived the last 37 years of his life in Arabi, dying in 2002.

1941's 5-1-2 mark ranked as the best of Aloysius's first 21 grid seasons.

• The 1924 team finished 4-0-1, but that was in Class B. Never in Class A had the Saints lost fewer than three games.
• The defense was outstanding, pitching five shutouts and surrendering only 30 points the entire season, an average of just 3.75 per game. Another gauge of the staunchness of the Saints D is that they held opponents scoreless in 27 of the 32 quarters they took the field.
• Holding state champion Jesuit to a scoreless tie marked the biggest achievement in Aloysius football history to that point.
• For the first time, two Crusaders graced the All-State first team.

1942 Season

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