So much had changed since the Crusaders last played a football game on November 16, 1941.

• The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7 had catapulted the United States into the world war against Japan and Germany.
• Some of the 1941 graduates who were of draft age had already been inducted into or joined the armed services.
• Current students faced an uncertain future. For almost all of them, that future included military service since it was clear the war wouldn't end soon. But which branch? And where would they be stationed?
• The national crisis would have a significant impact upon the 1942 football season.

St. Aloysius boasted a record enrollment of 902 students.

• This was possible because of four additional classrooms in the new building that was finished in May 1942.
• The building also contained 16 private rooms for the brothers with furnishing donated by the Mothers' Club.
• The cafeteria on the first floor of the building was ready for the opening of the new school year in September.

The Prep league had several new coaches on board.

• Lou Brownson, longtime line coach at Jesuit, took over the helm at Holy Cross.
• Peters coach John Beatty asked for a transfer and was replaced by George Manteris, formerly an assistant at Fortier.
• Behrman's head man, Nolan Richards, left for the service. His replacement was another Fortier assistant, Roy Ary, like Manteris (and Glover) a Tulane grad.

The coaches and Prep writers agreed that Easton with its stable of outstanding RBs was the team to beat in 1942.

• The only team given a chance to challenge the Eagles was Jesuit.
• St. Aloysius was consigned to the also-ran bin.

Opotowsky summarized the Crusaders' prospects like this.

St. Aloysius was hard hit [by graduation] this year, but Wop Glover still can put a big and strong first eleven on the field. His reserves may give him trouble, though.

One open guard spot is Wop Glover's bigggest worry at St. Aloysius right now. ... Anthony Chetta may be the Crusader successor to Johnny Campora, by the way.

Hap Glaudi, writing for the New Orleans Item, started his preseason article on the Crusaders like this.

Lend Mr. Glover your shoulder, brother, it's the real McCoy.
Soft-spoken Harry "Wop," football maestro of St. Aloysius, has a reason to cry this season. For departed from the Esplanade avenue school's halls of learning are seven of the regulars who carried the Crimson through its greatest grid season in '41.
Thirteen of last year's squad of 26 are returning to Glover and eight were good enough to earn letters. But listed among the missing is flaming Johnny Campora, All-Southern HB who packed ninety percent of the Crusaders' punch.
It's as hard to picture a Crusader eleven without Campora as it is to visualize a Crusader team without spirit. ... But Glover is a splendid molder of new talent and he does have a few promising boys with which to work. ...
The undermanned Crusaders of '42 admittedly won't match the teams Aloysius turned out the past two years. But no one can tab the Saints as a soft touch. True, the front line defense will be a question mark, but Chetta and his backfield mates will give their foes a busy 48 minutes.

Glaudi picked the Saints sixth out of eight with the comment, "If 'Wop' Glover brings 'em any higher than this he'll do a grand job."

For the fourth year in a row, the Saints opened with Moss Point. Aloysius enjoyed a 2-0-1 advantage over Eddie Khayat's Tigers from Mississippi.

Following the pattern of 1941, the second opponent was St. Stanislaus, the sister school of the Brothers of the Sacred Heart in Bay St. Louis.

• The Rock-a-Chaws had lost their star RB and LB "Doc" Blanchard, who had engaged in a duel with Campora when SSC defeated SA 14-0 in '41.
• The Rocks came to New Orleans for the second year in a row. They had defeated the Crusaders nine times in 13 games in the series.

Sometime after the Stanislaus game, Rod Woods was rushed to Hotel Dieu where he had an emergency appendectomy Monday morning. He would be lost for at least two games. Glover moved Molony from E to replace Woods in the backfield.

Having disposed of two Mississippi foes, the Crusaders turned their attention to their primary local rival.

• The Jesuit Blue Jays had lost many key players from the 1941 state champions whom the Saints fought to a 0-0 deadlock. The chief departure was FB Tony DiBartolo.
• Nevertheless, Coach Gernon Brown had reloaded around the 10 lettermen who returned, as evidenced by victories over Metairie (27-6) and Baton Rouge (32-6) to start the season.

The Blue Jays jumped in front and coasted to victory before 8,000 spectators. The Crusaders did a fine job of controlling the Blue and White running game but fell victim to passes and turnovers.

Afterwards, Glover commented on Vasterling's unexpected performance.

Good backs have a habit of being discovered in tough ball games. Our Vasterling looked good against Jesuit, and maybe that's what he needed to bring him out.

• Rankin, who had played basketball and baseball but not football, had enough credits to graduate in May '42.
• But Brother Martin asked Mr. Vasterling to send his son to school for another year since Rankin still had eligibility under LHSAA rules.
• Rankin wanted to enlist in the service, but his father insisted he return to Aloysius.
• As a "fifth year senior," Vasterling took three business courses he hadn't taken in the academic track, helped Brother Martin in the office, and worked in the cafeteria.
• The following March, Rankin was a member of Brother Ralph's basketball team which, after being ruled ineligible for any LHSAA honors, won the Southern AAU Championship and traveled to Denver to compete in the national tournament.

• The LHSAA mandated that, in games ending in a tie, the team with more first downs be declared the winner for purpose of league standings.
• The Holy Cross-Nicholls contest the previous Sunday ended in a 6-all standoff. The first down counts kept by the radio broadcasters, the writers in the pressbox, and the officials on the field differed, causing controversy when the officials gave the victory to Holy Cross because of an 8-7 edge in first downs achieved in the last seconds of the game.

The Crusaders needed to bounce back from the disappointing outing against the Blue Jays. Fortier entered the fray with a 1-1 record, having lost to Holy Cross 20-0 before upending Peters 7-0.

Coach Pizzano commended the Crusaders afterwards. "St. Aloysius has a good, strong line. The Crusaders are tougher than any team we have played this year."

Unfortunately, the victory cost Glover the services of another of his stalwarts as Molony suffered a broken wrist. The break was not discovered until the following Tuesday.

After playing very little before the Jesuit game, Vasterling now led the Crusaders in rushing.

• He gained 107y on 17 carries for the third best average in the league. He added 4 completions in 8 attempts for 109 through the air.
• Rankin: "I played TB. We had an off-tackle play, an end-around, and also a wiggle where I started off T, then curved outside."

In his weekly "Prep Parade" column, Glaudi wrote:

The Prep's most amazing sight: Those specially built football shoes for St. Aloysius' Dick Ghergich, 305-pound T. They are size 14 1/2 and if you wanted to purchase a pair that large you would have to pay $15. Regular sizes cost $6.95.

In the same column, Hap included this quote from Brother Ralph, the Crusaders' assistant coach.

In September when I looked at our prospects I doubted seriously whether we would win more than one game. Now I don't think Jesuit should have beaten us the one game we lost. "Wop" has turned in a remarkable job with our boys.

• He took a poll of prep faculty and athletic leaders. Brother Martin replied this way.

I think that it [the 18-19 draft law] will place all teams on an equal basis and make competition much closer and much more interesting.
Here at St. Aloysius the 18-19-year old draft law will have little effect, as the vast majority of our athletes are under 18 years.
In our senior class there are 19 boys in the 18-19-year old bracket - 19 out of 150.
Coach Glover also voices the opinion that the new draft law will result in a more evenly balanced league and a more interesting one.

• Hap's research into the issue revealed some interesting facts about his alma mater, Jesuit.

A check of the official eligibility list shows that of the first 11 Jays on this year's team, one is 20, three are 19, three are 18, two are 17, and two are 16.
The 1940 Jesuit team which many hailed as the best in the history of high school football here, had one player who was 20, three who were 19, five who were 18, and two 17. The 1941 team, which also won the state and city championships, had one player who was 20, four 19, four 18 and two 17.

• Alongside Hap's column was a tandem "Looking 'Em Over" piece by Item sports editor Fred Digby. Here are some of the points he made.

The Item has for years campaigned for a lowering of the athletic age limit in the prep schools of the city and state. The age limit of 20 has been entirely too high. It gave a few of the older (19-20) group an unfair advantage over the greater number of students, those ranging from 16 to 18. It discouraged the many for the benefit of the few but strange as it may seem, the principals and the coaches frowned on the Item's suggestion and opposed every attempt to lower the limit to 18, or even to 19.
Now Uncle Sam has told them through the 18-19 draft law that the limit will be 18 and not 20.

With a free weekend, the Saints had 13 days to get ready for the biggest challenge of the season by far: the high-flying Warren Easton Eagles.

• The Eagles were 5-0, having outscored the opposition 117-6! The only squad to score on them was the SLI Freshman team who lost to the high school boys 13-6.
• Coach Johnny Brechtel's squad was famous for its two sets of standout backs, including Audis Gill, Fred Brechtel, Gerald Comeaux, Alton Chatham, Ray Prats, and Ed Price.

• The Crusaders could draw hope from the Eagles' last game, a 2-0 squeaker over the Nicholls Rebels on Sunday the 25th. However, the weather played a major role in slowing down the Eagles Express, as Glaudi explained.

It is impossible to imagine worse conditions, for players and spectators both. Rain had fallen all morning and paused just long enough to entice a crowd of 10,000 into the stadium. But shortly after the kickoff low-hanging, dark clouds blew up a driving rainstorm which lasted almost the entire afternoon.

• The safety came in the last 15 seconds of the contest when Nicholls was passing from its own end zone to gain a first down to tie that count at 6.

Glover needed all hands on deck. The open date would give his wounded a chance to play.

• Woods would play but not start.
• Molony would take the field with his broken wrist in splints and a brace.
• Cronin would anchor the middle of the line again.

Rankin Vasterling recounts an incident from the week of the Easton game.

• Glover called him in and asked if he had heard the rumor that the Eagles had placed a $20 bounty on him. That is, the player who put Rankin out of the game would receive $20.
• How did he feel about it? coach asked. Rankin said he didn't like it - he was worth more than $20.

Eddie's Easton teammate Ray Prats lettered at Tulane in 1947-8.

Coupled with Lake Charles' upset of Jennings, Easton's sixth victory moved them to #1 in the state rankings.

Meanwhile, the Saints prepared to face Peters.

• The Wildcats opened with a bang under their new coach, blasting Behrman 34-0.
• That would prove to be 21 more points than they scored in their next four contests combined - losses to Nicholls (45-0), Easton (33-0), Holy Cross (19-7 after leading the Tigers at halftime), and Bolton of Alexandria (20-6).
• With a solid D, if Glover could any production from his O, victory would belong to the Crimsons.

Vasterling led the Saders with 75y on 16 carries. Tortorich trailed with 63 on his 16 carries.

• Harry Glover received notice to leave Monday, November 16, for Norfolk VA to begin training at the Navy base in former heavyweight champion Gene Tunney's physical education corps.
• That meant that he would coach the contest against the Tigers but not the season finale against Nicholls. And he would certainly not return for the 1943 season.
• Brother Ralph would take the reins for the Nicholls contest. Beyond that, lay uncertainty for the Aloysius football program.

A team known for playing with great intensity would certainly give the proverbial 110% to send Wop off with a victory. The task would not be easy.

• Lou Brownson's first Holy Cross team had compiled a 4-1 record, losing only to undefeated Easton 19-6 in their latest set-to.
• The Tigers' victims included Istrouma 18-6, Fortier 20-0, Gulf Coast Military Academy (MS) 13-0, and Peters 19-7.
• HC needed a win to keep their flickering Prep title hopes alive.

 
1942 Holy Cross football roster
Note the last name among the Student Managers.

The Saints struck first and struck fast but couldn't hold the lead before 4,000 chilled spectators. Both sides, finding the going too tough on the ground, took to the air.

The Crusaders outrushed and outpassed the Tigers and also garnered more first downs. In the end, the turnover TD brought bad luck to the Crimson on Friday the 13th.

Vasterling gave the Tiger defenders fits last night, getting away for several long gains after being rushed on pass attempts. He is one of the league's best runners. ... The Crusader line kept its reputation as being one of the toughest in the loop.

Rankin led the Crimson Knights with 75y on 16 carries. Tortorich trailed with 63 on his 16 carries.

Glover's worth to Aloysius cannot be determined by his won and lost record - which indeed is a very splendid one - but by the high esteem with which he is held and the respect he commands from his colleagues.
On the gridiron, Glover's elevens have displayed a high grade of sportsmanship. Have you ever seen a Glover-coached St. Aloysius football team commit an unmanly act? You have not.
I have seen Glover lose a Prep championship on a silly first-down rule. I have seen the injury jinx riddle his teams when he had no spares on his undermanned elevens. I have seen the breaks of the game snuff out likely Aloysius victories. But I have yet to see Glover whimper, snarl at his luck or berate the officials. Is it any wonder Uncle Sam is calling Glover to tutor his fighters?
Good luck, "Wop." And when the job is finished, hurry back.

Brother Ralph took over the team for the final game against Nicholls.

• The Rebels were "winding up their most disappointed season since they began playing in the loop in 1940." Some had pegged them to fight for the championship with Easton. However, they lost every one of their major games.
• Buck Seeber's team brought a peculiar 2-2-2 record into their clash with the Crusaders. Opening victories over Catholic High 33-13 and Peters 46-0 were followed by a 6-6 tie with Holy Cross, the aforementioned 2-0 heartbreaker to Easton, a 19-6 setback at the hands of the Blue Jays, and a scoreless tie with Fortier.
• Ernest Elias, Moon Rodriguez, Al Waller, and George Johnson led the Rebel O, while Carl Janneck, the Penedo brothers, and Harold Sempe spearheaded the D.

The final Crusader stats for the season showed these players in the forefront.

• Tortorich led the rushers with 204y. Vasterling came next with 201 followed by Chetta's 123.
• Vasterling passed for the most yardage, 190, on 11 completions in 31 attempts. Woods hit 50% of his throws, 7-for-14, for 135y.
• Three different Crusaders tried their hand at punting with Molony compiling a highest average of 30.8 although on only 7 kicks.

In his "Prep Parade" column December 5, Glaudi praised a Crusader.

"Who is the Prep's best pass receiver?"
I was digging through my individual statistics when I discovered that Buford "Boo" Jones, the St. Aloysius QB, had a remarkable pass catching record. He had been the target of 24 aerials attempted by the Crusaders and had caught 15 of 'em for a total yardage of 323.
I further discovered that Jones' pass-catching percentage topped all such marks in the four years I have been keeping those figures. ...
More remarkable is the fact that the Aloysius team - not a passing team - has completed but 19 passes this season. And Jones has been on the receiving end of 15!

Later in the month, Hap noted that the Crusaders were the second least penalized team in the league with 160y, behind Fortier's 150. Interestingly, the most penalized team was Easton.

The Crusaders placed representatives on the All-Prep teams.

• Buford Jones made the Item's first team All-Prep as the QB. T Dick Ghergich and G Allen Lacombe held down spots on the second team. The Honorable Mention list included T Orris Smith, C Joe Cronin, and FB Charlie Tortorich.
• The Times-Picayune choices were the same - Jones first team, Ghergich and Lacombe on the second eleven - but Cronin made the third team.

• 4-3-1 was a fine record considering the thin and relatively inexperienced squad Glover had to work with. All three defeats were to teams that were superior in talent to the Crusaders.
• He clearly knew how to teach defense. In his four years on the job, his teams pitched 16 shutouts - granting him the 0-0 tie in the finale that Brother Ralph directed after Wop joined the Navy.
• However, Glover didn't do nearly as good a job with the offense, which seemed straightforward and unimaginative. Glaudi's comment about Jones catching 15 of the 19 passes Aloysius completed was meant as an accolade for Boo. But it also indicted the predictability of the Saints' passing attack. Five of those 16 shutouts in Glover's tenure were ties.

1943 Season

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