Andy Douglass welcomed two new assistants to his staff.

• Ernie Smith came from St. Stanislaus to be the head basketball coach.
• Jack Schommer, fresh out of Southeastern Louisiana, became line coach. Jack lettered four years in football and made all-Riverside League twice at Metairie High, which, since his departure, had merged with other schools to form East Jefferson.
• Henry Perret and Bobby Nuss ('48) continued in their positions.

• First and foremost, he had to replace 20 seniors, including all the offensive starters but T Bob Smith. Only eight lettermen returned. One key addition was 225 lb senior Nat Kieffer, a transfer from Cor Jesu, at the other OT spot.
• Douglass: "We look for hustle and determination to compensate for a shortage of experienced lettermen. And if a few of our untried boys come around, we might be pretty good."
• Gaspar Cardinale moved from the secondary to QB. "Although he's new at this position," Douglass said, "we have no doubt that he'll do the job for us. If only that knee holds out ..."
• Joining Gaspar in the retooled backfield were George Oeschner, Lenny Stein, who had seen much action in '56, and Lenny Daigle, son of Aloy­sius's All-State TB Eddie Daigle of the early '30s.
• Moving with the trend to two-platoon football, Aloysius would substitute some specialists on defense. Alex Arnold would take over at T and Tom Russell at G while two sophomores, Nick Bonura and Joe Estrada, entered the secondary.
• The Crusaders would have to compete without promising sophomore Ronnie Senac, whose family moved to Hammond.
• Charles Gaudin of the States summarized: "A pass-minded offense cen­tered around a rifle-armed QB, a host of swift, elusive backs and a beefy, mobile line combine to make St. Aloysius one of the Catholic loop's best bets."
• Douglass scheduled eleven games, one more than colleges played. The newcomer on the slate was Brookhaven (MS) in the first of three straight road trips following the annual opener against Easton.

The LHSAA expanded its AAA playoffs for 1957, and the change affected New Orleans prep play.

• The association broke the AAA schools into five districts. The New Orleans Catholic and Public leagues would no longer be considered sub-districts but rather two separate districts, 4-AAA for the public schools and 5-AAA for Catholic with six schools in each.
• So the Catholic and Public winners would not meet for the city champ­ionship since both would go to the state playoffs, the public school champ against the Southeast (3-AAA) winner and the Catholic titlist against the Southwest winner (2-AAA).
• Commissioner T. H. "Muddy" Waters decreed that each team in either New Orleans district must play at least five district games in order to be eligible to participate in the state playoffs, this despite the fact that District 1-AAA consisted of just three schools, Byrd, Fair Park, and Ouachita.
• Since some Crescent City teams hadn't included five league foes on their schedule, Waters drew names out of a hat to determine which non-dis­trict games would count in the district standings for each team.
• Aloysius wasn't affected by the ruling since Douglass had scheduled all five Catholic league opponents.

• Preseason choice to win the potent Big Eight Conference, Brookhaven returned 13 lettermen, including Ralph Smith, an all-league E. One player who hadn't forged a reputation yet because of missing half the '56 season with injuries was HB Lance Alworth, who would one day be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a WR.
• The Saints would compete without injured Lenny Stein. Lenny Daigle would move to FB, and Larry Hagstette would take Daigle's vacated HB spot.
• WTPS broadcast the game back to New Orleans.

• The Crusaders had beaten the Lumberjacks only twice in nine tries, both victories coming on Douglass's watch (1954, 1956).
• Replacing Arthur "Slick" Morton, Audis Gill lost his debut to his alma mater, Easton, by the identical score, 6-0, by which the Eagles prevailed over the Crusaders.
• Bogalusa fielded its heaviest eleven in some years, averaging 192 across the front and 175 in the backfield.
• Gill's offense mixed the Notre Dame box with the orthodox T, a change from Morton's single wing and I formation.

• The Crusaders' biggest foe that week was the Asiatic flu, which also felled the head coach. Douglass had so many players (22 to 35) sick each day, he couldn't conduct a single practice.
• As a result, Terrebonne agreed to postpone the game from Friday to Sunday. Many other games in southeast Louisiana were cancelled for several weeks because of the Oriental invader.
• Douglass toyed with the idea of playing a three-team system because players weakened by the flu might not be able to play many minutes in a row.
• Buck Seeber's Tigers ranked as a two-to-four TD favorite over the de­pleted Saints. They were led by two of the state's top scorers in seniors Earl Gros (42 points) and John McCoy (36). Gros had just gained 249y in 10 carries against Fortier.
• Terrebonne had also beaten Jesuit.

• The Crusaders had beaten the Buccaneers both times they played, 32-6 in '55 and 18-6 in '56. Douglass's crew would be back at full strength after the flu battle.
• The Bucs led the Public School League. After dropping their opener 19-6 to Reserve, they came back to upset De La Salle 32-7 and defeat McDonogh 13-0.
• Because WJ didn't have enough games against public schools, Commis­sioner Waters, by blind draw, chose the Aloysius game as a district matchup for the Bucs.

• Jesuit had compiled a 1-3 record, but the one victory was a league win and all the defeats were outside the district.
• Like the Crusaders, the Blue Jays dropped their first two games against Terrebonne (38-12) and Baton Rouge (41-6).
• Then the Jays rallied to upend Redemptorist 20-0 before losing to Mur­phy in Mobile 13-6.
• Jesuit would play without its C, Bill Lagarde, one of its top defenders who was down with pneumonia.
• N. Charles Wicker of the Picayune proclaimed Aloysius a two TD favorite "as Douglass and the man who gave him his start, Eddie Toribio, match wits."
• Andy and his staff had to wonder which offense Toribio would employ. Against the Rams, he forsook the single wing for the T because his TB Freddy Schwartz was out and he had no blocking back either. 15-year-old Adrian Colon had played sensationally in the last two games.
• Like the year before, kickoff was moved up a half hour to 2 pm because of the Holy Name rally scheduled at Tulane Stadium.

The educated toe of Arthur Balser, a youngster whom Andy Douglass picked up out of the school yard and added him to the football squad because of his ability to kick extra points, gave Aloysius a thrilling 13-12 victory over Jesuit ... before more than 6500 fans. (TP)

• Q1: E Bobby Boasberg put the Jays in the lead three minutes in when he gathered in a 7y southpaw pass from Colon on the 10 and snaked into the EZ on the first play after Larry Ward recovered a fumble by Oeschner on a punt return.
• Q2: Aloysius drove to the 3 before fumbling the ball away. But moments later, they scored anyway when Spano recovered an errant pitchout by Colon in the EZ. Balser booted what would turn out to be the crucial PAT. Jesuit marched from their 32 to regain the lead. After clipping on a punt allowed them to retain possession, they continued the onslaught to the 8. However, a 3y loss on first down, then a 5y penalty set them back to the 18. But Colon connected with Ward to the 5. Then Adrian scored on a cleverly executed buck-lateral play. For the second straight time, the try for the EP failed. So the Blue Jays led at the half, 12-7.
• Q3: The Saints started in a hole when Oeschner took the kickoff on the 3 but could gain only 7y. Undaunted, the Knights moved straight down the field to take the lead for good when Cardinale threw a high-arching pass that Spano caught over his shoulder for a 37y TD. Balser conver­ted again, but a holding penalty nullified the try. He missed the longer attempt, but SA still led 13-12.
• Q4: In the final minutes, Oeschner set the Jays back deep with a beau­tiful kick that went out of bounds on the 3. It was the first punt for Aloy­sius and surprised everyone because Bonura usually did the kicking. Jesuit couldn't mount a threat from there as the clock ran out.

• As with West Jefferson, Aloysius had beaten the Warriors in both '55 and '56.
• Joe Yenni's squad suffered from injuries. QB Charley Kellum and line stalwart Gil Maniscalco remained out of action, the latter with the cast just removed from his leg.
• "Red" Cannon, one of the city leaders in passing yardage, led the EJ offense.

• First up was Redemptorist, which had tied the Saints two years in a row.
• Having lost to both Jesuit and De La Salle, the Rams had no margin of error. They faced a must win situation in their homecoming contest.
• Like the Crusaders, Joe Galliano's Rams put their stock in their running game behind a deep corps of backs including Wayne Juneau, Morris Powell, Lester Mitts, and QB Al Pontiff (future Brother Martin assistant).

Pontiff hands to Juneau.

• The Tigers, in their first season under Ken Tarzetti, former assistant at Jesuit, began league play the previous week with a 25-14 defeat at the hands of De La Salle.
• So the two teams considered the favorites for the Catholic crown before the season began faced what loomed as an elimination game since nei­ther could afford a second league defeat.
• Holy Cross sported a balanced attack built on Frank Prieto's running and Johnny Pat Brechtel's pitching.
• However, the Tigers entered the fray uncertain of how much contribu­tion they would receive from ailing warriors Norman Solis, Edgar Sau­cier, and Marty Gattuso. It would turn out that the latter two would play key roles in the contest.
• The two teams had met only one common foe, Easton, which beat Aloy­sius 6-0 and tied HC 13-13.

• Q1: The Saints fell into a hole early when Bonura failed to get off a punt and decided to run. But HC could get nowhere and co-captain John Wil­liams punted into the EZ. Two plays later, Aloysius jumped in front when Oeschner swept RE and turned on the speed for a 63y TD, and Balser converted. Sadly, that would be their last points of the after­noon.
• Q2: The Crossmen tied the game on the fourth play of the period. Playing second and eight at the SA 49, Brechtel turned from the line as if to pass but handed to Edgar Saucier on a beautifully executed draw play. Saucier zipped through LT, cut to the sidelines, and simply ran by the linebackers and secondary to pay dirt. Mike Schouest added the PAT.
• Q3: On HC's first possession after receiving the kickoff, Williams broke loose for 43y to make it 14-7 after another Schouest conversion. Late in the period, Aloysius moved to the Tiger 8, but the defense stiffened and took over on downs.
• Q4: A holding penalty set the Tigers back to their 2. Tarzetti waved his kicking team into the game but, when the Knights drew a 5y penalty for illegal procedure, Ken decided not to kick. The offense worked the ball to the 17 where Williams did punt. And what a punt it was, all the way to the SA 28 on the fly from where it bounded into the EZ - 83 yards! De­nied the great field position they hoped to get, the Crusaders took to the air, but Charles Knight intercepted at the 1 in the waning seconds.

Lightning bolts danced across sunny City Park Stadium Sunday afternoon ... The final electrifying dash belonged to Holy Cross Co-Captain Johnny Williams, who ran, staggered, spun and streaked 44 yards for the winning touchdown as if that Russian puppy dog was snapping at his heels.

The 152-pound halfback's breakthrough on the right side of the line accomplished three things:

• The frustration of at least five Aloysius defenders who had their overeager hands on him;
• The preservation of Holy Cross' hopes to catch De La Salle in the race for the Catholic League title;
• The virtual elimination of the Crusaders' pretensions to the throne.

O'Shea's third conclusion seemed reasonable when you looked at the league standings with two games remaining (three for HC).

Since DLS had no league losses, the best the Crusaders could do was tie for the championship, and several dominoes would have to fall just right for that to happen.

• De La Salle must lose both its remaining games to Jesuit and Aloysius.
• Either Redemptorist or Jesuit must beat Holy Cross.

This wackiest of Prep seasons was far from over.

• Having lost to graduation almost all the good players from the squad that derailed Aloysius's title hopes in '56, Holy Name had dropped all six of its games.
• The Blue Knights lost their first league game the week before to De La Salle 27-0.
• They could help the Crusaders' cause the last two weeks of the season by upsetting either Holy Cross or Redemptorist, but there was little likelihood of that.

• Q1: Aloysius marched 62y to their first score with Daigle going over from the 1 after a 20y pass from Cardinale to Foret. Then Stein capped a 48y march with a 1y plunge. Before the period ended, Oeschner sprinted over from the 38 after Cuntz intercepted Mickey O'Connor's pass.
• Q2: Oeschner knifed in from the 1 and Larry Hagstette from the 2. After missing his first three tries, Balser kicked both points.
• Q3: George rambled 45y for his third TD of the afternoon.
• Q4: Given a chance to play offense, Cuntz raced 28y for the last TD. A safety ended the scoring.

Aloysius enjoyed a week off before the finale against De La Salle. In the meantime, two weeks of results gave the Crusaders a chance at the crown.

• Redemptorist edged Holy Cross 7-6.
• Jesuit scored on a 65y pass in the waning seconds to beat De La Salle 14-12.

So the standings entering the final weekend of play looked like this.

• The Crusaders now controlled their own destiny. Defeat De La Salle and finish in a four-way tie with the Cavaliers, the Rams (assuming they beat Holy Name), and the winner of Holy Cross-Jesuit.
• A Cav victory or tie would clinch the championship for Johnny Altobello's team.
• With Cavs-Crusaders set for Friday night and the other two district games on Saturday (Rams-Knights) and Sunday (Blue Jays-Tigers), most of the other three contending squads would attend the SA-DLS fracas rooting strongly for Aloysius.
• The Sallies would depend, as usual, on their all-stater, Don Bossier, the city's top ground grainer and total offense leader. However, injured QB Frank Pelicano would see little action.
• With two weeks to prepare, what surprises would Douglass and his staff spring on the Cavaliers?

The Catholic district principals made contingency plans should Aloysius win. A committee consisting of Brother Andre of St. Aloysius, Brother Rei­nald of Holy Cross, and Brother Francis of De La Salle would meet no later than Sunday evening to decide how to determine the district rep­resentative in the state playoffs.

As if the situation weren't convoluted enough, Mother Nature intervened to change the schedule.

• A band of rain preceding a cool front moved through the area Friday morning, dropping an inch of rain accompanied by strong winds. As a result, the Friday night game was postponed until 3 pm Saturday afternoon.
• That cost the Rams a chance to attend since they played at 8 pm that evening. However, they would take the field at Behrman Stadium know­ing whether they still had a shot at the title.

The district committee met and made the following decisions.

• All four schools would share the district title.
• A three-game playoff would decide the league representative in the state playoffs.
• The playoff would begin with a doubleheader Wednesday night at City Park Stadium.
• The winners would meet Sunday for the right to play LaGrange in the first round of the playoffs December 8.
• Should any game end in a tie, the winner would be determined by (1) penetrations of the opponent's 20, (2) first downs, and (3) total yards.
• The grand old man of City Park Stadium, Tad Gormley, picked names out of a hat to pair Jesuit against De La Salle at 6 pm and Redemptorist against Aloysius at 8:15 (or a half hour after the conclusion of the first game).
• One ticket entitled a person to watch both games: 50 cents for students and $1 adults pre-game or $1.50 at the gate.
• With Friday's bad weather fresh in their minds, the committee covered the possibility of a repeat by decreeing that, if the Wednesday Night Spectacular (as Rick O'Shea called it) had to be postponed, the games would be played Thursday night with the final moved to Monday.

So New Orleans prepared for an unprecedented event: a football mini-tourna­ment starting with back-to-back semifinal games.

• None of the four coaching staffs had ever dealt with such a short prepa­ration period - just three days. Having played Sunday, Jesuit faced the shortest turnaround time in terms of player recovery.
• Altobello liked his team's pairing. Our kids want to play Jesuit more than any other club. Ever since that defeat - it was a stunner - all you could hear around here was "Man, we should have won that Jesuit game." Well, they've got their chance. I told the team: "Don't expect any pep talks from me. If you can't get yourselves up for this one, you don't deserve to win." I think we're going to win, and all the boys feel that way too.
• Toribio, whose Blue Jays rode the crest of a four-game winning streak: It's easy to tell you which is the toughest team - it's whichever one I'm playing at the time. All of them are equally tough. The boys feel all right about coming back against De La Salle. After being hopelessly out of it two weeks ago, they feel they've had an 11th hour reprieve. I think we're just beginning to move. We're in the best physical condition we've been in this season. We're definitely ready for a topnotch effort.
• Douglass, whose Crusaders ranked #7 in the AP poll: We were high for De La Salle ... and we'll be just as high for Redemptorist. Our boys are delighted to get another crack at Redemptorist. Even if they whip us, then we'll have the satisfaction of knowing they simply have the better team because they did it twice. We underestimated them the first time. They have to beat the best of the three clubs - terrific running attack with that Morris Powell, Wayne Juneau and Lester Mitts.
• Galliano of the #8 Rams: They have the psychological advantage, of course, because we beat them, but we figured we'd have to play them sooner or later anyway since they are the best team of the three. I'm glad Jesuit and De La Salle, the two teams that beat us, are playing in the first game. We can point to the winner and tell our boys to go out and beat this Aloysius now, and you'll get another chance to beat so-and-so.
• Psychological advantage or no, Douglass would have to shore up his run defense after the Rams ground out 222y in their 27-14 victory Octo­ber 27.

A crowd that started at 3500 when the first game began and grew to 15,000 saw Jesuit crush De La Salle 33-7 in the opener.

"Live by the toe, die by the toe" might have been the Saints' motto. After beating Jesuit by a point on Balser's conversion, they lost to the Rams when he missed.

• Q1: Redemptorist took the opening kickoff and moved well from their 33 to the SA 34. But from there, they were forced to punt, the ball going into the EZ. The Crusaders advanced to the Ram 44 before punting. After failing to move, Redemptorist kicked to the SA 38 where the Cru­saders started a sustained drive that reached the enemy 38 when the period ended.
• Q2: The Saints continued their march to a TD. Key gains included a 16y scamper by Oeschner and a 2y QB sneak by Cardinale on fourth-and-1 at the 8. That paved the way for Oeschner's 7y LE sweep to the EZ. Balser's missed PAT boot probably left many in the stadium wonder­ing if that would haunt the Crusaders. After stopping the Rams again and receiving a punt, Aloysius couldn't move. So Bonura dropped back to kick. Just as happened in the first Redemptorist game, the snap sailed over his head, and the same player, Louis Darre, recovered, this time on the 17. It took the Irish Channel boys only two plays to score. Ju­neau ripped off an 8y gain before Powell skirted RE. Mitts split the up­rights for a 7-6 lead.

• Q3: Aloysius took the kickoff and moved to the Ram 49 before having to punt. Bonura penned the Rams deep at their 9. Mitts got off a 45 yarder to midfield to give the defense some breathing room. Four plays later, Bonura punted again, this one dead on the 12. From there, Redempto­rist got as far as the SA 43. Juneau's TD run from there was called back because of holding with only seconds left in the period.
• Q4: The Crimson couldn't move on their next possession, but this time a poor punt gave the Rams the ball on the SA 48. They ate up precious minutes by marching all the way to the 1' line before the desperate Al­oysians took over. A 21y jaunt by Juneau and 15y run by Powell gained most of the yardage. Backed up as far as an offense can be, the Crusa­ders started a last ditch effort. Cardinale's passing and Oeschner's run­ning moved the pigskin to the midfield stripe. Gaspar launched a long aerial intended for George, but Powell snagged it instead. The Rams froze the ball the remainder of the battle.

A tie would have advanced Aloysius to play Jesuit since SA tied the Rams in penetrations with two and led in first downs 10-6.

• Redemptorist, the school with the smallest male enrollment in the league, beat the Blue Jays the following Sunday 23-7.
• Having played three games in eight days, the Rams didn't have much gas left in the tank for the trip to Lake Charles. LaGrange romped 42-7.
• Istrouma won its third state championship in a row.

The Crusaders received a consolation prize in the form of a second straight trip to the Shrimp Bowl in Biloxi.

• The opponent would again be Biloxi, whom Aloysius had beaten 14-6 in '56.
• The 8-2 Indians gained the host berth by virtue of their Thanksgiving victory over traditional rival Gulfport, 19-10.
• The teams had one common opponent, Brookhaven, which beat Aloy­sius 19-6 and Biloxi by the almost identical score of 18-6.
• Douglass: "They have practically the same team back, including the boy that hurts us most, FB A. J. Holloway." The future Ole Miss Rebel (and mayor of Biloxi during Katrina) won the MVP award in last season's Shrimp Bowl. "This game should be just about as close - one touch­down," opined Andy, who proved to be a prophet in this case.
• 13 seniors would play their last game in crimson and white.

• Q1: The Indians bolted to a 15-0 lead on two TDs by Holloway, one on a 4y plunge off LT and the other on a 13y RE sweep. A. J. also convert­ed after the second score. The other two points came when Russell went back to punt in his own EZ, and the wild snap sailed out of the field of play.
• Q2: The Crusaders put together two sustained drives but scored on only one. The first thrust went from the 20 to the Biloxi 15 before bog­ging down. The second covered 47y and ended with Oesch­ner sweep­ing LE from the 1. Balser converted.
• Q3: Biloxi increased its lead as soon as the half began, driving 41y, the last 23 coming on a pass from Joe Balius to Bubba Misko, who made a sensational catch in the EZ. Balius converted. Starting at their 25, SA drove to the 2 before being turned back. The Indians then marched al­most the length of the field for their final tally. Most of the yardage came when backup QB John Ryan connected with Kenny Langlinais on a 76y scoring pass.
• Q4: Down 28-7, the never-say-die Crusaders scored twice: a 21y pass from Cardinale to Foret and, after a 68y drive, Stein's 3y plunge.

Oeschner, with 20 carries for 130y along with 67 more on three receptions, received the Best Back Award in his final game as a Saint.

Several Crusaders earned college scholarships for their football ability.

• Oeschner, who led all city backs with a 6.24 average per carry and finished third in total rushing yards (132/824), went to Tulane where he lettered 1960-1-2.
• Lenny Stein also became a Greenie, lettering 1960-1.
• Foret followed in his brother Teddy's footsteps by accepting a football scholarship to Auburn, Douglass's alma mater. Bobby lettered in 1960-1 for the Tigers.

Several Saints made All-Prep squads.

Times-Picayune

All-Catholic

• E Bobby Foret
• B George Oeschner

Honorable Mention

• T Nat Kieffer
• G Bobby Hebert
• C Jimmy Gaubert

New Orleans States

All-Prep (Public and Catholic)

• E Foret
• B Oeschner

All-Catholic

• E Foret
• C James Gaubert
• B Oeschner

Foret and Oeschner also made Honorable Mention on the AP AAA All-State team. Bobby rated the same honor on Teen Magazine's All-Southwest team.

• Writers and coaches consistently referred to Aloysius as the most talented team in the league. You should never put too much stock in what your opponents' head man says about you (and what reporters write because they get their info from the coaches) because every coach has ulterior motives.
• The Crimson D line was not as formidable as the 1956 crew as evi­denced by the strong rushing performances of several opponents. And when you play sophomores in the secondary, it's hard to believe your team is at the top of the talent list.
• Most disappointing were the errors in the kicking game. Bad snaps on punts contributed to both Redemptorist defeats and the Shrimp Bowl loss. Mistakes like that shouldn't occur late in the season.
• Even in 1957, teams rose or fell on the basis of QB play. Cardinale started badly with numerous fumbles in the opening game that sent him back to defense for a few games. But he rallied and led a potent offense, sprinkling in enough passes to take some pressure off the stellar ground game.
• All in all, in a year when no team stood out, a break here or avoiding a miscue there would have meant several more wins and a spot in the state playoffs.

1958 Season

1956 Season

Link to any particular season from these pages:

Summary of the 1940s

Summary of the 1930s

Summary of the 1920s

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