20051130 Westminster, City College set to renew old football ties

Aerial photo of Westminster High School on Longwell Avenue in 1950

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Westminster, City College set to renew old football ties

Westminster Eagle

11/30/2005 By Kevin E. Dayhoff

This Friday at 7 p.m., City College of Baltimore and Westminster High School will face off in the state football semifinals - at Westminster.

The only other time these two teams played each other on the gridiron was 54 years ago, in September 1951.

Two prominent local physicians remember that '51 game well - from opposite sides of the field.

Dr. John Steers Sr., City College class of 1952, played end for the City College Black Knights.

Dr. Dean Griffin, WHS class of 1952, was the team manager for the Westminster Owls.

In September 1951, the Westminster football program was only four years old. Herb Ruby first started Westminster High School football in 1947.

Fortunately, the lights for the field (later named Ruby Field) had been installed the year before or the game may never have happened.

According to Steers, as the bus driver was bringing the City College team up Old Baltimore Pike, (four years before Route 140 opened), "he got lost, and we followed the lights to the school."

It may have been just as well if City had gotten lost, as the Owls came up short in the contest, 20-6, in a game marred by too many fumbles, according to an account by The Sun.

(The 1952 Owl Yearbook notes that the Owls lost 22-6. Whatever ... Westminster lost.)

In 1951, head coach Herb Ruby, backfield coach Fern Hitchcock and line coach Nate Weinstock mentored the Westminster Owls, according to Griffin.

For City, Andy DiFassio was head coach. Steers still keeps in touch with Difassio after all these years, and will have dinner with him this week. Steers is considering inviting him up for this Friday's game, but may re-consider "due to [DiFassio's] age," he said.

Griffin noted that Ruby and Hitchcock were later recognized by the Carroll County Sports Hall of Fame, sponsored by the Rotary Club, for contributions to sports in Carroll County. Nathan Weinstock was a volunteer coach.

Many will remember that Weinstock also owned "Weinstock's Dress Shop" on Westminster's Main Street.

A member of the Owls 1951 football team, Charlie Havens Jr., was also later inducted into the Hall of Fame. (So was his dad, Charlie Havens Sr., a Western Maryland College coach who also played professional football and was an active volunteer in the Westminster Fire Company. Griffin referred to him as a "one-man ambulance crew.")

Both Griffin and Steers remember the game as if it were yesterday.

Early in the first quarter Steers, playing end for the Knights, gathered up a fumble on the Westminster 15-yard line. Two plays later, Dick Whedbee, of City scored on a 13-yard run.

In the September 1951 Sun account, staff writer Edwin H. Brandt wrote: "City scored again after two minutes of the second quarter had gone by when Gene [sic Ð Carl] Fisher, Westminster quarterback, fumbled ... twice in a row. City recovered the second on the 9-yard line and [two plays later] Chuck Doering plunged over É"

"Westminster made its bid to get back into the game," Brandt continued, when "Fullback Al Kelbaugh got his shoulders over the goal line É"

In the third and final score of the game, "Quarterback Jerry Sisson then went around end on the initial play of the last period for the touchdown."

In this year's rematch, Westminster is ranked second in the state, according to a Nov. 23 poll by The Sun, while City is ranked 11th.

Griffin pondered that the 2005 Owl football team, coached by Brad Wilson, may be one of the three best ever fielded by Westminster. The other two teams he mentioned were the 1976 team and 1950 squad, which went 9-1 for the season. (This writer would add the 1981 squad.)

In 1950, Quarterback Jack Bowersox was named "All-Maryland" and halfback Bob Settle and tackle Calvin Dutterer were named "All-County."

The 1951 Owl yearbook notes that the success of the team "was the culmination of a great deal of work on the part of civic-minded citizens of WestminsterÉ"

Today, many "civic-minded" citizens who know their football expect Westminster to go on to win the state championship after they settle a 54-year old score with City College.

Dr. Steers said he is looking forward to the game this Friday, and asked that The Westminster Eagle spread the word for 1951 team members to get in touch with him, so that they may meet at the VFW at 4:40 p.m. for dinner and attend the game together.

It's a shame they'll all witness City College lose.

Go Owls.

Kevin Dayhoff writes from Westminster Maryland USA.

www.kevindayhoff.net

E-mail him at: kdayhoff AT carr.org or kevindayhoff AT gmail.com

His columns and articles appear in The Tentacle - www.thetentacle.com; Westminster Eagle Opinion; www.thewestminstereagle.com and Winchester Report.

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