The 1949 Lawrence High School Football Team was loaded with great high school athletes and coaches. Although I’m not sure of their record I remember watching them perform at the Lawrence Stadium as a young man.
Those days, having thousands of fans attending was not unusual. What might have been unusual later in the team’s history was the number of that team that was selected to the school’s Hall of Fame.
We’ll start with the coaches: Jim Jordan of Coolidge St. in Southie coached baseball and football after toiling far the former now closed St. James High in Haverhill and CCHS in our City.
Coach Ralph Wolfendale was an assistant and played football with Vince Lombardi with a group known as the “blocks of granite”. The gym at the old high school is named for him.
Vinnie Carroll was an assistant and for many years he toiled at the Essex County Training School which is now under the Sheriff’s Department on Marston St.
The players who later became Hall of Famers were the Captain Gerry Callagy the qb who is considered by many Lawrencians to be the best ever LHS athlete.
Pat Burke who later starred at Michigan State was a lineman and would at become a LHS captain. He lived in Las Vegas for years before returning to this city. Pat unfortunately passed on a short while ago.
Johnny D’Angelo was a running back on this team and a quiet man to this day. John let his talent speak for him. He is retired as an agent for the U.S. government and now resides in Methuen.
Terry Sweeney was also running back and went on to play college ball at Tennessee.
Bob Fitzgerald also went on to play at Northeastern University for the immortal coach Joe Zabilskie.
Louie Giarusso was a tackle and although not as big as most of his teammates, not one of them had a bigger heart or was tougher. He later became a Lawrence Firefighter. Louie weighed in about 145 pounds and was about 5 foot 4 inches but few teams ran against his tackle spot.
Bill Quinlan still of Mt. Vernon St. was the center for the blue and white in those days. He really made a name as an NFL football player for Lombardi and the Green Bay Packers. Do you know anybody who played on 3 league champion teams? Well, if you know Big Bill you do now. In his pro days there wasn’t a Super Bowl so the league title was as big as it got. At the Mt. Vernon Park complex a baseball field bears his name.
This writer felt then and still does feel the whole complex should’ve been named for Bill. By the way he was also a good catcher for the Lancers.
All of these LHS Hall of Famers played multiple sports and were great models for future athletes and wearers of the blue and white.
The 1957 undefeated gridsters are also in the Hall of Fame with their fabled coach Ed Buckley.
