When the Warde Mustangs and Ludlowe Falcons take to the gridiron to face each other this Thursday morning, it will mark the 15th renewal of the Thanksgiving Day game between the two Fairfield rivals.This will be the fifth consecutive year the teams have met since the Fairfield Board of Education decided to reopen a second high school at the Ludlowe site on Unquowa Road. The original series ended in 1984, and both schools consolidated into Fairfield High School at the Warde site four years later.
The Falcons won the first matchup of the modern-day series at Taft Field in 2005. However, the Mustangs captured the next two meetings, including a 28-0 cakewalk two years ago at Ludlowe and a 21-12 decision three years ago during the Warde field dedication ceremony and 50th anniversary of the school's opening on Melville Avenue. Ludlowe won a 10-8 nailbiter last year at Warde to even the current series at two games apiece.
Overall, Warde leads the Thanksgiving series, 9-5. The Andrew Warde Crimson Eagles won seven of the first ten games of the original series with Roger Ludlowe, including the very first Thanksgiving Day tussle against the Flying Tigers. That game, played in 1975, extended Warde's Thanksgiving winning streak to eight games after the Eagles won seven straight Turkey Day contests against Kolbe.
Warde's 1975 Thanksgiving game was the second of the season against Ludlowe. The Crimson Eagles already owned a 27-13 decision over the Tigers earlier that season. In the final game of the 1975 campaign, Steve Baxter, Warde's junior halfback, ran for three scores as the Eagles ripped the Tigers, 28-6, to complete the two-game sweep and begin a new tradition for both Warde and Ludlowe.
Eagles' senior placekicker Stephan Lang recalled the game. "Ludlowe actually had a good team in our time and would routinely beat Warde in the annual regular-season cross-town rivalry," he pointed out via email. "Well, in my last game ever at Warde, we actually beat them. I also set a school record for most field goal attempts in a game. I did kick a few extra points that day."
Warde skipper Bill Davis remains the only coach to ever win two games in a season against the cross-town rivals in the history of the series. Both of the 1975 victories came against Ludlowe's coaching legend, Emil Taft, after whom the Falcons' field is named.
"Bill was a very competitive person. He loved to win but was gracious in winning and never degraded an opponent after beating them," wrote Tom Davis via email about his late brother, who coached the Crimson Eagles from 1970 to 1979.
"Bill had a great respect for Emil Taft," he continued. "You have to remember he played against Emil's team when Bill played for Fern Tetreau and then coached against him. Bill considered Emil a great coach and a worthy opponent. You always feel that you have accomplished a great task when you beat Ludlowe and Emil Taft."
The Crimson Eagles opened the scoring midway through the first quarter. Baxter's 39-yard punt return to the Tigers' 46 yard line produced the first scoring threat for either team. Steve Cameron hauled in a pass giving Warde a first down at the Ludlowe 28. Four plays later, Warde had a first-and-goal at the one foot line, and Duane Meier busted in for the touchdown.What happened next may have surprised most of the people in attendance that day, but not the Crimson Eagles. Lang faked the extra point kick and holder Jeff Anderson rolled to his right and hit a wide open Cameron for the two-point conversion and an 8-0 lead for the Eagles.
"It was in our game plan to fake it after our first touchdown," Lang pointed out. "Normally, I'd be in the huddle with the team before the play. This time I decided on my own to get theatrical and make like a real kicker and stay out of the huddle, setting my tee and pretending to do zen meditation or something, to help add to the charade.
"The ploy worked brilliantly, and we scored two points on a pass. I remember making an effort to block for the quarterback, but ending up doing a backflip in the air as the Ludlowe defender barrelled through me. Don't try this at home, kids!"
Ludlowe bounced right back, however, with a 19-play scoring drive that consumed 6:28 on the clock. Filling in for the injured Brian Curry, wide receiver Danny French took over as the quarterback for Ludlowe. Skillfully mixing a combination of runs and passes, three to sophomore Glen Mazzeo, French brought the Tigers to the Warde seven yard line. Curry then returned to the lineup and hit French with five yard touchdown pass on a fourth-and-goal, producing the only points of the game for Ludlowe.
The Crimson Eagles missed out on an excellent scoring opportunity late in the first half when Baxter returned an errant Curry pass 53 yards to the Ludlowe five yard line with only 57 seconds remaining. But the Tigers' defense stiffened, however, and stopped the Eagles on five tries from inside the five yard line (Ludlowe was offside on one play), eventually recovering a Warde fumble on the one yard line.
Both teams struggled trying to move the football during much of the third quarter until Warde defensive tackle Kevin Shay came up with the big play, blocking a Ludlowe punt. Baxter, who seemed to be in the right place at the right time all day long for Warde, picked up the loose pigskin and rambled 26 yards to paydirt for a 15-6 Warde lead.
Coach Bill Davis' club built the advantage to 22-6 early in the fourth quarter, moving 60 yards in nine plays with Baxter breaking loose on a 16-yard touchdown run. The key play in the march was Anderson's 22-yard completion to Meier.
Baxter put the finishing touches on an outstanding game by intercepting his second pass of the afternoon and returning it 57 yards to the Ludlowe two yard line. He bulled over for the score on the next play.
Baxter was named Warde's Most Valuable Player, while Jamie Skultety of Warde was named the outstanding lineman. Scott Campbell was the Ludlowe MVP.
"Thanksgiving dinner was quite enjoyable," admitted Tom Davis, recalling the 1975 victory and family dinner afterward. "Bill never boasted about beating a team, especially Ludlowe. But I do have two footballs on my desk, one that is painted saying, 1973 Warde 16, Ludlowe 14 and the other 1975 Warde vs. Ludlowe 27-13 (regular season victory). I display them quite fondly and I am very proud, as they were my brother's after two great victories."
Paul
Please sign the AWHS Guest Book.
Visit the Andrew Warde High School Gift Shop.
Watch the AWHS 1976 vintage "film".
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