Fairfield Warde High School athletic director Chris Manfredonia is looking forward to next Friday night. That's when the Mustangs will commemorate the 50th anniversary of Andrew Warde High School's undefeated state championship football team from 1959.Ceremonies will take place during halftime of the Mustangs' game against St. Joseph High School of Trumbull, which begins at 7:00 p.m. The current Warde squad started the season with three straight victories, including the season-opener against Darien, but dropped its last two contests to fall to 3-2.
Fifty years ago, the Crimson Eagles' gridders completed a perfect 9-0 record under head coach Fern Tetreau in just their fourth season of play. The school opened three years earlier in September of 1956. The squad boasted an especially strong defensive unit and christened the season by shutting out its first four opponents.
"Former players and coaches from that team will be recognized on the field by First Selectman Ken Flatto, as well as members of the FWHS athletic department," Manfredonia told me. "They will be given a commemorative plaque that includes a team picture as well as the scores from their games that season."
Coach Tetreau, who still attends all the Warde home games, recently told me that he was very uncertain as to how the season would play out a half-century ago. "We had a very young ballclub," he admitted. "I did not know what we had (in terms of talent or potential). I was hoping we would win half our ball games."
According to the 1959-60 Flame yearbook, when the school first opened in 1956, "the Warde Eagles were the stepping stones of the district football teams, but this year they were a team to be reckoned with."
The team was greatly dependent upon the sturdy line which included all-state tackle Walt Beck, Ed Magi, Ed Zelle, Walt Ruby, Fred Gates, Jim Roberto, Jack Schneider, Don Kessler, Dave Schempp, and Jeff Lebowitz.
While the defense held nine opponents to a cumulative total of 24 points and shut out six of them, the offense opened up wide gaps in the opponents' lines for the hard-running backfield. The potent rushing attack included fullback Jack Flanagan, wingback Al Bennett, quarterbacks Howie Ratner and Joe Vige, and tailback Larry Gill, pictured below.
The records speak for themselves. Warde whitewashed Bassick's green-and-white to start the campaign, 22-0. For the first time in school history, the Eagles defeated Darien, 16-0. The Warde eleven continued its shutout streak by blanking Norwalk, 12-0, in a hard-fought contest, and then made it four in a row with a 32-0 romp over the Bullard Havens Tech Tigers.
Overconfidence, however, may have caused a slight letdown, and Staples became the first team to score against the Eagles in a 14-6 Warde victory. The Crimson Eagles recuperated quickly, though, and overpowered New Canaan, 16-0, and cross-town rival Ludlowe, 26-0. Warde completed its first undefeated season by trouncing Stratford, 22-12, and knocking off Central in a thriller, 15-6.
The Flame yearbook discussion noted, "Thanks to the determination of the boys, the patience of the coaches --- Fern Tetreau and Russ Dobelstein --- and the support of the student body, Warde was able to win a CIAC football award of merit to climax a great season."
"It’s always nice to recognize and remember the accomplishments of former players and teams," added Manfredonia, who said that Coach Tetreau and players Jack Schneider, Bill Golino, and Walt Beck have accepted invitations to attend the ceremony. "It allows current players to share in the achievements of former teams, and builds a memory for not only the 1959 team, but the current one as well."
Paul
Special thanks to Donna Green, a 1968 graduate of Andrew Warde High School and current secretary to headmaster James Coyne at Fairfield Warde High School, for donating the 1959-60 Flame yearbook for this article.
Thanks are extended to Fairfield Warde High School athletic director Chris Manfredonia for organizing the ceremony and for inviting me to serve as master of ceremonies.
Please sign the AWHS Guest Book.
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