The 1976 Thanksgiving Day football game between Andrew Warde and Roger Ludlowe high schools was arguably the most dramatic and most memorable in the long and storied history of the Fairfield rivalry. If you were one of the 7,000+ fans who packed the Ludlowe field to witness the game, you no doubt were sitting on the edge of your seat. If you were one of the players, it's a game you'll never forget.
The Warde Crimson Eagles were bidding for their ninth straight Thanksgiving Day game victory after sweeping a seven-game series with Kolbe from 1968 through 1974 and capturing the inaugural Turkey Day contest with the Flying Tigers in 1975. Although both teams combined for only five victories heading into the game, the season records, as usual, were meaningless when the Eagles and Tigers met for the third time in two seasons.
The Crimson Eagles were clinging to a precarious seven-point lead, 20-13, when Ludlowe drove to the Warde two yard line with only 11 seconds left in the game. However, an illegal motion penalty against the hosts negated quarterback Brian Curry's clutch pass to Dan French, and the football was spotted back at the 27-yard line.
An incomplete pass and Dan Capodicci's sack of Curry ended the game. The victory extended Warde's perfect Thanksgiving Day record to 9-0 and gave the Eagles their third straight win in two years over their bitter rivals. Both Warde, which was celebrating its 20th anniversary, and Ludlowe finished the campaign with identical 3-7 records.
Bill Davis, the late Crimson Eagles' coach, stood at midfield following the game, trying to convince fans, players, and the media that he wasn't concerned when the Tigers apparently had moved close to the Warde goal line. "I saw the flag on the play," he was quoted as saying. "I prayed that it was with us." His prayers were answered, improving his unblemished Thanksgiving Day record as coach to 7-0 since taking over for Fern Tetreau in 1970.
Ludlowe, which trailed 13-0 after three quarters, finally came alive in the final stanza, thanks to the receiving of French, Jack Tetreau, and Dave Williams. Williams opened the fourth quarter by grabbing an 18-yard aerial from Curry, only the fourth completion in 13 attempts by the Tigers' signal caller. Nine players later, Curry threw a strike to Williams, who split two defenders on a post pattern, for a 15-yard touchdown to cap a 78-yard drive. Curry's point after kick cut the Eagles' lead to 13-7.The hosts played solid defense on Warde's next possession, and the Tigers got the ball back at the Eagles' 46-yard line with just 7:37 left in the game. Tetreau, the son of former Warde coaching legend Fern Tetreau, made a sensational one-handed grab of a deflected pass for an eight yard gain, and French made a diving stab of a Russ Gordon option pass for a 25-yard pickup and a first-and-goal at the Eagles' seven yard line.
After Ludlowe was pushed back to the ten-yard line, French made another diving catch on third down, this time on a post pattern in the end zone, for the tying touchdown with 5:39 remaining in the game. However, a poor snap from center foiled the conversion attempt, and left the score deadlocked at 13 apiece heading into the final minutes.
Two key plays on Warde's ensuing drive helped stop Ludlowe's momentum and led to the winning score. First, quarterback Joe Giesken came up with huge gain of 25 yards on a counter run up the left sideline. A personal foul on the play advanced the pigskin to the Ludlowe 37 yard line. Then, four plays later on a fourth-and-three from the 30 yard line, Jim Babian bulled off right tackle for a five yard gain and an Eagles' first down at the Ludlowe 25.
Two plays later, sophomore halfback Joe Ciccia threw a perfect option pass to Duane Meier for the winning touchdown with just 1:25 left in the game. The play was used six times by the Eagles. Ludlowe answered with its last-ditch effort before the Warde defense rose to the occasion and thwarted the Tigers' potential game-tying score.
The guests jumped out to an early lead. On Ludlowe's first play from scrimmage, Ed Kish, who intercepted three passes in the game and was voted Warde's Most Valuable Player, picked off an errant Curry aerial and returned it 22 yards to paydirt as Warde drew first blood. The winners added to their lead when Ciccia threw a perfect 77-yard halfback option to Meier.
Paul
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