1957
Article from The Toronto Star November 18, 1957
By Neil MacCarl
Parkdale Has One More Plateau to Cross In Attemt To Reach Football Peak
Toronto's last remaining hope for a national football title, Parkdale Lions, will attempt to scale another plateau in their bid for the Canadian junior championship when they meet Notre Dame de Grace Maple Leafs from Montreal in a sudden-death Eastern Canadian final at Varsity stadium tomorrow afternoon. The winner will meet either Winnipeg or Edmonton in the west for the Canadian crown next week-end.
So far this season, the Lions have rolled up 10 successive victories in their bid for another crack at the championship, which eluded them last year, in the final round. The Lions scored 258 points during seven league games and had only 14 scored against them. And in the playoffs, they have counted 115 points in three games, while yielding 33.
"It's just about the same team as last year, but, if anything, I think we have better balance.” says general manager Gord Leyden. “No Iess than 15 players have shared in our scoring this year."
Don “Shanty" McKenzie, Parkdale line coach, agrees with Leyden. "I know we lost some good men from last year - our two first string tackles, two linebackers and a couple of fellows like Gary Williams and Rich Potter, who jumped directly to Argos, " McKenzie explained, but we are fortunate in that we had adequate replacements.”
The nucleus of the club, which is coached by Jack Gray and McKenzie, has been playing together for several seasons, and this is a big advantage, and not very common at a junior level.
Take the backfield, for example. Quarterback Mike Davies is in his second year with the Lions, halfback Eddie Mitchell is in third year; fullback Ron Brewer is a five-year man and halfback Doug Trevor-Wilson is in his fourth year.
Offensively, this quartet forms the Lions' scoring punch. Davies, who kicks field goals and converts, counted 61 points during the 10 games. Mitchell, who is also the punter, was top man with 92 points. Brewer scored 66 points and so did Trevor-Wilson.
"I believe we have some outstanding prospects for pro football," enthuses McKenzie. "In addition to Brewer, Mitchell and Davies in the backfield, I believe Bob Day, the team captain and a two-way tackle, can't miss. His best spot might be as a defensive end
Then there is WaIter Spivak, who plays guard and linebacker. He's only 18 and he's got a chance to go a long way. Rudy Mascarin, a defensive tackle. John Priest, defensive end, and Chuck Giles, who plays middle guard, are others."
Of the newcomers this season, some of the most promising, in addition to Spivak, are Bill MacDougal, Ron Whiteside and Neil Christenson.
"We 'want another chance at; the Canadian title," says Leyden. "Last year we were leading 10-8 with eight minutes to go and, they clicked with a couple of long passes against us to beat us 23-10. We believe we can win it this time if we can get past Notre Dame.”
Article from The Toronto Star November 18, 1957
By Jim Proudfoot
Different This Year Says Parkdale Coach As Team Heads West
Beat NDG 39-14
Toronto's unbeaten Parkdale Lions travel west this week-end to plat Winnipeg Rods in a repeat of last year's Canadian Junior final. Although the Lions haven't met their match all autumn, they'll still be underdogs in the big game Saturday because of what happened last year.
Twelve months ago, the Lions waited until the final match to absorb their first loss of the season and the Rods walked out of Maple Leaf Stadium with the national championship. So far this fall, the Lions have been using the same script. They've won all 11 of their games to date, including a 39-14 conquest of Montreal Notre Dame de Grace Maple Leafs in Saturday's eastern final at Varsity Stadium.
Will history repeat itself? Head coach Jack Gray doesn't think so.
"Last year we were victims of our own strength," Gray argued after Saturday's success. "We didn't have a tough game all year. We beat this club, 65-0, in the eastern final. Suddenly we were tossed in against a team as good as we were. The guys were just bewildered.
"Today's game will do us a lot of good, therefore because we could have lost it. It was only 13-7 going into the fourth quarter, remember. And our pass defence was terrible. They completed two passes for touchdowns and seemed to hit through the air whenever they felt like it. That's the first pass attack we've seen and I'm just glad they didn't throw more or we would have been in real trouble."
The Leafs did have a marked superiority in the air. Quarterback Bob Anderson completed payoff pitches to Kevin Dunnigan and Eddie Rubin. Anderson didn't exploit this chink in Parkdale's armor as much as he might have. Walter Lencz, Rubin and Brian McCool were very effective ball-carriers too.
Leafs were handicapped by the loss of their fastest back, Ray Milley, who suffered a concussion and is recovering now in hospital.
The Lions exploited an explosive ground attack to wear down the Montrealers and, by the time the fourth period came around, they rolled almost at will. Fullback Ron Brewer, voted the team's most valuable workman the night before, showed why by totalling roughly 240 yards from scrimmage. He scored a pair of touchdowns, one on a 21-yard dash and the other from the one after a 58-yard sprint set it up. Ed Mitchell had a pair of touchdowns too, besides gaining just over 100 yards. Mike Davies completed one of his few passes to Fred Moffat for a major and also kicked three converts. The final touchdown was awarded by referee Gary Glover when Lencz of Montreal came off the sidelines to tackle a Parkdale runner who was breaking away.
Line coach Shanty McKenzie's men were crisply efficient, with Walt Spievak, Chuck Giles, Bob Day and John Priest in prominent roles.
Editor's Note - Parkdale won the Canadian Championship beating Winnipeg St. James Rods 20-13
|