JERSEY FOOTBALL TAKES A LESSON IN "FRENCH"

1946 Varsity Panthers, Team Captain #55 QB-Bob French is in front row holding ball.

At pantherfb.org we are always receiving emails from Jersey fans, players, and parents. And then there are those times when I hear from the Panther greats of the past. These emails are very special because they bring us all closer to our roots and take us to a time that we can not visit and have to rely on those special first hand memories of those who lived them. The following is one of those emails that I recently got from former Jersey QB Bob French.


Dear Pantherfb.org,

Some time ago one of my sons sent me the URL for a website, it was the Panther site of 1946. I want to tell you that I enjoy your website very much, it sure brings back fond memories!

Clicking on some of the buttons on the left I ran across the site with the letter from Shane Cavanah. I remember Shane as the little boy in the football helmet who attended our practices and games. I was fortunate enough to quarterback the 1945 and 1946 teams and played with some great football players. It's very easy to recall memories from those days and I am one that believes that Coach Cavanah turned Panther football into winning teams.

Cavanah brought T formation football and the "pass" to Jerseyville, as a sophomore I remember that Coach Creamer used the single wing and power football. I only weighed about 125 pounds my sophomore year and was lucky enough to play enough quarters to get my letter. I spent most of my freshman and sophomore year as a "tackling dummy" running back punts in practice.

Bob French as a Sophomore in 1944

When my Junior year came around I was trying out for quarterback under Coach Cavanah. Some of the players said that I was going to start as quarterback but I didn't believe them as last years quarterback had returned for his senior year and I was sure that he would start and maybe I would get to play some. Coach Cavanah never gave us the starting lineup before the game, we huddled up before the start and he would call off the lineup. I was shocked when he called my name as starting quarterback and very nervous until the kickoff. We played both ways in those days and I was the safety and out of "harms way" on defense most of the time.

The equipment during my freshman and sophomore years was very old and worn, I remember that the helmet that I was issued as a freshman was made of leather and you could fold it flat and the shoes were about three sizes too big. When Cavanah came he lobbied hard to get enough money to buy new helmets, shoulder pads and shoes. It was clear at that time that his intentions was to build the Panthers into a football power.

I remember the night that we played Western Military, in those days Western was a power house and they were expected to roll over the Panthers with no resistance. Before kickoff I met at the 50 yard line for the flip of the coin, there I was with three referees, two military officers in full uniform and their captain and co-captain. Practice and warm-up before the game they had three teams running up and down their sideline. We barely had enough players to hold practice, and some time Coach Cavanah would put on a helmet and run the ball against us in practice. I had a broken nose on one such occasion, his elbow caught me in the nose and next day at school kids didn't recognize me. Back to the Western game: We received the kickoff and ran back to about our 40 yard line. The first play of the game we ran number 86 which was a running play off of right tackle. I handed the ball to Garland and he ran all the way to the goal line. Truman was one of the shiftiest running backs Jerseyville ever had. I always kidded him that he either made a big gain or fumbled the ball. Bill Randolph, a halfback, never tried to run around a tackler, he tried to run right through them, and a lot of the time he did. Bill's brother, John, was a good player and was a great track man. He and my brother-in-law, Gene Murphy ran the half mile and would try to cross the line together leading the rest of the field.

Bob French as a Junior in 1945

One of the fastest runners we had was Don Bligh, we called him "rabbit". Walter Jewsbury was the best miler I ever ran with. We would run together, I ran the 440 and he the mile. I would try to push him for speed and he would try to push me for endurance. I remember resting on the infield at one track meet and they were running the mile. Walter was about a quarter lap ahead of the field after the first lap and somebody commented that "that kid will never finish the race", well, he did about a lap ahead of everyone else. Walter would run from his home on the farm to school just for fun. He held the indoor track record for some time in the "Big Ten", his brother, Wesley followed in his footsteps, but never achieved what Walter did.

Coach Cavanah was very strict and you had best do what he wanted. I remember a time when Garland broke training the night before a game and Cavanah found out about it. Truman was a starting halfback but his name wasn't called to start that night. He rode the bench the whole game. Cavanah would tell him to warm up and he would run back and forth in front of the bench and Cavanah would tell him to sit down. He repeated this the whole game.

It seems that football was a lot more fun in those days, we didn't have weight training during the summer and most of us had summer jobs, the farm boys worked on the farm all summer. I remember the Coach trying to persuade a couple of the big farm boys to go out for football, but their parents wouldn't let them because they had to work on the farm.

Injuries were common in those days and nobody had insurance. Dave Wallace had a trick knee that would go out of place and the Coach would simply pull it back in place. Joe Holland had a bad knee that never did heal right. There were a lot of broken noses, we didn't have face masks, mine was broken 3 times and after one game the Coach simply grabbed it and tried to straighten it out. My forearms were so bruised and swollen that he had to cut the sleeves of my jersey to get it on.

We knew how dedicated Coach Cavanah was to building a team and we would have run through fire for him. I really admired him and believe he was one of the best coaches that ever coached a team for Jerseyville. I was dating a certain girl during football season and he thought it was a little too serious. Coach asked me if I was interested in dating that girl or playing football. She was pretty upset when I told her we were through.

Coach Cavanah was our only coach in those days, he coached football, basketball and track. We didn't have baseball, tennis, soccer or golf as school sports in those day. We did have sort of an assistant coach, Joe Malloy had returned from military service ( WWII ) and he would help out Coach Cavanah without any pay, just the love of the game. I went into the Air Force after high school and came home on a furlough during one late summer and went out and watch the guys during football practice. I remember thinking that the team didn't look too good me. That was the year that Dewey Skinner and Roger Egelhoff ran wild and tore up the conference. I didn't get to see the guys play, but read about it in the newspapers that my mother sent to me.

Well, I remember Shane and it looks like he followed in his Dad's footsteps they were both very good coaches and were winners!

We ran the T formation that Coach Cavanah brought and several variations of it. It seems one of my tackles in school (George Lorton) never knew what his assignment was on every play and I would have to tell him. I remember about half way through the season Coach handed out a bunch of new plays, he was always coming up with something new some were sucker and trick plays. I wasn't a very good blocker, I only weighed 138 pounds my senior year, but I did enjoy nailing an end on a trap play we had.

I remember in my senior year when we traveled to Pleasant Hill, the grass was about 10" tall on the field and they only mowed where the stripes were. We kicked off to them and Jerry Hewitt (my center) made the tackle. He kept asking me his assignment on every play through the first half and that was unusual for Jerry. During the halftime break we found out that he was knocked silly when he made the tackle on the kickoff and didn't even know where we were. He didn't play the 2nd half. Jerry is #70 in the 46 team photo. He was a great center and gave me a lot of protection as my center.

When we played Roodhouse that year it was a "knock down drag out" affair. They had a player named Ballard on the team and he was a rough player. It seemed that I was the target in that game and I was tackled on every play we ran. One time Ballard tackled me and as I lay on my back gasping for air he picked up a hand full of dirt and dropped it in my mouth. Members on our team didn't take too kindly to that and he was carried off the field a few plays later, not to return. I may have exaggerated a bit about that, but that's the way I remember it.

Bob French as a Senior in 1946

One thing I remember about the sectional basketball tourney when we played East St. Louis at Collinsville in 1946: Most of our starting five must have celebrated ahead of time the night before and they didn't have much energy during the game. Coach pulled most of them out in the last quarter and put in some subs (I was one of them). We came back in the game but couldn't pull it out. We had a great team that year. Three of our players came up from Grafton as it was a 3 year school and they came to Jerseyville for their senior year. We called them the "gas house gang" Dave Wallace had this old 1936 4 door dodge or Plymouth that they drove from Grafton to Jerseyville for school. The thing burnt oil and smoked like crazy (we didn't have school buses in those days). One day during lunch hour I came running out of the side door at school and the old "oil burner" was backed into it's usual parking place loaded with kids ready to head uptown for lunch. Just for fun I jumped on the front bumper and it went clear to the ground. I took off running for fear that Dave was going to clobber me, he simply got out, picked up the bumper and shoved it in the trunk, as if it happened all the time.

Our transportation to ball games were privately owned cars. Ivan Heiderscheid, Ted Solander, Chris Ringhausen and a few others who were avid fans and supporters would drive their cars to the games loaded with football players and equipment. We had to get out of Roodhouse fast after a basketball game if we beat them. It was a pretty rough town in those days and they might be waiting at the edge of town to get revenge.

I went into service shortly after graduating high school and due to two overseas tours I missed watching the Panthers for 6 years.

Some of the soldiers and sailors who returned after WWII wanted to play a game. This was to be a benefit game, I think to raise money for new football equipment. Two teams were picked, one called "Dogpatch" and the other "Skunk Holler". I was picked to quarterback "Skunk Holler" and as luck would have it the rain came down before and during the game and it was a muddy affair. I think Joe Malloy was the captain of one team and I don't remember who headed up the other one. We sloshed around on a muddy field and I believe it ended up scoreless. This wouldn't have happened if my future brother-in-law (Gene Murphy) hadn't dropped the pass I threw him in the end zone. I remember Charlie Worsham nailed me good on one play by diving over my center grabbing me before I could pull away from center. I'm not sure but I think Charlie dislocated his shoulder during the game. It was great fun and the ground wasn't as hard when being tackled. I remember opposing players shouting "get the quarterback" seems like on every play.

I enjoyed the interview you had with "Hornie" he is one of the town favorites, that's for sure! He always had a joke for me or a tale about P.D. I remember watching all of the "Westerns" and serial movies on Saturday afternoons at the old "Jersey" theatre.

Sorry this was so long, but there are many fond memories that still linger in my mind about the good old days as a Panther.

Regards and thanks for your work on the website, it looks great!

Bob French (Quarterback 45/46)

Thanks Bob, for all the great memories of the Panther past!

Captain Bob French observes a decision of the officials when Roodhouse visits Jerseyville.