BLACKSTONE VALLEY MEMORIES

December 1

1953Pawtucket West, winners of the city grid championship, placed five Rangers on the 1953 Times AllBlackstone Valley football team in end Jim McRoberts (5-10, 170), guard Ray Critchlow (5-6, 200), center Al Vadnais (5-10, 175) and backs Lou Mello (5-10, 126) and Andy Boyle (5-8, 160). Named from Pawtucket East were tackle Charlie Lehourites (5-7, 180), guard Lou Corey (6-0, 164) and back Klenn Kay (5-7, 145), a versatile performer who alternated between fullback and guard because of his great defensive ability. Saint Raphael Academy players chosen were end Henry Marshall (6-0, 180), tackle Vito Pontarelli (5-11, 204) and back Dick Lynch (5-10, 170), three of the most talented gridders in the Class A Division this season.

1963Coach Norman Roy’s Darlington Braves have done it again as they captured the championship of the R. I. PreTeen Football League for the fifth time by defeating the Edgewood Eagles 24-7 at Macomber Stadium completing a perfect season (10-0) as they outscored the opposition 330-27. QB Paul Galuska tossed touchdown passes (his 17th and 18th of the season) of six yards to Jackie O’Brien and seven yards to Mike MacTavish, while Johnny Sousa added a 55-yard punt return and Charlie Sawicki an 18-yard jaunt for the other Braves’ TDs. Sousa, who caught 11 of Galuska’s 18 scoring aerials, ended up as the team’s leading scorer with 98 points.

1973Rynne’s Sporting Goods, getting 22 points from Butch Salisbury, 20 from Ed Nieviera and 16 from Ed McGovern, crushed defending champion Sleepy Hollow 90-74 in a Pawtucket Boys’ Club Senior Alumni Basketball League tilt. Larry Caswell was tops for the losers with 18 points, Dale Cerveny had 17, Buster Wall 14 and Mike Smith 12. In the night’s other contest, Rich Gagnon poured in 22 points and paced Walsh’s Liquors to a come-from-behind 57-53 win over Bowes Jag.