The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Riverside’s first season on gridiron was unique
Beavers first took to field in 1950, with a squad of players in grades 9 to 11
It’s safe to say no News-Herald coverage area football squad has had an inaugural season on the gridiron — or how it got there — quite like Riverside.
In 1950, the Beavers had no seniors, no home field of their own and, obviously in their first year of high school football, no history.
But they fortified their foundation anyway that fall.
In the Aug. 31, 1950 edition of the Painesville Telegraph, it was announced Coach Tom Thrasher had welcomed 43 players to the first two-a-day practices for his new high school squad.
The prior year, Riverside was a junior high school, going up to ninth grade, and played a schedule as such in football, going 4-1. The school expanded to grades 9-11 for the 1950-51 school year.
Of the 43 players on the Beavers’ first high school team, 10 were transfers from Harvey, since township residents no longer needed to attend Harvey as the one public high school for Painesville.
Thrasher told the Telegraph his team would employ a SplitT formation and raved three of his linemen weighed in at over 200 pounds.
Riverside would have its maiden game Sept. 22 against Edgewood, with trips to Perry (Sept. 29) and Chardon (Oct. 26) on the docket, along with a Nov. 4 clash scheduled with Fairport’s junior varsity.
Because Riverside’s stadium was not yet completed, it had to maintain one part of its link to Harvey: The Beavers would play home games that season at Recreation Park.
As the 8 p.m. Sept. 22 kickoff loomed against Edgewood, Thrasher announced in the Telegraph the first-ever Riverside starting lineup on offense, with Ken McCoy and Rex Farren at end, Glen Thayler and Fritz Zampini at tackle, Kenneth Briggs and Ernest Barty at guard, Chuck Neave at center, quarterback Eddie Gibbon, halfbacks Dave Stalker and Dave Rusnak and fullback Woody Satterfield.
Thrasher stated there was “still a lot of room for improvement,” especially in tackling and blocking. The Beavers nearly emerged victorious in their high school debut against Edgewood, dropping a 7-6 decision to the visitors.
Down, 7-0, in the fourth quarter, Riverside marched in search of the tying points. Stalker, who had unleashed a 70-yard punt earlier in the fourth, returned a short Edgewood punt to the 5.
Rusnak then scored on a run from two yards out. The Beavers tried to tie the game with a conversion run, but were unsuccessful.
Riverside had one more chance to win the game in the final minute after a diving catch by McCoy. But a field goal try was short.
“Riverside’s only touchdown came with less than two minutes remaining in the game, which was witnessed by some 600 shivering spectators,” the Telegraph reported.
Week 2 didn’t go quite as well for the Beavers, succumbing to Perry, 45-14, on Sept. 29, “playing out of their class but nevertheless putting up a gallant struggle,” according to the Telegraph.
The breakout performance in the game came from left halfback Bill Salminen, who found paydirt on runs of 27 and 20 yards in the last four minutes as Riverside averted the shutout.
The Beavers welcomed Mantua to town on Oct. 7 for a Saturday night contest and dropped a 32-6 decision. They took a 6-0 lead out of the opening quarter. Doug Pomfrey intercepted a pass at his 46, and Stalker later scored on a 17-yard jaunt around left end.
A game was scheduled with Kirtland, and Thrasher made a key change going in. Sensing his team needed a boost on the line, Thrasher stated Satterfield and Stalker were moving there from the backfield.
The Hornets were called the “most improved football team in this area” by the Telegraph because they had won three games that season after snapping a 22game winless skid. Along with the line changes, Salminen was moved to fullback.
Thrasher’s tweaking did the trick.
Salminen scored four touchdowns to lead Riverside to its first victory, 249, on Oct. 21, 1950.
“Riverside’s offensive attack looked better in the Kirtland game than it has previously in other games this season,” the Telegraph wrote. “In addition to springing Salminen loose, the line buckled down and opened good holes for Dave Rusnak and Dave Stalker, halfbacks.”
Salminen found the end zone once in each quarter, starting on a 13-yard end sweep and concluding on a 24-yard gallop around left end.
As the Beavers found their footing on the gridiron, they were also trying to find their home in a conference as well.
Oct. 26, it was announced Riverside would seek admission to the Lake Shore League, a six-team outfit with Mentor, Harvey, Geneva, Ashtabula, Ashtabula
Harbor and Conneaut after Willoughby Union had moved to the Greater Cleveland Conference. Principal Henry LaMuth told the Telegraph he wanted his school in the conference in time for the 1951-52 school year, when it would be a four-year institution.
It was also noted by LaMuth that Riverside would have its own football field by the fall of 1951 and a gymnasium ready by early February. Its basketball team, without a gym at its school, initially had to practice at Madison Avenue Elementary’s gym.
The good news continued through October, as the Beavers emerged with another victory in football, 27-2 at Chardon. Salminen was a touchdown machine again, contributing three scoring runs.
“We’re coming along now,” Thrasher told the Telegraph. “Our defensive play was good, in fact the best all season. Charles Neave, 210-pound center, played an outstanding ball game for us.
“We’ve been working hard and are in top physical shape. We’re coming along fast, we have a lot of spirit and the boys are looking forward to beating Spencer.”
The wheels were beginning to turn in the LSL, as Harbor asked for a two-year absence from the league due to a “lack of manpower” and LaMuth formally requested Riverside’s admittance. He noted enrollment would make them a Class A school by 1951 and that the Beavers’ football team may share Recreation Park with Harvey again for that season.
Riverside was coming along fast as Thrasher noted, at the expense of a fellow first-timer in Geneva Spencer.
Nov. 10, in what turned out to be their final game of the season because the Fairport JV game was rained out, the Beavers hosted Spencer before “200 shivering fans” for an exhibition game and rolled to a 50-6 win.
Gibbon connected with Frank Haight for a 31-yard TD pass to open the rout, and George Hadden and Satterfield each scored twice on runs.
Thrasher was able to freely substitute and get 28 players into the game in an era during which starters frequently played both ways and were not often subbed.
So ended Year No. 1 for Riverside in high school football.
As that first game against Edgewood beckoned, Thrasher noted his concern to the Telegraph.
“We are still green,” Thrasher said in the Telegraph’s Sept. 21, 1950 edition. “And I won’t know what we have until after the first game.”
He found out, in an inaugural season with no seniors, no true home field and no history, that he had enough for Riverside to commendably go 3-3 in a unique first campaign.