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Boys' Bowl: Once a Game, Now a Tradition
Boys’ Bowl: Once a Game, Now a Tradition
Nick D’Abate ‘21 Staff Writer
Three quarters of a century ago, in 1944, Catholic Central football coach Alex Chesney was ready for one of the biggest challenges of his career.
The Shamrocks had endured one of the most arduous and unfortunate seasons ever recorded. Only two out of seven games were counted as victories in the official records, two games were ties, and three were major losses.
However, Coach Chesney was determined and unshaken.
He and his team were ready to face Fr. Flanagan’s well-seasoned Boys Town, the best high school football team in the country, in the first ever Boys’ Bowl game.
The Boys’ Bowl game was to be a fundraiser played between the best team in Michigan, CC, and the best team in the country, Boys Town.
According to Alumni Relations Director Tim Burke ‘86, “The proceeds from this game went to charities in Detroit. It helped build 6565 West Outer Drive, and Boys Town also received money. This was before Twitter, iPads, cell phones. But it was a big community thing, the Governor came, people from all over the place came to this event.”
In fact, over forty thousand fans attended the first Boys’ Bowl game.
When the men of Boys Town arrived in Detroit from Nebraska, people of Catholic Central and Boys Town sat down to what was the original Boys’ Bowl breakfast in the Book Cadillac Hotel. Then they parted ways as the men of Boys Town went on a tour of Detroit, starting with the Ford Rotunda, Ford Motor Company’s headquarters at the time.
The city of Detroit was illuminated as thousands of football fans gathered around for a parade before they entered Briggs Stadium, later known as Tigers Stadium.
Three minutes into the game, the Detroiters put the first points on the board. The Shamrocks’ kick was later blocked, leaving Boys Town to begin the second quarter on the seven-yard line. On the first play the score was 7-7 and the rest of the quarter was a stalemate withmuch commotion.
With the beginning of the third quarter underway, both teams penetrated deep into both sides until Boys Town started to take control, leading to another seven points. However, with a few minutes left, Catholic Central’s quarterback threw a pass from the 29-yard line, complete to the two-yard line. With 30 seconds left, the Shamrocks tied it up at 14.
From that day forward a new tradition was born, the “Boys’ Bowl.”
1944 Shamrock carries the ball in the very first Boys’ Bowl Photo from archives
Photo from archives
1944 Shamrock carries the ball in the very first Boys’ Bowl Photo from archives
As time progressed, the Boys’ Bowl became more than a simple Saturday sporting event. Rivalries grew larger, and new customs like the mural, the floats, and Mass and Breakfast formed Boys’ Bowl into what we Shamrocks know of it today.
Mr. Herman recalls, “Boys’ Bowl for me, I remember being like a 6-year-old kid running around under the bleachers, getting addicted to the sounds of the cheering of both sides. And it wasn’t uncommon for the faculty to engage in those cheers.”
On a simple walk down the art hallway, one sees the images of the murals of the past and notices just how beloved Boys’ Bowl is and how powerful the rivalries are with the other schools.
Mr. Herman often fondly recalls his own Boys’ Bowl memories.
He said, “On the last play, our quarterback threw a hard pass which got us into position to kick a 42-yard field goal to win the game by two points.”
From then on Brother Rice was not featured in Boys’ Bowl until 2017.
This year we are very fortunate to see the jolly pumpkin heads once more.
