Page:Brunswick 100 Years of Memories.pdf/191

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a comeback in the late 1970's. Potomac Valley

Youth Association opened up a new beginning for soccer. More recent All-MVAL and All-County players of note were Mike Gooch, Chris Jahnke, Chris Cusack, Will Pierce, Troy Remsburg, Rob Pellicott, Ronnie Humble, Brian Martin, and Chris Doyle. Coach Alan Lescalleet deserves credit for bringing the squad up several notches to standard. Girls' soccer is at the beginning stage, having been played only in 1987, 1988, and 1989.

track opposite City Park. The team drained it of water, then hauled 17 loads of cinders, a plentiful commodity at the time, then filled and leveled the area. Mayor Mace helped by lending town equipment and building supplies. The players would work evenings until it was too dark to see, recalls H. Marion Burns, a member of the old Railroader football team. Bums also recalls that the bleachers and grandstand, along the street side of the field, were made from old railroad cars and from lumber donated by the B&O. The Baltimore Firemen, Cumberland Colts, Highlandtown Wildcats, and Washington Navy Yard were among the competition for Brunswick, as well as teams from Winchester, Hagerstown, Frederick, Martinsburg, Charles Town, and Harpers Ferry. Brunswick's team did not belong to a league, but played as an independent. Cannon served as general manager, taking care of all details, as well as playing. After several years of action, he began coaching. Another coach for a numberofyearswasJosephNewcomer,a teacher at the local high school. He later turned to refereeing. "Sonny" referred to Newcomer as "the best coach we ever had." Floyd Strickler sold tickets to games, and Bootsie Barger helped with promotion. Charlie and Billy Mclane, William Strathern, and J. Beacht were ball boys. Because of his ex(eptional play with the Railroaders, Glen McQuillen won a scholarship to Western Maryland College to play football. Also outstanding in baseball, he went to the major leagues with the St. Louis Browns. The Brunswick football team broke up after playing twelve to fourteen years, as the players were getting beyond the preferred age and there were not enough new players to replace them. With the war in Europe in 1939 and a strong possibility of America's involvement, Uncle Sam was putting a dent into team membership. Like a shooting star across the sky, the game of football shone brightly and briefly, then disappeared into the abysmal darkness of World War II. The memory of Brunswick's town team remains, and the following names, although the list is incomplete, will stir the memory of those old enough to remember the days of town football: Glenn, Carl and Jack McQuillen, Amy Cannon, Claudius Didiwick, "Piebaker Smith, Goggy Smith, West Schnauffer, Ernest Houser, Frank Howe, Harmon Jones, Burton Langley, Boots McCormick, Dave McLane, Mack Cecil, Vincent Calhoun, Frank Hartman, Dickie Donovan, Marvin Younkins, Rube

S - BHS Records W-MMM

FOOTBALL COMES TO BRUNSWICK AND GOES ... Nearly 60 years ago, Brunswick had a town football team. In action during the 1930's and early 1940's, the team was the brainchild of Harvey "Sonny" Cannon, who planned and guided the project into fruition. After seeing several games at Frederick and Hagerstown, "Sonny's" thoughts clicked right along; soon the "only adult football team they ever had in Brunswick" according to Clyde "Red" Hawes, went into action. The team was called "The Brunswick Railroaders." About 30 years were to pass before the local high school introduced football into the ahtletic curriculum. At the outset, a coach from Shepherd College, John Newcombe, instructed the players on the rules and intricacies of football: positions, how to take a stance, how to maneuver in certain plays. Football in those days turned out to be more brute strength than finesse. The first coach of the local team was Lee Horine, manager of Horine's Drug Store, which was owned by his father, Dr. Arlington Horine. Outfitting a team is expensive. H. S. Bickle, General Secretary of the B&O YMCA, was helpful in financing equipment and uniforms for the team. Generosity notwithstanding, Bickle, who was also a minister, disapproved of playing football on Sundays at Scheer Stadium, which he helped build for the YMCA, and which he managed. This glitch was overcome by scheduling games at Wenner's Field, where they played for three or four years. (The Acme market now stands on old Wenner's Field.) Meanwhile, "Sonny" Cannon was eyeing the large swampy plot of ground beside the railroad

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