This Week in Benedictine Football History

Week 4

September 16, 1955

Benedictine 53, Holy Name 6

In the season opener, Benedictine used a big second quarter to run away from Holy Name, 53-6, in this Friday night game at John Adams Field.

After scoring on a 17-yard smash by senior back Ray Hudiak midway through the first quarter, Benedictine erupted for 28 second-quarter points to turn this game into a rout.

Hudiak scored two more touchdowns in the second on a 26-yard pass from senior quarterback Mel Smolik and then on a 41-yard run. Hudiak accounted for 23 points in this game with three touchdowns and five extra points.

Smolik also connected with end Chuck Reynolds with a 26-yard scoring pass in the second. The shifty quarterback surprised the Holy Name defense on an option play and ran past the secondary to score on a 53-yard run in the same quarter.

Benedictine held a 34-0 halftime lead.

Senior back Tom Rini reached the end zone from 60 yards to extend the Bengals lead.

A pair of sophomore backs, George Sefcik and Gary Hansley each scored a touchdown in the second half. Sefcik raced 60 yards for a score while Hansley plunged in from the three.

Newspaper reports ventured a guess that it was the worst loss in Holy Name history. It was also noted that Coach Augie Bossu used his reserves freely before halftime and the substitutes carried the offense for the remainder of the game.

It was the sixth straight win over the Green Wave by the Bengals in this series.

NOTES:

*Augie Bossu made his Benedictine head coaching debut in this game. He stepped down as head coach after the 1993 season as Ohio’s winningest football coach.

*Benedictine finished the season with a 9-0 record defeating St. Ignatius in the Charity Game at the Stadium in a 47-6 record-setting victory. It was the first year that the Charity Game was played on Thanksgiving morning.

*The Bengals averaged 35.3 points per game, a record that stood until the 1965 team averaged 38.0 points per game during a 9-1 season.

*For the first time, Benedictine wore white helmets with a single blue stripe from front to back. The Bengals have worn similar white helmets since then. Teams in the past had used blue helmets.

*A number of future Benedictine Hall of Famers played key roles in this game: Ray Hudiak, Tom Rini, Mel Smolik, George Sefcik, and Gary Hansley.

*Chuck Reynolds, a member of the Benedictine Hall of Honors, returned to Benedictine as a teacher in the 1960’s and later in the 1990’s to become the school principal.

*A number of Bengals in this game played major college football: Rini to Notre Dame, Reynolds to Purdue, George Sefcik to Notre Dame, and Hansley to Ohio State.

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Wally Mieskoski ’71

Benedictine Football Historian