“Flying B” helmet logos unveiled in 44-6 win over Valley Forge

This Week in Benedictine History

Week 5

September 22, 1962

 There was a new look for the Bengals when they returned home to John Adams Field on September 22  to face Valley Forge, a new high school in Parma.

After starting the season with an easy 42-0 win over Rhodes, Benedictine traveled to face Toledo Central Catholic the following week. The Bengals lost 16-8 and would try to get back on the winning track.

                This game was important for another reason. It was the first game that the Benedictine new helmet logo, the “Flying B” design was unveiled. It was designed by Athletic Director Joe Rufus, assistant coach Fr. Roger W. Gries O.S.B. ’54 and assistant coach Ed Kubancik ’47. It was patterned after the Green Bay Packers new logo, the oval G. The Packers had appeared in the National Football League championships in 1960 and 1961, winning the title in 1961.

Leading by only 6-0 at half-time, Benedictine exploded for five touchdowns in the second half to rout the inspired Valley Forge team. They easily defeated Valley Forge 44-6. Speedy Sal Collura, a 165-pound halfback, got the Bengals started with a 69-yard scoring run in the first quarter.

                In the second half, Bengals 170-pound fullback Joe Ditchman had two 11-yard touchdown runs to close out long drives of 77 yards and 80 yards in the third. Collura also added a third quarter score rambling 15 yards. The Bengals scored 24 points in the third to put the game out of reach.

                They added scores by Ron Ganim of 37 yards and John Sanders of 15 yards. The conversion points were scored by end John Upthegrove on two passes from Jeff Chorba, and runs by Chorba and Sanders.

                The impressive victory gave the Bengals a third place ranking in the Cleveland Press First 50 poll following the game.

NOTES:

50^th Anniversary of the “Flying B” helmet logo – The 50^th anniversary of the Flying B helmet logo is on Saturday, September 22, 2012 in the afternoon game against Cleveland Central Catholic. It was first used on September 22, 1962, a 44-6 win over Valley Forge and since then has remained unchanged. It is one of the most recognizable helmet logos in Ohio high school football. In October 2003, it was voted in a Cleveland.com poll, as the coolest-looking helmet logo in Northeast Ohio. The on-line poll had the Benedictine logo receiving 35.8 percent of all votes followed by second-place Massillon with 18.8 percent, in third was Strongsville with 10.7 percent while Shaker had 10.3 percent of the votes. The “Flying B” was patterned after the Green Bay Packers oval G logo and actually designed by athletic director Joe Rufus, assistant coach Ed Kubancik ’47 and by then-coach and present Cleveland Auxiliary Bishop Roger Gries O.S.B.  ’54. Rufus and Kubancik (both deceased) are Benedictine Hall of Famers while Bishop Gries is a member of the school’s Hall of Honors. Since the “Flying B” has adorned the helmets, the Bengals have compiled a 343-180-12 record.

The first year that the Bengals used white helmets was in 1955 in Augie Bossu’s first year as head coach. Previously the helmets were blue.

In 1957, the Bengals were the first team to wear numbers on their helmets to make it easier to identify players for fans, newspaper photographers and for coaches watching the game films. Most college teams and many NFL teams had been using this style with the numbers on helmets.

At the end of the 1962 season, Toledo Central Catholic (the Bengals second opponent) was voted as the state’s top team by the Associated Press wire service poll.

by Wally Mieskoski ’71

Benedictine Football Historian

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