For countless generations it has been understood by students that high school exists entirely because of football. There can be no other reasonable explanation for gathering so many teenagers in one place for so long. All those years spent in high school just waiting for Saturday's game. You may have been a grid iron warrior, a cheerleader, a twirler, a member of the marching band or one of the hundreds of hot dog and salted pretzel eating teens in the stands with your favorite Saturday afternoon date, but, no matter your role in the scheme of things, you knew you were in high school because of football. Why else would you have tolerated all that cafeteria food for four years?
Our class of '62 had a truly noble group of guys who donned the gear and took the field against all comers to defend the glory and honor of our alma mater. Lets meet them again as they were 50 years ago; yes, it's been a while.
Jersey
Number Name
14 Robert Pucciarello
17 Vincent Sorrentino
18 Anthony Della Terza
21 Michael Suppa
26 Joseph McDermott
27 Fred Valese
38 Michael Rega
42 Frank Caputo
45 Alex Iacullo
49 Ray Hackett
We really appreciated all the aches, pains, bumps and bruises you guys endured to provide us with meaningful Saturday afternoons. And what a year it was - there is a stirring media account of the Belleville - Bloomfield game on the Grid Iron Warrior's page of our class web site; see link at end of this article. The Bellboys whipped the Bloomfield Bengals 20 to 12 in that one!
Consider the drama. You are 16 or 17 years old, the whole town is watching you from the stands. Some guy shoves a football into your gut and now a gang of big, angry guys from the other team starts chasing you; they want what you have .. what to do ?? .. think quick, they are going to pound on you ! .. you can be a hero (and survive) or get scraped up out of the mud .. pure excitement !
There is also an account of the hard fought Belleville - West Side game, won by our guys in the cold rain and mud; see link below. West Side was no match for the talents and techniques of the Bellboys; we won that one 14 to 7.
As we look back after 50 years, what do we most remember; is it Miss Kelly's English grammar class or Mr. Testa's science labs or those spectacular football games in the Autumn sunshine ? Your author-here-present still lives in town and would much rather watch a Belleville High School game at Doc Ellis Memorial Field than anything the Giants or Jets can offer. Now-a-days, games are played on Friday nights, but it's still lots of fun. If you chance to come to one of our games this Fall, and you see an old guy in the stadium seats shouting "Go!, Go!, Go!", it's probably me cheering for the team just like in days of old. Here are a few photo memories -
50 years ago
Our class of '62 had a truly noble group of guys who donned the gear and took the field against all comers to defend the glory and honor of our alma mater. Lets meet them again as they were 50 years ago; yes, it's been a while.
Jersey
Number Name
14 Robert Pucciarello
17 Vincent Sorrentino
18 Anthony Della Terza
21 Michael Suppa
26 Joseph McDermott
27 Fred Valese
38 Michael Rega
42 Frank Caputo
45 Alex Iacullo
49 Ray Hackett
We really appreciated all the aches, pains, bumps and bruises you guys endured to provide us with meaningful Saturday afternoons. And what a year it was - there is a stirring media account of the Belleville - Bloomfield game on the Grid Iron Warrior's page of our class web site; see link at end of this article. The Bellboys whipped the Bloomfield Bengals 20 to 12 in that one!
Consider the drama. You are 16 or 17 years old, the whole town is watching you from the stands. Some guy shoves a football into your gut and now a gang of big, angry guys from the other team starts chasing you; they want what you have .. what to do ?? .. think quick, they are going to pound on you ! .. you can be a hero (and survive) or get scraped up out of the mud .. pure excitement !
There is also an account of the hard fought Belleville - West Side game, won by our guys in the cold rain and mud; see link below. West Side was no match for the talents and techniques of the Bellboys; we won that one 14 to 7.
As we look back after 50 years, what do we most remember; is it Miss Kelly's English grammar class or Mr. Testa's science labs or those spectacular football games in the Autumn sunshine ? Your author-here-present still lives in town and would much rather watch a Belleville High School game at Doc Ellis Memorial Field than anything the Giants or Jets can offer. Now-a-days, games are played on Friday nights, but it's still lots of fun. If you chance to come to one of our games this Fall, and you see an old guy in the stadium seats shouting "Go!, Go!, Go!", it's probably me cheering for the team just like in days of old. Here are a few photo memories -
50 years ago
Today
There is a larger collection of photos, including all of our Class of '62 guys, plus news articles including accounts of the Bloomfield and West Side games at this link:There is also a complete varsity football program for you to see here -
It's September, football season is upon us again. If you live within a few hundred miles of old Belleville, stop in at the stadium some Friday night this Autumn. It will make you feel young again.
