Flashback: Riverhead Rips LaSalle In 42-6 Gridiron Rout

This story was originally published in the County Review on Nov. 10, 1949 days after Ted Wegert led the Waves with five touchdowns in a game:

A favored LaSalle Academy found out that past scores mean little when up against a determined squad. Putting it short and sweet, Riverhead decisively routed LaSalle, 42-6, at Riverhead on Saturday, Nov. 5. Ted Wegert, bruising Riverhead fullback, scored five of the six Riverhead touchdowns, two within the first five minutes of the game. Wes “Automatic” Bookstaver finally missed a conversion, proving that machines aren’t perfect, either. Trying for his 14th straight, Wes missed the extra point on the same goal post that he missed his 10th last year.

LaSalle received the opening kickoff and got down to the 20 before being tackled. LaSalle attempted to kick but Harry Boden, Nick’s younger brother, blocked the kick and Karol Ladka recovered it on the three. Ted Wegert went inside tackle for the first TD of the game. Bookstaver kicked the extra point.

Again LaSalle caught the kickoff and got down to the 18. A bad hike by Henry Jacobs of LaSalle placed the ball on the 5. LaSalle again attempted to kick but the Blue Wave blocked the kick and got a safety. Riverhead [led] 9-0 with the game hardly started.

Riverhead ran the kickoff to the 44 from where Wegert and [Reg] Underwood moved it to the 15 with the aid of a 15 yard penalty against LaSalle for unnecessary roughness. Wegert powerhoused through the line for another TD. Bookstaver kicked the extra point only to have [it] nullified by an offside penalty. Wes then snapped his streak at 13, the try being wide.

Operating on about the 22, LaSalle threw a pass first play after its runback of the kickoff, only to have Reg Underwood intercept it and run to the 15. Riverhead bulled its way to the foot line only to lose possessionof the ball on downs. The whistle blew and Riverhead [led] 15-0.

Jim Lanz recovered a LaSalle fumble and Wegert went around end for another TD, the sixth play of the quarter. Bookstaver again missed. The half went back and forth for the remainder of the half. When the whistle blew, Underwood had just recovered a fumble on the 38.

The second half opened with Riverhead returning the kickoff to the 11. The Blue and White then powerhoused to the 40 where it lost the ball on a fumble only to recover it immediately after a LaSalle fumble. Riverhead was forced to kick and LaSalle started operating from the 30. Lanz intercepted a pass and shortly after Dick Boden threw a TD pass to Allan Tyska. Bookstaver then started a new skein.

Frank Ferony then returned the Riverhead kickoff to the 37. Mort Buochard took a screen pass to the 46 and the quarter ended.

No sooner had the last quarter started when Riverhead regained the ball on downs and Mort Buochard intercepted a Boden pass and went all the way for a TD. The remainder of the game was as the first quarter with Ted Wegert scoring twice more on short runs. The game ended with Riverhead’s ball on the midfield stripe.

Riverhead ____________________ 15 6 7 14–42
LaSalle _______________________ 0 0 0 6–6

TD–Wegert (5), Tyska (1)–Riverhead. Buochard (1)–LaSalle.
Statistics
Rhd LaSalle
Pass Attempts 9 15
Pass completed 5 5
Penalties 5 5
Intercepted passes 2 1
Fumbles 1 3
Fumbles recovered 2 1
Blocked kicks 2 0
Officials–Referee, Comba; Umpire, Albert; Head Linesman, Miner.