It was half time and the score was 68-14. No, not half time in the game but in the season. The Blue and Gold had gone down to defeat five times in a tow. Some had been close games. Mount Loretto had blown them away. All had been lost.

If there was any blue left, it was the blue mood of depression; the bright gold was gone. And with it the sunshine soldiers, eleven of them had packed it in. Most of them starters, none of them ballplayers. They had stolen away in the night, missing a practice, then a game, to talk away a season on street corners. Coach Danford sat on the steps of the fieldhouse at Gilroy Field wondering if he should pack the whole team in. Even the ballplayers that remained were only half there, missing practices, late for games.

Everyone was the blame [sic] and no one was the blame [sic]. Coaches Danford and D'Annunzio blamed themselves and blamed the team. The team blamed each other and the coaches. The fans blamed the refs.

But if you're going to fold a Crusader team, the Stephen Robert Gilroy Memorial Field is not the place to do it. Old 45 might haunt you the rest of your life. Winning and losing, he understood. But quitting... NEVER!

Everywhere the tension was growing. Jokes were cracked that were not funny. Apathy hid rage and "I don't care" remarks covered up for wounded pride.

And then the explosion. One player screamed at another. He screamed back and quit, this time stomping out and telling the whole team and the coaches where they could go.

But he cam back, apologizing not for the argument but for the things his frustration had led him to say. He was a ballplayer and he wanted to play and they wanted him back for they too were ballplayers and frustration's rage they understood.

They got down to the business at hand and jammed the Springfield Rifles 14-0. Tommy Youngfleisch did that and Joe Cobb and John Cabales and Tony Curico and Gary Damone. They did that.

They packed fifty points into the next game and sent The Future Mark Packers away hoping their future would be better. Boris Davis did that and Bill Gerics and Chris Krawiec and Matt Williams and James Lee, they did that.

Revenge was the name of the next game. The Bronx Steelers had beaten Green Point on opening day and were still in contention. The day was cold but the Crusaders were hot and they melted the Steelers' hopes with a 16-0 shutout. Kevin Murphy did that and Wilma Manga and Kirk Perez and Reggie Polite and Dennis Schock and Brian Singletary did that. They did that.

College Point came in on a crossover game. Win it and they won their division. Green Point scored first but the College boys came back. They scored and then they brought the ball to the three and were stopped. They drove again to the two. And were stopped. They drove again and then the ball was snapped and the College boy was in his stride. He was at the goal line, even if hit, his momentum should have carried him in. They were a streak of Blue, a lot of noise, and when the dust cleared the College Boy had not scored. The Green Point defender had broken his momentum and pushed him back. Lester Polite did that, not very politely, but he did it.

The game ended in a tie. Gone was College Point's chance for a division title. Gone was the comeback team's chance for a break-even season.

But there is a benign spirit who watches over fools and football players and sometimes gives them another chance. Mount Loretto was thrown out of the conference for being overage. Green Point lost a loss and now had a chance not only for a break-even season but for a winning one.

Maurice Pierre came back from an early-season injury and the Blue and the Gold played their opening day conquerors The Bronx Steelers. The beginning was not to be the end and the big Blue snapped shut the steel curtain with a 14-0 shutout... They did that. All of them did that.

The final score was Green Point 114, opponents 54. Season Record: 6 wins --1 tie -- 4 losses. Coach Danford and Coach D'Annunzio and Coach Rosario and 18 boys who had become men -- they did that.

But there's more than a score there. Football is more than a game for it often captures life. Here there is one of those lessons for life that football teaches so well. When life's got you down and given you a beating -- Don't Quit -- Do the best you can, pray a little, and maybe you'll get a chance to come back. They did that and that's why we're so proud of the COMEBACK TEAM.