1944 Aerial view of school

FALLSINGTON – Trailing 13-0 at the end of the first half, Langhorne High surged ahead in the last two periods to defeat Fallsington 19-13 in a return engagement grid contest, here, last Saturday.

In the first half the Falls team passed and ran all over the stunned Redskins. Phil DiNatle, speedy Falls’ quarterback, tallied twice on passes from Norman White. White plunged through center for the extra point.

Lukens Runs 53 Yards

The second half was a complete reverse of the first. The Redskins took the ball and marched 60 yards for the first score. “Chick” Ardis landed the ball on the 45. Joe Lukens then took a pass from the center and carried the ball to the 2-yard line. “Inky” Schneider then moved within 12 inches of the goal. The Falcons felt the full force of the Lukens’ running power, as the Redskins Captain smashed the Falls line to register the first goal.

“Chick” Ardis Scores

1944 Wayne Schneider

In the beginning of the last quarter, with Richard Frutchey handling the quarterback position, the locals scored again. Richard Lukens intercepted a Falls pass and put the ball on the 50-yard line. “Inky” Schneider, “Chick” Ardis, and Joe Lukens made four first downs and put the pigskin on the Fallsington 8-yard line. Lukens drove to the 4-yard line, and “Chick” Ardis hit pay dirt on an end run. The score then stood at 13-12, with the Redskins still trailing. The Falcons tried in vain to set up an aerial attack, and once again the Playwickians began to unleash their running power. “Inky” Schneider went through tackle for 22 yards, Lukens traveled to the 30, and Frutchey battled his way to the 27 for a first down. With time running short, Joe Lukens passed to Ira Romberger. The pass was incomplete, but the Falcons were penalized for interference of the receiver, and the ball rested on Fallsington’s 12-yard line. Then in the last second of the game Schneider received a pass from Lukens, shook off three Fallsington tacklers, and dived across the double stripe to win the game.

The surprisingly powerful Falls aerial attack was almost the downfall of the Redskins. Norman White, the Fallsington triple threat man, completed eleven forward passes; two of these accounted for touchdowns.

Langhorne Middletown HS 1944, 1945 or 1946. Photo courtesy of Craig Schneider, son of Wayne “Inky” Schneider

1944 Wayne “Inky Schneider – photo courtesy of his son Craig Schneider

1944 Langhorne Middletown Team

Editor’s Note: Who would have guessed what the fans were seeing that day in 1944! Not only did sensational all-around athlete Wayne “Inky” Schneider, along with fellow Hall of Fame member Joe Lukens, show their stuff on the gridiron, but the slugfest on the field was a perfect precursor to the “Neshaminy versus Pennsbury” contests that would become “official” in just another 6 years when both schools completed their name changes. In the meantime, though, this battle of Lower Bucks rivals went right to the wire. As reported, Langhorne banked the win on the Lukens to Schneider pass for a score with no time on the clock and the game surely established a template that would be played out over and over during the ensuing years. And in addition to Schneider and Lukens, Richard Lukens − Joe’s brother − and Don Kaleda of that year’s club also are in the Redskins’ Hall of Fame. Solid support for the ’44 club, which posted a solid 5-2 record, was also provided by the likes of Ken Caldwell, Richard Frutchey, Al Adair, Ira Romberg, Harry Taylor, Russ Haines, Bill Haman, “Chick” Ardis, Wayne Hibbard, Bud Noer, Phil “Doc” Richter and others. Additionally, Mike DeRisi, that year’s coach of the Falcons, moved over to Langhorne for the 1946 and 1947 seasons which then saw the ‘Skins capture their first two LBC championships under his stewardship.