A perfect season, game by game

You are currently viewing A perfect season, game by game

By Jamie Norton

The 1930 Granville High School football team had a lot to live up to. The year before, Granville won its first-ever Northeast New York Public High School League championship after outscoring the opposition 223-39 – so it was going to take quite a season to match that.

Turns out, it was even better.

Here are the highlights of each game from that magical season, as reported in the Granville Sentinel.

Granville 19, Mechanicville 0

The defending champions opened the season with a bang on both offense and defense. The Golden Horde earned 13 first downs and held Mechanicville to just four, while the Granville defense had five interceptions. Marty Zayachek set the pace on offense with a pair of touchdowns.

Granville 37, Hudson Falls 0

The Horde had a 19-0 lead after three before exploding in the fourth quarter for 18 more points, including two more scores by Zayachek. Harold Hatch also scored two touchdowns.

Granville 20, Cambridge 0

The Golden Horde offense, so powerful in the previous game, lay dormant until the second quarter and clung to a 7-0 lead at halftime. But Zayachek, playing quarterback, delivered two touchdown passes in the third quarter, including a 35-yarder to Marty McDonough.

Granville 26, Glens Falls 0

Facing a team from a town with a population nearly four times that of its own at the time, Granville wasn’t intimidated. In fact, it was as strong as ever, holding Glens Falls to just two first downs all day. Defensive lineman Clarence “Pa” Danyew was credited with his best game to date, Tom Roche was credited with the tackle of the day, while Zayachek, Hatch, McDonough, John “Bull” Telisky and Carmie Caiazza led a potent offense.

Granville 31, Saratoga 0

Caiazza’s touchdown was the only score of the first half, but the Horde exploded on offense after the intermission. Zayachek hit pay dirt in the third, Hatch found the end zone twice in the fourth, and guard Roche returned an interception 52 yards for a score.

Granville 27, Greenwich 0

The fireworks started early in this one, as Telisky scored a touchdown three minutes into the game. Hatch scored twice before the break for a 20-0 halftime lead, and Zayachek added another tally in the second half.

Granville 7, Whitehall 0

The Golden Horde met its bitter archrivals in front of a crowd of thousands. Facing an imposing defensive line that stacked up well against its own, Granville failed to score in the first half despite a big push and a close call in the second quarter in which the Maroon, now the Railroaders, recovered a Granville fumble in the end zone for a touchback.

In the third quarter, center Abie Labas set up Granville’s winning drive when he blocked a punt at Whitehall’s 23-yard line. The Golden Horde then methodically worked its way toward pay dirt in a series that culminated with Telisky crashing through the defensive line from inches away, getting just enough of the goal line to call it a score. Telisky then tossed a lateral to Zayachek for the extra point in one of Granville’s hardest-earned wins of the year.

Granville 27, West Rutland 0

Facing the champions of Vermont’s Marble Valley League in a non-league contest, the Horde’s perfect season was nearly wiped away when West Rutland put the unscored-upon streak in danger. In the second quarter, Westside got a first down at Granville’s 8-yard line before fumbling its chance away.

The offense was no problem for the Horde, though. Zayachek scored a touchdown in the first quarter and Caiazza added insurance in the second. In the second half, Hatch legged out a 47-yard touchdown run.

However, it was Mike Volk’s defense that was the talk of the town in this game. His two huge interceptions and a fumble recovery were key in keeping this season flawless.

Playoff game canceled

Granville, which finished 7-0 in league play, was supposed to face the winner of a Whitehall-Mechanicville showdown for a championship tilt. Those teams finished tied for second place at 5-1 each (both losing to Granville), but after they tied, 6-6, a meeting of league officials was held and the championship was awarded outright to the Golden Horde.

Granville 33, Fair Haven 0

The Horde finished its season with a non-league mixer against Fair Haven. Once again history was tested by a team from Vermont, as Fair Haven became the first opponent all year to pick up five consecutive first downs against the heralded Granville defense and drove the ball all the way to the Horde’s 3-yard line. But a five-yard motion penalty was assessed, and the ensuing lateral was incomplete and nabbed by Granville, ending the threat.

Offensively, quarterback Zayachek hit McDonough for an early 24-yard touchdown pass, later found Telisky for another score, than galloped over the goal line himself on a huge, zig-zagging 52-yard run. Hatch and Ben Williams also scored, as the Golden Horde put the finishing touches on a historic season.

Granville finished that season a pristine 9-0 and outscored its opponents by a combined 227-0 margin. After losing twice in 1931 and yielding the league title to Whitehall, the Golden Horde would reclaim the throne in 1932. That year, the Horde would hold opponents to just 13 points all season, the only blemish a non-league tie with Mineville.

Then, in 1933, history repeated itself.