Location: 10 AM, Victory Park Field, Slatington
Final Score: Palmerton 0 - Slatington 6
Weather: Cloudy and cold. According to The Morning Call, the high temperature in Allentown was 38 degrees. It was probably a lot colder in the morning at Victory Park.
Coaches: Michael "Mike" Burcin (1920-1998) for Slatington and and Joseph "Joe" Foran (1910-1974) for Palmerton. John C. Young (1906-1981) was originally scheduled to be the Palmerton head coach for the season, but in early September he was called to active duty during the Korean War. Joe Foran took over at Palmerton.
1951 Slatington High School yearbook photo of the 1950 football team
Slatington's schedule before the Thanksgiving game with Palmerton:
Slatington 19 - East Stroudsburg 6 (Saturday, 16 September)
Coplay 0 – Slatington 19 (Saturday, 23 September)
Lehighton 0 – Slatington 12 (Saturday, 30 September)
Slatington 6 – Emmaus 12 (Saturday, 7 October)
Northampton 38 – Slatington 6 (Saturday, 14 October)
Slatington 13 – Catasauqua 12 (Saturday, 21 October)
Slatington 6 – Whitehall 19 (Friday, 27 October, played under the lights at Whitehall)
Stroudsburg 14 – Slatington 25 (Monday, 6 November, game played on Monday after being postponed because of rain)
Slatington had a record of 5-3 heading into the Thanksgiving game with Palmerton. The team had managed a rare winning record and had just barely outscored opponents 106 to 101.
Slatington's squad that year featured two of the best to ever put on shoulder pads for the navy blue and white:
Bruce "Cass" Follweiler (1933-2013), SHS class of 1951, NLHS Ring of Honor 2007
Bruce "Buddy" Kemmerer (1934-2013), SHS class of 1952, NLHS Ring of honor 2012
1951 Palmerton High School yearbook photo of the 1950 football team
Palmerton's schedule before the Thanksgiving game with Slatington:
Palmerton 0 – Carlisle 28 (Friday night game at Carlisle, 15 September)
Palmerton 0 – Whitehall 19 (Saturday night game at Whitehall postponed from Friday night, 23 September)
Palmerton 0 – Stroudsburg 6 (Friday night game at Stroudsburg, 29 September) – That was a unique scheduling quirk that Palmerton opened the season with three consecutive night games.
Catasauqua 0 – Palmerton 18 (Saturday game, 7 October)
Bangor 13 – Palmerton 6 (Saturday game, 14 October)
Palmerton 0 – Northampton 34 (Saturday game, 21 October)
Emmaus 7 – Palmerton 12 (Saturday game, 28 October)
Wilson 0 – Palmerton 16 (Saturday game, 4 November)
Palmerton 14 – Lehighton 0 (Saturday game, 11 November)
Palmerton had a record of 4-5 heading into the Thanksgiving game with Slatington. The team had won its last three games but overall had been outscored by its opponents 66 to 107.
Football practice for Slatington began on Monday, 21 August 1950. About forty boys had reported for their physicals and equipment the week before. (The Morning Call, 26 August 1950; The Slatington News, 24 August 1950)
The local newspaper labeled Slatington as "a Lehigh Valley league contender" with "high hopes for a banner year." (The Morning Call, 15 September 1950)
For Palmerton, football practice began at the same time as Slatington with 54 boys reporting including "several members of last year's undefeated Blue Bombers jayvee squad." Prospects for the team were also high as "twelve returning letterman bolster[ed] the chances for Palmerton High school in the forthcoming grid campaign." (The Morning Call, 2 September 1950)
In early September 1950 Palmerton's coach, John C Young, was called to active military duty. His assistant coach of the last two years, Joe Foran, was named as his replacement.
By the time the season reached Thanksgiving Day, both teams were pretty evenly matched with Slatington at 5-3 and Palmerton at 4-5. The rivalry game proved to be a tight one.
"Slatington High Gets Close 6-0 Win over Palmerton Blue Bombers" before an estimated crowd of 3,700 spectators at Victory Park.
"A six-yard pass from Bruce Kemmerer to 'Reds' Follweiler, ending an 80-yard advance, provided the game's lone touchdown in the second period."
"'Fats' Ross was one of the highlights of the Slatington attack, ripping off runs of 35, 32, 25 and 29 yards."
"Palmerton's lone threat came in the third period when Doug Shiner, Palmerton back, went around end to Slatington's 25 for a 20-yard gain." But the scoring threat ended there. (The Morning Call, 24 November 1950)
Here are some statistics from the game.
Slatington passing 8/12/1 for 135 yards
Palmerton passing 2/15/2 for 9 yards
Slatington rushing 217 yards
Palmerton rushing 139 yards
Slatington 5 fumbles, recovered 3
Palmerton 2 fumbles, recovered 4
| Position | Palmerton | Slatington |
| Ends | Kelchner Hartford Smida D Shiner |
Garrity Gower |
| Tackles | Shupp Picos Turko |
Richard Ross Buzinski Balliet |
| Guards | Paspeir Semmel |
R. Kemmerer Beers |
| Center | Narital Werkheiser |
Coffman Ringer |
| Backs | Blose Wasilowski Mooney E. Shiner Blynn Meinhart Kunda |
Cunfer Follweiler Ross B. Kemmerer Freeda |
After this game, the Thanksgiving rivalry stood at Palmerton 12 wins, Slatington 3 wins, and 1 tie.
Newspaper sources
- The Morning Call
- The Palmerton Press
- The Slatington News
- Service Star Press (Palmerton)