1956 Montclair Gridiron Squad
Remains One Of Program's Best

John Cresbaugh, The Montclair Times’ erstwhile sports editor, was beset with a perplexing dilemma, and one that was not easy to solve.

it seems an enthusiastic group of former Montclair High football players had written him a letter, intent on proving their case about whether or not the 1956 team was better than the 1964 edition that is frequently heralded as the best team ever in MHS gridiron lore.

Cresbaugh, being the diplomatic scribe that he was, left the ultimate opinion in the hands of his longtime ‘bud,’ Clary Anderson, the legendary Mountie coach. The two local sports icons have left us long ago along with some  of the players involved on that ever-impressive MHS football team such as the proficient pass-catch tandem of quarterback Ray Festa and end Tony Carnevale, two of the mainstays for that great squad.

Butch Fortunato, who has since joined them all on that elite squad up above, spoke to this columnist back in the fall of 1992, talking more about the greatness of an era rather than to single out a particular team as being ‘one-above-the-other’ in any ultimate rating system.

“Whenever anyone asks me to compare teams, I always hedge on the matter,” he said. “I don’t think it’s possible to compare a team from the 1940s, for instance, with one from the ‘50s or ‘60s.

“Things change so much from decade to decade. I just don’t think that you can do justice to the great players from all those teams by comparing them to one another.”

One of this columnist’s contemporaries, the now retired longtime sportswriter Bill Kennedy of the defunct Elizabeth Daily Journal and Trenton Times, is a member of the MHS Class of ’58 and therefore is a bit prejudicial in the sense of where his feelings rest since he lived through watching many of the games involving the illustrious ’56 Mounties football squad. He also played basketball and baseball with some of the same athletes who were on the MHS gridiron edition during the fall.

“I really think that a case could be made that the ’56 team played a tougher schedule than the ’64 team,” Kennedy offered. “Of course, both teams had some great players.”

The ’56 squad outscored its opponents, 307-28, while recording five shutouts. The Mounties from that season knocked off a very good East Orange team, 28-0, in week 5, edged a superb Clifton edition, 19-7, in week 8, and then crushed a then up-and-coming Bloomfield team, 33-7, on Thanksgiving Day for three of the more noteworthy victories that fall.

The ’64 team, by comparison in terms of just pure numbers, outscored its foes, 331-59 and posted three shutouts.

You could easily state that the height of excellence in Montclair High football came in the 12 straight seasons from 1946-1957 when the Anderson and Fortunato teams put together records of, in order, 9-0 (1946) , 9-0 (1947) , 7-1 (1948), 9-0 (1949), 9-0 (1950), 8-1 (1951) , 9-0 (1952), 8-1 (1953), 9-0 (1954), 8-0-1 (1955), 9-0 (1956) and 8-1 (1957).

The 1951, '52 and '53 teams featured the immortal Mountie running back Aubrey Lewis who was later selected as one of the top scholastic athletes of the 20th Century by The Star-Ledger.

The 1956 team's standout QB was a terrific player and another great representative of the community in his own right, and he left his indelible mark on the rich history of the sport at the Essex County school inspite of his way-too-early departure to the great big gridiron up above.

After his superb playing career Festa was an ardent supporter of all Montclair sports as a great Mountie fan before he passed away Nov. 8, 1992.

Carnevale, the terrific receiver he threw many a pass to, died in March of 1991.

“The ’56 team, which was in the middle of Clary’s tenure at Montclair, featured the Haines twins (Richie and Bobby), who were both great athletes and drew added attention because of the extra spice thrown in that they were also twin brothers,” said Fortunato. “The great thing about Ray and Tony was that they were the type of people who could play with so-called ‘stars’ and not be envious, jealous, or feel the least bit resentment.”

Joining the Haines twins, Festa and Carnevale on the ’56 squad were other standouts such as Mike Nicholl, a third team all-state guard, who later starred at Georgia Tech; Dick Butterfield, a two-way tackle, who was an All-Essex performer and later played at Penn State; and the late Bill Byrne, then a junior defensive lineman, who would eventually play with both the Philadelphia Eagles and Cleveland Browns of the NFL.

Tight end Pete Work would attend DePauw University in Indiana, while junior Earl Spivey would later be a star running back at Dayton. He shined as a pass rushing specialist and defensive end on the ’56 Mounties.

Festa was the consummate field general at QB and would hand the ball off – and occasionally pass – to the Haines twins or his favorite target, the 6-2, 190-pound Carnevale.

“What I remember most about Tony was that he was a great defensive end,” said Fortunato. “Nothing would get around him.”

Festa also emerged as a starting shortstop as a sophomore on Anderson’s 1955 baseball team. The Mountie diamond squad dropped a heartbreaking 9-8 decision that spring to Thomas Jefferson HS in Elizabeth in the Greater Newark Tournament final.

“I recall that Clary got fed up fairly early on with some of the older kids on that team and decided to give a few younger guys a chance,” recalled Kennedy. “Ray emerged as the everyday shortstop. Then, as a junior, he had another fine season at short and followed that up as a senior by becoming an All-County catcher, as he took over that position when Clary asked him if he would fill a void behind the plate.”

Fortunato also coached Festa in basketball where the latter emerged as the starting point guard.

“Ray wasn’t a great basketball player, but he was quick and his intelligence on the court made up for a lot,” said the longtime member of Montclair’s coaching ‘braintrust.’ “He was so unselfish and I think that’s what I’ll remember about him the most.”

Beyond the playing fields of 1956, and the fruitless arguments about whether one past great Mountie football team was better than another, is the area where players such as Festa made the biggest difference: in Montclair itself.
“If you look at someone who was a ‘Mr. Montclair,’” continued Fortunato, “then I think you’d have to look at Ray.”

Whether it was at his house with wife Linda, making dinner for one of the Mountie sports teams, or at the popular Ray’s Luncheonette where many student-athletes frequented, sports and people in Montclair were his life.

Fortunato, who would pass away long after his retirement on June 27, 2008, at the age of 89, had to endure the experience of having several of his players leave this earth before him.

“You know, it’s very hard for me,” he confided. “If I could give some of my years to Ray or Tony I surely would.”