The 1950 College All-Star Game
Charles
“Choo Choo” Justice of North Carolina, little Eddie Lebaron of College
of the Pacific and the All-Stars’ “burliest squad in years” came into
the game as two touchdown underdogs but by the end of the first quarter
the fans knew the game belonged to the college men. A combination of
youth, speed and brawn worked to avenge the loss suffered the year
before. The powerful combination was harnessed and put to use by their
coach, Eddie Anderson of Holy Cross. Anderson had coached this game once
before, in 1940 in one of the series’ wildest scoring battles ever
played and his team was defeated 45 –28 by Green Bay. That was not to be
the case on the evening of August 11, 1950 with a crowd of 88,885 fans
looking on at Soldier Field in Chicago.
After
a 46-yard drive, which included a 31-yard run by Justice, the Stars were
able to score after Ralph Pasquariello of Villanova smashed into the
endzone against a goal line stand. Gordie Saltau of Minnesota provided
the extra point. In the second quarter Hall Haynes of Santa Clara
recovered an Eagles’ fumble on the 35-yard line. On the next play LeBaron faded back, hit Justice at the line of scrimmage where he caught
it
and carried it in for the score. Soltau kicked the extra point.
The All-Stars boasted a host of 250-pound linemen and were said to be
the equal of the Eagles in size, “a rare situation in the annual
struggle.” The Eagles were held scoreless through three periods and were
able to muster their only touchdown drive in the fourth quarter. Tommy
Thompson drove his team 53 yards with mostly his passes until running
back Steve Van Buren plunged in for the score. Cliff Patton kicked the
extra point for the Eagles. The All-Stars fired back with a 28-yard run
by Justice and a 35-yard gain with a pass from LeBaron to Art Weiner to
put the ball on the Eagles’ 20-yard line. On the fourth down Soltau
kicked a field goal and the score ended at 17-7 in favor of the Stars.
