An unforgettable season packed with highs and lows concluded with a Thunderbolt squad named both city champion and Class B Football State Champion.
Injuries and inclement weather attempted to derail the tenacity of the 1973 team, but the spirit of Pius X resonated game after game, reaching its apex the final two games of the season. Trailing Lincoln Southeast 14-7 in the closing moments, a Joe Millard punt return preceded a touchdown pass from Jim Hamersky to John Magsamen. A dramatic two-point conversion from Hamersky to Doug Charko concluded a 15-14 victory that Vince Aldridge would call “The greatest win of my career.”
The following week provided similar excitement when the Thunderbolts came from behind to defeat Lincoln East 13-12. The school spirit surrounding the 1973 season created a sense of unity present in so many storied Pius X teams throughout our history.
John Strope (via the 1974 Lincoln Journal Star): “Winning demands consistency. Our teams do not tend to be ‘rah-rah’ types. This football championship has been met with outward quietness. I think, however, that this mellowness is part of what the coaches teach – being a champion means more than telling people you’re a champion. Winning is important to a school. A winning tradition unifies a school. It provides a rallying point – a common cause. It becomes contagious; it carries over to all sports, as it has in the last year for Pius X athletics.”
