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After two years of rebuilding and ending the
season with the familiar cry, "wait till next year,"
it seemed as though 1964 was going to be
Jarvis' year. The new coach, and Mr. Watt's
successor, was Bill Thachuk who inherited the
nucleus of a team which had reached the quarter
finals in 1963 and of which 22 members had
attended football camp at Winnebagoe this past
summer.
In spite of all this, the team didn't begin to show their drive and determination until the last minute of our first league game. They had previously stumbled through two exhibition scrimmages and the East-West classic without revealing their potential. Pitted against an underrated Malvern team, the Bulldogs played well defensively as they allowed only two singles and an unconverted touchdown. However, the offense had only been able to muster a meagre, although important, single in the first 59 minutes of play. In the last quarter, with the minute flag up, Quarterback Don McEwen heaved a fifty yard pass to end, Dave Keely, who lumbered over for the score. Dave Toman booted home the tying convert. Ex-soccer man Toman then laid down a beautiful one-side kick from midfield; Jarvis recovered and with 30 seconds remaining Chuck Wakefield tried for the winning single from the 50 yd. line. It took a bad bounce however, ending up on the two yard line. The game ended a tie at 8 all. The following week at Monarch Park against Riverdale, the Bulldogs overcame 7-0 and 14-12 leads to overpower the Dales 30-14. Riverdale was forced through injuries to play their third-string quarterback. Hal Martin led the scoring with 3 majors while Hickson and Wakefield added 1 each. Although respected and admired during his stay at Jarvis, Mr. Watt, the coach of the rookie Monarch Park team was "thrown no bones" from the Bulldogs on the afternoon of act. 15th as they rolled to a 51-0 victory. Coach Thatchuk rested his veteran backfield while he tested new men at different positions. He was apparently successful as Gary Roponen (twice), Al Watte, Barry Bethley, Phil Gignac, Ed Hilder, Dave Thomas and Chuck Wakefield (as quarterback) all ran for touchdowns while the defensive squad held the "Parkers" to a scoreless afternoon. Wallowing in the mud and rain of the second day of a two day rainstorm, the Bulldogs lined up against an overrated Northern team. The defense again came through with a perfect day while Wakefield and Hickson slid for majors. Jarvis then finished the season with a 3-0-1 record, beating Northern 13-0. 
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By the flip of a coin, it was decided that Jarvis
would play Central Tech. in the quarter finals on
Fri. Oct. 30th. This game, however, was blessed
with good weather and it turned out to be the
most exciting game of the year. The Techmen
started to move from the kickoff, but were
stopped by a tightened Jarvis defense at the
Bulldog two-yard line. The scoring slipped back
and forth as Central scored in the first quarter
and Martin retaliating with one just before the
half. The highlight of the game came on the
kick-off after Central's second touchdown. Chuck
Wakefield picked up the bouncing ball and ran
all the way (100 yds.) for the tying score. After
Bob Gardner intercepted a Central pass with
three minutes to go, Wakefield replaced McEwen
as quarterback. After he completed a pass to
Dave Thomas on the Central 33, he booted the
winning single point. Doug Denniston intercepted
a Central pass in the next sequence as he set up
Wakefield's insurance major as Jarvis won 21-13.
It was sweet revenge for the Bulldogs who
lost to Central in '63 in the quarter finals.
The afternoon of November 12th saw Jarvis represent the East for the second time in four years and the third time in 31 years, in the annual TSSAA Championship game at Varsity Stadium. Resplendent in their new uniforms the crimson tide took the field before 10,000 fans to meet the reputably tough and experienced Humberside Huskies. Optimistic about their team's chances, the Jarvis fans sat in stunned disbelief on the first play from scrimmage as the Humberside quarterback passed for an 85 yard touchdown pass and run play. However, the Bulldogs rebounded completely as they contained the Huskies for the rest of the half, while Chuck Wakefield scored once for Jarvis. In the second half the situation was reversed as Humberside led by their fullback Gary Reid chalked up a 19-6 lead. Refusing to give up, the Bulldogs fought back using a shotgun formation. Keeley finally snagged a pass from Wakefield on the 4 yard line. The next play, however, became somewhat confused as the ball was fumbled and Humberside recovered. Even with this setback Jarvis didn't give up as soon shown when Hal Martin stormed over for a major in the last minute. It was only after an onside kick attempt by Dave Toman that the Humberside victory was sure. The score was 19-12. The student body heartily thanks coach Thachuk for a very able coaching job in his first year at Jarvis, and wishes him greater success in seasons to come. Congratulations to the following for well earned all-star recognition: Mbr> Tely All Metro - Chuck Wakefield, Doug Denniston. All Star TSSAA - Hal Martin, Wally Glavis, Doug Denniston. The Bulldogs ended the season with a 5-1-1 record, scoring 250 points while allowing only 54. Top scorer for Jarvis was Hal Martin with 42 points; next was Chuck Wakefield with 40 points. Brian Etherington, 13B |