Location: 10 AM, Victory Park, Slatington
Final Score: Palmerton 13 - Slatington 6
Weather: partly cloudy and colder, high temperature in Allentown was 47 degrees
Coaches: Louis DeRosa (1915-2007) for Slatington and John C. Young (1906-1981) for Palmerton
The main star of the 1946 football season was Palmerton's four-sport athlete Edward "Eddie" Kuhla (1928-2009).
1947 Slatington High School yearbook photo of the 1946 football team
The Slaters team was measured for football equipment on Saturday morning, 17 August 1946 at Smith Hall with the first practice scheduled for Monday the 19th at 130 PM. About thirty players reported for the summer practices. By mid-September the team had increased in size and comprised 14 seniors, 12 juniors, 15 sophomores and 3 freshmen for a total of 44.
Slatington's schedule before the Thanksgiving game with Palmerton:
Slatington 32 – Coplay 6 (28 September)
Lehighton 0 - Slatington 6 (5 October)
Slatington 8 – Emmaus 6 (12 October)
Northampton 40 – Slatington 20 (19 October)
Slatington 7 - Catasauqua 46 (26 October)
Slatington 6 - Whitehall 7 (2 November)
Stroudsburg 13 – Slatington 0 (9 November) According to The Morning Call, "The game was played in Victory Park, Slatington, before 760 spectators."" (The Slatington News put the crowd at about 1000 spectators) That gives some idea of the crowd at a typical game.
Slatington had a record of 3-4 heading into the Thanksgiving game and was on a four-game losing streak.
The 1947 SHS yearbook has some images of Victory Park field. These views are generally to the west, across the field.
Palmerton High School's 1946 football team; photo credit The Morning Call, 20 September 1946
Left to right, first row: Coach Hollywood, Dale Fields, Stan Pocolyko, Dick Serfass, Joe Hayck, Joe DeSousa, Howard Boyer, Bob Romig, Mike Sebo, Eddie Kuhla, Tony Litichevsky, Bill Mlkvy and Coach Young
Second row: Nelson Martin, Bruce Mooney, Steve Symanovich, Pete Gryalba, Earl Hill, Paul Nothstein, Mike Bohonicky, Richard Wentz, Willie Mann, Willard Miller, John Jones and Steve Tusan
Third row: Russell Shellhammer, Earl Lutz, Eddie Heydt, Larry Beers, Carl Rehrig, Bruce Rehrig, George Kurtz, Rodger Stemler, George Miller. Dave Haslam, John Kemmerer, Tommy Shupp, Joe Staovsky, Jesse Mendez, Harvey Green, Nelson Green, Dave Waring, Charlie Hishta. and Louis Pastier
In January 1946, John C. Young resumed his teaching duties at Palmerton. He was also slated to again be the Blue Bombers head coach in the fall.
Practices began on August 26th, a few days before the actual start of classes. Coach Young counted on the 8 returning lettermen to provide leadership for the team. (The Morning Call, 11 September 1946)
Palmerton's schedule before the Thanksgiving game with Slatington
Palmerton 12 – Whitehall 2 (28 September)
Palmerton 32 – Stroudsburg 6 (4 October)
Catasauqua 12 – Palmerton 7 (12 October)
Bangor 0 – Palmerton 20 (19 October)
Palmerton 7 – Northampton 20 (26 October)
Emmaus 13 – Palmerton 26 (2 November)
Wilson 12 – Palmerton 12 (9 November)
Palmerton 24 – Lehighton (16 November)
Heading into the Thanksgiving game with Slatington, Palmerton had managed a 5-2-1 record.
During the season, Palmerton has outscored opponents 108 to 59 while Slatington had been outscored by its opponents 47 to 112.
As the Thanksgiving game approached, The Morning Call wrote that "Both teams have been pointing for this game in their practices during the past ten days. Although Palmerton's record this year is far more impressive than that of the Slatington High boys, records of the traditional games do not influence results. The Slatington boys have been working on a surprise offensive which Coach DeRosa feels will overcome the weight advantage that Palmerton will have." (The Morning Call, 28 November 1946)
At Slatington's pep rally held in Smith Hall the day before the game, "Members of the team were presented with rabbits' feet decorated with blue and white ribbons."" (The Morning Call, 28 November 1946)
In the Thanksgiving game, Palmerton came from behind with 13 points in the fourth quarter to win; "Palmerton Beats Out Slatington in Last Period" (The Morning Call, 29 November 1946)
Here are some stats from the game, watched by some 4,000 fans at Victory Park in Slatington:
| Palmerton | Slatington | |
| first downs | 6 | 5 |
| passing | 1/3 | 2/4 |
| interceptions | 1 | 1 |
| fumbles | 2 | 2 |
| penalties | 15 | 10 |
(It is not clear if the penalty numbers refer to the number of penalties or to the total penalty yards.)
Very early in a scoreless first half, Slatington's outstanding fullback Jim Hoffman took off on an 85-yard run for a touchdown, but the play was called back because of an offside penalty. Nothing further happened in the first half.
In the third period, a short pass from Slatington's Joe Skutches to Hoffman resulted in a 61-yard touchdown. The extra point attempt failed, but Slatington had the lead finally.
Then the game broke open for Palmerton in the closing minutes.
"With three minutes of the game still to be played, halfback Frantz for Palmerton passed 35 yards to Kurtz in the end zone. Tuson placekicked the extra point for a 7-6 Palmerton lead. With less than one minute remaining, Eddie Kuhla went 30 yards for another tally and the conversion attempt was wide."" (The Morning Call, 29 November 1946; The Slatington News, 5 December 1946)
| Position | Palmerton | Slatington |
| Left end | Sebass | Mohr |
| Left tackle | Hayick | Liebold |
| Left guard | DeSousa | Kline |
| Center | Litchevsky | Blose |
| Right guard | R. Frantz | Ringer |
| Right tackle | Pocolyko | Reitz |
| Right end | Mlkvy | Cunfer |
| Quarterback | Boyer | Skutches |
| Left halfback | Gryalba | Krause |
| Right halfback | S. Frantz | M. Hoffman |
| Fullback | Romig | J. Hoffman |
After this game, the Thanksgiving rivalry stood at Palmerton 10 wins, Slatington 1 win and 1 tie.
Newspaper sources
- The Morning Call
- The Palmerton Press
- The Slatington News
- Service Star Press (Palmerton)