1954 Canadian Football championship game
The
42nd Grey Cup
football game was played on November 27, 1954, before a full house (27,321 in attendance) at
Varsity Stadium
in
Toronto
, Ontario,
Canada
.
[1]
The underdog
Edmonton Eskimos
won a contest over the
Montreal Alouettes
26?25. The game, replete with record performances and a touch of controversy, is considered one of the finest
Grey Cup
games ever.
[2]
Box score
[
edit
]
First quarter
Edmonton ? TD ?
Earl Lindley
4-yard pass from
Rollie Miles
(
Bob Dean
convert) 9:50
Montreal ? TD ?
Red O'Quinn
90-yard pass from
Sam Etcheverry
(
Ray Poole
convert)
Edmonton ? TD ?
Bernie Faloney
1-yard run (convert no good) 1:00
Second quarter
Edmonton ? FG ?
Bob Dean
37 yards
Montreal ? TD ?
Red O'Quinn
14-yard pass from
Sam Etcheverry
(
Ray Poole
convert)
Montreal ? TD ?
Chuck Hunsinger
8-yard run (Ray Poole convert)
Third quarter
Montreal ?
Rouge
?
Ray Poole
17-yard missed FG
Fourth quarter
Montreal ? TD ?
Joey Pal
13-yard pass from
Sam Etcheverry
(
Ray Poole
convert)
Edmonton ? TD ?
Glenn Lippman
14-yard run (
Bob Dean
convert)
Edmonton ? TD ?
Jackie Parker
90-yard fumble return (
Bob Dean
convert)
Team
|
1 Q
|
2 Q
|
3 Q
|
4 Q
|
Final
|
Edmonton Eskimos
|
11
|
3
|
0
|
12
|
26
|
Montreal Alouettes
|
6
|
12
|
1
|
6
|
25
|
[3]
Background
[
edit
]
The game is considered to be one of the key contests that ushered in the modern era of professional
Canadian football
, a process that culminated in the establishment of the
Canadian Football League
in 1958. At the time, the
Interprovincial Rugby Football Union
(IRFU) in Central Canada (i.e. Ontario and Quebec) a.k.a. the "Big Four" was considered the pre-eminent football competition in Canada, particularly by Canadians outside Western Canada. In contrast, the
Western Interprovincial Football Union
(WIFU) was regarded as being inferior to the IRFU, although it was clear by this time that the WIFU outclassed amateur leagues such as the
Ontario Rugby Football Union
(ORFU).
Nevertheless, radio and television presenters of the era, who were largely based in Central Canada, did not hesitate to plainly express a pro-Eastern bias on the air. The Eskimos were obliged to play the champions of the ORFU for the right to face the Alouettes in the championship game. The Eskimos won easily, defeating the
Kitchener-Waterloo Dutchmen
by a score of 38?6, in what would turn out to be the last
Grey Cup Semi-Final
of this sort that would ever be played.
Edmonton beat the
Winnipeg Blue Bombers
2-games-to-1 in the WIFU final series before trouncing Kitchener-Waterloo in the Grey Cup Semi-Final. Led by a future Hall of Fame backfield that included quarterback
Bernie Faloney
,
Jackie Parker
,
Normie Kwong
and
Rollie Miles
, both Parker and Miles could throw on the option as effectively as their nominal quarterback.
The
Montreal Alouettes
were led by their record-breaking quarterback
Sam Etcheverry
, who teamed with receiver
Johnny "Red" O'Quinn
to form one of Canadian football's legendary pass-and-catch tandems. When combined with an all-star lineup, including
Alex Webster
,
Hal Patterson
,
Joey Pal
,
Tex Coulter
, and
Herb Trawick
, the Als won 11 games against 3 losses, and swept the Hamilton Tiger Cats in both playoff games.
Due to the heavy pro-Eastern bias, the Eskimos entered the game as clear underdogs with one television announcer speculating that the betting odds were 5-to-1 against them.
Game summary
[
edit
]
Edmonton opened with a field-long drive that ended with a Miles-to-
Earl Lindley
passing touchdown. Miles, Faloney and Parker all took turns passing the ball, with the backs regularly utilizing the option. Normie Kwong took responsibility for the north?south running game.
The Alouettes responded quickly with a 90-yard pass-and-run touchdown. Etcheverry threw his "jump" pass, which was literally a pass thrown at the top of a leap taken right after the snap and right behind the centre. His quick release allowed him to hit a streaking O'Quinn about 10 to 15 yards into the secondary, and being on the fly, it caught the Eskimos flat-footed.
Jackie Parker
actually caught O'Quinn at the three-yard line, but Red managed to slide to a touchdown. Under today's rules he would have been considered tackled.
The Eskimos engineered another drive, which led to a Faloney one-yard touchdown plunge. This was aided by a pass interference call, in a game where there were few penalties called. Faloney took a high snap on the convert and could not run it in.
In the second quarter, after an Eskimos field goal from
Bob Dean
, the Larks produced two touchdowns. The first drive ended with yet another O'Quinn reception. The second came from former
NFL
first-round draft choice
Chuck Hunsinger
, on an eight-yard run.
In the third quarter the Als could muster only a single rouge on a missed field goal.
Into the fourth quarter Joey Pal caught an Etcheverry pass to put the Als up 25 to 14.
The Eskimos' next drive ended with a Glenn Lippman reverse field dash for a touchdown.
With first-and-ten on the Eskimos' 10-yard line and three minutes remaining, Etcheverry handed the ball off to Hunsinger, who was almost immediately corralled about 5 yards behind the line of scrimmage. In the game's most famous and controversial play he apparently fumbled and Parker snagged the ball on the 20-yard line, in full flight. Etcheverry had no chance to catch him, and he ran 90 yards for the touchdown. With Dean's convert, the score was 26 to 25.
There were still three minutes left in the game, and Etcheverry quickly moved his team downfield. Etcheverry passed to
Red O'Quinn
at the Eskimos 35-yard line and he quickly spun to face downfield. He was hit and the ball fell to the ground, to be recovered by the Eskimos, who held on to win.
The controversy
[
edit
]
The biggest play of the game, and perhaps
Grey Cup
history, was the
Chuck Hunsinger
fumble. Many Montreal fans believe that the "fumble" was actually a forward pass attempt (to an ineligible receiver), in which case it would not have been a touchdown for Edmonton as the pass would have been incomplete.
Trivia
[
edit
]
There are several
Grey Cup
records from this game that still stand today. Jackie Parker's 90-yard fumble recovery stood as the longest ever until surpassed in 2017. Red O'Quinn's 13 receptions for 316 yards has not been equalled. Montreal's 656 yards total offence is still the best team performance.
This was the first
Grey Cup
game to be broadcast on television, by
the CBC
. Unlike most sporting events of this era, the game film survives today almost in its entirely.
The cold and increasing muddy field conditions contributed to the many fumbles and interceptions that occurred.
This was the first of 11
Grey Cup
clashes between Edmonton and Montreal. The Eskimos have won in 1954, 1955, 1956, 1975, 1978, 1979, 2003 and 2005. The Larks have prevailed in 1974, the Ice Bowl of 1977, and 2002.
The Eskimos-versus-Alouettes rivalry is one of the most enduring in modern Canadian professional sports.
A film of the game was the first program broadcast on
CFQC-TV
in
Saskatoon
when it first went on the air on December 5, 1954.
[4]
References
[
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]
External links
[
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]
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Lineage and Lore
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See also
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