Cathedral High School Football

2010 Schedule
2010 Varsity Roster
2010 JV Roster

A Brief History of Football at Cathedral High School

The traditions around football at Cathedral go back to the earliest days of athletics at Cathedral High School. Cathedral lore is rife with tales of great victories over Tech in the 1930's and 1940's, when the schools were next to one another on Elliot Street in downtown Springfield. Great athletes of Cathedral from the 30's, 40's and 1950's all have stories to tell about the legendary coach, Billy Wise, Sr. Coach Wise was not just a football coach (he also coached basketball and baseball), he was a 2nd father figure for many young men and he secured scholarships to Norte Dame and orther football powers for many of his best players, including Milt Piepel (Notre Dame); Angelo Bertelli (Notre Dame); Tom McCarthy (Villanova); Paul Brissette (Holy Cross); Tommy Thompson (Florida State); Joe Scibelli (Notre Dame), and Nick Buoniconti (Notre Dame).

In the early days it was City Championships that mattered (Cathedral, Tech, Classical, Commerce and Trade), but since the 1930's the New England traditon of a Thanksgiving Day game has been played against Westfield High School. In the 1960's the sign of a great season was a Western Mass Championship and later it became a victory in the Western Mass Super Bowl. After Coach Wise left the sidelines in the mid-60's there have been some outstanding coaches who have served for brief stints, including Bob Burke (who went on to a great career at AIC), Billy Wise, Jr., who returned to CHS after a stellar career at Lynn Classical High School, and Matt Ballard (a standoout player from the 1980's, who coaches at Amherst College).

In recent years, as the school's enrollment has dropped, Cathedral has stepped down from Division I to Division II and has held its own on the field. In 2009 there were stunning victories over Putnam and Amherst Regional mixed in with tough losses to West Springfield and Chicopee High that ended any playoff hopes.

Hall of Famers

The list of Hall of Fame football players at Cathedral is long and illustrious, including:

Championship Seasons

Division AA Championships		Western Mass Super Bowl Champs
1967	1990	1988
1986	1991	1989
1988	1998	1991
1989	1999	1998