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Capitol Roundup: Pa. Secretary of State urges voters to know their rights at the polls

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IPHONE XR REVIEW: Right trade-offs for a cheaper price

<p>Legendary football coach Vince Lombardi once said: &#8220;Football is a game of inches and inches make the champion.&#8221;</p><p>And that turned out to be so true for the 1945 GAR Grenadiers.</p><p>With the city title and the Wyoming Valley Football Conference championship on the line, GAR couldn&#8217;t move the ball 2 inches for the go-ahead score and possible win against Meyers on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 22, 1945.</p><p>&#8220;GAR made four desperate attempts to gain two inches but failed,&#8221; the Times Leader Evening News reported on Nov. 23, 1945.</p><p>Instead, the Grenadiers turned the ball over on downs, giving Meyers a first-and-10 from within its own 1-yard line. After three tries, Meyers was forced to punt but the snap was bad, resulting in GAR&#8217;s second safety of the game.</p><p>Meyers still earned a 6-4 victory that day but not without a lot of controversy surrounding those 2 inches.</p><p>The highlight of the 1945 game came in the third quarter when GAR quarterback William Conwell caught a punt and ran it back to the GAR 39-yard line. On the next play, halfback James Cross went off-tackle and raced 61 yards to the goal line where he was tackled by Meyers&#8217; Charles Hungarter.</p><p>&#8220;The crowd believed it was a touchdown but Umpire John &#8216;Zip&#8217; Bryan, who figured in that close play at Forty Fort that brought about a riot, ruled the ball was dead two inches from pay dirt,&#8221; the Wilkes-Barre Evening News reported.</p><p>Meyers&#8217; victory over GAR not only won them the city title but also awarded the Wyoming Valley Football Conference championship to Larksville in 1945.</p><p>Following the game, fans sent letters to the Times Leader, Evening News and Record newspapers expressing their opinions Bryan cheated GAR out of the win and conference championship.</p><p>Two letters to the editor included monetary donations totaling 15 cents for Bryan to purchase &#8220;much needed eye-glasses.&#8221;</p><p>A Meyers student submitted a letter to the editor calling Meyers&#8217; win &#8220;a false victory.&#8221;</p><p>A letter from a U.S. Marine who attended the game questioned how Bryan could make the call at the goal line despite being 30 yards away. &#8220;The forward progress of the GAR man was not stopped until after he had crossed the goal line. It&#8217;s a good thing GAR followers are good sports or it might have been a repetition of the Forty Fort brawl,&#8221; the Marine wrote to the Evening News on Nov. 29, 1945.</p><p><strong>Forty Fort fuss</strong></p><p>Weeks earlier, Bryan was one of three officials who called the Forty Fort-Pittston game. Following that one, a riot broke out with Bryan and the two other officials running for refuge inside Forty Fort High School and policemen attempting to maintain control.</p><p>With time running out and Pittston leading 13-12, Forty Fort had the ball on Pittston&#8217;s 2-yard line. The quarterback for Forty Fort called his own number with a sneak on fourth down, but Bryan and two other officials ruled him down just inches short.</p><p>Forty Fort fans believed their quarterback scored.</p><p>Bryan blew the whistle ending the game.</p><p>As Bryan and the other officials walked off the field, &#8220;The threatening crowd grew so that soon almost 1,000 incensed players, students and Forty Fort grownups were making punching motions at the three (officials),&#8221; the Record reported on Oct. 13, 1945.</p><p>Policemen at the game hurried Bryan and the others into the school and called state troopers for help.</p><p>Forty Fort students and fans banged on the school&#8217;s doors and windows while a few let the air out of police cars.</p><p>As policemen forced a line between the angry mob, &#8220;The crowd managed to strike the three officials, one of whom received a heavy blow on the jaw,&#8221; the Record reported.</p><p>The riot came with consequences.</p><p>Forty Fort was banned from playing football for the remainder of 1945.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Headline in the Wilkes-Barre Record, Nov. 23, 1945</div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/web1_1945-GAR-Meyers-headline-Record-11231945.jpg</photo0><caption0>Headline in the Wilkes-Barre Record, Nov. 23, 1945</caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/web1_1945-GAR-Meyers-advertisement-Record-11201945.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Wilkes-Barre Record, Nov. 20, 1945</div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/web1_1945-GAR-Meyers-advertisement-Record-11201945.jpg</photo1><caption1>Wilkes-Barre Record, Nov. 20, 1945</caption1><photoCredit1></photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Ed Lewis</p><p>elewis@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div>

With a lot riding on it, 1945 GAR-Meyers game ended with controversy