Friday, July 9, 2021
Edgar's Alma Mater
- Jefferson College (in Convent, St. James Parish, Louisiana) was founded in 1830.
- André Roman, Governor of Louisiana, wanted a place "where our children will find the means of completing their course of studies without leaving their native land."
- It was chartered in 1831.
- The main building was completed in 1833.
- Classes commenced in February 1834 with 62 students.
- A fire destroyed the main building in 1842 and, although it was rebuilt, the college was forced to close in 1848.
- From 1853-56, a school on the site operated as "Louisiana College."
- From 1860-62, Valcour Aime purchased the site and renamed it "Jefferson College."
- In 1862, it was occupied by Federal troops.
- It reopened in 1864, as "St. Mary's College of Jefferson," with 17 students. It was run by the Catholic Society of Mary, also known as the Marist Fathers.{See note 3}
- It was a bilingual college with respective faculties for the French and English languages.
- The Literary and Debating Society was founded in 1878.
- Enrollment in 1902 peaked to 150 men.
- The 1907 football team claimed the high school championship of Louisiana. (The college was a mix of high school boys, freshmen, and sophomore.)
- The "Blenk Science Hall" was built in 1911.
- "Advertisements for the school in the 1920’s noted that the college was comprised of a high school with commercial courses, a junior college with pre-med, pre-legal and pre-dental courses, and a teacher training course."{Cited: See Note 1}
- EDGAR ANTHONY COCO, JR. was a student in the years 1923-24. He was my great-grandfather. He played Right Half Back on the football and kept school paper clippings in his scrapbook. I digitized pages from the scrapbook, in which he made a lot of penciled notes, and have preserved them on my Instagram account @iradavidontheweb which is named to honor my father, who was Edgar's grandson. The copyright for this pictures belongs to me, Ashley Rovira.
- The 1925 college football team is pictured in a book about Louisiana, 1925-26.{See Note 4.}
- Enrollment fell to 90 students in the 1926-27 school year.
- The college closed forever in 1927.
BIBLIOGRAPHY & WORKS CITED
- https://www.lostcolleges.com/jefferson-college. Archived: https://web.archive.org/web/20200929175536/https://www.lostcolleges.com/jefferson-college.
- Wikipedia contributors, "Jefferson College (Louisiana)," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jefferson_College_(Louisiana)&oldid=1016181099 (accessed July 9, 2021).
- Platt, R. Eric. Educating the Sons of Sugar: Jefferson College and the Creole Planter Class of South Louisiana. University of Alabama Press: 2017. Chapter 2: The Rise and Fall of Jefferson College. URL: https://books.google.com/books?id=5B4wDwAAQBAJ.
- Edgar Coco's Jefferson College Memories from 1923. Instagram @iradavidontheweb. https://www.instagram.com/iradavidontheweb/guide/edgar-coco/17845819862618695/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&utm_campaign=&utm_medium=.
- Louisiana: 1925-1926. Pages 209-10: St. James Parish. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=wu.89073028573&view=2up&seq=210.
Sunday, June 13, 2021
Student Jokes
Edgar taped these clippings into his journal. The boys who did the student newspaper had a column for jokes and anecdotes, called SNAP SHOTS. You can read the clippings yourself, plus the "short story by McNamara" which I have transcribed.
Livar's Field Goal Beats Loyola (Oct. 28)
Byline: Unknown
The game was hard fought throughout. Loyola recovered a fumbled punt by Crip [Waguespack.]* Rive failed to kick goal. A long pass from Livar to Kelly accounted for Jefferson's touchdown.
Penciled corrections by Edgar:
*The reporters who wrote this and another story, same date, mistakenly wrote that "Crip" [the Right End player Kelly, whose nickname was Crip] had fumbled that punt. Edgar corrected it every time (three total) with his pencil to have the record straight that it was Waguespack, the quarterback, who fumbled the punt.
Other notes by Edgar:
After a week of practice we had rounded out a nice little squad.
Our first game was against Jesuit High.
We played them at Lutcher, La.
To our surprise, Jesuits made four touchdowns before we could [?]
*[The rest of his notes are unreadable.]
Friday, June 11, 2021
DROP KICK BOOTED IN FINAL MINUTE BEATS LOYOLA - OCTOBER 28, 1923
Byline: Val Flanagan
Keeping the Jefferson college pig skinners scoreless proved too much of a task for the light Loyola university freshmen eleven Sunday afternoon at Loyola stadium and just when it appeared that the latter would carry off a 6 to 0 victory, the never-say-die fighting spirit of the Convent lads was thrown into the fray and a long pass from Livar to Kelly in the third quarter enabled Jefferson to tie the score. Then in the very last minute of play Bill Livar saved the day for the Jefferson team by booting the ball perfectly through the uprights of the goal posts for a field goal, bringing victory to the visitors by a score of 9 to 6. The drop kick came as a dramatic finish to one of the hardest-fought and best-played games seen on the local gridiron this season.
The Loyola frosh scored their touchdown the latter part of the first period, through the inability of "WAG" to catch a punt at safety. Loyola had the ball in its possession in midfield when A.D. Smith punted on fourth down to the Jefferson five-yard line, where Waguespack fumbled his catch and the ball rolled behind the goal line, Billeaud, Loyola end, recovering for a touchdown. Emie Rive's dropkick for the point after touchdown failed.
The second quarter was a closely contested affair, principally in the middle of the field with the ball changing hands repeatedly through punts. Jefferson received a punt from Loyola on their own 45-yard line, and a 10-yard pass to Coco advanced the ball to Loyola's 45-yard line, from where Coco tried a place-kick which fell short by a few feet. This was Jefferson's first attempt to score in the game, but soon after holding the Loyola yearlings for downs on the 20-yard line, received the ball, and began their second try for a touchdown. The forward passing game was selected by the quarterback, and the first try grounded behind the goal, Loyola gaining the oval on the 20-yard line. Again, Jefferson won the ball on downs and passes... tried for a score, but failed.
At the beginning of the second half the Jefferson aggregation seemed to take a new lease of life, and mainly through the indomitable pluck of the entire team, and the line-plunging and end-running of Bill Livar made a march down the field for five first downs after having received a punt from Loyola on their own 25-yard line. On the Loyola 40-yard line, Livar executed a forward pass to "Crip" Kelley, who sprinted thirty yards for a touchdown. The kick after touchdown was blocked.
Loyola had a fine chance to score in the third quarter when Smith of Loyola punted to Jefferson, and the safety bungled up another catch with Johnny Holmes of Loyola recovering on the 45-yard line. A series of line bucks then brought the ball to the 15-yard-line, where the frosh were held for downs and forced to hand over the ball.
The final quarter was another hard fought period, with the collegians completely outplaying the locals. The first play of the quarter Livar went around left end for a 45-yard run, bringing the ball to Loyola's 35-yard line. He followed with a nine-yard plunge off right tackle, and Waguespack made first down on a 10-yard buck. Two more line plays by Livar brought the ball [to] the 10-yard line.
Here Waguespack made five yards through center, but the next three tries failed to budge the Loyola line and the ball was lost. Smith of Loyola afterwards punted out to the 35-yard line, and again Jefferson brought the ball to the 20-yard line, but were held for downs. Smith of Loyola once more punted and Jefferson returned it to the 25-yard line of Loyola, where Livar made a punt that went behind the goal.
On the 20-yard line Loyola put the ball into play, and two end-runs, one by Smith and another by Rive, took the ball to the 35-yard line. A pass was next tried, but Waguespack of Jefferson intercepted and made ten yards before being tackled. Then on the first play, Livar stepped back on the 40-yard line and kicked the field goal that turned a draw battle into a win for Jefferson.
Jefferson showed a real good team to local football fans yesterday. The visitors outweighed the locals from five to ten pounds a man, [and] completely outplayed the Loyola frosh during the last half. The Jefferson line worked fine in its charging, while the backs could not be stopped without gains.
Bill Livar was the real outstanding star in Jefferson's victory. He is a wonderful offensive man, being able to run the ends and buck the line equally well, while on the defense he was a power in backing up the line. His toe work was also of the highest order. "Nemo" Caire, at left end, was a big aid on the defense, as was the work of S. Denux and Roy. Sharing the offensive honors with Livar were Edgar Coco, Nick Sardinia, and Harold Waguespack, all of whom made some nice gains.
A.D. Smith, at fullback, was the big star for the Loyola first-year men. His gaining on both end runs and line plunges was worthy of mention, while his punting put the Loyola goal out of danger several times. Rive and Broussard also played fairly well in the backfield, as did Molony, Dardis, and Clark in the line.
The lineups and summary follow:
LOYOLA: (surname/positon)
- Billeaud LE
- Malony (c) LT
- O'Keefe LG
- Salassi C
- Holmes RG
- Clark RT
- Dardis RE
- Woulfe QB
- Broussard RH
- Rive LH
- A.D. Smith FB
JEFFERSON: (surname/position)
- Caire LE
- S. Denux LT
- E. Denux LG
- Roy C
- Stokes RT
- (c) Kelly RE
- Waguespack QB
- Sardinia RH
- Coco LH
- Livar FB
Scoring by quarters:
LOYOLA ..................... 6 0 0 0----6
JEFFERSON ................ 0 0 6 3----9
Scoring: Touchdowns, Billeaud, Kelly; Field goal, Livar
Substitutions:
- Loyola: Yenni for Woulfe, Coyle for Billeaud, Morris for Coyle, Maumus for Rive, Barrodale for Salassi
- Jefferson: Russell for Vegas, Williams for Kelly, Giuliano for Coco
Penalties: Jefferson, 30 yards; time of periods, 15 minutes.
Officials:
- Walmsley (Rugby), Referee
- Domengeaux (Loyola), Umpire
- Smith (Loyola), head linesman
- Flynn (Holy Cross), timer
Edgar wrote in pencil at the bottom of the page: Victory was sweet.
"II UR Football Season"
Coach Rodrigue started practice on Wednesday, September the 12th.... (the rest is unreadable/torn off)
Loyola Freshmen to Play Jefferson College Today - October 28, 1923
Byline: Price Crane
The Loyola Freshmen-Jefferson game today promises to be a grand battle. The question of supremacy is only a minor detail of the contest. As yet neither team has sipped of the wine of victory, and both will be striving with brawn and brain to break into the win column. The Freshies were defeated in their only game of the season by the Gulf Coast team, 19-6. Jefferson has twice tasted defeat; the first time the Jesuit Blue-Jays trimmed them 27-0, and on the second occasion the powerful Southwestern eleven swamped them, 81-0.
The Jefferson boys were going out of their class in tackling the heavier and more experienced Southwestern eleven, but nevertheless they put up a game and aggressive fight. Much needed experience has been gained in those first two games, and the Jefferson squad will be much stronger. Levar and Denux are the outstanding players on the team, Levar is a fullback while Denux plays right tackle. Much is expected of these two players.
In Captain Mal Molony and A.D. Smith, Coach Martinez possesses two men who would make strong bids for berths on a mythical all-Freshman eleven, were such an eleven chosen this year. The Freshies have been scrimmaging their big brothers, the Varsity, during the week, and, in these brief scuffles, Molony has time and again broken through the line and nailed the runner in his tracks. A.D. Smith is fullback for the Pups and his a brother of Bill Smith, captain of Loyola's team. A.D. probably will give his brother a tussle for the fullback position on the Varsity squad next year when he graduates from the Freshies.
Practice this week has uncovered a new star in Henry "Si" Griggs. Si has been playing a bang-up game at tackle. Although not starting the game, Griggs probably will play a large part of it.
The probable line-ups will be:
JEFFERSON (surname/position)
- Vafencuela / LE
- Caire / LT
- Vegas / LG
- Miller / C
- Roussel / RG
- Denux / RT
- Stokes / RE
- Kelly / Q
- Sardinia / LH
- Coco / RH
- Levar / FB
FRESHMEN (surname/position)
- Dardis / LE
- Clark / LT
- Holmes / LG
- Salassi / C
- O'Keefe / RG
- Molony / RT
- Billeaud / RE
- Woulfe / Q
- Broussard / LH
- Rive / RH
- Smith / FB
Others who may get into the game for the Freshmen are Griggs, Kinsella, Coyle, Maumus, Morris, and Accardo.
Officials:
- Paul Maloney, referee
- Bill Walmsley, Umpire
- Bill Smith, headlinesman
Jesuits to Play Jefferson Sunday: Have Fast Backs (October 7, 1923)
Byline: Unknown
BEFORE THE GAME
"Jesuits to Meet Jefferson Eleven at Luther Today"
The Jesuit college football eleven will go into action for the first time this season against the Jefferson college team at Lutcher, La., this afternoon. The game was first scheduled to be played at Convent, but was changed to Lutcher by mutual agreement because of the chances of drawing a larger crowd at Lutcher.
Coach Bill Healey is taking a squad of fifteen players along, including the following: Captain Ike Armstrong, Charley Villavaso, Johnnie Menville, Carl Fischer, Paul Drouet, Pete Miller, Varenholt, Demarest, D. Blanchard, Klienschmidtt, Betpouey, Krieger, McLaughlin, B. Blanchard, and Judge. Besides these players, "Fats" Bernius, Gaudin, Sneetch and several other scrub players are going up in automobiles, and it is probable that Coach Healey will have at least twenty men in uniform.
A large number of students and alumni are making the trip to Lutcher today, and indications are that the Jesuits team will not be wanting for support.
AFTER THE GAME: "Jays Trim Jefferson"
Playing in mid-season form, the Jesuit Blue Jays yesterday defeated the strong Jefferson college team at Lutcher by a score of 27-0. During the first half the Jesuit attack completely baffled the collegians.
Jefferson received the kickoff but fumbled. Miller of [the] Jesuits recovered the ball and, on the next play, Armstrong went around end for the first score. Menville, Drouet, and Fischer also crossed Jefferson's line during the first half. Armstrong kicked three goals after touchdown.
The whole Jesuit team played stellar ball. Miller on the line and Armstrong in the backfield were the outstanding stars. Jesuits would have probably scored more in the second half but were overanxious and a few fumbles and off sides proved costly. Coach Bill Healey gave his whole squad a chance, using all of the second string men who had made the trip.
For Jefferson, Captain Kelly at quarter and Levar at full played jam-up ball but could not stop the Blue Jays' smashing attack.
{EDGER COCO pasted this article in his scrapbook, with a penned note underneath: "Our first game on Oct. 7. We were playing our first game together, as a team." Edgar's position was RH [Right Halfback] for Jefferson. His Jesuit counterpart was Menville.}
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BYLINE: UNKNOWN / Approximate date: October 1923 Sunday last the Jefferson team journeyed to Lutcher where they met the strong Jesuit High t... -
Byline: Val Flanagan Keeping the Jefferson college pig skinners scoreless proved too much of a task for the light Loyola university freshmen... -
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