The greatest days of the glorious era of Gloomy Gil Dobie were gone and the Great Depression was in full bloom when Bart Viviano, the Martinez-Zorrilla boys (tackle Cristobal and end Jose), Abe George et al) came on scene in the waning days of the Hoover era. Franklin Delano Roosevelt was right around the corner but happy days weren't quite yet here again at Schoellkopf.
The Dour Scot's laddies had slipped into mediocrity. Break-even 3-3-2 seasons in '27 and '28 followed a memorable 6-1-1 '26, best remembered for a 24-23 win for the ages over Dartmouth.
That was the time they went into the fourth quarter with Dartmouth leading, 23-7. With less than 30 seconds left, the Red had fourth down on the Green 12. The score was now 23-21. Cornell's left guard Emerson Carey capped the hectic finish with the decisive field goal that made it 24-23
Nineteen-twenty nine was a downer on Wall Street but Cornell won its first six that year, all at home. It closed out with losses at Dartmouth and Penn. There were underclassmen of promise on that team. And there were the freshmen of the class of '33.
The 5-foot-10, 180-pound Viviano, a Plainfield, NJ, boy honed at Andover, ran for three 30-plus-yard gains and was a power on defense in a tight, tough battle with the Penn freshmen.
He was one of three sophomores in the starting 1930 backfield, along with junior halfback Les Handleman. And George, of Ithaca, had moved in at left tackle in Dobie's unbalanced single wing line when Cornell started the year off 66-0 over Clarkson. Viviano ran for two touchdowns and then sat. Handleman made three. It was 53-0 at the half.
Battering Bart stayed in longer against Niagara the next week and ground out four TDs as Dobie poured it on the so-called Cataracts, 61-14. Viviano's ferociously effective linebacking was beginning to draw attention. The next week: two TDs vs. Hampden-Sydney, in a 47-6 game mercifully shortened owing to blazing early October Ithaca weather. Beside his patented center smashes with the ball, Viviano had become a favored receiver of short passes from Handleman.
He crashed through the line and shook off the secondary for 15 yards and a trip across the last white stripe at Princeton. His only TD of the day matched the Tigers' output before 40,000. Later, a Handleman to Fran Lueder pass covered 45 yards to the one yard line. Handleman took it over. Final: Cornell 12, Princeton 7. If you have a game program for that day, you have a collector's item. The cover artist was one James Stewart, Princeton '32. You know, as in "It's a Wonderful Life." It was the last year at Old Nassau for its longtime wonder-working coach, Bill Roper. Fritz Crisler replaced him before moving on to Michigan and Tom Harmon.
Viviano managed only one again at Columbia. But the Lions' Ralph Hewitt crossed the line going away after a 90-yard sprint, then dropkicked the extra point. It came on top of another Hewitt dropkick, through what the Sun called "a tricky wind" from the 45 yard line. A failed fourth-quarter pass attempt dashed hopes of a last-minute triumph. The final, 7-10, was Cornell's first loss of the fall. 'Thirty was the first of 27 years on Morningside Heights for Coach Lou Little. In three years, his Lions were outfaking Stanford, 7-0, in the Rose Bowl.
The Red machine got its offense in gear the next week, 54-0 over Hobart. Three TDs for Viviano.
There were no TDs for him when Dartmouth came to town for an afternoon in which the lead changed hands three times. A huge crowd of 28,000 gathered at Schoellkopf for a classic Big Green-Big Red shootout. At one point, Dartmouth had first and 12 inches to the goal line but went no further. Sophomore end Jose Martinez-Zorrilla blocked a PAT attempt and recovered a fumble that set up a 30-yard Handleman to soph fullback Richard Beyer TD pass that put the Red ahead 13-12. Cornell scored first on the heavily favored Dartmouths but the Green scored last on long desperation passes in a sad 13-19 ending. Viviano contributed two interceptions and two fumble recoveries to a lost cause.
The Daily Sun headline read "Viviano Romps to Glory" to tell the tale of the 13-7 Thanksgiving Day triumph over Penn, the first in seven years. Viviano carried 34 times for 169 yards, 33 more than the combined effort of the Quaker backs. Viviano "mauled left tackle" for one TD, the Sun reported. Handleman passed to Beyer for the other. Late in the day, Viviano made what may have been a game-saving interception.
The Dobie D allowed just three touchdowns in '31 and his Redmen put 239 points on the board, partly due to the addition of triple threat soph Johnny Ferraro, who moved in immediately at blocking (and running and passing) quarterback. He ran for three touchdowns in his debut, a not-unexpected 68-0 crushing of Clarkson. Viviano and fullback Phil Kline were unavailable for the opener due to injuries. George was out for the year (low-grade -- as in GPA -- affliction).
Viviano was back the next Saturday, not quite 100% but wearing a special brace on his troubled ankle to greet Niagara at Schoellkopf. But Captain Cris Martinez-Zorrilla was absent. The ground game melted down somewhat on a hot afternoon and, at the end of three quarters, held a 13-0 lead. The team traded touchdowns with about 10 minutes left. A 24-point fourth quarter gave the Red a 37-6 conquest of the Cataracts.
The captain was back the next week for Richmond and Viviano was more like himself. So Richmond fell, with considerable help from the captain's little brother Jose Martinez-Zorrilla. He harassed punt receivers (sometimes arriving before the ball), harried passers, aggressively defended his end of the line and tossed runners for losses. Viviano and Ferraro each scored two touchdowns in the first half. Final: 27-0.
Viviano slogged through a biting wind and over the sloppy Schoellkopf grass, slipping through center and through the secondary for six points before the Princeton game was two minutes old. A war in the trenches and a punting duel consumed the rest of the first half. The Martinez-Zorrillas dominated from the right side of the line. Meanwhile, the burly Bart Viviano backed up the line bigtime, as always. The Big Red held that Tiger all afternoon. Ferraro scored three times and Kline once in the second half. It was Cornell's day, 33-0.
The pride of Morningside Heights, Lou Little's Lions, lost just one in '31 -- to Cornell, 13-0, at the Crescent. In the first quarter, Ferraro cut back for the TD as he circled left end from the 5. Later, he found Jose Martinez-Zorrilla with a 30-yard toss to the 20. Jose left the last defender five yards behind as he strode over the last line. The second half was scoreless but Cornell was halted inside the Lions' 5 three times. Viviano was infrequently called upon to carry. His longest gain was seven yards. But he was a demon on D. Jose Martinez-Zorrilla was downfield before the ball on more than one punt. Cornell picked up 180 yards overhead, completing nine of 12 attempts.
Alfred came to Ithaca for the last of six home games. The Red regulars rested but second- and third-stringers were able to handle the visitors, 54-0. In fact, they allowed no first downs and Alfred never crossed midfield. The Big Red's big man was 140-pound halfback Bill Pentecost, a Crescent crowd favorite not used a lot by Dobie. The patrons loved the way he scooted, dodged and squirmed to three touchdowns on a day the Red rushed for 436 yards. Halfback and boxing champ Jake Goldbas scored twice. After the game, Dobie ran the first team through a brisk workout.
Punting and passing prowess and a Dartmouth defense that shut down Viviano, Ferraro and company added up to Cornell's first --and last -- defeat of the year, 14-0, in its first road game of the season. The Redmen made 16 first downs to Dartmouth's six but were nevertheless kept off the board. Twice they were stopped inside the Dartmouth 10 in the fourth quarter. The home team ground out 105 yards on the ground, way over standard for that team. But tricks like fake kicks and spinner plays along with a fine-tuned passing attack at critical moments outfoxed the guests. Bill Morton scored once by land and once with a 35-yard pass play to Wild Bill McCall.
A Thanksgiving throng of 70,000 something filled Franklin Field to see the Red paralyze Penn with its sixth shutout of '31. Early in the afternoon, Ferraro ignored a hurting leg to launch the drive of the day. Taking over on the Red 20, he connected with Beyer on a pass play that crossed the Penn 20. His four-yard end run, a Penn penalty and a Viviano plunge carried the ball to the 6. It took Viviano four punishing plunges to blast into the end zone. It stood at 7-0. There was no scoring from then on. Handleman and Kline led a pass defense that batted away or intercepted all but four of the 21 passes Penn tried. The 7-1 season was Dobie's best since the George Pfann-Eddie Kaw national champs of 1923.
The Mexican-bred and raised Martinez-Zorrillas were both honorable mention All-Americas for 1931, the year when unemployment in the U.S. doubled to 16.3%, the Empire State Building was completed (in a year), the average yearly wage was $1,850, the average new car cost $640, gas was a dime a gallon,
Japan invaded Manchuria, the average new house cost $6.790 and a loaf of bread was worth eight pennies. Captain Cris and Jose were the sons of Carlos Martinez-Zorrilla '06, whose brother, Cristobal '05, played on the good Cornell teams of the turn of the Twentieth Century, the time of coaches Pop and Bill Warner.
Cornell met Penn again in a four Ivy League team exhibition two weeks after Thanksgiving to raise money for the unemployed. Yankee owner Jacob Ruppert donated Ruth's House to Cornell, Penn, Columbia and Princeton for the day. A severe rainstorm cut the Cornell-Penn game short, sending 10,000 home to dry out. But Cornell was declared winner in view of overall accomplishment. Many of Cornell's top guys gave this one a miss with Dobie's blessing. But, said the Sun, "Little Bill Pentecost proved himself as much a sprite in the mud as he had before on drier fields." Once again the shivering crowd loved the way he dodged around the ends for long gains. It was a great day for Jose, too.
Somehow the Red won the '32 opener without Dobie on the sidelines or Ferraro on the field. The gloomy one was suffering sciatica and Ferraro had a bad shoulder. But Viviano bulled his way to three TDs in a 72-0 romp over Buffalo, the most lopsided margin of the Viviano era. Ferraro's absence crimped the passing attack, although Viviano completed some shorties. The Big Red power was on the ground and Viviano turned it on for three short TD blasts.
Jose Martinez-Zorrilla's early touchdown saved the home team from Big Red faces at the hands of a tough Niagara team. Soph Walt Switzer, replacing Ferraro, found Jose from the Niagara 8 but that was it for the day. Final: 7-0. Viviano led a gritty offense and defense but there was no further scoring, partly perhaps due to wet grass caused by a late afternoon Ithacation.
Richmond came to the Crescent for what the Sun described as Cornell's "last conditioning game" before the season became serious. Dobie remained in bed. The Red responded with a 27-0 win, just like the year before. Ferraro was still out, but single-and-double wing formations, spinners and underhanded passes behind a seasoned, dominating line, notably senior tackle George, were too much for the Spiders, the Sun reported. Viviano kept smacking away at the line besides calling signals and doing most of the punting. Viviano, Switzer, Beyer and Goldbas all scored TDs in the first three quarters.
Dobie was back in business at Princeton. But Ferraro wasn't. It was a day for defenders, especially Capt. Viviano and the mobile George. The Red air attack remained uninspiring without Ferraro. Viviano pounded out almost all the yards gained afoot. Smallish Homer Geoffrion livened things up a bit with a late interception he hustled to the Tiger 40. He picked up two yards on the next play, followed immediately by a 17-yard advance with a pass from Robert Grant. But there the offense fizzled and in the end 20,000 spectators saw a scoreless tie.
Ferraro, his shoulder in a brace, returned to the lineup at Columbia. He ran and kicked with the oldtime authority but the passing wasn't first rate. Columbia's Cliff Montgomery hit end Red Matal at the 15 with a 35-yard pass and Matal took it the rest of the way in the first quarter. Most of the rest of the game was played between the 30 yard lines. Ends Jose Martinez-Zorrilla and Johnny Wallace both blocked punts in the last quarter. Jose was chasing the bouncing ball with a clear path ahead but the punter got to it first. Final: Columbia 6, Cornell 0.
Both Ferraro and Martinez-Zorrilla were unavailable for Albright but the Red rush was in top form in a Crescent crowd-pleaser. Beyer ran wild on in the broken field, scoring three TDs from up close, off tackle and on a pass from Switzer, who also ran for six points. Viviano shed tacklers on a 14-yard TD end run. Goldbas bulled one over. George kicked four extra points, his high for the year. Cornell 40, Albright 14.
Viviano plowed for 112 yards on 31 trips against Dartmouth in his Schoellkopf finale. He led the defense, as so often before, with, as the Sun said, "innumerable" tackles and two key interceptions. The Red was in charge from the beginning, driving 80 yards in seven minutes after the kickoff. Switzer, escorted by Ray Hedden, swept end for the lead that was never relinquished. Viviano added six points with a patented plunge from the 2 in the second quarter. A Switzer-to-Jose forward accounted for the third score in a 21-6 triumph.
Ferraro's return for Thanksgiving at Penn was cause indeed for thanks but it wasn't enough. Penn drove for a TD early in the first quarter and Martinez-Zorrilla worked some magic in the second quarter. He put his chest into a Penn punt, caught the ball in the air and ran it 20 unmolested yards that made a 7-7 tie possible. There was no more scoring until the fourth quarter when Penn ran a double reverse in for the six points that settled it, 13-7. Jose, the Sun said, played the best game of his enormous college career. Besides the spectacular punt blockage at Penn (one of a half-dozen for him in '32), he controlled the line of scrimmage, holding off massive Penn tackles and dominating his flank. The loss ended a 5-2-1 season.,
Even Dobie said he was great. He was the first first-team All-America Cornellian since Pfann and Frank Sundstrom in 1923 and until Brud Holland (1937-8).
Both he and Viviano were invited to appear in the East-West game.
In the following three years, Dobie's teams declined from 4-3 to 2-5 to 0-6-1. And then he was gone, to be replaced by Carl Snavely, builder of bigger Red teams from 1936-1944.
Ferraro, who played another year, is a charter member of the Cornell Athletic Hall of Fame, along with Viviano, George, Goldbas and the Martinez-Zorrillas. Teammate Harry Shaub '34, a guard, played for Philadelphia from 1935-8.
