~ Malden Musings ~

Malden High School Football 1987

By Peter Levine

Malden’s GOAT debate is a never-ending saga, best served with a few pints and a room full of die-hard locals. Some names are set in stone – legends whose exploits are woven into the very fabric of 02148.

Willie Barron in hoops? That’s not up for discussion – it’s a given. The man could light up the court like no other. Kevin McGlinchy on the mound? His days with the late ’90s Atlanta Braves are the stuff of baseball folklore. Hockey? That’s where it gets tricky. But if you ask the town’s rink rats, they’ll tell you Mike Powers wasn’t just good – he was a force of nature on skates.

Then there’s Timmy Carey, who made his mark on the tennis court, and Barbara McGlinchy, arguably the best all-around female athlete Malden has ever seen. And what about football? That’s where the barstool chatter gets heated. Red Harris, Johnny Salmon and Charlie O’Rourke each carved out their own legacy, but Breno Giacomino’s 11-year pro career and Super Bowl ring? Without question that elevates Big B to Malden’s Mount Rushmore.

So, who’s the true GOAT? The debates rage on, but one thing’s for sure: Malden has never been short on legends.

Which brings us to the 1987 MHS football team. I won’t pretend to be even close to the ultimate authority on Malden High School’s greatest teams. I’ll leave that kind of debate to the true historians and lifers, the likes of Panama & Bonesy Carroll, Terry Mathews, Dom Fermano, Tommy Lubin, Buddy Arthur, (Big) Johnny Marsinelli, Al Barriss, and, of course, Steve Freker, who’s had his beak in the middle of Malden sports for over 50 years now. If anyone knows, it’s those guys.

But hey, with a little help from some well-informed friends, I’ll take a crack at it. Let’s see if we can stir the pot and get the conversation rolling. So without further ado, let’s first hear from Frek with a column he wrote for the Malden Evening News in 2015. We’ll also do a sort of deep dive into this team (to the best of my limited ability) that has been talked about as the GOAT with their Hall of Fame induction in 2015.

Take it away, Steve: “So, is the MHS 1987 football team, which is being inducted into the Golden Tornado Hall of Fame on November 21st (2015) the ‘GOAT’ (as the kids like to tweet and text these days)? GOAT meaning ‘Greatest of All Time.’ And in this context, we are talking greatest of all time at Malden High. Well, I was actually on the coaching staff on that team and can well attest, they were the greatest high school football team PERIOD that I had seen play, using my frame of reference, which goes back to 1972. I have paid more than close attention to MHS football since 1987, 28 years later, and no team, zero, matches that 1987 team. Sooo, that means, in my honest opinion, they are at least the best MHS football team going back to at least to 1970, which tracks the last 54 years. My esteemed colleague on the GT HOF Selection Committee, Peter Carroll, can extend his frame of reference back into the late 1950’s and men like (the late) Bob Rotondi and (the very much alive) Dom Fermano take us back even further, into the 1940’s, for more reference, on those great Malden High teams of the 1960’s, 1950’s, and 1940’s, at least one, perhaps two having some national prominence in their day. The 1987 team were GBL champs, but did not make the postseason in that year’s Super Bowl system. We will consult the aforementioned good fellows and get back at you, very soon. The HOF banquet is coming, and we MUST know.”

My note: I will be picking Frek’s brain soon to gather the consensus amongst the cognoscenti and the Goodfellas he mentioned to see if all agreed with Frek’s assessment of the ’87 team. Stay tuned.

Next, let’s take a moment or two to check Malden’s vital stats for the year 1987:

• Ted Kennedy and John Kerry were Senators and (Malden’s very own) Ed “Eddie the Ice Cream Man” Markey was Congressman.
• Our State Reps were John McNeil and Mike McGlynn (those names may not be familiar to many 2025 Maldonians, but back in the day they were major players).
• Public Schools: eight elementary, three junior highs and one high school.
• 25 places of worship: 16 Protestant, four Catholic, five Jewish.
• The Golden Age of the print media! Maldonia had three newspapers: two weekly and one daily.
• There was Ralph Kaplans’ Kappy’s Liquor at 334 Main St., Ben Weiner’s Locke Liquor at 48 Broadway, Mike Ricci’s Ricci Liquors at 834 Main St., M&M Liquor on Broadway and Sid Vernon’s Vernon’s Liquors at 673 Eastern Ave.
• There were over 1,100 firms employing some 29,000 people, including many, many Malden residents.
• Anthony’s Restaurant, Atlantic North Seafood on Main Street, Brandano’s Café, Café Granada on Kennedy Avenue, Capri Pizza in the Square, Highland Café, Marty’s Sub Shop, Memory Lane Food & Drink on Centre Street, Mike’s Café and O’Shea’s Restaurant were bumping in 1987.

“Good evening, Mr. and Mrs. Maldonian from border to border, coast to coast and all ships at sea. Let’s go to press”…

The season was a perfect storm of sorts with the Malden/Medford Thanksgiving Day game being the 100th meeting between the two ancient neighbors/rivals. The 100th game played between Malden and Medford was a 28-0 shutout win for Malden at Hormel Stadium on November 26, 1987. The game was nationally televised with Bob Costas and included a pregame pep talk from former Tornado – the legend himself (now calling FLA home) – Dave “Moulty” Moulton.

This game was such a big deal that President Ronald Reagan sent this along: The White House/Washington/October 5, 1987 – “Congratulations as you play your centennial Thanksgiving Day football game. All of us have much to be grateful for on this holiday. I know I’m grateful for the spirit you and your schools and communities show, because it’s the American spirit. You, your coaches, and their fine staffs have my best wishes for success on the gridiron and in the years to come. God bless you, and God bless America.”

The ’87 team may have been the most talked about team in MHS football history – celebrated not only in all eight Malden Wards but from coast to coast. This reporting appeared somewhere on the wonderful world of the innerweb shortly after the game in ’87: “Who knew that the series would have the longevity it did possess, all the way up to 100 games? Malden-Medford celebrated in grand style, with commemorative program books and rings for all the participants with Malden capping one of its best seasons in school history with a 28-0 shutout win, its eighth straight after an Opening Day loss to Melrose, at breezy Hormel Stadium. Malden drove to an undefeated (8-0) Greater Boston League Championship, its first in 12 years [my note: the fabled 1975 squad led by Jack Freker, Mike Scibelli, Jeff Sullivan, Paul Coleman and Mark Burns], and its best record (9-1) in over 30 years. The game drew a huge crowd and included national television coverage by sports commentator Bob Costas. A pregame pep talk to Malden by former Tornado legend Dave Moulton appeared on national TV that day. Lawrence Hicks ran for 118 yards and scored two touchdowns. Bill Roderick passed for 152 yards, including a 46-yard toss to Carmine Cappuccio. Roderick also scored a TD and J.P. Kelley had an interception for Malden.”

My note: meanwhile on the opposite sidelines as a sophomore guard/linebacker was (Jimmy Cahill’s bestie) 5’8″ 175 lb. Sean O’Brien. Sean would later go on to fame and fortune as General President of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, formerly serving as the Vice President Eastern Region of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. Not bad for a Meffa guy!

Also, on the same sideline as assistant coach was the Highland Cafe’s goodwill ambassador Ernie Ardolino Sr. Ernie also went on to fame and local celebrity as an ICL Hall of Famer, marrying well (Anna Puleo), fathering a famous son, Ernie Jr., and having the best head of hair before retiring to the bucolic countryside of West Peabody aka North Malden. Ernie passed in 2023 and is dearly missed to this very day.

This 1987 team was bad to the bone! They were extremely well coached, with Shawn Brickman, John “CJ” LoPresti, Bill Burke, Paul “Hawk” Finn, Skip Zimmerman and Dickie Cullen on board, and fully battle tested with a roster full of some of the wackiest, some of the most talented, some of the toughest characters that ever walked these 4.8 square miles. Did I also mention that this roster may have had some of the finest athletes Malden has ever seen? Let’s take a small look at some of the more well-known football heroes from 1987:

• We start with one of the tri-captains, 6’5″ 240 lb. senior tackle Dan Jones (son of Tom – no, not that Tom Jones). Dan played college ball at U Maine (Black Bears) before going pro in 1993, playing 34 games for the Cincinnati Bengals and retiring in 1995. At the MHS Golden Tornado Club 31st Annual HOF Banquet in 2017, Dan was a massive presence! I miss his father Tom (no, not the singer!), who was a regular at the old YMCA. Tom is doing well in retirement, I’ve been told. On a side note…Dan’s hand playfully wrapped around my neck felt like it was a major league baseball glove! For real!
• Carmine Cappuccio was a 6’2″ 180 lb. senior receiver who when he wasn’t catching everything thrown at him on the gridiron was preparing for a future in the Chicago White Sox farm system. Carmine Cappuccio is talked about as one of the greatest athletes to ever compete in Malden – right up there with Johnny Salmon, Billy Croken, John Stanasek, Donny Roach, Buddy Arthur, Puggy Forbes, etc. Carmine Cappuccio trivia: Playing for the Chicago White Sox Triple A minor league baseball team, the Birmingham Barons, for then manager Terry Francona, Carmine was cut from the squad to make room for a N.B.A. superstar making his baseball debut: Michael Jordan. The Malden Advocate’s Steve Freker has chronicled Carmine’s baseball career in these very same pages magnificently and like the journalistic pro he is.
• Malden Police Officer (and much more) J.P. Kelly was a 5’8″ stud receiver and another guy who stepped up bigly that year. Most likely you recognize the name J.P. Kelly, and you would probably recognize the face also – a cross between Frank “Ponch” Poncharello (Erik Estrada) with a dash of Vic Mackey (Michael Chiklis) thrown in. J.P. has been a star on the MPD (as well as Wayne Allen’s little brother) for many years now and brings as much intensity to the squad car (they still call it a squad car?) as he did when he was playing on that ’87 team. BTW, how’d you and big brother do in Vegas last week, J.P.?
• This team was the highest scoring football team in the state in 1987. Check out some of these stats from that historic year (simply amazing): Larry Hicks ran for 1,137 yards and 13 touchdowns; (the still youthful looking) Billy Roderick passed for 1,130 yards and 14 touchdowns; junior 5’10” 185 lb. Timmy Ford gained 535 yards with 7 touchdowns; and Carmine Cappuccio caught 43 passes for 912 yards and 13 TDs, adding 21 extra points kicked in a 99-point season.
• They may have been a high-flying offensive juggernaut scoring 330 points that year, but let’s not forget the defense that shut out four opponents while allowing less than 100 points!
• Over the years I’ve had the extreme pleasure of getting to know Dan Jones, Eddie Casaletto and J.P. Kelly, as well Big Billy Gavin, Brian Hatch, Billy Roderick, Bobby Carroll, Jeff Webb, Timmy Ford, Brian McDonough, Mike Freker, Mike Langston and a nicer bunch of blokes I have never met.
• MHS 1975 Hall of Famer Mark Burns reminded me that the 1975 football team (who were also very good, btw) in a show of solidarity with the ’87 team, gathered at the Highland Café on that long ago Thanksgiving morning and traveled to the game to support our fellow Golden Tornadoes.
• Through my exhaustive/time-intensive research (call me the Carl Bernstein/Bob Woodward of Maldonia) from multiple sources, I’ve learned that Billy Galvin might have been the single most underrated soldier on this extremely talented squad of gridiron heroes. His work ethic, his personality and his will to succeed far outpaced many of the more physically gifted teammates on this historic team. Driven by the ghosts of Golden Tornadoes past, Billy placed team before personal glory and in the process helped his squad achieve goals unimaginable for most growing up in these here 4.8 square miles. Billy’s talent and work ethic have been passed down to his son Billy aka “Billy the Kid,” who is projected to be the starting quarterback next year. A polite, handsome young man (thank goodness he has his mom’s looks), young Billy has “success” written all over that baby face. All the best to the Galvins in 2025!
• Apologies to all players I missed this time around. I will return another day to glorify you all.

As Peter Falk’s iconic TV character Columbo would say, “Just one more thing, sir” – speaking of the famed T-Giving Day game…It’s an ancient rivalry (even older than Harvey Nadler!), as most already know, going back to 1889, the same year internationally known Malden author Earle Stanley Gardner was born. Mr. Gardner is best known for creating the Perry Mason series – Malden immortalized forever on MeTV with Perry Mason’s fictional character, his secretary Della Street, named after Dell Street. Did you know that the famous (Phyllis) Knight family grew up on Dell Street?  See, you learn something new every single time you read “Malden Musings.” But I digress. If you grew up in Malden (or are a recent transplant), then you’ve probably been to a Thanksgiving Day game to cheer on classmates, neighbors or your very own children. You probably weren’t part of a crowd as large as the 1929 crowd that drew 18,500 fans because, frankly, they just don’t make high school crowds like that anymore. (Think about it, if they get 500 at a game these days, the GTC celebrates at All Season’s Table that night!) Fuhgeddaboudit. Here is a quote from MHS’s first African American head coach – trailblazing Harvard Law School grad Matthew Washington Bullock – summing up how most Maldonians feel/felt about the spirit of the day: “The season does not begin until Thanksgiving Day, and should we lose that game my work for the season will be a rank failure.” Mr. Bullock felt that strongly about this game without even growing up in Malden. This from a man who fled the South in 1889 with his parents (both formerly enslaved) and his seven siblings with $10 between them! “The Game” meant that much and still does to many.

Postscript 1: You don’t believe that last sentence? Try changing the game from Thursday to Wednesday and see if you get out of the Malden city limits alive. Insert great big smiley face.

Postscript 2: What say ye? 1987 the GOAT? Talk amongst yourselves…

—Peter is a longtime Malden resident and a regular contributor to The Malden Advocate. He can be reached at Pe*****@ao*.com for comments, compliments or criticisms.