An Instant Dynasty in Bishop Egan's First Season
When Bishop Egan joined the Catholic League in 1963, the expectation was that the Levittown Eagles would need a few seasons to figure out the competition. Dick Bedesem disagreed. In his debut year, Egan rolled through the Northern Division, beat Southern Division champion St. Joseph's Prep 36-14 at Franklin Field in front of 10,000 fans, and captured the Catholic League championship on their first try.
The title game pivoted on the interior running of All-Catholic halfback John Kerr (21 carries, 91 yards, TD) and fullback Paul McDowell (17 carries, 104 yards, two TDs), paired with the passing of All-Catholic quarterback Bill Creeden, who recovered from a first-period meltdown — two fumbles lost in Prep territory — to throw for a touchdown and complete two two-point conversion passes. The decisive blow was a Creeden screen pass to scatback Tim Stezzi, who cut diagonally across the field and outran Prep's Brendan Murray to the left pylon.
The following week at the same stadium, Egan tied Roxborough 16-16 in the 26th annual City Title game — a game in which Egan forced two late turnovers and got a game-tying safety from Paul Barczy and Joe Frazer with 1:35 remaining.
