Frank Benenati

Conrtibutor

Let’s start this piece with a prediction by Bob Van Tine (The Norwich Sun Sports Editor and Norwich High School Sports Hall of Fame 2013 inductee) prior to the school year. “When the curtain rings down on the 1952-53 NHS sports season, the name of Don Chirlin will be placed in the record books alongside the best three-sport athletes in the school’s colorful athletic history. The lanky senior has won fame as a defensive halfback in football, a pivoteer in basketball and a smooth-fielding first sacker in baseball.”

Don, who was born in Fulton on March 31, 1936, began his formal schooling in Calais, ME as a 5-year-old first-grader, because the school didn’t have a kindergarten. Two years later in 1943, he arrived in Norwich when his father, Morrie, was transferred there to take over operation of The M.H. Fishman Co. store on South Broad Street. He got his start in competitive sports a few years later as a member of the YMCA junior basketball team. In his third year of “Y” ball, he was captain of the team, which ended up play with a record of 24-2 that included a victory over the West Branch Y of New York City. And, it was during this time that he teamed up with future NHSSPHOF mates Ed Ackley (2011), John Stewart (2012) and Ron Tyler (2014). This foursome would lead the Tornado to many victories, and the press dubbed them the “Whiz Kids.”

Equally as important, though, was their coach – Van Tine. It was he who taught them teamwork and a winning spirit. Don summarily recognized his importance and admits, “that I couldn’t have made it without him.” In retrospect, no other class in school history had so many victories in so many sports as this group.

Just how impressive was this particular class, well consider that the three sports – football (8-0), basketball (20-3) and baseball (12-1) – that Chirlin took part during his senior year compiled a record of 40-4. And, when you consider that two other athletic endeavors that Don chose not to engage in, namely wrestling and track, produced another pair of outstanding marks of 10-0 and 7-1, respectively, you get the idea of why they were indeed the “Whiz Kids” of Norwich – much like their older “Whiz Kids” counterparts of Philadelphia who took the baseball world by surprise in 1950 by leading the Phillies to the National League championship.

“I played with some great Norwich athletes. Every team during my senior year was a champion,” reiterated Chirlin. “I was a good player on very good teams, and became better because of all the athletes who played with me. I just hope I was as good a teammate as they all were to me.”

As Don’s senior athletic season began, the 1952 football team opened with a 39-0 whipping of host Whitesboro on Saturday, Sept. 20. Seven more one-sided triumphs followed, making it one of the best gridiron elevens in school lore. To date, it is the last unbeaten team in Tornado history. This team was a scoring machine; too, as it totaled 271 points during those eight victories, with Don tallying 30 markers on five touchdowns. That historic 271 total was three more than the 1924 Tornado club that also finished undefeated at 8-0. And, defensively, that Purple outfit yielded only 45 points as they allowed more than one touchdown only once, that being in a 45-18 thumping of Ilion at Alumni Field on Oct. 18.

After two more easy victories over Cortland (27-7) and Syracuse Vocational (53-7), the season culminated against host Oneida on Saturday, Nov. 8. Oneida, like Norwich, was also undefeated (7-0), but that contest was completely dominated by the Tornado on both sides of the ball, with the Purple whitewashing the Indians 33-0. Prior to this humbling defeat, Oneida had yielded only 20 points. During the fray, Chirlin made an acrobatic grab of an Ackley aerial from 10 yards out in the fourth quarter, and added an interception during the second stanza that led to Stewart’s third touchdown of the contest.

Even more impressive, though, were Don’s defensive exploits throughout the year. Norwich’s secondary was composed of Stewart at safety, Tyler at right halfback and Don at the other back slot. Throughout the season, this combination established records by allowing only 33 pass completions all season, while intercepting 23 – record-setting totals. Chirlin also ranked eighth in tackles with 40.

After cruising through their unblemished and record-setting football season, the Tornado cagers got off to an inauspicious start to the Purple’s hardwoods campaign. Prior to the first of the year, Norwich split its first four games with close losses to New Hartford (44-49) and Saratoga Springs (46-50) sandwiched around Iroquois League victories over Ilion (62-46) and Little Falls (68-38).

The changeover to 1953 was another story, though, as Norwich lost only once more during its final 19 games of the year. That lone defeat was to Herkimer, but the Tornado still locked up the Iroquois crown with a 9-1 log, thanks in large part to its regular-season ending 50-48 triumph at Oneonta on Feb. 27. In that close-fought tilt, Chirlin clicked on seven of his 14 field goals and was 4-for-5 from the charity stripe for a game-high 18 points. If that performance wasn’t enough to dishearten the hometown Yellowjacket faithful, consider that he also pulled down 29 caroms – the second-best single game rebounding total in Norwich basketball history.

Following that Oneonta scrum, Norwich was forced to engage in six more postseason battles before securing the overall Section III championship. Triumphs over Oneida (55-49), Oneonta (51-43), Waterville (56-35), Richfield Springs (49-38) and Frankfort (61-50) were followed by an overtime thriller in which the Tornado shaded Watertown – a Class A entry – 43-40 in Colgate’s Huntington Gym on March 27. Much like in the 1986 movie “Hoosiers,” all classes competed as one en route to the overall championship.

Over the course of Norwich’s 23 games, Don reached double digits on 14 occasions, with a season-high of 18 coming in that aforementioned 50-48 win at Oneonta. All told, he scored 256 points (11.1 avg.) and was awarded the Albert Foster Award as his team’s Most Valuable Player.

“I might have been the MVP on a sectional champion, but this team was made up of many MVPs,” reflected Chirlin. “Someone always stepped up to create a winning atmosphere.”