St. Ambrose High School (Grosse Pointe, Michigan)

St. Ambrose High School was a coeducational Catholic high school in Grosse Pointe Park, Michigan, United States. The school was opened in 1923 and closed in 1972.[1][2]

St. Ambrose High School
Location
Map

United States
Coordinates42°22′35.1″N 82°56′20.2″W / 42.376417°N 82.938944°W / 42.376417; -82.938944
Information
TypePrivate, Coed
Established1923
Closed1972
Grades912
Color(s)Maroon and White   
Athletics conferenceCatholic High School League
NicknameCavaliers

Athletics

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St. Ambrose was a Class C school but was a football power in the Detroit Catholic High School League. Before there were state playoffs in Michigan, there was the Goodfellow Game, matching the Detroit Catholic High School League champion against the Detroit City League (later the Detroit Public School League) champion.

In 1959, St. Ambrose faced a much larger Detroit Cooley team, which was ranked number one in Class A, in what appeared to be a classic mismatch. St. Ambrose stunned Cooley, 13-6.[3]

St. Ambrose would go on to win the Goodfellow Game again in 1961, 1962, 1964 and 1966.[4][5]

From 1957 to 1967, St. Ambrose produced five football All-Americans and 12 All-State players. Many would go on to play major-college football on the campuses of the University of Houston, the University of Michigan, Michigan State University, the University of Nebraska, the University of Wyoming, and the University of Detroit.

Two St. Ambrose players, Tom Beer[6] and Gary Nowak,[7] played in the National Football League.

Two of the coaches, Tom Boisture and his successor George Perles, would go on to win a combined six Super Bowl rings in the NFL.[8][9]

References

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  1. ^ "Archdiocese of Detroit - The Roman Catholic Church in Detroit, MI". aod.org. Retrieved 29 June 2015.
  2. ^ "Historical Michigan High School Football/Basketball Conference Records Since 1950-51". michigan-football.com.
  3. ^ "Archived copy". archive.freep.com. Archived from the original on 17 November 2015. Retrieved 17 January 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. ^ "GOODFELLOW GAME". THE DETROIT CATHOLIC SCHOOL HERITAGE PROJECT.
  5. ^ "Grosse Pointe Saint Ambrose Cavaliers All-Time Michigan High School Football Scores". michigan-football.com.
  6. ^ "Archived copy". www.profootballarchives.com. Archived from the original on 9 September 2015. Retrieved 17 January 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  7. ^ "Gary Nowak Stats". Pro-Football-Reference.com.
  8. ^ "Metro Detroit Sports: The Champions of St. Ambrose". metrodetroitsports.blogspot.com. Archived from the original on 17 November 2015. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
  9. ^ Gosselin, Rick (November 14, 2009). Goodfellows: the champions of St. Ambrose. August Publications. OCLC 438044553 – via Open WorldCat.