1940 Football Team - undefeated and unscored upon

Inducted into Hall of Fame in 2006


Coach Moon Mullins adopted a football team in 1940 that had only lost once over the previous four years. However, the coach’s first test would be against Cornell, the team that gave them their loss the year before.

Mullins started four freshmen who, according to accounts, “shocked the vast throng that was present and the red-shirted (Cornell) invaders.” The first-team came on at the very end of the first quarter, and led the Saints to a 14-0 win, avenging their 6-0 loss the year before.

In the second game, Ambrose out-rushed St. Thomas 225-47 en route to a 13-0 win.

The 1940 season also marked the widest margin of victory over a team you might know, Augustana. The Saints drubbed the Vikings 27-0.

After St. Ambrose beat St. Norbert’s, 7-0, to improve to 7-0, the Saints were the only football team in the country to remain unscored upon.

With a chance to be the only undefeated, and unscored upon team, St. Ambrose took on Loras in the last game of the season. The Duhawks had put new sod in earlier in the year, and had only played one other game on the turf, but because of rain, the fact that the field was built with a rock base that didn’t hold water, and other Loras engineering flaws, the game got dubbed the “mud bowl,” and ended in a 0-0 tie, stopping the Bees from a perfect season.

In that magical season, only 2 of their 9 opponents reached the Bees red-zone (20-yard line). Ambrose outgained their opponents 2443 yards to 410 in yards. Nick Kerasiotis was named a little All-American for the second straight season, and Vince Nunamaker was named an honorable mention All-American.

They outscored their competition 134-0 and finished 8-0-1.

Mullins and the 1940 team are being honored because of their incredible accomplishments as the only undefeated and unscored upon team in school history.


1940 Football Team Members

Philip Bridge† `41
Clyde Brzezinski† `44
Hugo Cerretti `42
Peter Cerretti `41
Michael Cervin†
Donald Conroy† `44
Lawrence Coppotelli† `42
Robert Devine `47
Ambrose Duggan† `44
Eugene Fahner†
Phillip Farrell
Maurice Ferratier† `44
John Flannigan
William Furgie
Clair Giltner†
Roy Glendenning† `42
John Grennon
Joseph Gstettenbauer `43
Paul Hart† `44
Albert Haworth† `41
Charles Higgins
Russell Hoogerwerf† `43
Joseph Horbeld
Anthony Janick
Roe Johnston `44
Nick Kerasiotis† `41
Albert Kilgore
Paul Klocke† `44
Theodore Lapka `42
Harold Leech† `48
William Leithner
Emmett Long† `44
William Loomis `42
Leonard Lucier† `42
John Martin `42
John McDonnell† `43
John McNamee `47
Albert Meiresonne† `42
Robert Mills† `44
Bernard Murphy
Norman Nunamaker†
Vincent Nunamaker†
Anthony Rotunno `49
Stephen Rupsch† `47
Peter Schaefer `44
Robert Sonneville† `42
Grady Swearingen† `44
Daniel Uselis
John Vercelli† `44
Francis Walter `43

† denotes deceased as of time of induction