When Football was King

The Peterborough High football team, sitting on the steps that now lead to the elementary school on High Street.

The most successful season in the history of Peterborough High School football closed with a 25-0 win over Milford in October of 1932. It was a remarkable 4-1 season, played against schools many times their size. And what happened two seasons later wound up coming full circle at Conval High in 1970.

The boys from Peterborough dropped their season opener to Woodbury High of Salem, but defeated Manchester, Nashua, Exeter and Milford. Coached by John R. Clark, Peterborough was well-grounded in fundamentals and “had an assortment of plays which would do justice to a school many times larger.”

The locals relied on a strong running game, and the line “was fairly heavy and the backs fleet and elusive.” Peterborough was led by quarterback Dusty Gautreau. Noted the Peterborough Transcript: “This lad was the star in every contest, and in the games with Milford and Exeter was wholly unstoppable. He dashed 75 yards for a touchdown against Exeter and made a number of long runs at Milford from 15 to 50 yards. He is a fast, shifty back, a good punter and forward passer, and is a lad who has great promise if he goes on to college.”

Also upfront were fullback Kenneth Bishop. He was strong in the backfield, particularly on the defense, and he gained much yardage on line plunges. Another strong back was Robert Fortin, “a fine defensive player and the hardest tackler on the team.” At center, Harold Clukay, a freshman from Dublin, never played football before but developed fast.

Peterborough High drew large crowds home and away in the early 1930s, and played their home games at Adams Playground. Although no reasons were given, interscholastic football ended in 1934, and many players participated instead in a highly popular intramural touch football league. “From all appearances, it seems touch football has aroused as much interest in school as football did last year.”

Five teams fought it out for school pride—not unlike how football began at Conval High in 1970 with a highly competitive and popular flag football program.