1945 El Toro Flying Marines football team

The 1945 El Toro Flying Marines football team represented the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station during the 1945 college football season. The station was located in Orange County, California, near the town of El Toro (later renamed Lake Forest). Led by second-year head coach, Dick Hanley, the Flying Marines compiled an 8–2 record. El Toro was ranked fifth among the nation's college and service teams in the final Litkenhous Ratings, behind Army, Navy, Alabama, and Fleet City.^[1]

1945 El Toro Flying Marines football
Conference	Independent
Record	8–2
Head coach	Dick Hanley (2nd season)
Captain	George Franck
Home stadium	Santa Ana Municipal Bowl, Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
Seasons ← 1944 1946 →

1945 military service football records

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
Army Air Forces League
Third Air Force +	4	–	1	–	1			7	–	2	–	1
AAF Training Command +	4	–	1	–	1			8	–	3	–	1
Fourth Air Force	3	–	2	–	1			6	–	3	–	1
First Air Force	2	–	2	–	2			3	–	2	–	3
Air Transport Command	2	–	3	–	1			6	–	3	–	2
Personnel Distribution Command	2	–	4	–	0			6	–	5	–	0
Second Air Force	1	–	5	–	0			3	–	7	–	0
Independents
Hutchinson NAS			–					8	–	0	–	0
Fleet City			–					11	–	0	–	1
Corpus Christi NAS			–					7	–	1	–	0
North Camp Hood			–					7	–	1	–	0
Selman Field			–					7	–	1	–	0
Jacksonville NAS			–					9	–	2	–	0
El Toro Marines			–					8	–	2	–	0
Camp Beale			–					6	–	1	–	2
Little Creek			–					7	–	2	–	0
Amarillo AAF			–					3	–	1	–	0
Farragut NTS			–					6	–	2	–	0
South Camp Hood			–					5	–	2	–	0
Santa Barbara Marines			–					7	–	3	–	1
Fort McClellan			–					4	–	2	–	0
San Diego NTS			–					4	–	2	–	0
Eastern Flying Training Command			–					6	–	3	–	1
Atlantic City NAS			–					4	–	2	–	1
Minter Field			–					4	–	2	–	1
Camp Lee			–					7	–	4	–	0
Camp Peary			–					5	–	3	–	0
Olathe NAS			–					3	–	2	–	0
Great Lakes Navy			–					6	–	4	–	1
Hondo AAF			–					6	–	4	–	1
Bainbridge			–					5	–	4	–	0
Fort Benning			–					5	–	4	–	1
Albany Navy			–					3	–	3	–	1
Williams Field			–					4	–	4	–	0
Stockton AAF			–					4	–	5	–	2
Camp Detrick			–					3	–	4	–	0
Kearney AAF			–					3	–	4	–	0
Fort Warren			–					5	–	7	–	0
Bergstrom Field			–					3	–	5	–	1
Barksdale Field			–					4	–	7	–	0
Saint Mary's Pre-Flight			–					2	–	4	–	1
Keesler Field			–					3	–	6	–	1
Camp Blanding			–					1	–	2	–	0
Great Bend AAF			–					2	–	4	–	0
Luke Field			–					1	–	2	–	0
Miami NAS			–					1	–	2	–	0
Fort Pierce			–					4	–	9	–	0
Gulfport AAF			–					2	–	5	–	0
Ellington Field			–					1	–	4	–	1
Miami NTC			–					1	–	3	–	0
Oceana NAS			–					1	–	3	–	0
Fort Riley			–					1	–	4	–	0
Lake Charles AAF			–					1	–	4	–	0
Pensacola NAS			–					2	–	7	–	1
Cherry Point Marines			–					1	–	8	–	0
Dalhart AAF			–					0	–	3	–	0
Homestead AAB			–					0	–	3	–	0
Fort Monroe			–					0	–	7	–	0
+ – Conference co-champions

George Franck was the team captain. Fullback Frank Balazs and halfbacks Mortimer Landsberg and Hugh Gallarneau were members of the team early in the season before they were discharged from military service.^[2] Other players on the team included Elroy Hirsch, Paul Governali, Willie Wilkin, Whitey Lee of Carnegie Tech, Bob Dove, Harley McCollum, Ernie Lewis, and Dick Handley.^[3][4]

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 9		Hollywood Rangers	Santa Ana Municipal Bowl Santa Ana, CA	W 13–12	12,000	[5]
September 22		Los Angeles Bulldogs	Santa Ana Municipal Bowl Santa Ana, CA	W 68–0		[6]
September 29		at Fleet City	Kezar Stadium San Francisco, CA	L 7–21	25,000	[7]
October 6		Camp Pendleton	Santa Ana Municipal Bowl Santa Ana, CA	W 61–0	25,000	[8]
October 14		at Second Air Force	Penrose Stadium Colorado Springs, CO	W 20–9	10,000	[9]
October 28		AAF Training Command	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA	W 7–0	30,000	[10]
November 1		at UCLA	Los Angeles, CA	W 27–19 (scrimmage)		[11]
November 11		at San Diego NTS	San Diego, CA	W 20–0	5,000	[12]
November 18		at Saint Mary's Pre-Flight	Kezar Stadium San Francisco, CA	W 7–0	35,000	[13]
November 25		vs. Fort Warren	DU Stadium Denver, CO (Bond Bowl)	W 40–7	23,000	[14][15]
December 9	2:30 p.m.	Fleet City	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA	L 25–48	59,143	[16][17]
All times are in Pacific time

^[18]

References

1. Litkenhous, E. E. (December 19, 1945). "Litkenhouse Rates College, Service Teams of Nation". Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. p. 20. Retrieved March 25, 2023 – via Newspapers.com .
2. "Three Toro Backs "Lost' on Points". Nevada State Journal. Reno, Nevada. United Press. September 16, 1945. p. S2. Retrieved March 25, 2023 – via Newspapers.com .
3. "El Toro Will Open Grid Season". Monrovia Daily News-Post. Monrovia, California. Associated Press. September 8, 1945. p. 3. Retrieved March 25, 2023 – via Newspapers.com .
4. "Skymasters Escape Injury, Point To El Toro Battle". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Fort Worth, Texas. October 23, 1945. p. 9. Retrieved March 25, 2023 – via Newspapers.com .
5. "El Toro Marines Edge Hollywood Rangers, 13-12". The San Bernardino Daily Sun. San Bernardino, California. United Press. September 10, 1945. p. 3. Retrieved March 25, 2023 – via Newspapers.com .
6. "El Toro Marines Swamp Bulldogs". Nevada State Journal. Reno, Nevada. United Press. September 23, 1945. p. S1. Retrieved March 25, 2023 – via Newspapers.com .
7. "Fleet City Powers to 21-7 Win Over El Toro". Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles, California. Associated Press. September 30, 1945. p. 6, part II. Retrieved March 25, 2023 – via Newspapers.com .
8. "El Toro Wins 61-0 From Pendleton". The Whittier News. Whittier, California. United Press. October 8, 1945. p. 8. Retrieved March 25, 2023 – via Newspapers.com .
9. Heroux, Harold (October 15, 1945). "Hirsch Leads El Toro to 20-9 Win over 2nd AF". San Francisco Examiner. San Francisco, California. International News Service. p. 17. Retrieved March 25, 2023 – via Newspapers.com .
10. McMullen, Lorin (October 29, 1945). "El Toro Beats Skymasters, 7-0, on Last-Minute Pass". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Fort Worth, Texas. p. 9. Retrieved March 25, 2023 – via Newspapers.com .
11. "Marines Beat UCLA". The Seattle Star. Seattle, Washington. United Press. November 2, 1945. p. 7. Retrieved March 25, 2023 – via Newspapers.com .
12. "El Toro Marine Eleven Blanks San Diego, 20-0". Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles, California. Associated Press. November 12, 1945. p. 6, part II. Retrieved March 25, 2023 – via Newspapers.com .
13. "Marines Defeat Pre-Flight, 7-0". Oakland Tribune. Oakland, California. November 19, 1945. p. 14. Retrieved March 25, 2023 – via Newspapers.com .
14. "El Toro Marines Play Ft. Warren". Nevada State Journal. Reno, Nevada. United Press. November 25, 1945. p. S2. Retrieved March 25, 2023 – via Newspapers.com .
15. "El Toro Marines Shellac Fort Warren Broncs, 40-7". The Salt Lake Tribune. Salt Lake City, UT. United Press. November 26, 1945. p. 13. Retrieved March 25, 2023 – via Newspapers.com .
16. "El Toro Fears Buddy Young". Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles, California. December 4, 1945. p. 8, part II. Retrieved March 25, 2023 – via Newspapers.com .
17. Pack, Warren (December 10, 1945). "Young Start As Fleet City Drubs El Toro". Daily News. Los Angeles, California. p. 9. Retrieved March 25, 2023 – via Newspapers.com .
18. "Final Log For Nation's Top Football Teams". Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles, California. December 2, 1945. p. 14, part I. Retrieved March 26, 2023 – via Newspapers.com .