Here’s a little bit of history for anyone interested in the college football bowl season:

Two former Erie high school football greats started for Northwestern University in the 1949 Rose Bowl. Tech Memorial’s Joe Zuravleff and Academy’s Chuck Hagmann, both of whom starred in Erie in the mid-1940s, were key players for Northwestern during the 1948 season.

Zuravleff and Hagmann, both four-time lettermen for Northwestern, were named to the Erie Times-News All-Time City of Erie Football Team in 2004.

Both played end for the Wildcats in 1948, and each played a critical role in Northwestern’s reaching the Rose Bowl. The Wildcats clinched their Rose Bowl berth with a 20-7 victory over Illinois in the regular-season finale. In that game, Hagmann scored on a 65-yard return after a teammate recovered a fumble. Zuravleff added a 23-yard touchdown reception.

Zuravleff was drafted by the Washington Redskins in 1950, and Hagmann went on to become Northwestern’s MVP that year.

Read more about the two Erie stars’ contributions to Northwestern’s season, and “The remarkable Wildcats of 1948.”