Carroll College Athletics

Anaconda’s John McGinley was a starting sophomore quarterback-defensive back when sports resumed at The Hilltop after WWII. In the 13-7 win over Ricks College, the IR noted, “The lightest man on the field at 125 lbs, McGinley won honors for himself with smashing tackles as a quick-moving safety man.” In 1948, his long punt return set-up Carroll’s second touchdown in the 12-0 shutout of Montana Mines.

His senior year marked the arrival of coach John Gagliardi, who guided the 3-1 Saints to the Conference runner-up. McGinley threw 4 scoring TDs, highlighted by a pair of TD strikes (one going 54 yards) in the 13-0 whitewash of Eastern. “The Lord was good to me to let me have John as my first quarterback,” wrote Gagliardi, college’s all-time winningest football coach, in 1986. “I measure all quarterbacks to this day by what I saw in John McGinley.”