in the 1949 season, the tigers football squad, under coach joe carlo, outscored opponents by 206 to 77. they went on to win their first inter-high championship by beating mckinley tech by a score of 21 to 20, made possible by three extra points from placekicker dick sebastian. the next weekend, the tigers played in the second annual city championship game against catholic league champions gonzaga in front of 7,949 fans in griffith stadium; the tigers lost the game with a final score of 12–7. stars of that team were b lee brinson, e pete haley, c preston kavanaugh, t don meaney, and b leo speros.