Page 4 THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – Friday, May 15, 2020 AUTOTECH 1989 SINCE Is your vehicle ready for the Spring Season?!! AC SPECIAL Recharge your vehicle's AC for the warm weather! Includes up to 1 LB. of Refrigerant* (*Most Vehicles/Some Restrictions May Apply) Only $69.95 DRIVE IT - PUSH IT - TOW IT! CASH FOR YOUR CAR, TRUCK OR SUV! 2010 FORD FUSION SE 4 Cyl., Auto., 1 Previous Owner, Most Pwr. Options incl. Keyless Entry, & Pwr. Sunroof. Only 70K Miles! ALL TRADES WELCOME! $5,995 Easy Financing Available! Loaded with Leather Interior, Moon Roof, Only 106K Miles, Warranty! PRICED TO SELL! $4,995 781-321-8841 1236 EasternAve • Malden EddiesAutotech.com We Pay Cash For Your Vehicle! 2011 MERCURY MILAN PREMIER “ The Lynn Tech hero By Th e Old Sachem Pistol” Pete Pedro was an area legend, starting at Lynn Tech, Trinidad Junior College in Colorado, and on to West Texas State. Pedro excelled wherever he played. As a sophomore at West Texas State, he was second in the nation in rushing and scoring with 22 touchdowns and 132 points. He was added to the Boston Patriots’ taxi squad and ended his football career as a semipro player. After his football career ended, Pedro worked for the Lynn School Department. Pistol Pete wasn’t large for a running back at fi ve-foot eight and 160 pounds, but through his speed and strength, he became a threat to the opponents each time he had the football. His trip to Colorado was his fi rst time away from the area; he had never fl own before. In the early 1960s segregation was still rampant in much of the nation, especially in the southern states. Pedro was among the fi rst group of black players to appear for West Texas State. Ollie Ross and Bobby Drake were also brought aboard to strengthen the team that is now named University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP). Coach Joe Kerbel was a forThank you to all the first responders, healthcare workers, and all other essential workers who are working hard to keep our community safe and healthy. RIGHT BY YOU mer Marine sergeant in World War II and a brilliant off ensive mind who was as tough to his players as he was to his Marine troops. The Buffs were fearful of the coach, a big, physical man and a bombastic personality. Coach Kerbel wore silk boxer shorts to the practice fi eld each day, and Pedro, who was always looking to keep a comical persona in the locker room, decided one day to wear shorts like the coach, a pair of blue silk shorts. The players howled as Pete strutted around in his shorts, but the players feared that the coach would commit murder when he saw the hilarity. When he entered, coach Kerbel just smiled and said, “Let’s go” and onto the field they went. A teammate, Charlie Davis, said that the coach looked on Pedro as a favorite son. Corky Dawson, a white quarterback from Borger, Texas, and Pedro, a black Puerto Rican from Lynn, Massachusetts, got along fi ne, as did the rest of the team. Racial distinctions meant very little when a superior player could bring the team to winning football games. Coach Kerbel could care less about the color of the skin of his players, so he selected Pedro from Trinidad Junior College in Colorado. Pedro exploded into college 419 Broadway, Everett, MA 02149 • 617-387-1110 771 Salem St, Lynnfield, MA 01940 • 781-776-4444 www.everettbank.com Member FDIC Member DIF football in 1961 when Sports Illustrated did a story on Pete’s accomplishments. West Texas was playing New Mexico State, who had the leading rusher in the land, Preacher Pilot. Pedro was right behind him in statistics and Pedro scored a record six touchdowns, gained 236 yards rushing and was named the Associated Press national back of the week. Pedro became a third-team All-American as a sophomore, as he led the nation in scoring and was second in rushing yardage in the college ranking. Pedro gave his white teammates nicknames, Cowboy, Snake and Calvin among othBill Stewart The Old Sachem ers. They loved to listen to Pedro talk with his Boston accent, and his teammates were able to learn a large lesson from him about racial harmony. In an early season home game in Pistol Pete’s fi rst year, 1961, the team went to a Canyon, Texas, restaurant after the contest to eat chicken-fried steaks. When the team entered the eatery, the owner told Pedro and Ross that they would have to eat in the kitchen away from the dining room, which was exclusively for whites. Dawson recalled that the team stood in the doorway until the coach arrived When Kerbel reached the restaurant and saw the situation, he told the owner “where they could stick those chickenfried steaks.” Kerbel told Coach Harris to go to a restaurant in Amarillo and purchase 60 hamburgers and fries, and the team ate back at the college. Pete married an Amarillo girl, Gloria Quintero, and they moved back to Lynn after he had fi nished his time at West Texas. Pedro was a stellar running back for the Buff s, leading the team in yardage, and was the main reason that the Buffs won the 1962 Sun Bowl over the Ohio University Bobcats. The University (UTEP) created a scholarship in the memory of the greatest back the University had, and it will be awarded to a football player each year. Back in Lynn he and Gloria raised fi ve children, sons Peter Jr. and Ricky and daughters Mimi, Kristen and Helen, and he always said his greatest achievement was in having all fi ve obtaining college degrees. 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