Flying Green Thunderbolt
The 1931 Cranston High School "Flying Green Thunderbolt" went undefeated in the Interscholastic League winning the R.I. State Championship for the second year in a row and the fourth time in five seasons ('27, '28, '30, '31). The 1931 team racked up 38 goals to best the record of 30 set by the 1928 team. More astonishing was the fact that the 1931 team was unscored upon in schoolboy competition. Goalie Tony Parrillo gave up six goals in 1929, a mere two in 1930 and none in 1931. Cranston's starting six featured high scoring Captain "Red" Gould at center, Howie Chisholm at left wing and "Sonny" Hough at right wing. Hard hitting Rod McGarry and Howie Sheffield were on defense. Goalie Parrillo was truly unbeatable. All six were picked for the Journal-Bulletin All-State team. Gould was picked for the third year in a row at center.
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They beat Mount St. Charles (Interscholastic Conference Champions) 6-0 for the title in front 2500 fans at the R.I. Auditorium. Gould's goal with 10 seconds left in the final period sealed the victory. Gould was perhaps the best athlete of his time, having quarterbacked the football team as well as a superb baseball player. The late Jack Martin, the Journal-Bulletin sports editor wrote the next day: "At the conclusion of this 30 minutes of super schoolboy hockey, the crowd rose to give acclaim to Cranston's retiring hero, Gould, as he skated around the arena with the Auditorium Trophy, symbolic of state supremacy. Martin wrote of the game and the team: "Never has a schoolboy championship been won in so impressive a fashion as the Flying Green Thunderbolt did".
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