L-R: Ailene Zhang ’21, Sara Hanover ’25, Bill McDonald ’68, and the coach, Fred Hanover P’25.
Two dozen San Diego Eagles, friends, and family took to the links Saturday to learn and to play.
On a very pleasant day (of which we have enjoyed so many recently), the group gathered at The Links at Lakehouse driving range in San Marcos initially for some instruction and guidance from Fred Hanover P’25, coach of the UCSD men’s golf team. Warmed up, the group then proceeded to the nearby Lakehouse executive course to play the front nine.
L-R: Ray Berube ’78 P’13 ’17, Ray Smith ’19, Justin Niles ’09, Brian Caddigan ’96, and Joe Mahler ’74 P’11.
L-R: Dennis Monahan ’82, Carole Monahan ’82, Brian Tsu ’00, and Margot Tsu.
This was the third year Coach Hanover has organized this event for the chapter and one of the features is a hole where players can “Beat the Coach” if their tee shot falls closer to the hole than his shot. It is perhaps a testament to his coaching that three players this year beat the coach’s shot.
Following golf, most of the group returned to the main course and enjoyed lunch at the Brickmans Restaurant.
More than a dozen San Diego Eagles and family members joined hundreds more Saturday at Miramar National Cemetery for the annual Wreaths Across America event. Ceremonies are held at national cemeteries across the country to remember the fallen, honor those who serve, and teach our children the value of freedom.
Opening ceremony in the fog.
The event began in heavy marine layer at the cemetery’s flag assembly area with brief speeches and ceremonies in which representatives of each of the armed forces placed a wreath while the songs that represent them were played. Then the crowd dispersed to place wreaths on individual headstones of veterans.
We went to section three of the cemetery to recognize in a special way a Boston College graduate before placing wreaths on other headstones in the section. William P. Beaton, who was a 1st Lieutenant in the Marine Corps and served in Korea, graduated from BC in 1954. He died November 25, 2014.
William Patrick Beaton, ’54
William Beaton, 1954 Sub Turri
He was born in Boston on September 16, 1932 in Boston. An avid reader, he held a life-long passion for politics, religion, and other intellectual topics, according to his family. He married Kathleen Anne Cashman on July 4, 1964 and they celebrated their 50th anniversary only months before his death.
For most of their married life, they resided in Connecticut, where they raised their four children.
Beaton worked as a labor relations specialist for several U.S. corporations. He was ordained a Deacon in the Catholic Church in 1998 and served in many churches in New Mexico.
He was survived by his widow and their four children, including Alexander Beaton of San Diego, along with seven grandchildren. Alex Beaton had intended to join us Saturday, but was taking his mother to a medical appointment that morning.
RB Turbo Richard sweeps left around the line on his way to first touchdown of game yesterday against Syracuse.
In the Boston Globe report on yesterday’s BC 34-12 win over Syracuse, coach Bill O’Brien “noted that the start to the fight song in the locker room was a bit choppy initially (it had been a while), but eventually, they found a rhythm and belted it out with pride.”
That was somewhat similar to the rendition of “For Boston” by San Diego Eagles who had gathered to watch the game at The Corner Drafthouse. They had last celebrated an Eagles’ win with song on August 30. Then came ten consecutive sufferings in silence. It was a little tentative at first yesterday, but finished with gusto.
One could also describe the team’s performance yesterday similarly. BC and Syracuse finished the first half tied at six. The Eagles’ Luca Lombardo hit a field goal late in the first period. Syracuse kicked two field goals in the second period and Lombardo tied it up just before halftime.
The game’s first touchdown came just over four minutes into the second half, as RB Turbo Richard swept left for 16 yards and the score. That was the first of four consecutive touchdowns for the Eagles, who broke out to a 34-6 lead. Richard scored his second TD on a 46-yard run, while RB Jordan McDonald scored touchdowns on two- and 14-yard runs.
While the touchdowns were all on the ground, the Eagles gained far more yards through the air, passing for 296 yards compared to 137 yards rushing. Starting QB Dylan Lonergan was two-for-two and eight yards before leaving with an apparent injury to the thumb on his throwing hand. QB Grayson James came in and was 16-of-24 for 288 yards, no touchdowns, no interceptions. James was sacked once.
(With 190 pass completions in 10 games this season, Lonergan moved into the top-10 all-time in BC football history for pass completions in a single season.)
With 433 yards total offense, the Eagles exceeded the 400-yards mark for the fourth time this season. Total offense for Syracuse yesterday was 254 yards, 189 of them rushing. BC gained 20 first downs, compared to 12 for Syracuse.
WR Lewis Bond led the team with eight pass receptions for 171 yards, including a 54-yarder. His total yards for the game was a career high. He became the eighth BC receiver in history to exceed 900 yards in receptions in a season, and the first since Zay Flowers in 2022.
Highlights (8:05)
Obviously, the Eagles’ 2-10 (1-7 ACC) record overall, ranking 126th among 136 FBS teams, was disappointing, considering they had seven wins in O’Brien’s first season last year and there was some pre-season expression of confidence in improvement. It was the program’s worst record since 1978, when the Eagles were 0-11. They avoided the embarrassment of a winless record in the ACC. BC had gone 0-8 in conference in 2015 and 1-7 in 2012.
No bowl game coming up. Instead of focusing in coming months on incoming recruits and the 2026 schedule, much more time will likely be spent on player transfers, into and out of BC, potential changes among assistant coaches, and the impact of a new university president next year.
