Benjamin Mazloff was one of several young men from Philadelphiarecruited in the spring of 1928 to come to F&M and help reversethe fortunes of the football program. In 1926 and 1927, the teamhad won only one game. Mazloff played on the freshman team in 1928,and was touted as an outstanding prospect to play center. Indeed,in the only game the freshman team played, he started at center andrecovered a fumble in a 47-0 F&M victory. In his sophomoreyear, he started every game at center on offense and he backed upthe line on defense.
Although he was relatively small (5?8 and 160 pounds), he madeup for it with grit, determination, and leadership. The November13, 1929 Student Weekly pointed out, "Bennie Mazloff played abang-up game at the pivot position. Mazloff is there on the fieldfull of fight and pep every minute. We do not mean to say thatothers are not, but they don't seem to show it and instill it intothe remaining players life the F&M center." He had someremarkable games that year. Against Swarthmore, he scored bothtouchdowns in a 13-6 upset of the Garnet. Early in the game, afterF&M had fumbled the ball into the end zone trying to score,Mazloff successfully battled nearly the entire Swarthmore team forthe ball and secured the touchdown for F&M; later in the game,he blocked a Swarthmore kick in the end zone and landed on the ballfor the winning score.
It's not often that a center scores, much less twice, andmoreover, scores the only touchdowns to win a game! He alsointercepted a pass against Pennsylvania, and played outstandingdefense and offense all year. His sensational play as a sophomorewas recognized the next fall, when he was the only F&M playermentioned as a pre-season All-America candidate by the New YorkSun. In his junior year, he was one of the bright spots on theopening loss to St. John's. The Student Weekly noted, "BennieMazloff continued his last year's work and played an exceptionalgame." In F&M's 20-19 victory against St. Joseph's, he nearlymatched his outstanding Swarthmore performance of the previousyear. First, he blocked a St. Joe punt and fell on it in the endzone for F&M's first touchdown. Later, his interception and40-yard run resulted in another Diplomat touchdown.
Against Swarthmore, he once again had a brilliant game. Inparticular, he and William Y. Saltzman dominated the game on thedefensive side of the ball. The Swarthmore coach said, "...as soonas the ball was snapped back, the men backing up the line, Saltzmanand Mazloff, upon seeing the direction of the play, would quicklyget into position, charge through the line and get the Swarthmoreman behind the line time after time." In the last game of the year,Mazloff and Saltzman led the defense, which shut out powerfulGettysburg 6-0 for the first victory over the Bullets since 1922.That same defense throttled Gettysburg the next year 2-0. At theend of his senior year, Mazloff was chosen as one of only twounanimous choices for the All-Eastern Conference Team. The StudentWeekly reported, "Bennie Mazloff has for three years been anaggressive quick-thinking center.
Possessing an unusually intuitive foresight, his perception hasbeen responsible for many wins. He knows the rulebook from A to Zand never misses a thing. He has been handicapped by being rathersmall for a lineman, but his fighting spirit has been enough tomake him one of the nest centers seen here for many years. Indeed,Mazloff should go down as one of the greatest centers to ever playfor F&M." Mazloff graduated with a major in business and workedas an accountant until his retirement. He lives with his wife,Rose, in Miami, F.L.
