Early Life and Playing Career
Casanova was born to Swiss-American immigrants, John and Marie Ursula Casanov on June 12, 1905 on a ranch in the Grizzly Bluff area near Ferndale, California. He got his start in football in the early 1920s when he played halfback for Ferndale High School, and in 1922 he captained the Ferndale team to a co-championship with Eureka High School. The Ferndale team ended the season with seven wins in eight games. One of Casanova’s early athletic feats came in the first game that year against Arcata High School when, as a left-footed kicker, he drop-kicked a 45-yard field goal as Ferndale defeated the Tigers, 10–0.
Clark Bugbee, a high school teammate, later recalled that "Cas wanted to be a good punter. The coach gave him a football to take home and practice with. He practiced winter and summer and turned out to be quite a punter in college."
While in high school, Casanova delivered newspapers and worked at a meat market in town. In his senior year, he also played basketball and baseball and was president of the student body. In the 1923 Ferndale High School yearbook, under the column "Expected to Be" in the "Senior Horoscope" section, Casanova listed his future career as "football coach."
Casanova entered Santa Clara University in the fall of 1923 and played football and baseball from 1923 through 1927. As a freshman in a game against Stanford, he picked up a fumble and returned it 86 yards for a touchdown.
In 1924, Casanova was playing halfback and punting for Santa Clara. He first made headlines as a player for Santa Clara in 1924 after his heroics in a game against Saint Mary's. A popular rivalry since its origination in 1895, the "Little Big Game" between Santa Clara and Saint Mary's was played annually in front of packed crowds at Kezar Stadium in San Francisco. With the ball resting on the Santa Clara two-yard line, Casanova was called on to punt from his own end zone. He punted a ball that went out of bounds on the Saint Mary's one-yard line. The punt traveled a total of 97 yards and would (as of 2006) rank as the second longest of college football history if pre-1937 statistics were included in the NCAA record book.
Casanova was Santa Clara's team captain in his senior year under coach Adam Walsh, who had played at Notre Dame under Knute Rockne. Casanova graduated in 1927 with a bachelor’s degree in philosophy and a minor in history. He attended summer sessions at Santa Clara and obtained his teaching credential in 1932. Following college graduation, Casanova played one season with the San Francisco Olympic Club team.
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