Evening Republican, Volume 19, Number 76, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 31 March 1915 — Football in Rensselaer High School [ARTICLE]

Football in Rensselaer High School

WILLIAM EIGELSBACH.

Footbhll lias been the most success- . ful and has been played more in i Renssealer high school than any other athletic sport. For this reason when athletics of the Rensselaer high school is spoken of, it means football. In the sixteen years that football has been played in this school, sixty games have been won, fifteen lost and four tied. The first football team was organized in 1898. The town team had been playing since 1896. When colors were adopted they selected red and black which Everett Brown suggested, they being the colors of his school at Tuscola, 111. The high school also adopted these colors when they organized their team. ■ The coach of the first high school team was Frank Maloy, and Van Grant was captain. The members of the team were B. Roberts, Bruce Hardy, Emory Mills, Ed Mills, Jesse Fox, Roe Yeoman, Pete Medworth, Frank McCarthy, Blain Gwin, Bert Carter, Van Grant, Oliver Tharp and Dick Fidler. Goodland high school and St. Joseph College were played this season. Frank Maloy coached from 1899 to the middle of the season of 1902. The team of 1899 was composed of Lawson Meyers, Bruce Hardy, Chase Ritchey, Bob Crockett, Roe Yeoman, Emory Mills, Leo Tuteur, Delos Coen, Jay Sayler, Frank McCarthy, Blaine Gwin, Jess Porter and John Drake. The teams played this year were Goodland twice, St. Joseph College, and the Baltimores of Lafayette. All four of the games were won. In 1900 Jay * Sayler was captain. Blaine Gwin, Emory Mills, Frank McCarthy, Roe Yeoman, Lawson Meyers, Bruce Hardy, Chase Ritchey, Mort Murray, John Drake, Glen Wishard, John Sample and Ray Collins composed the team. Five games were played and all but one were won. The most important of the season was the one in which Lafayette high school, who claimed the championship of Indiana, defeated us by the score 6-0. In 1901 four games were played. Three were won and one tied by us. Monticello tied us on Thanksgiving. In 1903 six games were played and three of these were won. One game was lost to Monticello, but we also beat Monticello. Highland Park Military Academy was defeated by us this year. Frank Maloy, who had been coaching us, quit about a week before the Highland Park game. Harry Parker, a Wisconsin player, then began coaching and coached each team after this until 1904. The team was composed of Sheets, Kenton, Hammerton, Pierson, Michaels, Hopkins,' Collins, Parkinson, Gwin, McGregor, Kelly, Parcels, and Tom Moody, captain. In 1903 twenty-five men answered the call for practice the first night. Bob Sheets was captain. Four games were won and one lost. Northwestern Military Academy beat us 15 to 0. Rice Porter, a Rensselaer boy, was captain of Northwestern and Bert Marshal, a player of the town team of a few years before, was coach. In 1904 seven games were played and all were won by us. Claim was layed to the statle championship. One hundred and sixty-seven points were scored to the opponents’ ten during this season. The team was coached by Porter and Mills, and consisted of -Parcels, Woodworth, Berry, Michaels, Hopkins, Gerber, Ellis, captain, Spitler, Dobbins, Gwin and Yeoman. In 1905 Parker was again elected coach and he coached the succeeding years to 1910. During this season the team, which consisted of Kirk, Woodworth, Kepner, Hershman, Tom Willy, Hopkins, Duvall, Yeoman, Capt. Daniels, Robbins, Gerber, Beam, McFarland and Hauter, and won four games and lost one, Monticelol defeating us by the score of 11 to 0. The most important game of this season was undoubtedly the one pi which R. H. S. defeated Shortridge high school, of Indianapolis 10-0. Ih 1906 Rensselaer was state champion under the coaching of Parker. The team was so good that most of the high school teams having games scheduled with us, cancelled, making it necessary that we play Illinois or Chicago teams. The only .Indiana teams playing us were Oakwood and Central high school, both of Lafayette. Of the Chicago teams played, Oak Park was probably the best. During this season four games were won and one lost. The Culver Military Academy team defeated us 11-0. This team had defeated Rose Poly, who had defeated DePauw. The members of the team were Beam, Capt Dobbins, Wilcox, Hershman, Robinson, Hopkins, jElder, Coen, Woodworfch, Brenner, Duvall, Parkinson, Morgan, Long, Gorham, Bruner and Kirk.

, In 1907 for various reasons there [ was no team. i In 1908 with Parker at the wheel, Oapt Kirk, Clarke, Elder, Gundy, Nowels, Beam, Thompson, Norman, Meyers, English, Porter, Miller and Haas composing the team, five games were won, one tied and one lost Oak T wood of Lafayette beat us 20-0. A tie was played with Hammond but Coach Stagg, of Chicago, ruled that R. H. S. was the victor. In 1909 Kirk was again captain and Parker coach. Two games out of four were won. The most important game of this season was with Morochere, the score being 10-0 in our favor. During this game Parks intercepted a forward pass and ran 105 yards for a touchdown. This game, because we played some ineligible men, resulted in our being thrown out of the Indiana High School Athletic Association for a few months. In 1910, Rice Porter coaching, Don Beam captain and McCarthy, Miller, Hamilton, Moore, Ellis, Hemphill* Smith, Hanley, Duvall, Robinson, Colvert, Nowels, Porter and Parks composing the team, four games were won, one lost, and one tied. Austin High of Chicago tied us. This was probably the best game of the season. Austin High was a very strong Chicago team. In 1911, with Parker back on the job, Hemphill captain, and Robinson, Putts, Price, Miller, Greenlee, Moore, Nowels, Hamilton, Hanley, Thompson and Parks making up the s team, the state championship was won according to dope. The most important game was with Frankfort, who tied us. Six games were played, five won and one tied. In 1912, Parker coach, Moore captain, and Price, Putts, Greenlee, Miller, Padgitt, Hanley, Choate, Gant, Eigelsbach, James Babcock, W. Babcock, Honan, Healy, Pollard and Lakin composing the team, two games were won out of four. Morocco and Kankakee defeated us. In 1913, Parker coach, McCarthy captain, with Wilcox, Babcock, Lakin, Groom, Eigelsbach, Hanley, Miller, Moore and C. Eigelsbach composing the team, three out of four games were won. Hammond defeated us 13-7 at Hammond. In 1914, Parker Coach, W. Eigelsbach captain, with English, Hopkins, Lakin, Gourley, Loy, Price, Simons, Swaim, C. Eigelsbach, Moore, Babcock, Cumick, Crooks, Phillips, Gant and Rhoades making up the team, three games out of five were won. Morocco and Watseka beat us in the beginning of the season, but we retrieved our goat by defeating Morocco by a larger score than they defeated us. In conclusion special notice should be taken of the following facts covering the sixteen years of football in R. H. S. No man has ever been permanently injured. Woodworth and Hopkins played longer than anybody else, they having played before the four-year limit was made. Kirk was captain two years and we held the state championship for three years. Of the few years that all state men have been picked, Rensselaer has had eight men receive those honors, namely, Hemphill, Hamilton, Chfiate, McCarthy, Groom, J. Babcock, P. Hopkins, and W. Eigelsbach. The men who have figured in athletics since leaving R. H. S. are Simon Kenton, captain of South Dakota, Ray Hopkins, captain of Wabash, Morgan, captain-elect of Butler, Elder, captain of Franklin, Rue Parcels, captain of an independent Chicago team, Park Kelly, captain of Madison high when they werte champions of the country. Walter English, Ed Honan, Worth McKarthy, Clarence Smith and Devere Yeoman played on freshman teams in college. Fred Hamilton played with North Dakota Aggies, Dobbins with Wabash, Blain Gwin and Frank McCarthy with Indiana* Emory, Mills with Purdue and Nowels at Hanover. The season of 1914 was the best financial success of any of the preceding years. This year, for the first time in history, sweaters have been awarded to the players. Rensselaer is as a Monticello paper described us some years ago. It stated it thus: “Rensselaer is the most thoroughly saturated football town in this part of the state. The papers tune with it, the citizens dream of |t, the hash tastes of it, the men wear football stick pins, and the girls wear footballs on their hatpins. All because the town has teams that down everything that comes their way,” so, Hang up old Rensselaer’s colors, Be sure you don’t forget, For the dear old leather head warriors Have never been surpassed yet.