Kansas State Normal Football Season, 1916-1917
from "For the Sport of It", by Fred A. Markowitz 1963

Fran Welch speaking: "In 1916, we had some pretty elusive backs, but there was not a really good passer among them. Now, Bill Hargiss knew that to be really successful with the T-formation he had to have a good passer. He had one in Schabinger at C. of E., but he didn't have one at the Normal. So he adjusted his strategy and put his quarterback in the tailback spot in a short-punt position. This gave our good running backs a greater advantage, and it also helped the men up front with their blocking. All of our backs were able to throw a little, so we mixed in a few passes now and then. And that was our offense. That is just one example of Bill Hargiss' ingenuity and vision."

Welch also expressed a deep respect for his teammates of that era : "Many of the players that played during that time would be topnotch performers today. They came to school without ever having played football, but they had athletic talent, and they had great heart, and they had great determination—the total qualities that make a good football player. However, we didn't have the refinement, the technique, that our boys are able to get now. That's the big difference between football then and now—the detail that a player is trained to carry out. For example, when I came to the Normal in 1914, we had 110 men out for football, and many of these guys hadn't ever played the game. Bill Hargiss and Henry Belting had to handle all these men themselves, so it was impossible to get across much detail with that kind of situation. No, the real fine team coordination and the individual technique and skill we didn't have.

"But still, those teams of '14, '15, '16, and '17 were good teams —not great teams, but good teams. Would I love to see some of those fellows play this modern game fellows such as Ira Scott, Fred Hartwig, Bill Monypenny, Harold Culter, Jim Vaughn, John Belting, and the rest. I believe Ira Scott, for example, would have made a guard or tackle on most any modern football team. He wasn't too big, about 186 pounds, but he had a lot of stuff. Bill Monypenny played his first football in 1914, made all-conference in '15 and '16, and also captained the '16 team. Culter and I were the 'twins' of those teams—we each weighed 133 pounds dripping wet. Culter was six feet tall, though, and one of the most elusive broken-field runners I have ever seen. He had perfect timing and balance. His legs were like pipe stems, but he was well-built above. Then there was John Belting, a brother of Henry Belting, our line coach. I have seen many good defensive fullbacks, but none of them had more intuition, more savvy, more ability to get the job done than John.

"Jim 'Tubby' Vaughn, a graduate of Emporia High School, joined us in 1916. He weighed about 214 and could really run. That same year, Roy Williams, another newcomer, played an end for us. He was a great leader. He inspired a ball club. He played the same role on that team of 1916 that (Melvin) 'Shorty' Long did on our team of 1940. Both of them provided inspiring leadership for their teams. They came up with the big plays. Incidentally, they were of about the same physical build, and they both played football because they loved it. They were leaders by example.

"It was Bill Hargiss, though, who made us click. His intelligence, imagination, aggressive leadership, and his ability to gain the confidence and respect of all of us made these teams the successes they were."

In 1916, they zipped past Pittsburg, Friends, Southwestern, Washburn, Haskell, and Bethany, before being caught off-guard by Baker, who socked them 10 to 0. C. of E. had visions of catching them napping on Thanksgiving Day, but the Normalites dug in and whipped the "Preachers" 13 to 10.

They won the Kansas Conference title that year. Their win over Haskell was at Lawrence, and it was only the second time in history that the Indians had been beaten on their home grounds. K.U. and Kansas State, both powers in the Missouri Valley that season, managed to stop the Normal, 13 to 0 and 13 to 3, respectively.

"This was the easiest team to coach I ever had," said Bill Hargiss. "Their spirit was a thing to behold. I have never seen such a close-knit group of young men."

In the backfield were Culter and Welch at quarterback; Meade Hargiss, James F. Nichols and Charles Kessler at the halfback positions; and Dunlap MacAdam and "Dutch" Widmer at fullback. The forward wall was manned by Williams and Lockman at ends, Captain Monypenny and Vaughn at the tackles, Lloyd Sharpe and Sam Smith at the guards, and Meairs at center.

Mike Rostetter saw a lot of action at center, helping Meairs, and Charles Rehm helped out at left end. All of the starters were seasoned veterans from the 1915 squad. Captain Monypenny and Williams were all-state selections.

In 1917, athletic activity in U.S. colleges and universities declined sharply. America was involved in World War I, and her young men, especially her athletes, were needed in the military service. But Bill Hargiss was not one to throw up his hands in despair. He and the few veteran squad members who had not been called to the service worked long and hard with the small but eager group of newcomers, and put together a solid team. The Normal won five, lost three, and tied one that year. Three members of the team—Jim "Tubby" Vaughn, Lloyd Sharp, and Frank "Mike" Rostetter—were named to the first all-state team; Fran Welch, A. W. Finley, and H. E. Slead made the second all-state eleven.

Bill Hargiss was gone when the 1918 football season rolled around. He had accepted a coaching position at Oregon State Agricultural College, Corvallis, at the end of the 1917-18 school year. But K.S.N. had not lost him forever. He would be back to inspire another football resurgence at the Normal.

1916

KSN                  Opp
0 Kansas U.           13
14 Pittsburg           7
 3 Kansas State       13
13 Friends            13
19 Southwestern        2
23 Washburn            7
14 Haskell             0
32 Bethany             0
 0 Baker              10
13 College of Emporia 10

131   6-3-1           75  Conference champions
Coach—H. W. Hargiss

1917

24 Pittsburg           0
 0 Kansas U.          33
 5 Haskell             7
35 Southwestern       21
 0 Washburn            0
19 Fairmount           3
10 Baker               0
 0 Kansas State       51
14 College of Emporia  0

107   5-3-1          115
Coach—H. W. Hargiss