Football at KSN 1926-27
from "For the Sport of It", Fred A. Markowitz 1963

1926:

Bill Hargiss' football team of 1926 was one of the greatest any coach ever fielded at Kansas State Teachers College. Here are some of the major achievements of the '26 Yellow Jackets: They won the Kansas Conference championship; they were undefeated and untied; their goal line was never crossed; they scored 149 points to their opponents' three; they beat one of the strongest C. of E. teams in that school's history; they placed six men on the all-conference team; they placed two men on the all-state eleven.

After opening their season with a 10 to 0 win over the Bethany "Swedes," the Yellow Jackets blanked Hays 14 to 0, Wichita University 21 to 0, Southwestern 42 to 0, and Washburn 35 to 0. The first and only opponent to score against them that season was Pittsburg, which managed to collect three points on a field goal.

After Pittsburg, only one game remained on the schedule, but that was a colossal one. The Normal's only challenger for the conference title was its old West Twelfth rival, C. of E. The College, too, was potent that year. It had not been scored upon, and it had the momentum of seven straight victories over the Yellow Jackets in its favor.

The town was in a frenzy when Thanksgiving Day arrived. By game time, a huge crowd, conservatively estimated by The Emporia Gazette at 8,000 persons, had gathered at C. of E.'s Schaffner Field.

"Shorty" Hoch, one of the great quarterbacks in Teachers College history, has this game etched in his memory : "Neither team ever penetrated beyond the other's 15-yard line that day." Hoch recalls. "However, on the first play of the fourth quarter, with the ball squarely in front of the goal posts and about 16 yards out, our fullback, 'Pudge' Lane, place-kicked for three points. After the kickoff, we held C. of E., and they had to punt. The kick was blocked by 'Bonz' Hainline and recovered by 'Slim' Campbell on the 33-yard line. We worked the ball into position in front of the goal posts and called on Lane again to try for another place-kick. Herman Schlobohm gave me a perfect pass from center, I placed the ball down, and Lane booted it cleanly through the uprights.

"We were leading 6 to 0 with only a few minutes to play, when Lester Selves, C. of E.'s great back, punted out-of-bounds on our 1-yard line. Captain Gottlieb Richmond called for time out, and we huddled in the end zone to talk it over.

"The crowd was wild. C. of E. fans were yelling, 'Block that punt!' and 'Hold that line!' Our rooters were clammering for a good punt, or pleading with us to give them a safety. Afterward, someone told us that one of our college officials approached Bill Hargiss and advised him to give C. of E. a safety. His reply: 'We'll give them nothing.'

"We decided to punt out. Schlobohm gave me a good pass, and the boys in the line and the backs gave me all the protection I needed to get the kick away."

C. of E. made no substitutions in the game, and the Normal made only one.

That was how the conference championship came to the Normal in 1926. Roy Lane, the Yellow Jacket fullback, and Glenn Campbell, the right end, made both the all-conference and all-state teams that year. Other all-conference selectees were Gottlieb Richmond, guard; Chesley Culp, halfback; Menzo Hainline, left end; and Arthur Hoch, quarterback.

1926

10 Bethany             0
14 Fort Hays          10
21 Wichita             0
42 Southwestern        0
35 Washburn            0
21 Pittsburg           3
 6 College of Emporia  0

149   7-0-0            3
Coach—H. W. Hargiss

For more on the 1926 season, see: 1926 ESU football

1927:

Five starters from that '26 team had to be replaced in '27, but Bill Hargiss and Fran Welch, his assistant, plugged these gaps effectively. Paul Ridgeway took over the left tackle spot vacated by Oliver Clapp; Harold Hunt replaced Art Regnier at left guard; Emory Cox held down Gottlieb Richmond's right guard position; and Dale Burnett, who later became one of the all-time grid stars of the Normal, took over Roy Lane's fullback spot. The Hainline brothers, Herman Schlobohm, "Slim" Campbell, "Shorty" Hoch, Chesley Culp, "Buck" Astle, and Bill Wigley were the returnees.

This group sailed through the '27 season unbeaten, but they had to settle for a 0 to 0 tie with C. of E. in the conference championship game. This threw the league's final standing into a four-way tie. Sharing the title with Kansas State Normal were C. of E., Kansas Wesleyan, and Baker.

That season has special significance for "Buck" Astle : 'Shorty' Hoch, our starting quarterback, sustained a shoulder injury one week before our opening game of the season with Bethany. Bill Hargiss called me into his office the next day and said, 'You're my quarterback.' I've never felt more proud. Bethany was coached by 'Ad' Lindsey, who later became head coach at Okla-home. 'Ad' had a great team that year—Nelsons, Swansons, 01- sons, and Swensons by the dozens. But we had a good ball club too—'Boni' Hainline and 'Slim' Campbell were the ends; Arlie W. Hainline and Paul Ridgeway were the tackles; Harold Hunt and Emory Cox were the guards; Herman Schlobohm was our center; Chesley Culp, Almos Roberts, Dale Burnett, 'Shorty' Hoch, Bill Wigley, and I were in the backfield. As I recall it, we scored our touchdown after 'Bonz' Hainline blocked and recovered a Bethany punt. We whipped them 7 to 0.

"I suffered a collar-bone separation in that game, my first and only athletic injury in four years of football, basketball, and baseball. I recall Bill Hargiss holding me all the way from Lindsborg. When anyone was hurt, Bill gave his undivided and personal attention to him. He was not only an original thinker in football, but also a truly great guy with his men. And Bill is still that way."

Hargiss Bows Out

The '27 season was Bill Hargiss' last at K.S.N. In the spring of 1928, he accepted the head coaching job at Kansas University, of the then Big Six Conference.

1927

 7 Bethany             0
26 Fort Hays           0
21 Wichita             0
43 Southwestern        0
16 Kirksville Teachers 13
20 Washburn            7
13 Pittsburg           0
 0 College of Emporia  0

146   7-0-1           20
Coach—H. W. Hargiss