| |
What They Did in '26
from "For the Sport of It", by Fred A. Markowitz,
1963
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
clamoring 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.
|