10/19/1895 - Wake Forest

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Like with the game the previous day against Richmond, the papers predicted that "the chances of the home boys are good to win both games." The same paper predicted A&M to split the two games, losing to Richmond and beating Wake Forest (The Press-Visitor, October 16th, 1895, p. 1). The afternoon of the game, after A&M's narrow 6-0 victory over Richmond, the game was predicted to be "no doubt... very interesting" (The Press-Visitor, October 19th, 1895, p. 1). Another paper wrote that "These two teams are said to be well matched, and if the game is as interesting as yesterday's, it will be worth seeing." It was reported that in addition to Gore, captain of the Wake Forest team who umpired the previous day's match between Richmond and A&M, and Walters Durham, Wake Forest's manager, "most of the eleven" of Wake Forest were already in Raleigh the day before the game. Wake Forest's team was lighter than that of Richmond, averaging 152 lbs as opposed to A&M's 149 lbs. A final note from the paper was that "None of Raleigh's beauties were out to cheer the long-haired contestants yesterday. To-day they are 'especially invited.'" Game advertisers hoped the free entry for women, as opposed to the 25 cents (about $7.50) for men, would help draw some in (News and Observer, October 19th, 1895, p. 5).

On the same day, Richmond went on to play UNC. The game, which was played at UNC and started at 3 PM, was played "very dusty" field due to a recent dry spell which had hit the area; the dryness of the field was said to have hindered the game, with one critic writing that "the playing was not as fast as it might have been." Nonetheless, Richmond went on to lose the game 0-34, with UNC winning their second straight game of the season. Stars of the UNC-Richmond game for Richmond were Frazer, Binford, and Lloyd (The Tar Heel, October 26th, 1895, p. 1).

Up to this point in the season, the best playing for A&M had been coming from Alexander, Thomas, and Vick. This was Wake Forest's first game of the year, so it was a little hard to know exactly who to look out for from them, but reports from their college campus were somewhat bleak. Despite writing that "The football prospects are fine," an article in Wake Forest's Student was that the team was not going to be very strong; "The blocking, while not the best, is all we could expect. Fullback is likely to be very weak. Kellenger does not kick well.... Bailey is at quarter, but is rather light. R. Barrett and L. McIntosh are doing good work, but do not run low enough. Folk and C. Gore, with hard work, are going to make good ends.... Barbee and Tatum are good men, but need training." The article did have more favorable reports about McGeachy and "many other promising candidates," but unfortunately their names could not be fit in the space of the article (The Wake Forest Student, pp. 36-37).

By the day of the game, Wake Forest's team had been pared down to included all of the afformentioned names save Folk, in addition to Moss, Williams, Fenner, and their team captain, Gore (not C. Gore) (The Press-Visitor, October 19th, 1895, p. 1). The game was played with 35 minute halves. Though the time was not specifically recorded, it was played entirely in the day's afternoon. The crowd was "some larger than on the day before." Unfortunately, specific plays of the game were not recorded. It was also reported that the game was attended by a "large delegation" of A&M students and "a good sprinkling of the wearers of black and gold" (News and Observer, October 20th, 1895, p. 1).


Roster

A&M Wake Forest
Thomas RE Williams
Wright RT Moss
Hunter RG Barbee
Hodges C Tatum
Jenkins LG McGeachy
Grier LT McIntosh
Ramsey LE Gore, C.
Sugishita QB Bailey
Wooten RHB Fenner
Vick LHB Barrett
Alexander FB Gore (Capt.)

Main Source, Pre-Game 1, Pre-Game 2


Period Time Description NCSU WF
1st Score at End of 1st Period 4 4
FINAL Remainder of game not reported. 4 4

NCSU Opponent
Rushing TDs Wooten (1) Gore (1)
Passing TDs N/A prior to 1906 N/A prior to 1906
Receiving TDs N/A prior to 1906 N/A prior to 1906
Defensive TDs none none
PATs Alexander (0/1) Gore (0/1)
2PT: N/A/ prior to 1958 N/A/ prior to 1958
FGs none none
Safety: none none
Game Notes:
Kick Off Time: unknown - 10/19/1895 - Wake Forest
Length: 70 (35 / 35) - Duration: unk
Attendance: unknown
Location: Athletic Park - Raleigh, NC
Temperature: ???
Weather: ???
Wind: ???

Unfortunately, most of the details of the game may have been lost to history. A summary of the game stated "It was a game full of snap and furnished plenty of excitement.... The game itself was well played, and revealed much training on the part of both elevens." Another paper wrote that "The game was one of the prettiest that has been played here in sometime [sic]" (The Press-Visitor, October 21st, 1895, p. 1). Key highlights from the game were Alexander's ability to get through Wake Forest's line and his punting, a "brilliant run" of 20 yards by Vick, and A&M's linework (especially that of the right end, Thomas). Notably, the paper said that the Wake Forest line "outweighed them considerably" despite the otherwise close weights of the teams. For Wake Forest, highlights were the ability of Wake Forest's backs to make runs around the ends, the "brilliant runs around the ends" of J. H. Gore, and the tackling of Barrett, which reportedly making an appearance in seemingly every tackle. In general, "Wake Forest made most of its gains by circling the ends and through the line, while A. and M. did their work mostly by punting."

Both of the touchdowns in the game were made in the first half, with Alexander for A&M and Captain Gore for Wake Forest missing their kicks due to difficult angles. The Red and White nearly scored a second time in the second half, coming "within a few feet" of Wake Forest's goal line, but the Baptist's line worked "like a stone wall" to prevent a second goal. A&M's touchdown was made by Wooten, and J. Gore made the goal for Wake ForestDuring the game, Moss, Wake Forest's right tackle, sprained his ankle and was replaced by a sub whose name was not recorded.

The game was umpired by Raleigh Travis Daniels, refereed by William Henry Hughes, Jr., and had the linesmen of Bart Gatling and Roscoe "George" Stanford Theophilus Dodd. Both halves were the then-standard 35 minutes (News and Observer, October 20th, 1895, p. 1).

Raleigh T. Daniels attended Wake Forest from 1888-1889, and again from 1891-1892. He was a "star football artist" during his time there, and played on at least the 1892 team. Daniels later became a banker in Weldon, NC, and during World War I worked as a quartermaster for Camp Glenn, near Morehead City, NC (General Catalogue of Wake Forest College, 1892, p. 70; Images of Ameria: First National Bank, Hometown Banking Since 1874, p. 17; The Wake Forest Student, 1900-1901, p. 250; News and Observer, October 26th, 1895, p. 5; News and Observer, August 1st, 1916, p. 1).

Hughes, the son of a Raleigh merchant who ran a homewares store, had been formerly enrolled in UNC for the class of 1896. He played on A&M's 1893 and 1894 football teams as a fullback. In A&M's 1895 catalogue, he was listed as an irregular of the Junior class, but he did not appear as a member of the team in that year (The Chatham Record, December 3rd, 1891, p. 3; The Tar Heel, October 18th, 1894, p. 3).

Gatling was the coach of A&M's football team for the 1895 season. Gatling arrived in Raleigh from Harvard, and had formerly been a student at UNC.

Dodd, whose work as a linesman was reported as "awfully yellow," but not bad enough to impact the game, was a student at Wake Forest at the time of the game. Dodd graduated Wake Forest in 1897 and worked afterwards as a pharmacist in Raleigh. His association with football remains unclear but appears to be largely as a fan of the sport (The Smithfield Herald, April 1st, 1897, April 1st, 1897, p. 3; The Smithfield Herald, June 24th, 1895, p. 3).

On October 20th, it was reported that the teams hoped to play off a tie at Wake Forest. It was also reported that Wake Forest's faculty were clamping down on football, having "discouraged playing to a great extent." Wake Forest's President Taylor began requiring students' parents' permission to leave college for a football game. Reportedly, several students received telegraphed permission from their parents, and when the telegrams were handed to Dr. Taylor, the fact was celebrated by applause from Wake Forest students (Asheville Daily Citizen, October 24th, 1895, p. 4).

Despite the reported appreciation of the students for the game and the successful acquisition of permission from at least some of the necessary parents, football was banned from being played off campus by Wake Forest faculty on October 24th. In response to the ban, Wake Forest's football team disbanded, reportedly anulling games scheduled with Washington & Lee, Furman, Wofford, Norfolk, and A&M (Daily Charlotte Observer, October 27th, 1895, p. 2). Daniels, the umpire of the game, shared the sentiment of many of the students, and was quoted as having said "The boys say that, since the faculty have killed football, baseball and track athletics will also go by the board" (News and Observer, October 26th, 1895, p. 5). The Wake Forest Student took a more moderate tone in responding to the actions of the faculty, largely complaining that the decision came after the year's games had been scheduled. They closed their formal complaint of the faculty's decision by saying "There has been a damper thrown over athletics at Wake Forest, and much ardor will be required to remove it." A later comment from the Student wrote that, while students were initially upset by the decision, they eventually recanted their negative opinions, writing "we think they [the faculty] have acted wisely, and we are content to 'let the dead past bury the dead'" (The Wake Forest Student, 1895-1896, p. 71; 83-84). The 1895 football team would be the last football team fielded by Wake Forest until 1908.

Last updated: 6/4/2024