Return to the 1902 season page

After their excursion to Virginia, the A&M team took an extended hiatus, which had been the plance since their first schedule was released in late September. Though Gardner's injruy was not discussed in Raleigh papers or surviving issues of the Red and White, the team captain did not play in the game, with Devlin again taking his place.

Guilford's team fared much better in 1902 than in 1901: the team opened their season with a 0-16 loss against UNC on September 27th before defeating the Danville Military Academy 5-0 at Danville a few days later (though they claimed they had "considerably the best team, [but] the score failed to show it" due to poor field conditions caused by rain). A week and a half later, on October 13th, the Crimson and Gray played the William Bingham School of Mebane in the Mebanites' opening game of the year, trouncing the Bingham boys 39-0. Two days later, the Guilford team traveled to Columbia, South Carolina, to play the South Carolina team, who defeated them 0-10 (The Guilford Collegian, Vol. XV, No. 1 (Oct. 1902), pp. 30-32).

Neither team's school's surviving publications wrote much on the game. Though it is possible that Red and White Vol. 4, No. 2 could have covered the game, it is unlikely, since it would probably have been published in late October, between the October 10th date of the first number and the November 15th date of the third number. A&M's description in The Technician was the briefest of all of their game reviews, lasting only 3 sentances and covering only 3 lines. After estimating an attendance of 4-5,000 people, the yearbook wrote that "A. & M. ran rough-shod over Guilford," calling the game "a triumph of united action" (The Agromeck, Vol. I (1902), p. 147). The Guilford Collegian, on the other hand, wrote two paragraphs on the game, writing that the Quaker team had "met her Waterloo" to the A&M team, writing that "A. & M. had the stronger [team]," attributing the bulk of the victory (not inaccurately) to the playing of Coach Devlin, "an all-around professional athlete, who seemed to be the life of the team." The Collegian also estimated that the game was watched by the largest crowd to ever witness a football game in North Carolina (The Guilford Collegian, Vol. XV, No. 2 (November 1902), pp. 62-63).

It shoudl also be noted that if not Guilford, some papers explained the large loss by Guilford as being due to the Crimson and Gray missing two of their best players. This claim appeared to be at least partially true, with Guilford missing Odell and Welborn, who appeared in the only other two complete lists of players I found after a quick search. Odell played in both of the two other games, while Welborn played in one of them (The (Raleigh) Morning Post, November 25th, 1902, p. 6; The Guilford Collegian, Vol. XV, No. 1 (October 1902), p. 32; The Tar Heel, October 4th, 1902, p. 1).

The first of the two 20-minute halves with Devlin kicking the ball 35-45 yards to Guilford, who advanced the ball 5-10 yards. Guilford then gained another 10 or so yards before kicking the ball away to A&M. Guilford's kick went to roughly their own 45-yard line, where it was caught by Roberson and advanced to midfield. Shannonhouse carried the ball 10 yards on the next carry, followed by a 25-yard pickup by Tucker described as a "brilliant dash." Devlin made the final two carries of the drive for about 8-1/2 yards for a touchdown. Devlin missed the kick, resulting in an early 5-0 lead for the Farmers.

Guilford kicked off for a second time, delivering a nearly 50-yard kick; Roberson again caught the kick and returned it 10 yards. Then Welsh made his "sensational run" of the game, which was described as the play that would have been the feature of the game had he not stepped out at some point during the run. The Red and White boys started slowly moving down the field, moving 9 yards in two carries by Tucker and Roberson. A second long run, this time for 75 yards by Tucker, was called back and placed at the 35-yard line due to an illegal interference foul on Devlin. Due to the foul, the Quakers got the ball and gained 1-5 yards and lost 8 before kicking the ball away. Roberson again fielded the kick, driving forward 10 yards. After two or three carries by Tucker and Devlin, the ball was 30 yards from the goal line. Welsh got the ball and carried the ball the remaining 30 yards to the goal line. Roberson then scored the goal to make the score 11-0.

Guilford kicked off 40-50 yards to Devlin, who caught the kick and carried it back 25 yards. Roberson then made a run of 20-25 yards. Tucker, Roberson, Welsh, and Devlin combined for about 35 yards in 6 carries, followed by a third-down converting 15-yard gain by Darden, followed by an 8-yard pickup by Roberson for the goal. Roberson also kicked the goal successfully, making the score 17-0 in favor of the Farmers.

The Crimson and Gray kicked the ball 30-40 yards to Darden, who advanced the ball 15 yards. After that, the only yardage the Red and White gained in that drive was a single yard pickup by Beebe to start the drive. After that, A&M lost 8 yards in 2 downs and Guilford got the ball very near the A&M goal line. By "clever play" the Quakers slowly worked their way towards the Farmer goal. The Quakers ran two downs inside the A&M 5 yard line, and on their third and final down, Fitzgerald carried the ball 3 yards across the goal line for a touchdown. Lindsay missed his goal kick, and the Quakers earned their only points of the day, putting the score at 17-5 just before the end of the first half.

A&M kicked the ball away for just the second time that day. Snipes of Guilford caught the ball and gained 10 yards. Guilford subsequently lost 4 yards, and then time was called. The 20 minute half took 38 minutes to play, with 18 minutes of time allowed for stoppages.

Guilford opened the second half with "a fair bevy of young lady rooters" cheering the Quakers on "with Guilford's song." The News and Observer wrote that Tucker caught the ball and ran it back to around the 35 yard line, while the Morning Post wrote that Gully returned the kick about 10 yards, with the return being halted at the 35. After that, both papers agree that on the next play, Welsh broke off on a 30-yard run, followed by gains by Roberson, Shannonhouse, Gulley, and Devlin, until the ball was fumbled and Guilford got to control of the ball. The Crimson and Gray had control of the ball for a little while, but after some time Guilford had to kick the ball away. After a few plays, Welsh made another long run, this time for 27 yards. After that, Shannonhouse made the final 4-yard push to put the ball over the goal line. Roberson again made the goal, and the score became 23-5.

Lindsay of Guilford kicked the ball away, kicking "nearly to the goal line." Roberson then returned the ball 10 yards. At this point, the Red and White seemed to be able to make gains unabatedly, with Welch and Carpenter making 10- and 15-yard runs. After that, Tucker, Beebe, Devlin, Carpenter, Roberson, and Gulley combined for 44 yards in seven or eight plays (accounts vary slightly). As the Farmers closed in on the Quaker goal line, Welsh made "a splendid dash around the side" for a 20-yard gain before he was pushed out of bounds by Snipes and Dixon. In tackling Welsh, all three men went out of bounds. As the Morning Post recounted, "the three rolled between the front wheels of a carriage and the horses' heels. The horses jumped and rolled the heavy wheels over the men, but no one was hurt." At least, none of the football players were hurt. As the News and Observer reported, when the horses got spooked, the crowd "stampeded" in an attempt to get away from the horses; in the chaos, a 13-year-old boy named Loomis Goodwin was knocked down, and had the carriage roll over his right leg, breaking it just above the ankle. Thankfully, two local doctors were present and "tenderly cared" for the young boy.

After this incident, the Farmers fumbled the ball away to Guilford. The Quakers again proved unable to gain any ground, and kicked the ball 25-30 yards away. Welsh recovered the kick and ran it back 20 of those yards. Immediately after Welsh's long return, the impact of the kick was negated after a 12 yard run by Shannonhouse, followed by a six yard run by Roberson. On the next play, Devlin made "a splendid sprint through center" and ran the ball the 20 remaining yards for a touchdown. Roberson made the kick, and the score stood 29-5 in favor of the Farmers.

Confusingly, though both papers and The Guilford Collegian agreed on the score of the game and much of the following drive, the News and Observer included in its game summary an additional touchdown at the end of the game's final drive. According to The Morning Post, Guilford delivered a 50-yard kick, which was returned 30 yards by Devlin. After Devlin's return, an aggregation of Red and White players gained 25 yards over 4 plays, and Gulley made a long 18-yard run. The Quakers then stood stoud and stopped the drive, earning them the ball. Guilford again proved unable to advance the ball and kicked the ball away. Roberson caught the ball, and Roberson and Devlin both made enough gains to bring the ball to Guilford's 20 yard line before time was called. The News and Observer, on the other hand, agreed that Devlin returned the kick for 30 yards and that A&M was moving the ball towards Guilford's goal line. After that point, the reports differ some. The News and Observer wrote that Devlin fumbled the ball, and that Guilford got the ball. In this version of events, Guilford was still unable to advance the ball, and kicked the ball 28 yards away. After that, "It was a tug between the teams," but eventually Devlin carried the ball across the line and Roberson scored a second kick. The News and Observer reported the score as being 29-5 here, having reported the score after the previous touchdown to be 23-5. Most likely, this was just the result of sloppy editing, and the version that appeared in The Morning Post is the correct version of events.

After the game, "the Guilford boys crowded together and gave a rousing yell for the A. & M. and then for Guilford. The yell was responded to by the A. & M. team grouped a few yards away who yelled for the quaker [sic] lads" (News and Observer, November 1st, 1902, p. 1; The (Raleigh) Morning Post, November 1st, 1902, p. 3).