Return to the 1903 season page

This game is probably the game with the least known information from the 1903 season. Though it appeared in the list of games played in the 1904 Agromeck (with a score of 33-0), it was not given a single sentence of description in the year summary. Originally, the Farmers had intended to play the Danville cadets on September 28th, but, owing to a sickness among several of the Institute's players, the game was delayed and it was decided to play the game while the Raleigh team was in Virginia anyways to meet VPI (The (Raleigh) Morning Post, September 26th, 1903, p. 5; The Agromeck, Vol. II (1904), pp. 138, 142-143).

The Danville Military Institute's games for 1903 were not well reported, though I should mention that I was unable to find a newspaper based out of Danville available online for this period of time. Owing to their small size (estimated to be 75-80 pupils in 1903), the DMI had apparently not made a big impact on the football field in their previous years; their 1903 team, though, made their name known in the Virginia football landscape of that year with the help of some "stars of southern colleges and universities," according to some reports (The (Richmond) Times-Dispatch, November 19th, 1903, p. 10). Though their team played at least 5 total games in 1903 for an overall record of 3-1-1, I have been unable to find confirmed reports of any games except the A&M game and the following week's game against Richmond College. In addition to their early game scheduled against A&M, the Danville boys had games scheduled for October 3rd in Lexington against the Virginia Military Institute and October 10th in Danville against Guilford; both of these games appear to have not come to fruition, likely due to the illness that plagued their team early in the season (The (Lexington) Gazette, September 2nd, 1903, p. 3; The (Wilmington) Semi-Weekly Messenger, September 29th, 1903, p. 15). After their game against A&M, their next reported game was a well-covered match against Richmond College, which ended in a 6-6 tie, though Richmond did leave out two of their best men in preperation for a game the following day against Hampden-Sydney College. After that game came the report that they had won three out of four of their "decisive" games and tied the fifth, with their sole loss coming against A&M (The (Richmond) Times-Dispatch, October 27th, 1903, p. 2). Their team disbanded on November 24th owing to a lack of funds (The (Richmond) Times-Dispatch, November 24th, 1903, p. 6).

Unfortunately, few details of the game survive. The Red and White called the game "a trouncing defeat" of the Virginia soldiers, writing that the Danville boys "clearly outclassed." The Red and White goal was never once threatened, and DMI managed to make a first down only once. The writer wrote that the score could have been higher "had the halves not been so short," while adding that the best play of the game was an 85 yard run for touchdown by Abernathy. Welch, Neal, and Koon also played well for the Farmers, while Capt. York was the star of Danville's team. The Raleigh boys said they were treated well by the Virginian team (Red and White, Vol. 5, No. 3 (November 1903), p. 12).

There is some confusion regarding the final score of the game. Though the The Morning Post went to press before the extent of the victory could be discovered, the News and Observer reported two different scores, giving the score in the title of the report as 33-0 but giving a score of 32-0 in the body of the short article; a 1910 retrospective of A&M football also gave the score as 32-0, as did Douglas Herakovich. A later report covering Danville Military Institute after their game against Richmond College that aoppeared in The Times-Dispatch, on the other hand, gave the score as 30-0 (The (Raleigh) Morning Post, October 20th, 1903, p. 7; News and Observer, October 20th, 1903, p. 1; Touchdown Wolfpack!, Douglas Herakovich, p. 5; The (Richmond) Times-Dispatch, October 27th, 1903, p. 2; Red and White, Vol. XII, No. 4 (Dec. 1910), p. 178).

It will likely be impossible to know the actual score of the game without a fuller summary of the game. For what it's worth, the Red and White, the 1904 Agromeck, and current NC State media guides all give the score as 33-0.