10/11/1906 - Richmond

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On Thursday, October 11th, following a strong showing at Virginia, the Raleigh boys came home and played their first game on their new athletic field; at the time, this field was called New Athletic Field, though it would later be known as A&M Athletic Field before becoming Riddick Field (and later Riddick Stadium) in 1912. This was the first formal intercollegiate game ever played on land that was formally owned by NC State at the time of the game; though the athletic association had hoped the field would be done in time for the season-opening game against Randolph-Macon, its construction was delayed by rain. The field, which at the time of completion, laid "between the railroad track[s] and the big barn," was only completed by noon on October 10th, the day before the game was set to come off; had the field not been completed, the game would have been played at A&M's practice field, as the Fair Grounds' usual playing field was occupied by one of the attractions being prepared for one of the exhibits of the coming North Carolina State Fair (The Raleigh Evening Times, October 10th, 1906, p. 1; The Raleigh Evening Times, October 8th, 1906, p. 1).

The prospects of the game were good for the Raleigh boys. While it was noted that Richmond had "a fairly good defensive team," the Aggies had just finished learning "some fast new plays" to entertain the spectators, in addition to a reported "new crack full back." Coach Heston was essentially looking at the game as a practice game, with The Raleigh Evening Times reporting that he planned to use "a variety of plays for the purpose of testing what the boys can do," as well as shifting the team around. There was talk of an unnamed "new crack full back" added to the team, and also of putting in sub "Pap" Harris in as a quarterback. Finally, it was noted that this game was to be the second-to-last game of the season played in Raleigh by the Farmers, encouraging even more "rooters" to come out for the game (News and Observer, October 7th, 1906, p. 13; The Raleigh Evening Times, October 10th, 1906, p. 1).

Richmond, for their part, was not off to a hot start. Their first game of the season, a home game against Woodberry Forest (an all-male preperatory school based out of Madison County, Virginia) resulted in a 12-0 loss, but this should not be held too strongly against Richmond, for the Tigers of Woodberry were a force to be reckoned with in 1906, being crowned the champion of Virginia's prep schools in football after defeating Richmond, Bethel Military Academy, the Miller School, Staunton Military Academy (who themselves defeated Shenandoah College, Randolph-Macon, Eastern College of Front Royal, VA, and Washington & Lee's scrubs), the Episcopal High School Team, and even the University of Virginia's scrub team, all by "large margins" (Staunton Daily Leader, November 6th, 1906, p. 1; The (Fredericksburg, VA) Free Lance, November 20th, 1906, p. 2). Richmond then went on to lose to Virginia's strong team 22-0, though the score was mis-reported as 11-0 in Raleigh, which helped aggrandize the coming game. Three days later, the Crimson and Blue of Richmond played Randolph-Macon in their closest game yet, losing 0-6.


A photo of Richmond's team from The Messenger Vol. XXXIII No. 4 (January 1907), p. 125.

At the time of the game, the new grounds had not yet been fully completed: the ground was hard, and, more importantly, there were no stands on which to watch the game. Despite this setback, the grounds were "well planned" and "level as a billiard table." At the time of the game, there was no grass; "the top-layer [of the field] is sand with a covering of white soil." There were, however, plans to plant grass "this fall" once playing was done (News and Observer, October 12th, 1906, p. 5).


Roster

A&M Richmond
Stevens RE Elmore
Beebe RT Robertson
Perkins RG Thraves
Temple C Tillman
V. Sykes LG Chamblin
Stroud LT Miller
Thompson LE Wright
Eskridge QB Mench
Wilson RHB Louthan
Hardie LHB Bowen
Shuford FB Waite
Whitehurst SUB Richardson

Source


Period Time Description NCSU RICH
FINAL No Scoring 0 0

NCSU Opponent
Rushing TDs none none
Passing TDs none none
Receiving TDs none none
Defensive TDs none none
PATs none none
2PT: N/A prior to 1958 N/A prior to 1958
FGs Thompson (0/1) none
Safety: none none
Game Notes:
Kick Off Time: 3:30 PM - 10/11/1906 - Richmond
Length: 35 (20 / 15) - Duration: unk
Attendance: 400
Location: A&M Athletic Field - Raleigh, NC
Temperature: ???
Weather: ???
Wind: ???

The game started at 3:30 PM to a brisk October day with a high of 58 degrees. As can be seen from the score, it did not go as planned for the Aggies. Unlike their first game, it was again observed that in their matchup against Richmond "the new rules failed to display their advantage.... The only new fangled thing seen was a long lateral pass to the end [lineman] by the Richmond quarter-back."

The first half, which lasted 20 minutes, opened off with Richmond kicking the ball towards the north goal. The kick was caught at the 15 yard line and was returned 10 yards. The first drive for the Farmers went poorly; after the Farmers gained about 10 yards in two plays, Hardie pushed through for 4 yards and Wilson gained just two yards, ending the Farmers drive. Wilson kicked the ball 30 yards, to roughly Richmond's 40 yard line.

Richmond immediately started out passing: on their very first play, Richmond attempted a "delayed pass" which gained them 2 yards, and on the second play, Richmond attempted a pass for no gain. after failing to make the distance, Richmond kicked the ball away to the 40; A&M returned the ball 15 yards, to midfield. The Red and White immediately attempted a double pass play which failed, turning the ball over and giving Richmond the ball back.

Once back in control of the ball, Richmond started off strong, with Bowen, Waite, and Louthan combined for 13 yards in three plays, followed by a 5 yard pickup on a forward pass. The Spiders tried a second forward pass, but this one fell incomplete, resulting in a turnover at about the Aggies' 35. Wilson immediately anulled Richmond's gain on a 20 yard run; unfortunately for the Farmers, Wilson accidentally kicked a Red and Blue defender while being pushed out of bounds, resulting in an ejection for unsportsmanlike conduct. Wilson "disclaimed vigorously any intention of committing the foul," but was removed from the game, as required by the new rules. Whitehurst was put in to replace Wilson, but truly replacing him was an impossible task.

Though Wilson was removed from the game, the work was not yet over; Hardie, Whitehurst, and Beebe combined for 29 yards over the course of five plays. With the ball on Richmond's 17 yard line, the Virginians took a decided brace. After Shuford and Hardie combined for 7 yards on their first two tries, Hardie's second cary went 3 yards, exactly the distance needed for a first down. Starting from Richmond's 7, Shuford, Whitehurst, and Hardie combined for only 2 yards, with the latter two failing to gain at all. With that, Richmond got the ball back at their own 5 yard line.

Once Richmond got the ball back, Waite immediately made a big play, running the ball 20 yards after breaking through A&M's line. After gaining only 3 yards on two delayed passes, Waite again kicked the ball away, sending the ball 20 yards to Eskridge, who caught the ball around the middle of the field. Shuford proved unable to gain, however, so he kicked the ball 15 yards back into Richmond territory. Richmond made no gain and then kicked the ball 20 yards back to Eskridge, who caught the ball but was stopped before he could gain any further.

Hardie advanced the ball 5 more yards, but Shuford was tackled for a 10 yard loss while trying to make a forward pass. After this, Thompson attempted to make a goal from placement (a field goal) for the Farmers. Unfortunately, the kick missed, giving Richmond the ball back. Kicking from the Red and Blue's 3 yard line, Louthan muffed the kick. Beebe made "a spectacular dive for the ball" but was unfortunately slower than Mench, who recovered the ball just in front of Richmond's end line. This time, however, Richmond successfully got their kick off, sending the ball 20 yards away.

The final minutes of the half were more or less more of the same for the Farmers. Beebe started off with a 3 yard run, but was followed up with 10 yard runs by Shuford and Hardie. Within 10 yards of Richmond's goal line, the Farmers made one last hurrah to score before the end of the first half. Unfortunately, in two tries Hardie was unable to materially advance the ball. With that, the whistle sounded to mark the end of the first half.

A&M kicked the ball off to start the second half, which lasted just fifteen minutes. Starting with the ball on their own 15 yard line after a 5 yard kick return, Richmond advanced the ball 15 yards, being given an additional 5 free yards by an A&M offsides penalty in the process. Richmond was forced to kick the ball away, sending the ball 25 yards, to A&M's 50. After a 5 yard run by Hardie, the Farmers made three consecutive forward passes from Hardie to Eskridge. The first two resulted in 5 yard gains, but the final one resulted in a nearly 30 yard gain, bringing the ball to the Red and Blue's 10 yard line. Hardie and Whitehurst advanced the ball 5 yards, but failed to cross the goal line, giving the Spiders the ball back at their own 4-1/2 yard line.

Once in possession of the ball, Richmond immediately kicked the ball away, delivering a booming kick to midfield. Shuford tried another long pass to Eskridge, "who dropped the ball but recovered it." On a second long pass, the ball was intercepted by Richmond, marking A&M's first recorded interception on a forward pass. On the following drive, Richmond gained 4 yards in two plays, and went back to kick. The Spiders, however, faked the kick: "Waite dropped back apparently for a kick, but the play was [instead] a long pass to Wright" for a gain of 15 yards. After this, though, Richmond's drive again stalled, and Richmond kicked the ball away.

The Farmers started with the ball at their own 40 yard line. The Farmers immediately turned the ball over yet again after an attempted forward pass fell incomplete. Reportedly, Elmore got free and made a gain of 25 yards but was called back to where the ball was snapped; the reason for this was not given. The next play, though, Waite "went through a hole big enough for a hearse" for a 15 yard gain, followed by another 5 yards of gain by Bowen. On the following play, though, the Farmers broke through Richmond's line and tackled Bowen for a loss of 10 yards, leaving the Spiders 30 yards from the goal line. There, Richardson was brought in, replacing Waite, to attempt a drop kick on the field goal; the Aggies, however, broke through Richmond's line quickly, giving Richardson too little time to get off the kick. Though aimed correctly, the kick fell short, and the Farmers got the ball back at their own 12 yard line.

In the dwindling minutes of the second half, the Techs kicked the ball away, sending the ball 20 yards downfield, where it was recovered by Mench, who was tackled before he could gain any yards. On the following play, Richardson kicked the ball to A&M's 10 yard line. After a "magnificent punt" by Shuford, Mench again caught the kick and advanced the ball a full 20 yards upfield before being stopped. On the next play, though, a bad pass went between Richardson's legs at the center of the field. The game ended shortly thereafter (News and Observer, October 12th, 1906, p. 5).

The result of the game was called "surprising" by Raleigh papers given the evisceration of Randolph-Macon just ten days before. Coach Heston was reportedly "disgusted" by the result and was summarized as saying "that the A. and M. boys didn't do any better than they had done the first day of practice," blaming overconfidence for the result, which he considered a defeat.

Despite the general feeling among Raleighites that the removal of Wilson had cost the Red and White their game, it was admitted that the gritty playing of Richmond kept the Farmers from crossing the goal line at least four times throughout the game. Given that the Aggies outweighed the Virginians 170 pounds to just 153, the game was summarized as "a splendid exhibition of the fact that weight is not always a sine qua non [an essential condition] in football[,] even when both sides are trained."

For A&M, the stars of the game were remembered as Eskridge, Stevens, Hardie, and Shuford, with Stevens' defensive work in particular honored. Local papers did not praise any Richmond player in particular, though Waite must be assumed to have been the star (The Raleigh Evening Times, October 12th, 1906, p. 2).

Despite a slow start, Richmond finished off the season strong. After losing 0-12 to North Carolina the following day, the Spiders went back to Richmond, where they won a game by forfeit against Hampden-Sydney (officially recorded as a 1-0 victory). Ten days later, they played at Virginia a second time, this time losing only 6-12. A week later, the Spiders beat William & Mary 24-0, followed by a 29-6 win againt Roanoke, a 6-4 win over the Virginia Military Institute, a 17-0 win over Randolph-Macon, and finally a 6-0 win against William & Mary in Newport News. This gave the Spiders a respectable 6-5-1 finish to the season.

Last updated: 6/4/2024