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Disappointed by their tie against Richmond, the Aggies knew they couldn't let the "loss" keep them down: the Red and White had the daunting task of playing four games in eight days, with three of those games spanning just five days. With only one of those four games down, the Farmers knew they had to play somewhat conservatively--a strategy which they carried with them to Lexington, where they would stay for nearly three days while they took on both of the local colleges.
The Techs left on the morning of Friday, October 11th, but were not met with good luck during their travels. The team missed one of their railroad connections, forcing them to stay in Lynchburg until 6 AM before riding the train for another hour-and-a-half, causing the team to get very little sleep, if any, before their game that afternoon (Red and White, Vol. VIII No. 2 (October 1906), p. 70). Though the exact time of kickoff is not known, it's hard to imagine the team got much shut-eye before the start of the game.
Fortunately for the Farmers, the Cadets at VMI had not played much football at that point in the season. While the Red and White came into the game with 3 games under their belt (good for a 1-0-2 record), the Lexington boys had played only one game: a 15-6 win over St. John's in which the Cadets prevented the visiting Marylanders from gaining a single first down aside from their first scoring possession (The (Baltimore) Sun, October 7th, 1906, p. 10).
A&M | VMI | |
---|---|---|
Stephens | RE | Nicholls |
Beebe | RT | Montgomery or Fray |
Perkins | RG | Biedler or Riley |
Temple | C | Hancock |
Sykes V. | LG | Riley or Biedler |
Stroud | LT | Fray or Montgomery |
Thompson | LE | Stude |
Eskridge | QB | Byrd |
Wilson (Capt.) | RHB | Beckner (Capt.) |
Hardie | LHB | Cosby |
Shuford | FB | Poague |
SUB | Ward | |
SUB | Massie |
Period | Time | Description | NCSU | RM |
---|---|---|---|---|
1st | unk | NCSU - Thompson - unk yd Field Goal - unk plays, unk yards, TOP 2 min | 4 | 0 |
1st | unk | NCSU - Thompson - unk yd Field Goal - unk plays, unk yards, TOP unk | 8 | 0 |
1st | unk | NCSU - Hardie - unk yd Run (UNKNOWN kick failed) - unk plays, unk yards, TOP unk | 13 | 0 |
2nd | unk | NCSU - Thompson - unk yd Field Goal - unk plays, unk yards, TOP unk | 17 | 0 |
NCSU | Opponent | Rushing TDs | Hardie (1) | none | Passing TDs | none | none | Receiving TDs | none | none |
---|---|---|
Defensive TDs | none | none |
PATs | UNKNOWN (0/1) | none |
2PT: | N/A prior to 1958 | N/A prior to 1958 |
FGs | Thomopson (3/3) | none |
Safety: | none | none |
Length: 40 (20 / 20) - Duration: unk Attendance: unknown Location: Parade Ground - Lexington, VA Temperature: ??? Weather: ??? Wind: ??? |
The Farmers won the toss and elected to kick, sending the ball to VMI's team first. On a "lucky run" the Red, White, and Yellow were able to return the opening kick almost all the way down the field, to A&M's 30 yard line. After a few line plunges and short gains around the ends, VMI advanced the ball to about the 15 yard line, where they lost the ball on downs. Upon getting the ball back, the Farmers punted the ball away, back into the Lexingtonian's side of the field.
Though the game description from Red and White does not always explicitly explain how gains were made, the report from the Lexington Gazette wrote that the Farmers gained frequently using forward passes, several times for "long gains." The Farmers had the ball on the 20 yard line on third down with 5 yards to gain. Thompson dropped back and made a successful kick from placement (a field goal), putting the Farmers up 4-0 after about two minutes of play. A few minutes later, Thompson made a second place kick, and in the remaining minutes of the twenty-minute first half, Hardie made a touchdown, though the goal kick was missed. That put the Aggies up 13 to nothing going into halftime.
In the second half, the Farmers played mostly on the defensive, attempting to keep their team well rested for the game on Monday. Despite that, Thompson successfully made his third place kick of the day, putting the Techs up 17-0. According to the Lexington Gazette, "Captain Beckner and Cadet Stude got in some good work for V. M. I." towards the end of the game, "but they lacked proper support." According to The Raleigh Evening Times, the Raleigh boys "had things pretty much their own way" due to the slow speed of the Virginians. The officials for the game were Washington & Lee's coach, "Buster" Brown, as well as his football players Bagley and Moomaw. This minor detail will be important later.
Stars of the game for the Farmers were Wilson, Beebe, and Eskridge according to Lexington papers, though Red and White praised the work of Hardie and Thompson in the place of Beebe and Eskridge. No VMI players were specifically mentioned aside from Stude and Beckner (Red and White, Vol. VIII No. 2 (October 1906), pp. 70-71; The Washington Post, October 14th, 1906, Part 4, p. 10; The Raleigh Evening Times, October 15th, 1906, p. 7; The Lexington Gazette, October 17th, 1906, p. 3).
The Cadets of VMI went on to have a split 4-4 record over the rest of the season, with wins against Roanoke College (6-5), the University of Maryland (now referred to as "Old" Maryland due to the fact that it is not the current "University of Maryland," who was Maryland A&M at that time; 33-5), and the Augusta Military Academy (10-0), but also suffering defeats against Virginia (0-4), Richmond (4-6), and Davidson (0-6).
Last updated: 7/16/2024