10/18/1907 - Roanoke

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Following their close win over Richmond, the Farmers returned to Raleigh, where they practiced for just under a week in preparation for their Friday afternoon game against the Gray and Maroon of Roanoke College. This was the Farmers fifth intercollegiate game which was featured as part of the North Carolina State Fair (sixth including their 1892 exhibition game against a combined team of A&M's scrubs and the Raleigh Male Academy). Of those five games, the Farmers had only lost one, against Virginia Polytechnic Institute back in 1900, and had won the last two State Fair games by a combined score of 73-5.

After a decade-and-a-half of intermittently hosting A&M football games as a part of the North Carolina State Fair, 1907 was the first year that the State Fair announced an intention to make the State Fair Game a yearly event--this decision was made with the cooperation of A&M's Athletic Association. The Fair announced its intentions of bringing the Carlisle Indians--at the time one of the most exciting teams in the nation--to play in Raleigh in 1908 (News and Observer, October 18th, 1907, p. 5).

Heading into the game, the Farmers were confident in victory; in fact, they were looking past the game. An ad in The Raleigh Evening Times wrote that A&M would be "Champions Of The South" as well as "the North Carolina Team that is going to beat the University of Virginia Thanksgiving Day"--a subtle jab at UNC, whose historic rivalry, traditionally played on Thanksgiving, was briefly put on ice after a dispute in the 1905 game. The game was predicted to be "a Slashing Fiercely Contested" game (The Raleigh Evening Times, October 17th, 1907, p. 2).


A photo of Roanoke's team from Roentgen Rays (1908), p. 93.

Not much can be found about Roanoke College or their football prospects for the 1907 season other than that they were "strong" and "light" (The Raleigh Evening Times, October 18th, 1907, p. 2). Several Raleigh papers touted that the Virginians had not yet been defeated this year, with various claims that the Salem boys had defeated either the Virginia Military Institute or Washington & Lee 5-0; a fact made more impressive by the fact that those teams had tied rival North Carolina (The Raleigh Evening Times, October 17th, 1907, p. 1; News and Observer, October 18th, 1907, p. 2; News and Observer, October 19th, 1907, p. 4).

In reality, these claims are not entirely true. While the Maroons had played Washington & Lee to open their season on October 1st, they lost the game 0-5; Roanoke had not yet met VMI, but would later in November. They also suffered a disastrous 0-33 loss to Virginia Tech on October 5th. In other words, the Virginians were winless heading into NC A&M's Fair Week game.


Roster

A&M Roanoke
McKinnon RE Schreckhise *
Beebe RT Engleby
Von Glahn RG Morton
Lykes C Sayers
Sykes LG Aylor
Stroud LT Price
James LE Anderson
Stephens QB Bowers (Capt.)*
Long RHB Killey
Sadler LHB Graybeal
Thompson (Capt.) FB Moomaw
Seifert SUB Davis
Tull SUB Killey
Wilson SUB
Lattimore SUB
Bray SUB

Source 1, Source 2, Roentgen Rays 1908, p. 94

* Newspapers noted Bowers as the captain in Raleigh papers, but Roanoke's yearbook, Rawenoch, wrote that a player named J. J. Fray was Roanoke's captain. Notably, Hugh M. Moomaw was the coach of Roanoke's team and the captain of the 1906 Washington & Lee team. Their actual captain, Fray, played in the team's first game but was probably injured in the VPI game. It is unclear who Schreckhise is.


Period Time Description NCSU RM
1st 15-10 NCSU - Sadler - unk yd Run (Thompson kick) unk plays, ~55 yards, TOP unk 6 0
1st 7-2 NCSU - Sadler - 25 yd Run (Thompson kick) unk plays, ~55 yards, TOP 8 min. 12 0
2nd unk NCSU - UNKNOWN - unk yd Run (UNKNOWN kick failed) unk plays, unk yards, TOP unk 17 0
2nd 0:15 NCSU - Lattimore - unk yd Run (UNKNOWN kick failed) unk plays, unk yards, TOP unk 22 0

NCSU Opponent
Rushing TDs Sadler (2), Lattimore (1), UNKNOWN (1) none
Passing TDs none none
Receiving TDs none none
Defensive TDs none none
PATs Thompson (2/2), UNKNOWN (0/2) none
2PT: N/A prior to 1958 N/A prior to 1958
FGs none none
Safety: none none
Game Notes:
Kick Off Time: 4:15 PM - 10/18/1907 - Roanoke
Length: 40 (20 / 20) - Duration: unk
Attendance: 600
Location: A&M Athletic Field - Raleigh, NC
Temperature: ???
Weather: fair
Wind: ???

On a fair and warm Friday afternoon at A&M's athletic field, the Aggies kicked off to Roanoke at 4:15 PM, a quarter of an hour after the anticipated starting time of the game. After a few downs of "erratic playing," the Salemites kicked the ball to the Farmers. After about five more minutes of poor play by both sides, the Aggies buckled down and began to play steadily. After a 3 yard carry by Sadler and a 5 yard carry by "Shorty" Long, Beebe made an impressive 15 yard run. After a "good advance" by Long, unfortunately, the ball was fumbled by A&M and recovered by the Maroons, who, after failing twice to advance the ball, punted the ball away.

Thompson caught the Virginians kick around midfield. The Red and White then "resumed their rapid advance" with an 18-yard run and "another big advance" by Stephens and sandwiching an 8-yard dash by Thompson. On the next play, Sadler carried the ball across the goal line. A successful kick by Thompson made the score 6-0 in favor of the Aggies after either five or ten minutes of play.

Roanoke kicked the ball off to McKinnon, who was stopped before he could advance the ball much. On the next run, Stephens gained 12-1/2 yards; his run was follwed by "a sensational run" by Thompson for 35 yards, with Roanoke just barely managing to stop the fullback before he broke away for a touchdown. After another short gain, Stephens made another long run, this time for 45 yards. From there, the ball was steadily advanced down the field until Sadler broke away for a 25-yard touchdown run. Thompson made his second consecutive goal kick to put the Aggies up 12-0 after eight more minutes of play.

With little time remaining in the first half, Roanoke kicked off to Stephens, who gained "several yards." On the first down of the drive, James gained 5 yards; the second down failed to gain. On the third and final down, A&M attempted an "outside punt" (an early variant of the onside kick); that kick failed, giving the Maroons the ball. After two tries, though, the Salemites failed to to gain at all and punted the ball, sending a "long kick" to Thompson at A&M's 40-yard line. Stephens ran the ball 28 yards, but before much else could be accomplished, time was called, and the first half was over after 20 minutes of play.

After ten minutes for the teams to rest up and regroup, Roanoke kicked off to Thompson, who caught the ball at A&M's 20-yard line and advanced the kick an additional 20 yards. On the next play, Stephens advanced the ball 9 yards, followed by an 8 yard pickup by Thompson, and six more yards over the course of the subsequent two downs, leaaving 4 yards to gain right around Roanoke's 50 yard line, prompting the Aggies to punt. A&M managed to recover their punt, but couldn't build much on it: after an attempted run got stuffed "for a big loss," the Aggies lost 10 yards for holding and punted the ball again.

A 7-yard loss on first down and a run for no gain on second down again forced the Maroon and Gray boys to punt, sending the ball 40 yards to Stephens. The Red and White then drove steadily down the field, eventually scoring a touchdown; unfortunately, the try-at goal (extra point kick) failed, leaving the score 17-0 in favor of the Carolinians. Wilson, Stroud, and Thompson each made major contributions to the goal, but unfortunately not specific player was credited.

Roanoke kicked off yet again, but this time managed to keep A&M from moving down the field at will, and after just two downs A&M punted the ball away; Roanoke's runner was tackled by Wilson (who had come in at right end for McKinnon at some unspecified time) before he could advance. Roanoke was then held to a two-and-out, and punted the ball back to the Farmers; Stroud caught the kick and "ploughed through a mass of Virginians for several yards.

At this point in the game, Thompson's injury from the Richmond game had reached the point where he could no longer play; in his place, Beebe and Stephens acted as captains. Thompson's exit created a massive shift in A&M's line: Stroud was moved to fullback to replace Thompson; Tull was brought in at left tackle to replace Stroud. Over the course of the next few downs, "luck changed every other minute." Perhaps around this time, Bray was brought in at right halfback in place of "Shorty" Long.

On their first series without their captain, a forward pass was fumbled but recovered and a 5-yard penalty was assessed to the Aggies for holding; finally, the ball went over on downs, giving Roanoke the ball. The Salemites again failed to make a first down and punted the ball back to A&M. Early on in the Farmers' final drive of the game, Beebe and Seifert (who came in at some point to replace James at left end) broke through the Maroons' line to "like a tornado," but Beebe fumbled the ball; fortunately, an A&M player recovered the fumble. With the time on the clock dwindling, Stroud, Stephens, and Beebe steadily drove the ball down the field until finally Lattimore (who had come in to replace Sadler at some point) carried the ball across the goal line for a touchdown with less than 15 seconds left in the game. The goal kick failed as the second 20-minute half came to a close, making the final score 22-0 in favor of A&M (News and Observer, October 19th, 1907, p. 5).

Though the game was reportedly "enjoyed... from start to finish," it was clear to observers that though Roanoke "put up a good game," they were "simply outclassed" (The Raleigh Evening Times, October 19th, 1907, p. 4). Other papers did comment, though, that the first five minutes of the game made it look like the game would be a scoreless draw.

According to the sports editor of Charlotte Daily Observer, the features of the game for the Aggies were Beebe's "heavy tackling" and Stephens' long runs; for Roanoke, the star was Moomaw for his "fiece tackling" (Charlotte Daily Observer, October 19th, 1907, p. 8).

A final item to note is the attendance: though 600 persons was the smallest recorded crowd to attend one of A&M's State Fair games at the time of this game's playing, the newly-erected bleachers did not yet sit even 600 people, meaning this was an above-capacity crowd.

Last updated: 6/4/2024