11/16/1907 - vs Davidson

  Return to the 1907 season page

Following their win over Richmond, the Aggies took nearly three weeks off from playing formal football games, instead focusing on practicing and getting in shape for their coming contests. Their meeting against Davidson was highly anticipated, and was expected to be one of their toughest opponents of the year.

The only big game played in Charlotte in 1907, the game was an important meeting between two undefeated North Carolina teams. While the Aggies were four-for-four with a 60-4 cumulative total through this point in the season. The Red and Black of Davidson had a similarly strong record, going 3-0-1, with wins over the Oak Ridge Institute (36-0), Virginia Polytechnic Institute (VPI) in Roanoke (12-5), and Clemson (10-6).

Getting to this point was a long time coming for Davidson. Davidson only began fielding a team in intercollegiate competition in 1898, facing much opposition from their school's faculty at the onset. After a few seasons without the guidance of a coach, the small Presbyterian school eventually hired coach John A. Brewin in 1900; since then, the school's fortunes had turned around greatly, becoming one of the pre-eminent football teams in North Carolina--to the point that some accused Davidson of fielding professionals (Quips and Crank, Vol. XI (1908), p. 155).


A photo of Davidson's team from Quips and Cranks Vol. XI (1908), p. 163. An identical copy of the image in Spalding's Foot Ball Guide 1908 (p. 110) identifies the players, back to front and left to right, as:
Rankin, Clarke, Denny, Klutz, Shaw
Pollard (Coach), James, Warlick, Elliott, Fetzer (Asst. Coach)
Moore, Dunn, Daniels, Edgerton (Capt), Axford, Sadler
Wilkinson, Morton

Davidson's team arguably put more effort into getting ready for the game. Davidson's faculty gave the entire student body the day off to attend the game; about 200 of Davidson's 300 students were expected to attend, as well as the girls of the Lutheran girls from the nearby Elizabeth College (The Charlotte News, November 15th, 1907, p. 9). Additionally, former UNC coach William A. Reynolds was brought in to assist Davidson's second-year duo of R. S. Graham and J. B. Pollard (who were teammates at Virginia) for the week before the game (The Charlotte News, November 16th, 1907, p. 6).

Both teams came into Charlotte on the Friday night before the game (Charlotte Daily Observer, November 16th, 1907, p. 5). Davidson stayed at Charlotte's Central Hotel, while A&M stayed at the Buford.

Because both teams had been so successful in 1907 and were meeting in competition (in contrast to UNC, who played only one in-state team--the Oak Ridge Institute--and to this point in the season had gone 3-3-1), the game was being used to crown the football champion of the state, as well as the South Atlantic, given that Davidson and Virginia had already tied (The Raleigh Evening Times, November 15th, 1907, p. 6). In preparation for the game, a fence was erected on Latta Field, in addition to a group of "special officers" to keep rooters off the lines. Charlotte's Central Hotel was decorated in the colors of both colleges, and the whole city was invited to see "the only big game to be played in Charlotte" (The Charlotte News, November 15th, 1907, p. 9).

The game was widely considered to be the most difficult to predict match in the State; betting was nearly even on the game, though some Davidson fans reportedly were as bold as offering 5-to-3 odds in favor of Davidson. It was consented by many that Davidson had played a harder schedule to this point in the season though A&M was reportedly the heavier team (Charlotte Daily Observer, November 16th, 1907, p. 10). Another detracting factor for the Farmers was that McKinnon (and apparently Sadler, though he appaeared in the only known line-up of the game) were ruled out on the game before it came off on the grounds that they were both "not bona fide students and hence not entitled to play" (Charlotte Daily Observer, November 18th, 1907, p. 6).


Roster

A&M Davidson
Sadler RE Wilkinson
Beebe RT Shaw
Von Glahn RG Warlick
Bray C Edgerton (Capt.)
Sykes LG Axford
Tull LT Moore
James or Fox LE Sadler
Stephens QB Elliott
Stroud RHB Denny
Johnson LHB Clark
Thompson (Capt.) FB Morton
Seifert SUB
Spencer SUB

Source 1, Source 2


Period Time Description NCSU DAVD
1st <5 NCSU - Thompson - 0.5 yd Run (Thompson kick) unk plays, unk yards, TOP unk 6 0

NCSU Opponent
Rushing TDs Thompson (1) none
Passing TDs none none
Receiving TDs none none
Defensive TDs none none
PATs Thompson (1/1) none
2PT: N/A prior to 1958 N/A prior to 1958
FGs Thompson (0/2) UNKNOWN (0/2)
Safety: none none
Game Notes:
Kick Off Time: 3:30 PM - 10/16/1907 - vs Davidson
Length: unk (unk / unk) - Duration: >2:00
Attendance: 2,000
Location: Latta Park - Charlotte, NC
Temperature: ???
Weather: rain
Wind: ???

Davidson started with the ball, with Elliott kicking off to A&M's 8-yard line, where the ball was caught by Captain Thompson and carried either 4 or 12 yards. "The battle then waxed warm," with the teams exchanging possessions repeatedly until the ball ended up on A&M's 5-yard line in A&M hands following "a futile place kick" attempt by Davidson. Thompson chose to punt the ball out of danger, sending the ball to about midfield; "there the fight continued to rage" (Red and White, Vol. IX No. 4 (December 1907), pp. 172-173).

The ball reportedly changed hands several times in the following series of plays, but eventually three "well designed forward passes" allowed the Red and White to advance the ball to Davidson's 20-yard line. Once there, Stephens made "the fourth brilliant forward pass." The ball landed "safely in Cadet Sadler's arms" at the 4-yard line, where he was stopped just before crossing Davidson's goal line. Knocking on the door of the Presbyterians, Thompson started off the Farmers' newest set of downs with a 2 yard run, which was followed by a 1-1/2 yard pickup by Stroud. "It was the third down and but one-half yard to go. The Presbyterians knew that the next play was to be a critical one and everything rushed into the line to back it up. Nothing however could avail for Thompson was pushed over, gaining the required distance with a half-yard to spare." Thompson made the subsequent goal kick, putting the Farmers up 6-0 with less than five minutes remaining in the first half; unfortunately, the length of the halves is not known.

Beebe attempted to kick off to Davidson, but the kick went out of bounds both times, by rule requiring Davidson to kick the ball back to the Aggies. Davidson again delivered a strong kickoff, sending the ball to Thompson at the 5-yard line; through "brilliant interference" Thompson carried the ball 30 yards. The Farmers failed to capitalize on Thompson's strong run, though, and turned the ball over on downs. The Red and Black also failed to gain the required distance in two downs, so Denny kicked the ball back to the Farmers.

Denny's kick marked a change in the fortune for the Presbyterians, as the A&M player in charge of recovering the kick fumbled the ball--and Davidson managed to recover the fumble. After making a first down, the Preachers were on A&M's 20-yard line. Davidson's quarterback, Morton, "slipped through" the Red and White's line but was forced out of bounds at the 6-yard line before he could score. With "but several seconds left" Morton again made it through the Farmers' line and, unobstructed, fumbled the ball on the Aggies' 1-yard line. According to Winston-Salem Journal, "the Davidson boys, thinking a touchdown had been scored, went wild for several minutes until they discovered the nature of the play" (Winston-Salem Journal, November 17th, 1907, p. 1).

The second half got much less description in the Charlotte papers. The one-paragraph description started, "The second half was like unto the first with the exception of the scoring." Captain Thompson attempted two drop-kick field goals, and Davidson attempted a third, but all missed "by narrow margins." Seifert came in for James, and Spencer for Von Glahn for the Farmers; no changes were made in the line-up of the Presbyterians. The Aggies made three more successful forward passes, bringing the total of tries up to seven, each for 15-40 yards (Winston-Salem Journal, November 17th, 1907, p. 1).

Much of the second half was reportedly played in Davidson's territory, though "at times the Presbyterians would make great gains." Papers remarked that the first half had several stoppages in play ((Greensboro) Daily Industrial News, November 17th, 1907, p. 6), which potentially shortened the second half--as The Charlotte News put it, "The sun had gone down, and it was growing so dark that the colors of the players could not be distinguished before [the end of] the game," with the ball in A&M territory and about to score (The Charlotte News, November 18th, 1907, p. 9). The game lasted over two hours in total

The Davidson players apparently had some ill feelings about the game, though it was never specifically mentioned what their anger was directed towards. Several papers mentioned that luck was on the side of the Aggies that night; "The wearers of the red and black declare that something more than skillful playing had to do with" their poor luck throughout the game. The most obvious implication here would be that the officiating was unfair, but such a statement would run contrary to other reports which wrote that "The decisions [of the officials] were all considered fair" and that "there was no kicking [ie, protesting] from either side" (The Charlotte News, November 18th, 1907, p. 9).

The game was huge in the city of Charlotte: fans stood 4-6 people deep outside the wire fence surrounding the field attempting to catch a glimpse of the action. According to local estimates, over 2,000 spectators came out to watch the game, making the game the most heavily attended game for the Farmers through that point of the year by a large margin. The game was praised as "the finest exhibition of the new style of play that ever took place in the city" (Charlotte Daily Observer, November 18th, 1907, p. 6).

After the end of the game, Davidson's team returned home. The Aggies, on the other hand, stayed the night in Charlotte and went to see The Wheel Of Love at Charlotte's Academy of Music. The Wheel of Love was a "semi-Western Automobile play" written by George V. Hobart--one of his more than fifty musical comedies. During the performance, then-popular lead actor Paul Gilmore unfurled pennants for both Davidson and A&M; "there was a goodly number of sympathizers of both institutions in the audience" who gave "a boisterous applause" for each flag (The Charlotte News, November 18th, 1907, p. 2). The A&M boys were praised for their attentiveness to the play and their respectful nature at the show, as well as the respectful nature of both teams throughout their visit to the city. As one editorialist put it, "no more gentlemanly or better behaved young men ever sojourned in the city" (Charlotte Daily Observer, November 18th, 1907, p. 6).

Upon hearing the news of their team's victory, all of the corps of cadets of A&M College marched through Raleigh celebrating the victory. Eventually, they reached the Executive Mansion, where they "called on" Governor Robert Broadnax Glenn (who was, ironically, a former Davidson student). The Governor politely congratulated the Farmers on their victories and remarked that if they won their Thanksgiving Day game in Norfolk that "the shouting would be heard nearly to New York" (Winston-Salem Journal, November 17th, 1907, p. 4).

This was the penultimate game of Davidson's 1907 season; their final game, a Thanksgiving Day matchup with the Virginia Military Institute in Roanoke, resulted in a fourth and final victory for the Preachers, giving them an overall record of 4-1-1 and a total score differential on the season of 73-to-28 (Quips and Cranks, Vol. XI (1908), p. 165). The game was also somewhat marred by the fact that two players who played in the game against Davidson (Thompson and Sykes) were barred from playing against Virginia. There were rumors that Davidson would challenge A&M to a rematch game without those players, however, such a game never took place (Charlotte Daily Observer, November 29th, 1908, p. 3)

Last updated: 6/4/2024