“Knights
of the Pigskin”
By BILL MILLER
For the Mail Tribune
Medford’s high school football team
got a lot of promotional help from the Mail Tribune back in November and
December 1909. The local scribes just couldn’t resist declaring the youngsters
“Southern Oregon Football Champions.” Luckily for them, the third time was the
charm.
There had been occasional football
games in the valley ever since that first scrimmage, January 4, 1896, when the
Central Point boys dropped the Butte Creek Cowboys from Eagle Point, 8-0. Over
the following years, most of the games had been spur of the moment “pickup”
affairs, or challenge games, sometimes for money.
In 1909, just after summer heat turned to falling leaves, Medford High
School agricultural science teacher and sports fan, Sylvester Hall, announced
his arrangements with nearby towns for a high school sports league in Southern
Oregon. Hall, a 26-year old Harvard graduate, had just arrived in Medford from
his boyhood home in Northern Oregon.
Hall agreed to coach the Medford
football team and began recruiting his players. “The local boys feel strong,”
said the Mail Tribune reporter. “They probably have a better combination of
muscle and nerve than any other school with which they will compete.”
First up was a game with Ashland,
but not against the Ashland High School team. The Granite City crew was a blend
of boys from a private school and students from the Ashland College. The
Tribune gulped at the news, worried that the “local boys don’t have enough
experience to win.” In the end, neither side could score and the game ended in
a tie.
Ashland’s real high school team
came to Medford on November 6 for the second game of the season. Medford scored
in the first and looked to be headed for victory, but in the second half, when
the locals had to punt; Ashland’s Merle Lovelady took the kick and ran the
length of the field to even the score. It looked hopeless, but with three
minutes to play, Ralph Burgess passed into the end zone for the deciding
score—11-6, Medford.
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| Old-Time Football |
A week later, in a cold and wind
smashing rain, Grants Pass went down to defeat on a single 3-point, 25-yard
field goal made by Medford fullback and kicker, Walt Childress. For some
reason, the Mail Tribune reported the game with the headline, “Medford Cinches
Championship.”
The Thanksgiving, “Turkey Day” game
between Medford and Central Point brought the undefeated “Pointers” to town.
The Mail Tribune urged a crowd to show up and help propel Medford to the
Southern Oregon football championship. “Every man, woman, and child with an
ounce of red blood in their veins should attend this game. If you don’t
understand football, at least you can yell, and that is one of the main
features.” The game was a rout. Medford scored an 18-0 victory and for the second
time, the Tribune declared them the “Champions!”
The five-game season ended with another
game against Grants Pass that would finally decide the Southern Oregon Football
Championship. Five minutes into the game, Burgess, the quarterback, scampered
untouched around right end for the only touchdown of the game. Medford fullback
Childress converted the extra point giving the Medford boys a 6-0 lead that
would hold up for the rest of the game.
To that fan out there shouting,
“Hey! The score should be 7-0. A touchdown is worth 6 points.” True today, but
not in 1909, when a touchdown was worth 5 points. That rule changed in 1912.
So, finally the local reporter got
it right. For the third time that season, Medford’s team was the Southern
Oregon Football Champion, and proclaimed “Knights of the Pigskin.”
Writer
Bill Miller is the author of “History Snoopin’,”a collection of his previous
history columns and stories. Reach him at newsmiller@live.com or
WilliamMMiller.com.
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| History Snoop Bill Miller |
