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CLARK PANTHER, NOVEMBER 30, 1953, ATLANTA GEORGIA
— — —
Panther Pigskin Pickings
By Ernest M. Pharr
Panthers Claw South Carolina State’s
Bulldogs For First Homecoming Victory Since 1949
Page Seven
Well, the dust has settled from the gridiron and another Clark foot
ball team has shoved it3 togs into moth balls until Coach Epps issues
his call to next year’s squad—putting an end to another summer’s
work, memories and hard-to-pull-away from summer frolicking. But,
before basketball makes its debut into our athletic scene, let us retro
gress, for a few moments, to the antics of this year’s football squad
which has heaped glory upon these hallowed walls.
In a football era in which Negro athletes are “finding themselves”
with some of the nation’s outstanding white pigskin squads, where
these squad’s front offices are awakening to and looking for sepia talent,
and where Negro colleges are literally “cutting each other’s throat for
high school talent with “come-here” scholarships in one hand and
promises of stardom in the other, one wonders how a small college such,
as Clark can survive the talent-hunt battle—how our small squad was
able to hold its own in the SIAC and wind up with a respectable 5-3
season’s record! (Note: The Panthers played no team this season that
had less than forty members). Our answer here lies in '’the heads-up
coaching of Leonidas S. Epps, the extensive and analytic scouting of
other teams by him and his assistant, Herman Hunter, and the omniv
orous will to play the game by our thirty HE-MEN—play the game,
not for scholarships, but for love of the game and an overwhelming
desire to thrust honor and glory upon their institution—CLARK COL
LEGE.
Let’s go off on a tangent for a moment. To gain national recognition
for our outstanding SIAC athletes, sports publicity directors cannot
rely on the local paper alone. The National Negro newspapers must
have this information. However, these newspapers are seemingly of
the belief that the CIAA plays much more ball than the SIAC, accord
ing to popular opinion. As a result, SIAC teams receive unequal sports
coverage. The fact is that the CIAA is no more a big power than the
SIAC. They are living off past rep and SIAC teams are showing them
their power! Proof lies in the fact that Florida A. * 1 and M. has killed
North Carolina A. and T.; Bethune-Cookman has knocked off Shaw,
Morehouse has edged Johnson C. Smith and Maryland barely squeezed
by South Carolina State and Morris Brown, to mention a few of the
games. The record speaks for itself! This year’s All-American squad
will probably feature many SIAC athletes.
Now, back to the Panthers! This year’s squad was power-laden and
was out to prove to the general public, as well as Clarkites, that “there
will be no more teasing.” After taking a heart-breaking defeat in the
season’s opener, they bounced back to win four straight. In seeking
their fifth win against Xavier, they played under a great deal of pres
sure. They knew that Coach Epps was graduated from Xavier and that
he wanted to beat his Alma Mater for the first time since becoming
head coach here. They had been built up to win by press releases and
were endeavoring to live up to what was being said about them.
Before they made the trip to the Crescent City, they had heard of
how crude the officials were. I didn’t believe an official could stop us
from winning this game, not with the stuff we had! However, we lost
and very few eyes were dry after that game. Instead of blaming the
officials for the loss, they said: “We lost. That’s all to it, if anybody
asks why we lost. We made mistakes. Let’s just capitalize on our mis
takes and get ready for Fisk!” They held their heads up in defeat like
the true champions they are!
We, the students of Clark, have done some half-hearted rooting for
our squad this year. We have been afraid of the mere name of some
teams voicing such sentiment as, “I’ll root for them (the Panthers),
but I know we aren’t going to win.” Even though an athlete has to be
keyed up to play his best, some of our athletes have said, “Cheering
doesn’t move that ball across the goal line! Cheer or no cheer, I’m
going across that goal!” Even though a cheer doesn’t move the leather
across the goal, it does inspire the player—letting him know his efforts
aren’t in vain and he has someone to shoulder the battle with him.
I have lived with these fellows and with a bunch of guys such as
ours you come to love them. They make mistakes, you make mistakes,
the world is full of mistakes! Life seems to be one big mistake after
another! However, we benefit from our errors. When drawn into the
lives of such lovable brutes, you experience their sorrow in defeat, their
joy in victory and hope that nothing but the best will come to them.
To single out any one of them would be doing an injustice to all of
them! In my book, they are all All-Americans. However, I am preju
diced towards this bunch of jiving, bruising, hard-playing athletes. One
admires the confidence that Melvin Brown has in his abilities and the
team’s, the silent brute force of Joe Hart, the guts of LeArtis McNeil,
Newt Solomon, Nathaniel Robbins, Algia Barnett, Clarence Ford, Leon
Cobbins—little men (in comparison to those 200 pounders) who make
the big men “cry.” One also admires the feats of Offie Clark, the coach
ing of Coach Epps, the courage of Wallace Hartsfield who held his
head high and pulled hard regardless of a hindering leg injury, the
brute force of Ivan Mullins, Roman Turmon, Charles Stinson, Thomas
Lofton, Lofton, Jesse McClardy, Robert Givens, Walter Vance, Jack
Wiley and Fred Bell.
Then one wonders why Melvin Brown, a staunch defensive player
and runner with a 6.2 average yards per try rushing and Ivan Mullins,
a 208 lb. package of offensive and defensive Nitroglyceryn did not
make any All-SIAC team!
For our squad which practiced three and four hours per day for a
game, which took the risk of bodily harm, had to maintain a “C” aver
age to play the game they love, and take sarcastic “lip-service” from
sports fans—NO HONOR WOULD BE TOO GREAT!
Tuskegee Bows To
Eppsmen 18-0
With the words, “There’ll Be
No More Teasing” on the Panthers’
minds after their season’s opener
defeat to Fort Valley, the mighty
charges of Coach Epps sank Tus-
kegee’s Golden Tigers 18-0 in Bir-
hingham, October 9, for their first
victory of the 1653 season.
Newt Solomon, Offie Clark and
Melvin Brown crossed the “G” line
once each for the margin of vic
tory witnessed by an estimated 4,500
fans at the annual Birmingham
Classic,
Early in the first stanza, thei
Eppsmen scored from the enemy
29 yard marker with Clark, Givens
and Brown the principals in the
drive. Newt Solomon took the
leather over from the one yard
marker to break the ice.
Looking for that all-important in
surance TD, ten mighty horses pro
vided hard, timely and perfect
blocking for Offie Clark who
snatched an enemy punt out of the
atmosphere on his own 10, swivel
hipped a prospective tackier on the
16, and hit for the sidelines where
he picked up his “path-clearers,”
who left an array of Tigerrs
sprawled on the turf, and galloped
90 yards for the second TD.
Racing 35 yards to paydirt with
less than four minutes remaining
in the contest, Melvin Brown add
ed insult to injury when Newt
Solomon, in at quarter, handed him
the leather on the ’Skegee 35.
Brown, laughingly and gracefully,
picked the left corner of the field
for his “spot.” Hip-tossing from
the right side of the field, he
found his goal and the referee’s
hand signalled six more for Clerk.
For Tuskegee, Freddie Baker,
Alan Williams, Atkinson, Lynch
and Reddick were standouts. How
ever, the Alabama crew could
gain nothing through that mighty
Panther line, in fact, they were
held to minus two yards rushing,
gaining 28 yards and losing 30.
Clark-MBC
(Continued from page one)
Southern scored the second TD
with the oval resting dead on the
goal at fourth down. Daniels made
the count 14-0.
For the remainder of the period,
the valiant braves of Coach Epps
played in their own territory—pen
etrating no further than their own
44 while the Wolverines pushed to
."the CC 13 only to meet a hate-
filled Panther defense . which pre
vented another tally.
In the second half, Morris
Brown’s power-laden squad was
plagued with penalties, but not be
fore they could score again imme
diately after intermission had ex
pired. Charles Stinson, head-knock
ing end, booted the leather 35
yards and the Wolverines took over
on their own 35 after a return of
11 yards by Ellard. From here,
they bounced 65 yards to paydirt
with Daniels, playing his last
game for MBC, slashing over for
the tally from the Panther two
yard marker.
An overpowered Clark squad did
not see inside the Brown 20 yard
marker. Twice the Eppsmen went
to the MBC 23, but the attack
bogged down as if swamp had en
cased the field. At game’s end, Of
fie Clark was desperately tossing
aerials from the enemy 29 to Wil
liam Matthews, Charles McClellan
and Charles Stinson in the hope of
denting the scoring column.
For the first time during the
season, the Clarkites were held
completely helpless. A net of 96
yards rushing in this game was
their lowest all season. They had
gained 142 while losing 46. Melvin
Brown was the noise in the ground
attack with 52 yards rushing while
losing seven in fourteen tries. The
Wolverines were the second team
to score more than 200 yards rush
ing on the Panther defense—gain
ing a net of 286 yards and rack
ing up 17 first downs to the Pan
ther’s 11.
For seniors Offie Clark, Wallace
Hartsfield, Harold Franklin and
Roman Turmon the loss brought
double hurt to them in their final
game in Cardinal and Black togs.
Eppsmen Take To Air ; Beat Alabama
State College Hornets 12-7
With Offie Clark on the flipping
end and Charles Stinson and Wal
ter Vance at the terminals, the migh
ty Panthers struck early and late
in the first quarter for their only
TD’s to edgs Coach Arthur Sim
mons’ Alabama State Hornets 12-7,
October 23 at Montgorriery, Ala
bama.
At the initial whistles Charie
Stinson kicked off for Clark and
Alabama attempted to move the
I
leather from their own 26 yard
marker. With second and nine, the
Hornets’ Edward Davis was hit hard
by Panther linemen, resulting in
a costly fumble which was recov
ered by Joe Hart, outstanding
freshman guard with great pigskin
potentialities.
Two consecutive Hornet fumbles,
recovered by Robert Givens and
Ivan Mullins, set the stage for the
Eppsmen’s winning TD. Robert
Givens, brutal fullback, recovered
the principal fumble and the Clark
ites initiated their goal-line drive
with Solomon,, Brown and Clark
putting their efforts together to
place the pigskin on the enemy’s
five. Walter Vanes lanky end, was
hit with a Clark clotheslingr in the
end zone for what proved to be
the winning TD.
Coming back from intermission,
the Hornets kicked off and Walter
Vanes received the oval on his
26, returning it to the 31 where a
15-yard clipping penalty went into
effect against the Clarkites. With
their backs to the wall, quarterback
Clark attempted an aerial to Vance,
but the Hornets’ Robert Hagon
Through all their shortcomings,
vs. Clark College’s Cardinal and Bis
lawyer!
THE “30” MEN LED BY one
By Clarence S. Ford
There are “30” men I am proud of.
“30” men I like, “30” men I live
with;
“30” men who will fight!
There are “30” good examples of
perso*ality traits.
they are still my team! The Public
ick Panthers. I’ll be their defending
There are “30” known cultures,
patterns and good faith.
There are “30” good chances work
ing for one goal.
There are “30” good men who
can’t be bought or sold.
There are “30” I am proud of,
Yes, “30”
Led by one.
Coach Epps is his name, East Saint
Louis’ native son.
Taking the pigskin on their own
30, Offie Clark called on fullback
Robert Givens and halfbacks Mel
vin Brown and Wallace Hartsfield
who moved the leather to the en
emy’s 16. On their fifth play of the
game, after four minutes had elaps
ed, Charles Stinson raced for the
end zone and was immediately spot
ted by Clark who promptly hit him
with a 16-yard TD aerial. The try
for point after failed.
sensed the danger, intercepted the
aerial on the Clark nine, and scoot
ed over for Alabama’s only sore.
Quarterback Stokes’ pass to James
Hall was good for the conversion.
The Hornets stung the Panthers
hard in the last half, penetrating as
deep as the Clark 12, but the stal
wart Panther defensive play, which
“held the immonsmen to a net of
83 yards rushing, rose to meet the
challenge successfully.
Clark and Turmon
Do TD Damage
Offie Elliott Clark and Roman
Turmon crossed football’s glorious
last white line twice and once
each, respectively, October 17 in
Herndon Stadium to give the pro
ponents of “Claykism” their first
homecoming victory since 1949 when
the Panthers scratched a haughty
Carolina crew 20-9, thereby, plac
ing the Bulldogs ’only spotch on
their SIAC record.
For the initial nine minutes of
the game, both teams provided a
thrilling seesaw affair for the more
than 4,000 fans in attendance with
defensive play on the part of both
squads attracting attemtion on la
warm, sunny pigskin day.
With six minutes remaining in
the first stanza, the Bulldogs’ Tay
lor Clinton punted from his own
40 to the Panther 30 where Wilson,
North Carolina’s gift to CC, in the
person of Offie “punt-return” Clark
slithered 70 yards for a TD behind
perfect and well-timed blocking.
The SS twins (Stinson and Solo
mon) attempted the point after
with Stinson on the booting end
The visitors’ Roberts blocked the
try.
State bounced back to draw
blood on the opening play of the
second quarter When Clark of
Clark was caught by Richardson in
the end zone on a bad pass from
center at the — yard marker.
The Palmetto State crew, with
four minutes remaining in the
first half, forged ahead 9-6 when
Parker recovered a costly Panther
fumble on the Clark 10 yard mark
er. On fourth down, quarterback
Crawford looped an aerial to end
Isaac Godfrey for the “go-ahead”
points. Clinton’s try for the point
after split the uprights.
Coming back from intermission
amid the pomp and gaiety of a
vast homecoming assemblage, Offie
Clark fired a bullet, from his 49
yard line to Roman Turmon who
gathered the aerial in on the
State 44 and dogge'd his way to the
enemy goal with the play covering
51 yards. Stinson’s try for the PAT
wtas good and the Panthers took the
lead 13-9.
Early in the fourth quarter, CC
center LeArtis McNeil recovered a
State fumble on the Clark 31 yard
marker. With Clark at the helm and
Coaches Epps and Hunter urging
their charges to victory, Mjelvin
Brown, Clarence Ford, and Wallace
Hartsfield collaborated to move
the leather to the State 49 at which
point Panther blockers “laid down
the law” and cleared the path for
Offie Clark’s 49-yard sprint to
goaldom. Once again, Stinson suc
cessfully converted with Solomon
holding and the Clarkites relished
in the comfortability of a 20-9 lead
of which they never relinquished,
although Coach Martin’s crew
threatened seriously by delving
deep into Panther territory late in
th|e last stanza.
For seniors Wallace Hartsfield,
Offie Clark, Roman Turmon and
Harold Franklin, this was their
final homecoming fracas in Panther
togs. Promising a homecoming vic
tory to Clarkites before they leave
Clark, the candidates for degrees
were at their best.