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THE MAROON TIGER
Page 9
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(dhe (Diger s t
After losing three of their first four scheduled en
counters, the charges of Coach “Ink” Williams finally hit
their stride and succeeded in climaxing a very colorful
and exciting gridiron campaign in a blaze of glory. The
season’s record of four victories, three defeats and two
ties is one that warrants a goodly portion of pride and
satisfaction considering the many handicaps under which
both coaches and players were working.
With the winter hardwood sport, basketball, just
around the corner, a brief resume of what the gridders
accomplished seems appropriate.
The Tiger was host to the Men in Orange from
Famcee in ts intial engagement and went down to a last
minute defeat by a margin of one touchdown, 7-0. The
score was manufactured via the air late in the final quar
ter. The contest with Florida was followed by a 6-6 tie
with Benedict at Columbia, a heart breaking loss to Tal
ladega’s undefeated Crimson Tornado, 6-2, and a 22-0
defeat administered by Morris Brown’s Purple Wolver
ines. The unusual thing about this rather disappointing
beginning was the consistently good defensive perform
ance of the M aroon forwards and the poor showing of
the secondary on aerial attacks from the opposition.
However, under the careful tutelage of our conscientious
staff of mentors these defects were soon ironed out and
the Tiger’s goal line remained uncrossed in its last five
conflicts.
A journey to Montgomery netted a 6-0 victory over
the ’Bama State Hornets, who defeated Tuskegee and tied
Morris Brown. A vist to the scenic and historic Smoky
Mountains of Tennessee resulted in a second win. 13-0
over the Knoxville College Bulldogs. Clark was tied, 0-0.
and Fisk was taken into camp, 13-0, to end the conference
season. Xavier, a team that boasted victories over Sou
thern and Arkansas State was humilated, 25-0, in a post
season, non-conference clash.
A better picture of the accomplishments during the
year can be receiv
Morehouse 0
Morehouse 6
Morehouse 2
Morehouse 0
Morehouse 6
Morehouse 13
Morehouse 0
Morehouse 13
ed from the following satisfies:
Florida A. & M. 7
Benedict 6
Talladega 6
Morris Brown 22
Alabama State 0
Knoxville 0
Clark 0
Fisk 0
Morehouse 25
Xavier 0
Total- -Morehouse
■ 65
Opponents 41
Players
Scott
Indivdual Scoring
Points
18
Young
13
Jones
12
Johnson
6
McCurine
6
McFall
6
Green
1
Pierro
1
*Stratten of Talladega recovered ball behind his own
goal line for safety and two points for Morehouse.
The Xavier game spelled curtains for the gridiron
careers of such dependable Maroon and White luminaries
as Lamar, the broken field artist; Boswell, he of the edu
cated toe; Young, an All-American flankman if one ever
existed, and Alexander, the World Beater at the pivot
positon. The activities of these men in efforts to bring
glory to “Dear Old Morehouse” will linger in the writer’s
mind for years to come.
Three victories, three defeats, and two ties gave us a
.500 percentage in the conf erence standing and warranted
a first division berth. The champion, who will be crowned
following a meeting of the conference’s “Brain Trust,”
will in all probabilty be Morris Brown with Talladega,
and Tuskegee the runner-up.
Outstanding teams in the conference were conspicu
ously absent this year. Talladega, with a mediocre eleven,
boasts an undefeated record marred only by a scoreless
tie with Clark. However the “Dega Rolled” against only
fair aggregations and barely rolled at that. Victories by
only one touchdown, over teams representing Knoxville
and Fisk, are nothing to write home and relate to the
folks. Morris Brown, who justly deserves the crown, was
tied by Tuskegee and Alabama and played a non-decis
ion contest with Florida. Morehouse, with an unim
pressive record, succeeded in trouncing the team that tied
the only likely choice for the championship. The ex
perts persist in calling such happenings “upsets” but a
fairer explanation would be that the teams in the con
ference were evenly matched in most cases.
The Morris Brown-Famcee encounter, which caused
quite a bit of comment and which was a non-decisional
battle so far as the officials of the particular game are
concerned, bears out the writer’s contention that the type
of officiating in this conference should be improved. This
matter of securing arbiters, who know only how to make
just decisions and who also know how to make the play
ers respect these decisions as final, should be a topic for
discussion at the meeting of conference body.
In only one contest this year in which Morehouse
particpated was the officiating worthy of commendation
from the players of both teams as well as the spectators.
I refer to the contest with Alabama in Montgomery. Itici-
denatlly, one of the officials of this game was involved
in the Florida mix-up, therefore marring his previously
consistently good record.
The basketball season is almost with us and the neces
sity for expert officials for this sport is even greater than
that for football. The representatives of the various in-
stiutions. owe it to their patrons, to demand efficient and
capable handling of the various athletic contests in the
future.
Generally no team is greater than its weakest com
ponent part and, specifically, no “Tiger is stronger than
its Paw.” No better statement could appropriately de
scribe the fighting Maroon squad of ’34.
When the team lost, a few outstanding players re
ceived credit for the fair showing of the unit but; when
the team won, every aspirant was responsible for the
victory. Coordination and team play were the factors
that snacthed victory from almost inevitable defeat and
Total
*63