1917 Playing For the State Championship

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Page last updated: July 25, 2010

1917

The 1917 De Leon Football Team

Team shown photographed outside the 1903 school building in the maroon and white jerseys worn for the first time at the state championship game against Greenville. 

TOP ROW (L-R):  Coach Lyman E. Forrest, (RE) Buell Van Zandt, (LH) Ewell Duke, (LT) Gaston Grisham, (Reserve) Dewey Daniell, (RT) Robert “Red” Smith.

CENTER: (RG) Jim Tate,  (Reserve) C.O. Bragg, (LG) Lloyd  “Suey” Lee, (FB) Luther Haynes, (LE) Dean Rippetoe.

BOTTOM: (Reserve) Ralph Pittman, (RH) Robert Weaver, (C) Bill Irvin, and (QB) B.J. Pittman Jr.

  “Fifty years is long enough for anybody to wait for anything” wrote Denny Freeman about the Baylor Bears, who, after winning Southwest Conference Championships in 1922 and 1924, had to wait until 1974 for their next championship.

   Playing as a Senior on the 1922 Baylor team were De Leon’s B.J. Pittman and his Sophomore brother Ralph.  It was the first official Southwest Conference Championship in football.  Ralph later Captained the 1924 Baylor championship team.  Both had played on the great 1917 De Leon team that beaten Comanche for the first time and later met Greenville in the State Championship game and while it took the Baptist 50 years to to glory, it took the Bearcats 57.  For between 1917 and 1975, De Leon never played for the state title.

    This year marks the 90th anniversary of that season.  The last surviving team member, B.J. Pittman Jr. passed away in 1995 just a few months after his beloved Southwest Conference passed into history.

   As the seasons passed, the stories about the 1917 team were retold and embellished until fact, truth and fiction blended into a legacy of greatness that help maintain a winning Bearcat program for 17 years and then sustained the faithful in the years of football poverty that were briefly interrupted only three times between 1933 and 1964.   Ironically, the year following Baylor’s 1974 SWC Championship, De Leon again advanced to the State championship game.  And the fifty-seven year wait had been more than enough for Bearcat fans.

    Separating truth and legend is a real problem in researching the 1917 season especially since the Free Press records were destroyed in a 1923 fire and the school had no annual until 1919.  The Del High Camera reported that the team played in cowboy boots and baseball caps.  The 1963 De Leonian said this team did not loose a game and “won may of the games in excess of 100 points.”  Legend has it that they beat several college teams.  Even the then Stephenville Tribune reported that De Leon had never even lost a game when they took on Tarleton late in the season.  None of these claims were true, although a loss to a college team was not considered in reporting a season record. In actuality, the tam members furnished their own uniforms until the state championship game, when matching jerseys were purchased and most had “Princeton helmets.”  They did play in everyday work shoes but all had football-type pants.

    The Greenville Banner Herald informed it’s readers that De Leon was undefeated and had beaten Dublin 71-0, Comanche 12-10, Cisco 7-0, and Stamford 21-0.  The newspaper had gotten its scores from a wire received from De Leon.

    The Comanche Chief, in various issues, reported that De Leon beat Dublin 68-0, Cisco by 6, and Comanche by 3.  None of these scores agreed with the report from Greenville.  It is possible that De Leon played Dublin twice resulting in different scores, however The Dublin Progress chose to ignore the loss(es) and seldom covered the Lions in 1917.  The correct Comanche score is 12-10.  A scrapbook kept by Lula Mae Smith Stone listed the following games, dates and scores: Sept. 28 De Leon 69-Dublin 0; Oct. 12, De Leon 6-at Cisco 0;  Oct. 18, De Leon 12-Comanche 10; Oct. (no day) De Leon 21-Stamford 0.

    B. J. Pittman indicated that he believed the team played Walnut Springs twice and beat them both times but no record the game(s) has been found.

     Still, all this shows how a little truth can grow into a great legend.

   What is true is that we do not even know all of De Leon’s opponents during that season, much less the correct scores.  But, it is also true that the 1917 team was the first team to beat Comanche.  It was the first team to wear Maroon and white.  It was the first De Leon team to claim any championship title---that of Champions of West Texas.  And, it was the the first to play in what was declared by the participants to be the state championship game.  It is also true that the team wasn’t even called the “Bearcats,” for that name was not adopted until 1919.  Finally, truth be known, C.O. Bragg was the only regular substitute on the team.

COMANCHE

De Leon hosed the Indians on Thursday, October 18.  By agreement, the quarters were to be twelve and a half minutes long.  De Lon won the toss and elected to receive.  Comanche chose to defend the west goal to have the strong north wind more or less at its back.

   Carlton Woodward kicked off, his initial effort going out of bounds.  The re-kick was fielded by Ewell Duke on the ten.  De Leon was able to move the ball to about its own 36 where B.J. Pittman punted.

   Comanche took over at their ten, but could not gain a first down.  The Indians punted to Robert Weaver who was reported to have fielded the ball at he De Leon ten.  (That would have been at least a seventy yard punt, but remember Comanche had the Wind.  Never-the-less, it is necessary to take the reports with the proverbial grain of salt.)  De Leon could not move the ball and Pittman again punted.  But, according to the Chief, Pittman “merely knocked the ball on the ground” and De Leon recovered.

    With new life, De Leon drove to the Comanche eight yard line as the first quarter expired.  On the opening play of the second quarter, Lloyd Lee gained five yards and on the next play B.J. Pittman took it in for the touchdown.  Pittman kicked out to Robert “Red” Smith who failed to catch and the score remained 6-0.

    A word of explanation on the extra point try is in order here.  The attempt was set up by a member of the scoring team punting the ball out of the end zone.  If a member of the scoring team fielded he ball, the extra point kick would then be made from the point of the catch.  The ball could be place kicked but in those years was usually drop kicked.

    Comanche answered with a touchdown of their own as Carlton and Jess Woodward carried the ball down the field, with Carton scoring the touchdown.  jess then punted out to Pinson who “made a neat catch.”  the extra point try gave Comanche a 7-6 half time lead.

    Comanche elected to receive in the second half but could not pick up a first down.  They got eh ball back when B.J. Pittman fumbled on De Leon’s first play.  Neither team could pick up a first down on the next two series.

   Comanche took a 10-6 lead on their their series of the second half when they kicked a field goal into the wind.

   De Leon retook the lead in the fourth quarter when B.J. Pittman scored from the one following a sustained drive.  the kickout was dropped but De Leon led 12-10.

   Comanche put together a final drive that reached the De Leon nine yard line before the De On defense was able to halt the drive and and end any Comanche hope of a win.  de Leon had downed the most powerful football club in west Texas and had secured its first win ever of the Comanche Varsity. It would be five years before Comanche beat De Leon again.

TARLETON

   The entire report of the game with Tarleton, from the Stephenville Tribune follows:

   “Friday, November 23, while a football game was in progress between a team from De Lon High School and John Tarleton Agricultural College, Jim Tate was injured in one of the rushes and after the game was taken to the Hall Hotel where he he remained unconscious nearly all that night.  Occasionally he would call out “Stop that Turnbow boy.  Believe me he is some football player.  Catch him.”

    It is said De Leon had never before last a game.  The score here stood 38-7 in favor of Tarleton.”

   B.J. Pittman remembered sitting up with Jim through the night.  Jeff Tate, Jim’s elder brother, recounted that Jim never really recovered from the injury and his health declined to a point that when the flu epidemic swept the county the next year, Jim died.  In all probability, Jim sustained a very severe concussion which usually requires several months for a full recovery.

    Obviously, the Tribune’s statement regarding having never lost a game was untrue, having lost three times to Comanche’s Varsity as well as at least once to Hico and Albany.

DECLARED CHAMPIONS OF WEST TEXAS

   De Leon, having lost only to a college team, declared itself Champions of West Texas.  This was neither unusual nor presumptuous.  Traditionally, the best team in the area had so declared itself, Comanche and Brownwood both having claimed the honor over the years.  Remember that the University Interscholastic League had discontinued sponsorship of a state championship game following the Comanche-Houston game of 1913.

    De Leon, believing it was the best in the west, advertised in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram for an opponent from east Texas to meet to determine the state champion.  Greenville High School answered the ad.

    In its November 18, 1917 edition, the Star-Telegram state “Marshall high school lost Saturday to Greenville high 17-0, in a hard fought football game.  Greenville is claiming the state high school championship.”

   On November 29, 1917, the Dallas Morning News reported that Greenville had defeated Tyler 13-6 in Greenville and by doing so had won the Championship of East Texas.  Further Greenville had not lost a game was in line for the State Championship.

    But to confuse the issue, on December 1st the Morning News reported that Terrill would play Allen Academy of Bryan for the Texas Secondary School Championship.

    Never-the-less, Greenville wired De Leon that it would be interested in playing for the state championship.  They believed that they would indeed be playing the West Texas Champions because it was noted in the Greenville Banner Herald that De Leon had defeated the power of west Texas, Comanche.

    After an exchange of wires, the teams agreed to meet on December 7, at Younger Field in Greenville with De Leon receiving a guarantee of $500 to make the trip.

    De Leon, than a city of probably a thousand people, could not match the financial offer of Greenville.  In fact a new high school building was under construction in the south part of De Leon and the total cost of the land and building was only $20,000.

     De Leon used the money well.  The player selected matching jerseys (actually more like sweaters) and for the first time wore maroon and white as the school colors.

     The De Leon team members were picked up at their homes on Higginbotham’s flat bed truck and transported to the depot where the town prepared them with a pep rally send off.

    The team boarded the Katy and headed for Waco.  There they switched trains eventually arriving in Greenville about eight that Thursday evening.

    Most of the player stayed in one hotel but Coach Forrest, Dean Rippetoe and two other players got to stay in a hotel that had just opened.  Food seems to be the item most remembered by those team members who survived into the 1980s.  They recalled being served fresh grapefruit, the first time any had seen the fruit that time of year.  Other remembered that the hotel served cabbage rolls, a dish not common in De Leon.  Most claimed to have liked it.

     While attending Baylor, B.J. Pittman recalled in an article that “the players went to a movie and partied too much, then got beat”  but B.J. denied that was true when interviewed in 1986.

THE FIRST STATE CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

  
    Game day arrived with freezing weather.  Dewey Daniell said it was very cold and the building had icicles.  The Bearcat Beam of January 21, 1938 said that the game was played in sleet and snow.  However, the Greenville Banner Herald, while stating that it was played in “the teeth of the most severe norther of the season” did not mention either sleet or snow in their report  Even so, only three hundred fans braved the cold to watch the game.

  The remainder of the Banner Herald’s article as it appeared on December 8, 19117 follows.

    “The game was really much closer than the score indicated.  De Leon kept the ball in Greenville territory a great deal of the time during the first two periods, Greenville apparently getting over confident because of the ease with which the first touchdown was made.  In the third and fourth periods Greenville clearly out played the visiting eleven most of the time.  In the fourth period, though, the De Leon eleven carried the ball down the field on a long forward pass and a number of sweeping end runs only to lose the coveted touchdown when Pittman (B.J.) dropped the ball after he had already carried it across the goal line.  Yeager dived into him just as he swept across, the ball slipped from his grasp and Burnett covered it for Greenville for a touchdown (touchback).

    For De Leon Pittman and Duke starred with their sweeping end runs which with the prettiest interference that has been seen here this year and carried them for long gains time and again.  Dean Rippetoe, the visitors’ left end was a marvel in smashing the Greenville plays, several times stopping plays aimed at the the line before the man with ball could reach the line of scrimmage.

    For Greenville, Yeager, Little and Jones were the stellar performers in the gaining line, while Hemsell showed even better form in his forward passing than he did on Thanksgiving Day.  Hemsell is a great forward passer this years.  He should be a wonder next year.  The visitors protested at the forward pass to Little, which resulted in a touchdown, claiming that Little was not eligible .  But as has every other team which has played Greenville this year, the De Leon eleven agreed after the formation was explained that the Greenville captain was eligible to receive the pass.

    One of the features of Friday’s game was the steady support of the girl rooters of the Greenville team, who remained at their post and cheered the team on despite the bad weather.  Coach Littlefield ask the the Herald Friday night to express the thanks of the high school student  body, the team management and the coach to the people of Greenville for the great support accorded the team during the season.  It has been Greenville’s mot successful season.

     Yeager made the first touchdown of Friday’s game in the first quarter on a five yard run around right end after Greenville had carried the ball steadily up the field on De Leon.  The second touchdown came in the third period, following a very peculiar play.  Hemsell made a forward pass to Little.  A De Leon man jumped high in the air to bat down the ball, and batted it straight into Priest’s arms for a long gain for Greenville.  Jones carried the ball across shortly thereafter.

     Early in the fourth period De Leon carried the ball to Greenville’s 15 yard line, and Pittman swept around left end and across the goal line for what appeared to be a touch down.  Yeager tackled him fiercely just as he stepped across the line.  The ball bounced out of his arms and Greenville recovered.

    The feature pay of the game came just a minute before time was called.  Hemsell made a long forward pass to Captain Little, who trotted leisurely the remaining fifteen yards for a touchdown.  He then kicked goal for the final counter of his high school career.”

   Greenville’s coach, Clyde Littlefield went on to again claim the Championship in 1919 and then returned to his alma mater the University of Texas where he amassed more Southwest Conference Championships than any coach in SWC history and as it turns out, with the league disbanded, his record will always stand.

    Ironically, a few years later, B.J. Pittman would hire Littlefield to pay baseball during the summer for his insurance company’s team and grew to know Littlefield quite well.

    In talking with B.J. Pittman, Dewey Daniell and Dean Rippetoe, each told me of a great touchdown reception made by Ewell Duke, although none could remember the details.  I can find no record of such a pass although it may have been called back.  It may have been the long pass that setup the Pittman “touchdown.”  In any event it must have been one of the outstanding plays of the game.

     De Leon players felt the refereeing was uneven at best.  The controversial forward pass was just one of a number of calls that did not go De Leon’s way.  More than one former player and several fans who, even though they did not attend the game, remembered the talk around town following the game, indicated that several of the Greenville players also played for the local college.  How much of this true, we will leave for posterity to determine.

    Greenville’s claim to the State Championship was short lived.  Five days after their victory, Abilene advertised that they were undefeated in eight games and had scored 399 points while holding their opponents to only 22.  They were seeking teams to play for the state championship.

   In the words of the 1963 De Leonian, “all the boys had the desire and willingness to play...Better yet, we think all these men invariably still love their school, their home town, and the game of football.  We hope that in the year of 2007 all of this year’s Bearcats (1962) will be as well remembered and admired as those (of 1917)” 

    With no playoff system there may have been many tams claiming championships in 1917.  None the less, De Leon and its first championship, the Champions of all of West Texas.  Just don’t tell Abilene.

B. J. Pittman Jr. at Baylor in 1920.

Robert “Red” Smith while playing for Daniel Baker College

Ralph D. Pittman at Baylor in 1920.

The Road to Greenville

Greenville Banner Herald December 6, 1917