1927 Bearcats
1928
DHS OPP
0 @Cisco 48
0 Tarleton 14
22 Hamilton 6
19 Desdemona 6
12 Stephenville 0
0 Gorman ** 0
7 Comanche 6
0 Albany 12
** By agreement in a tie, the game was decided by penetrations followed by first downs. De Leon won on penetrations. Gorman ultimately won the district championship.
The Oil Belt schools played in District 10 in 1928 with De Leon a Class B school in that district.
The UIL had a new rule that year concerning substitutions. If a player left the game due to a substitution, he could not return again in that half. A player coming into the game as a substitute could not speak to any of his teammates until one play had been run. During the season, Murry Nichols came into a game and drew a penalty for talking. It happened again later in the game, but Coach Compton prevented a third repetition as Nichols came in with tape over his mouth.
Another rule required that a punt be “killed” outside the 10 yard line or it would be like a touchback and moved out to the twenty. Yet another rule gave the ball to the other team at their twenty following two incomplete passes into the end zone.
Team travel was by private auto with several player riding in a car. There were no school buses and the train was used only on long trips such as to Albany, Cisco or Walnut Springs.
CISCO
To open the season, the Bearcats took on Cisco, a Class A school in the Oil Belt District. Cisco was still in an oil boom period and the school was one of the largest in the district. The previous week, the Lobos had defeated the defending state champions Haskell by a 62-6 score. Another factor in the game was the field. Believe it or not, De Leon felt they were at a disadvantage because Cisco had a grass field. Most school played on dirt, or in the De Leon and Gorman area sand, and De Leon did not have metal cleats only short leather cleats. A light drizzle fell throughout the game and the Bearcats could not keep their footing. The outcome was the worst defeat of a De Leon team in the Compton era. There is more than a little irony here as De Leon’s and Cisco’s Honk Irvin had played in the famous Gumshoe Game where rubber tennis shoes won out over shoes with metal cleats.
Cisco received the opening kickoff and tried two running plays up the middle for no gain. On third down, they completed a pass for a touchdown and “kicked goal” to take a 7-0 lead. That was the way the entire game went. The Lobos could do nothing up the middle but moved the ball with ease around the ends and against the Bearcat pass defense. At the end of the first quarter the Lobos led 20-0 and upped the lead at the half to 34-0. Although they failed to score in the third quarter, they added two more touchdowns in the fourth to win 48-0.
Except for an interception by Charles Moreland, a good punt return by Henry Grady Sharp, and one long completion from Nichols to Jack Pearson, there were few highlights for the Bearcats.
TARLETON J.V.
On a hot day, the Bearcats took on the J.V. of Tarleton without Earl Timmons, Paul Holleman who had been suspended by Coach Compton for some unknown rules infraction and may have included Murry Nichols.
On paper, it appears the Bearcats played a strong defensive game giving up a touchdown just before the half and again near the game’s end. But, the reality was that the Tarleton quarterback broke his ankle early in the game which probably impacted their offensive capabilities.
HAMILTON
The Bulldogs provided De Leon with its first victory of the year in a game played in a corn field with stalks still protruding from the ground. Hamilton was coached by a former Comanche player named Sullivan.
Neither team was able to score in the first quarter but in the second, quarterback Nichols skirted right end and went 30 yards for a touchdown and then kicked the point after. On the next series, the Bearcats faced a fourth and goal from the six. Nichols connected with Pete McClelland for a touchdown and Nichols kicked the point after to bring the score to 14-0 with a minute left in the half.
On the ensuing kickoff Holleman went down on a corn stalk and received a gash over his eye. He got several stitches at the half and returned to play. That was reminiscent of a game played on Hamilton’s corn field where B.J. Pittman was cut over the eye in similar circumstances over a decade earlier.
In the third quarter De Leon added a safety to go up 16-0. Hamilton then scored their lone touchdown when Main Brunk scooped up a Bearcat fumble and raced 50 yards for a touchdown. The point after was not good and the score stood 16-6. Hamilton was driving again when Nichols stepped in front of Bulldog pass and went 30 yards for a touchdown as Timmons cut down four would be tacklers. De Leon won 22-6.
DESDEMONA
The Hogs had never beaten De Leon and didn’t in 1928 as the Bearcats rolled 19-6.
Desdemona took the opening kickoff and drove to the De Leon 20 where the Bearcat defense stiffened and held. De Leon took over on downs but elected to punt on first down. The snap went over Nichols’ head but he was able to retrieve it and get a punt off. Desdemona could not take advantage of the apparent good field position and when De Leon got the ball back they drove to near the Hog 30. Nichols then broke for a touchdown run and kicked the point after giving De Leon a 7-0 lead.
In the second quarter, Desdemona drove to the Bearcat 4 before being stopped. But four plays later the Hogs regained possession (possibly on a fumble) and drove for a touchdown. Simpson, the Desdemona quarterback attempted a pass for the points after but it was dropped leaving the score at 7-6.
The Bearcats scored a second touchdown in the third quarter on a one yard run by Peter Mc Clellan and added a final score on a 40 yard run by Nichols to win 19-6. The Bearcats completed 4 of 12 passes while picking off 3 Desdemona passes.
STEPHENVILLE
To prepare for the Stephenville game, both North Ward and South Ward students as well as the High School students marched to town for a pep rally in front of Weaver Drug. This began a tradition that would soon shift to the Comanche game. Higginbothams provided each student with a maroon and white megaphone to get the noise level up.
The Bearcats won the game 12-0. De Leon’s first score was made by Nichols early in the first quarter. In the second half, a snap went over the head of the Stephenville punter and Merton Bell fell on it for a touchdown.
GORMAN
The Armistice Day game with Gorman ended in a 0-0 tie. Gorman only threatened once when they blocked a Nichols punt at the De Leon 40 and recovered inside the 20. De Leon penetrated the Gorman 20 three times while Gorman was able to reach the De Leon 35 only once. By prior agreement in a tie, the winner would be determined on penetrations followed by first downs. De Leon also led in first downs 6-5. However, the game was not without controversy. Gorman claimed that Dick Weaver had touched a ball kicked by Gorman which was then picked up by a Panther and carried in or a touchdown. Weaver denied that he touched the ball and the refs must have agreed.
DUBLIN
The De Leon-Dublin game of 1928 was a game of first and indicative of the controversies that would become standard between the two schools over the next half century.
For the first time in Bearcat history, De Leon lost to Dublin and for the first time Dublin fielded a band.
Conditions for the game could not have been worse. It had rained all week and continued throughout the game. The field was a quagmire of mud and water. In fact, after one pile up Paul Pearson found his face submerged in a pool of water and almost drown before the could get air. After the game, Pete McClellan’s father made him ride on the fender of the car up to the City Barber Shop (Hansfords) were the team bathed. His uniform was caked in mud. Holleman’s muddy pants and jersey tipped the scales at 40 pounds when he weighed them at the barbershop.
In the sea of mud neither team could generate much offense. De Leon advanced once to the Dublin 20 but did not score.
In the fourth quarter Dublin managed to reach the De Leon 25. A running play followed that gained little yardage but, on the next play the Lions completed a pass that would have scored a touchdown had not Sharp pushed the receiver out of bounds inside the one. The Bearcats held the Lions for no gain on first and second down.
Then the controversy occurred. A play was called in the huddle and Dublin broke the huddle and came to the line of scrimmage. After lining up, a linesman turned and walked back to the quarterback as if to check on the play. As he turned and moved back toward the line of scrimmage, the ball was snapped and the runner scored.
The De Leon players were not ready, believing that the LIon players were not set for the snap. De Leon argued that a linesman was in motion toward the line of scrimmage and was not set. Additionally, there were not enough men on the line of scrimmage. But the refs ruled that the play stood and Dublin won 6-0.
After the game, both teams were fed at the Travelers Hotel as a”token of good feelings” such as they were.
The week of the Dublin game, the De Leon J.V. played Putnum where a former Bearcat Burus Jones was playing. Putnum won 18-0.
ALBANY
The Bearcats took on Albany in a district game. Albany scored twelve points in the first five minutes but were shut out for the remainder of the game. The Bearcats had the size over the Lions but lacked the speed and never could push the ball across for a touchdown. With the 12-0 victory, the Lions had strung together 10 straight wins and were apparently headed for the championship game. But, Gorman filed a protest against them alleging the Lions had used an ineligible player. The outcome of the protest is unknown, but coupled with De Leon’s win over Comanche, Gorman ended up as District Champions.
COMANCHE
De Leon was out of the running for the District Championship but the Native Americans still had a chance to win it if they could beat the Bearcats. The annual bloodletting was in De Leon and the game was scoreless at the half and De Leon leading on first downs.
Early in the third quarter Billie Williams broke through to block a Comanche punt (probably on third down). Comanche recovered but it foretold the outcome of the game as later in the quarter, Williams broke though again, blocked the punt and recovered the ball on the Comanche 20.
Two “bucks” failed but on third down, Nichols passed to Sharp for a first at the Comanche eight. Three times De Leon “bucked” before Nichols on fourth down finally plunged through center for a touchdown. A Nichols to Pearson pass added the point after.
Comanche fans went wild when with a few minutes left, the Tribe scored on a 15 yard Dodson to Dudley pass. The elation died as the extra point kick was blocked. De Leon had the win and Comanche was eliminated from the championship race.
Again, the Travelers Hotel hosted a post game meal for both teams.
The traditional Christmas Day game between the Isses and Hasbeens ended the season.
For the first time in Bearcat history, a De Leon player was named to an All State Team. Murry Nichols was selected as a half back on the All State Honor Roll of the Fort Worth Star Telegram. He had lettered the two previous seasons as a center for the Bearcats.
1928 BEARCATS
Coach: W.Z. Compton
Captain: Paul Holleman
Murry Nichols
Tom Nance
Henry Grady Sharp
Paul Pearson
Pete McClellan
Jack Pearson
Merton Bell
Roy Nabors
Adrian Grizzell
Pete Nance
Robert Terrill
Charles Moreland
W.H. Jetton
Ray Harvey
Albert Cozby
Paul Campbell
Billie Williams
Jessie Jones
W.S. Snead
Dwight Boswell
Carver Huddleston
Laraine Woods
Elmer Timmons
Clarence Lightfoot
Jack Donahue
Dale Howard
Charles Wheat