Pennsylvania Gridiron: Washington and Jefferson College’s First Century of Football
Written by E. North in the Features category and the Fall 1990 issue Topics in this article: "Deacon" Dan Towler, A. J. Pagano, African Americans, Allegheny College, Andy Kerr, Bill Amos, Bob Folwell, Britt Patterson, Bucknell University, Canonsburg Academy, Carlisle Indian Industrial School, Carnegie-Mellon University, Charles F. West, Chet Winderquist, College of Wooster, Dave Morrow, Dr. Ralph Cooper Hutchison, Earle (Greasy) Neal, East End Athletic Club, Ferrum College, football, Forest "Jap" Douds, Geneva College, Gettysburg College, Grove City College, Hal Erickson, Harvard University, Henry Luecht, Herman Suter, John Carroll University, John Luckhart, John McMillan, John W. Heisman, Johnny Spiegel, Lehigh University, medicine, Penn State University, R. M. (Mother) Murphy, Ralph Vince, Rose Bowl, Russell Stein, schools, sports, Susquehanna University, Syracuse University, University of California, University of Detroit, University of Pittsburgh, Washington (Pennsylvania city), Washington Academy, Washington and Jefferson College, West Penn Medical College, West Virginia University, Westminster College, Wilbur F. (Pete) Henry, Yale UniversityGentlemen, you are now going to play football against Harvard. Never again in your whole life will you do anything so important.
Yale’s noted football coach T.A.D. Jones delivered his message just as his team was going out to defend Yale Bowl against its ancient rival. But it’s not only coaches whose passion for football is ardent – millions play the game on high school, college, professional and “pick-up” teams, as well as throng the stadiums, march with the bands, lead the cheers or spend hours in front of the television for what has become hallmarked as Monday Night Football. And at a small college in Pennsylvania, the passion – and the excitement – continues season after season ….
Located in southwestern Pennsylvania, Washington and Jefferson College did not experience the thrill of football until near the end of the nineteenth century. While class day races, soccer and rugby were popular sports throughout the second half of the nineteenth century, football did not arrive on the college’s campus until 1890. In spite of its size – through the first half of its football century, Washington and Jefferson College averaged fewer than five hundred students – the players’ and their fans’ fervor mounted, year after year, until the little school actually attracted national attention and a national following.
Washington and Jefferson College actually began as Washington Academy in 1781. The nation’s eleventh oldest college, it was located in western Pennsylvania’s vast frontier wilderness, where Indian massacres not infrequently occurred during the 1770s and 1780s. Thirty miles from where Dr. John McMillan commenced his classes, the stalwart defenders of Fort Henry’ in Wheeling, West Virginia, turned back the British and Indians in 1782 in what is considered by many historians the last battle of the American Revolution. And just eight miles from Washington Academy, Canonsburg Academy – which later became Jefferson College – also persevered in the largely uninhabited region.
Washington College and Jefferson College merged under a charter granted by the General Assembly of Pennsylvania on March 4, 1865, although each retained separate campuses until 1869, when, after much debate and deliberation, Washington was chosen as the site for the new institution. Today, the college is home to twelve hundred students – and a legacy of football honors that spans an entire century.
Washington and Jefferson College’s first intercollegiate football game was played against the Western University of Pennsylvania, now the University of Pittsburgh, on November 1, 1890. In that inaugural contest, the Western University of Pennsylvania was no match for Washington and Jefferson’s Red and Black, which handily won, 34-0. W & J’s good fortune continued in their second game, as they defeated – by ten to zero – the semi-professional East End Athletic Club of Pittsburgh. The Red and Black closed Washington and Jefferson’s first season with a controversial game in Pittsburgh against the College of Wooster, hailed as “champions of all Ohio, 11 on November 29. W & J was ahead late in the game and, claiming that time had run out, most of its players left the field. After arguing on whether or not time did remain on the clock, the two officials decided the game should proceed. With almost no opposition, Wooster pushed the ball over the goal line for a touchdown, made the conversion (touchdowns counted four points, conversions two) and claimed a 6-4 victory over the disillusioned Red and Black.
Washington and Jefferson College opened its second season by again soundly tromping the Western University of Pittsburgh, 40-6, and later Geneva College, 26-8, inspiring the initiation of another long and spirited intraPennsylvania grid rivalry. The Red and Black then Jost two close contests to Pittsburgh semi-professional aggregations. After a 50-0 triumph over West Penn Medical College, the W & J’s gridders traveled to Morgantown, West Virginia, to provide opposition for West Virginia University’s very first football encounter. The result was an embarrassment for West Virginia’s Mountaineers: Washington and Jefferson scored 72 to the opponent’s zero. In 1891, W & J won all of its collegiate games and outscored West Virginia and Pittsburgh universities by 112 to 6! And this was just the beginning ….
W & J continued to produce successful teams throughout the 1890s, during which the Red and Black posted 62 wins and only 13 losses, five of which were suffered at the hands of semiprofessional teams.
College sports were not without incident and controversy during their embryonic years. During the game with Gettysburg College on October 28, 1893, the Red and Black took an early lead against the Battlefielders. Late in the contest, the Battlefielders forged ahead by two points, 18 to 16. W & J controlled the last possession. With time running out, W & J’s players drove the ball down the field for what they hoped would be the winning touchdown. Just as the Red and Black’s star runner, Herman Suter, broke loose, Gettysburg’s fans rushed from the end zone and threw him back. According to Washington and Jefferson, Suter crossed the goal line for the winning touchdown. According to Gettysburg, the game was over, and the Battlefielders had won. Deke Houlgate, compiler of the authoritative Football Thesaurus, sided with W & J, although his decision came more than half a century after the game.
After winning sixty-two of its seventy-five games played in the 1890s, W & J did not let up with the turn of the century. Between 1900 and 1911, they met many mighty grid luminaries, including the Carlisle Indians, Army, Navy, Cornell, Yale, West Virginia, Princeton, Pitt and Penn State. The Red and Black posted 89 wins, 32 losses, and seven ties – a .736 winning percentage. But a new decade brought new hope for the Red and Black.
In 1912, W & J’s beloved graduate manager R. M. “Mother” Murphy induced coach Bob Folwell to leave Lafayette College in Easton for Washington and Jefferson College. It was a brilliant coup that transformed the team from “very good” to “super” in the eyes of the football world.
Bob Folwell’s 1912 team – his first at W & J – won eight games, lost three and tied one. The 0-0 tie occurred with the Carlisle Indians and Jim Thorpe, who went on to lead the nation in scoring that year with an incredible 198 points. W & J lost to Penn State, Yale and Cornell, but a 13-0 win over arch-rival Pitt made the season a definite success. Folwell continued to prove his coaching ability, and in his second season, the team rose to unprecedented football heights. W & J and its legendary halfback Johnny Spiegel led the country in scoring, defeating Pitt (19-6), Penn State (17-0), West Virginia (36-0), Bucknell (52-0) and Grove City (100-0). The only dose game that season was waged against the powerful Yale University, which resulted in a scoreless tie. W & J finished only a field goal or safety away from a national title, and Bob Folwell was named the nation’s 1913 Coach-of-the-Year.
The team’s success continued throughout the 1914 season, as it beat every collegiate opponent. Pennsylvania’s own Red and Black earned a trip to the national championship, in which the team would play Harvard, the championship team of 1913, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. W & J led, but the Red and Black’s All-American tackle Britt Patterson was ejected from the game in the first half for fighting. On top of that, W & J’s other All-American, Spiegel, left the game early in the third quarter with an injury. Without their best players, W & J lost a 10-9 decision.
One of the best things Folwell did for W & J before leaving in 1915 was to turn a fullback into a lineman. A chunky freshman, Wilbur F. Henry, was practicing one day when Folwell walked over to him and yelled, “Henry, you’re a tackle!” Truer words were never spoken. W. F. “Pete” Henry became one of the greatest tackles in the history of football. In a close game against Westminster, Henry displayed his defensive talents. Westminster’s punter prepared to kick on fourth down. Ball met toe and Henry at the same time. No one knew where the ball was – except Pete Henry. He had it clutched to his stomach and never showed it until he had crossed the goal line. The big W & J All-American was so good that Pitt refused to play if W & J used Henry in the 1919 contest. Pitt coach Pop Warner bitterly claimed that Henry had played his fourth year in 1918, cagily referring to an abbreviated, wartime season discounted by almost every college, including Notre Dame, whose George Gipp was caught in a similar circumstance.
By 1921, Earle “Greasy” Neale had been named the Red and Black’s coach, under whom the team went undefeated, setting up a significant game at Syracuse. A ninety-eight yard kickoff return by Pruner West and an interception and score by Chet Winderquist gave W & J a 17-10 win in this crucial contest. The Red and Black then beat Westminster, Pitt and West Virginia to finish the regular season undefeated and untied.
For some, however, the season was not over. The University of Detroit, also boasting a spotless record, challenged W & J to a “Little Rose Bowl” contest. W & J won the game, 14-2, and received an invitation to the genuine Rose Bowl. The opposition would be none other than the University of California’s Golden Bears-billed as the “Wonder Team 11 -starring All-American Brick Muller.
Probably few Pennsylvanians realize it, but W & J set two Rose Bowl records by using only eleven men and holding the Bears to two first downs. The eleven iron men were Herb Knopf, Russ Stein, Ray Neal, Al Crook, Ralph Vince, Chet Winderquist, Carl Konvolinka, Pruner West, Hal Erickson, Wayne Brenkert and Joe Basista. After a touchdown was called back, the game ended in a scoreless tie. Nevertheless, Washington and Jefferson is still the only small college to have ever played in what players and fans and critics revere as the “granddaddy of the bowl games.”
W & J boasted great teams and players during the 1920s led by Neale, as well as later coaches, John W. Heisman, Dave Morrow and Andy Kerr. One of their stars, Charles “Pruner” West, a Washington native, was the first black quarterback to play in the Rose Bowl. His collegiate career extended four years, from 1920 to 1923, and he won the national pentathlon championships in 1923 and 1924. Hal Erickson, Bill Amos and Forrest “Jap” Douds also made All-American teams. Amos was the star runner on Coach Kerr’s 1927 team, which was headed to the Rose Bowl until tied by West Virginia in the last game of the season.
While Dr. Ralph Cooper Hutchison coached the Red and Black during the thirties, the college began deemphasizing the importance of football. After averaging three wins in every four games, W & J’s gridders dropped below .500 during the next four decades. Despite the poor records, however, exciting games and exciting players, still thrilled spectators, particularly during the 1939 game at the University of Akron. Losing 6 to 24, W & J rallied in the second half behind a Johnny Macel-to-Don Kreps aerial attack, closing the gap to just two points, 24-22. A last second Macel-Kreps pass bounced off the latter’s fingertips to end an incredible comeback.
After World War II, W & J made an effort to recapture the winning record they held during the Roaring Twenties. Several western Pennsylvania all stars – notably “Deacon Dan” Towler, a high school All-American – were in the line-up. Coach Henry Luecht’s team did well in its first year in 1946, but team injuries (particularly to Towler) hurt the succeeding teams’ records, and Luecht’s squads never met their potential. However, Towler set the W & J season scoring record of 133 points in 1948 and went on to a professional career with the Los Angeles Rams.
Even after joining the Presidents Athletic Conference (PAC) in 1955, W & J’s results both in and out of the conference were less than satisfactory: the teams posted 16 wins, 55 losses and four ties throughout the 1950s. The most notable Red and Black team to surface in the equally dismal sixties (24-50-0) was the 1963 squad, which battled John Carroll for the PAC title in the last game, losing 14-6. During the next decade, W & J won a PAC title as the 1970 Red and Black team, paced by a record-setting Don Kasperik-Rich Pocock passing duo, went 5-0 in the PAC and 7-1 overall. But the rest of the games in the seventies were just as disappointing and hallmarked by losses: 47 wins, 58 losses and two ties. The worst year – 1979 – saw only one win and eight losses!
After two decades of unsuccessful teams and discouraging losses, the Red and Black attempted a turnaround in the 1980s. The first two teams of the decade finished with 2-7 records. Washington and Jefferson President Burnett hired coach John Luckhart, who had played on Purdue’s Rose Bowl team in 1967 and had served as assistant coach on several successful teams, including Lehigh University in Bethlehem. However, in Luckhart’s first two years, 1982 and 1983, W & J posted 4-5 and 3-5-1 records. But the tide soon turned. Washington and Jefferson College finally won the Presidents Athletic Conference title in 1984, and became one of only eight teams invited to the Division III national playoffs. Led by quarterback Mike John, runningback A. J. Pagano and a strong defense of Ed Kusko and C. R. Chernik (all PAC selections), the Red and Black won a first-round thriller at Randolph-Macon by one point before losing to Central College of Iowa in the national semi-finals. Kusko was eventually selected for Kodak’s All-American team.
The following year Carnegie Mellon University cost Coach Luckhart’s team the 1985 PAC title and playoff bid by handing the Red and Black its only loss. During the next season, however, W & J earned an invitation to the playoffs, winning eight games and losing just one to take another PAC title. In the playoff, W & J took a 20-7 lead over Susquehanna University in the first half, but the easterners came back to win by eight points, 28-20.
In 1987, Washington and Jefferson found the right combination to produce its first perfect season (nine wins, no losses, no ties) since 1921. Highlights included triumphs over Ohio Wesleyan and Carnegie-Mellon, both decided by last-minute field goals by freshman John Ivory. The Red and Black won the PAC and made the playoffs, facing one of Allegheny College’s best-ever teams in the opener at Meadville,Crawford County, on a cold, snowy day.
Allegheny’s Gators scored with fifty seconds left to take a 17-9 lead, but the Red and Black refused to quit. With twelve seconds to go, quarterback Pat Aigner completed a 27-yard touchdown pass to Pagano. They teamed again for a two-point conversion to tie the game and require overtime. W & J’s Arnold Tarpley intercepted a Gator pass and, four plays later, Rick France strived for an incredible victory. The 1987 Red and Black team made the second round of the playoffs, meeting Emory and Henry College of Emory, Virginia, with the Wasps’ national-leading quarterback Gary Collier. W & J’s luck ran out though. The Black and Red were going for he tying touchdown inside the E & H ten, when a pass by Aigner was intercepted.
A. J. Pagano ended an exemplary career as the NCAA’s Division III all-time second leading scorer with 361 points, which included 125 in 1987. A product of Pittsburgh’s Knoch School, Pagano was chosen for the Kodak All-American team in his senior year.
Nineteen eighty-nine – Washington and Jefferson College’s final year of its first century of football – was another signal success for John Lockhart’s team. The team opened with wins over two of the toughest opponents on the schedule – Juniata College of Pennsylvania and Hampden-Sydney College of Virginia. Until the game at Carnegie-Mellon on November 4, the Red and Black remained undefeated, attaining one of the top national rankings along the way. Carnegie defeated Washington and Jefferson, 17-7, and seemed to have ruined its playoff chances. The Red and Black faced Ithaca College, New York, the defending national champions, for the final game. Quarterback Bob Strope, end Bill Craig and runningback Chris Babirad led the way for a 77-yard drive to a touchdown and a 7-0 lead. The Red and Black’s defense was impregnable, and W & J landed one of its all-time greatest wins, 34-0.
The unexpected win over Ithaca propelled W & J to the top echelons of Division III, and the team was again invited to the playoffs. In the opening round, the squad traveled to Ferrum, Virginia, to face the Panthers, the highest-scoring team of Division III. Led by running backs Chris Warren and Fred Stovall and quarterback Phil Jones (called he best backfield in Division III by Sports Illustrated), Ferrum never let W & J into the game. It was a 41-7 loss and great blow for the Red and Black. W & J finished the 1989 season ended with eight wins in nine regular season contests and four straight PAC crowns, a record shared with Carnegie. Coach John Luckhart became the college’s winningest coach that year, concluding his first eight years at W & J with a stellar 59-19-2 record.
Washington and Jefferson College has been among the nation’s top ten in winning percentage during the past five years. Its record for the century was 478 wins, 331 losses and 39 ties-charting it sixth among all Division III colleges. Despite the 1989 playoff loss, the season’s record provided a fitting end to a great century of football for the college. And Washington and Jefferson’s football spirit has not been dampened. As the collegiate football craze still rages across he country, refulgent Red and Black supporters crowd the stadiums, cheering on their beloved team. Football fans – whether or not they’re Washington and Jefferson College admirers – can certainly appreciate the witticism of Grantland Rice, longtime dean of sports writers, who wrote, “I once met an old grad who didn’t care whether you roasted or boosted his college football team – or whether you even mentioned it. It was the first funeral I had attended in years.”
For Further Reading
Coleman, Helen Turnbull Waite. Banners in the Wilderness: Early Years of Washington and Jefferson College. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1946.
Houlgate, Deke. The Football Thesaurus: 77 Years on the American Gridiron. Los Angeles: Nash-U-Nal Publishing Company, 1946.
McCallum, John and Charles H. Pearson. College Football, USA: 1869-1973. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1973.
Menke, Frank and Pete Palmer. The Encyclopedia of Sports. South Brunswick, N.J.: A.S. Barnes, Inc., 1978.
Murphy, Robert M. 25 Years of Football at Washington & Jefferson College, 1890-1914. Washington, Pa.: Ward Printing Company, 1914.
North, E. Lee. Redcoats, Redskins and Red-Eyed Monsters. South Brunswick, N.J.: A.S. Barnes, Inc., 1979.
____. She Produces All-Americans: W & J Football, 1890-1946. Washington, Pa.: Ward Printing Company, 1947.
Scarborough, David K. Intercollegiate Athletics at Washington & Jefferson College: A Tradition. Unpublished Thesis, 1979.
Swetnam, George and Helene Smith. A Guidebook to Historic Western Pennsylvania. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1980.
E. Lee North is completing a book devoted to the history of football at Washington and Jefferson College. A graduate of the college, where he served as editor of The Red and Black, president of Phi Kappa Psi fraternity and member of the national honorary journalism and history fraternities, North was sports editor of The Washington (Pa.) Reporter. He also served as public relations director at Washington and Jefferson College and as proposal manager for Grumman Aerospace Corporation. He is the author of four books, including two histories of West Virginia and an earlier history of football at his alma mater. He is a member of the Football Writers Association of America and the Authors Guild.