1922 Yearbook
Source URL
Title
1922 Yearbook
Description
The Ambrosian
VARSITY FOOTBALL
St. Ambrose was proud of her unbeaten '20 eleven. Saturday after Saturday they
rolled up big totals against strong contenders, did not lose a single game, and were
scored on but once. But St. Ambrose is just as proud of the team of '21. For, while
the '21 Varsity was not always victorious, it always had its toes in the ground, fighting until the final whistle. The game with Augustana was lost only because the
Varsity was forced to batter itself to pieces against an unconquerable advantage in
avoirdupois. Campion, Quincy and the Battery were all turned back losers.
To say that football prospects at St. Ambrose were bad in September hardly expresses it—there were no prospects. With but four letter men and a few green men
from the '20 squad, Coaches Brindley and Davenport found that they would have to
develop a team out of material raw in every sense of the word. Some of the men did
not even have high school experience on the gridiron. However, the mentors were not
discouraged; before many days rolled around, they were busy moulding real gridmen
out of their inexperienced material.
By the time of the first game, the Saints had a fairly strong aggregation to put on
the field. The Battery B Eleven fell an easy prey to the Ambrosians, who displayed
wonderful prospects for so early in the season. It was evident from this exhibition
that the Saints, to have a winning team, would have to make good advantage of their
best and only asset—speed. The first reverse of the season came when the Ambrosians
fell in a 9 to 7 defeat at the hands of the Wisconsin State Normal Eleven. The Saints
put up a hard, game fight with their much heavier opponents; but weight and experience told on them in the final quarter.
Quincy proved no match for the shifty Ambrosians, who were rapidly showing improvement. The line was beginning to look stronger, and taking it all in all, the
Ambrosian Eleven began to look more like a winning machine. The following week,
however, the Saints received another setback at the hands of the Kirksville Eleven.
The Missourians outweighed and outsmarted the Ambrosians but they did not outfight them. Only after a hard and desperate fight were the Saints downed to the tune
of 20 to 0 by their experienced opponents.
Then came the memorable Augustana game, which will go down in the records as
one of the greatest games ever played by a team representing St. Ambrose. Though
the Ambrosians lost, that game, to a certain extent, will always be looked upon as a
victory by the Ambrosian followers. Tremendously outweighed by the Islanders the
Saints went into the game and put all they had into the fight. At no time was the
outcome certain, and the Saints worried the Islanders at all times. It was only after
the Ambrosians threatened seriously to score on several occasions that the Swedes succeeded in slipping over a 14 to 0 win. In this game DeClerk played like a veteran,
and it was greatly due to his wonderful smashes and brilliant kicking that the Ambrosians succeeded in holding down the "Augie" scoring.
The following week, badly crippled after the Augustana game and out of condition
in every way, the Ambrosians traveled to Des Moines and held the Still College
Page Forty-two
VARSITY FOOTBALL
St. Ambrose was proud of her unbeaten '20 eleven. Saturday after Saturday they
rolled up big totals against strong contenders, did not lose a single game, and were
scored on but once. But St. Ambrose is just as proud of the team of '21. For, while
the '21 Varsity was not always victorious, it always had its toes in the ground, fighting until the final whistle. The game with Augustana was lost only because the
Varsity was forced to batter itself to pieces against an unconquerable advantage in
avoirdupois. Campion, Quincy and the Battery were all turned back losers.
To say that football prospects at St. Ambrose were bad in September hardly expresses it—there were no prospects. With but four letter men and a few green men
from the '20 squad, Coaches Brindley and Davenport found that they would have to
develop a team out of material raw in every sense of the word. Some of the men did
not even have high school experience on the gridiron. However, the mentors were not
discouraged; before many days rolled around, they were busy moulding real gridmen
out of their inexperienced material.
By the time of the first game, the Saints had a fairly strong aggregation to put on
the field. The Battery B Eleven fell an easy prey to the Ambrosians, who displayed
wonderful prospects for so early in the season. It was evident from this exhibition
that the Saints, to have a winning team, would have to make good advantage of their
best and only asset—speed. The first reverse of the season came when the Ambrosians
fell in a 9 to 7 defeat at the hands of the Wisconsin State Normal Eleven. The Saints
put up a hard, game fight with their much heavier opponents; but weight and experience told on them in the final quarter.
Quincy proved no match for the shifty Ambrosians, who were rapidly showing improvement. The line was beginning to look stronger, and taking it all in all, the
Ambrosian Eleven began to look more like a winning machine. The following week,
however, the Saints received another setback at the hands of the Kirksville Eleven.
The Missourians outweighed and outsmarted the Ambrosians but they did not outfight them. Only after a hard and desperate fight were the Saints downed to the tune
of 20 to 0 by their experienced opponents.
Then came the memorable Augustana game, which will go down in the records as
one of the greatest games ever played by a team representing St. Ambrose. Though
the Ambrosians lost, that game, to a certain extent, will always be looked upon as a
victory by the Ambrosian followers. Tremendously outweighed by the Islanders the
Saints went into the game and put all they had into the fight. At no time was the
outcome certain, and the Saints worried the Islanders at all times. It was only after
the Ambrosians threatened seriously to score on several occasions that the Swedes succeeded in slipping over a 14 to 0 win. In this game DeClerk played like a veteran,
and it was greatly due to his wonderful smashes and brilliant kicking that the Ambrosians succeeded in holding down the "Augie" scoring.
The following week, badly crippled after the Augustana game and out of condition
in every way, the Ambrosians traveled to Des Moines and held the Still College
Page Forty-two
Date
1922
Rights
St. Ambrose University, 518 W. Locust St., Davenport, IA 52803
Identifier
http://cdm16810.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p16810coll2/id/8111