The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1910-09-17
A Football Retrospect by w. r.
Kercher.
Writes of Washburn's Famous
Team of l 900.
MADE UP OF STARS.
Bonnie Owens Developed a Great
Gridiron Machine.
Interesting Incidents of the Sea-
sons Play.

The first time the football players at
Washburn college ever took the scalps
Of the Kansas university pigskin chas-
ers was in 1900. Up to that time Kan
sas had been beating the Washburn
protegeS with monotonous regularity.
Considering the relative sizes of the
two .hools, Kansas had all the right
in the world to win from the Blue, and
do it every year. But in 1900 Wash
burn trampled the red and the blue
into the dust, says W. r. Kercher in
the Kansas City Journal.
The year of 1899 had brought forth
the great and ever vi .torious Kansas
team. 1t was in the day of "Cussin'
Smith. Avery, Wilcox. Tucker, Moore
and Bonnie Owens. Great was that
team and glorious its chapter of sue
cesses. AS usual the team lambasted
the Topeka Congregationalists all over
the football map that year, and in two
games at that, one at Lawrence and
one at Topeka. The Kansas rooters
love to talk of 1899, but say little about
1900.
In 1900 Washburn secured Bonnie
Owens as coach. Owens was a protege
of Yost: knew the famous Michigan
mans hurry up" methods. Yost had
coached Kansas in 1892 and Owens
played quarterback and ran the team.
Naturally that taught him better than
in any other way the Yost style.
Wnen owens cdIn0 To w dSHDuTH ne
found a goodly supply of material In
the line he had for ends Larry Banks,
Hitchcock and bob" Stewart. who is
this years Washburn coach. For
tackles he had Ernest Hughes, who
captained the team, and Warren Gill.
now a baseball player in the major
leagues. For guards he had FATTY"
Clark and Myron White. two powerful
men. At center was Dad Dadisman,
now state secretary of the Y. M. G. A.
"Jimmie'' Stewart, a brother OF Coach
bob" was his quarter For halves he
had "Colonel Bob Roberts, wade"
Moore, who won big baseball reputa-
ton later on, and Fannie Mehl. who
went east Some years later and played
stellar football. 1t was great aggre-
cation. owens has coached a. good
many teams since-the Terrible Swedes
at Lindsborg, and Oklahoma univer-
sity. where he still is in charge-but
he never had a collection like that
team which trotted onto the Washburn
gridiron in the fall of 1900 You can
still get bets from football followers
who will declare that it was the great
est team ever put out in this neck of
the woods.
Developed Great Machine.
Owens got to work on them to de-
velop machine work and speed. And In
both he was successful. Most of the
men were big, powerful chaps, built
for war. but most of them also had fast
legs. He worked them for all they were
worth. There was no loafing and no
tagging. Intricate, close formations
where there was nothing Of the spec
tacular-but into which eleven men
went. were Owens creations. He had
his men with him all the time. They
worked hard for him. Some of his
material was raw and unframed III
football science. Some OF 1t knew the
game well. But all had pepper and
g. all &t7nN W.
worth. They had the strength, the
heart, the speed and the determination
and it meant and produced an ever
victorious team.
The first game was with the Haskell
Indians, only a few days after the
team had been brought together. the
Indians did not play under the gen
eral football rules, so Owens, who was
coaching, played quarterback. He anu
Wade Moore practically played tne
game. The unseaSoned strength IN the
team held the Redskins. but Owens
and Moore did the advancing by Sc
ries of quarterback kicks that were
models of their kind. Again and again
when the Blue failed to advance the
ball by rushing because of lack Of
training and team work, owens would
signal the quarter kick.
Moore would skip out to one side
while the formation was being made,
and Owens, with mock attempt at
passing the ball, would turn and boot
1t to the fleet halfback, some thirty
or forty feet at right angles with the
line of scrimmage.
"Get It. Wade!" Bonnie would CHR
rup in his high voice. And Wade was
always there and received the HURTING
oval
"Hee-yee!" Bennie would cry. You
old football rooters will we'll remem-
Der Owens cheerful "Hee-yee," when
things went to suit him. Those quar-
terback kicks finally won the day-the
victory being by a couple of touch
downs.
Tried Out on Indians.
That game had tried out the green
team. The Indians were unusually
strong that year, and had been aug
mented by some Carlisle stars. Owens
knew that he could make a winner of
that crowd. Green and raw and I'M
seasoned, they had held the aborigines
who always begin training early, in the
hope of taking the measure of some OF
their white rivals in the so-called
''early season games"
Then came several games with
smaller colleges-alI of them easy VIC
tories. There was no trouble in van
gushing them. The contests were real
1y chances to try out various forma-
lions, and make such additions and re-
visions as seemed best
Along about that time a game was
played with a team made up of soldier
lads from Fort Riley, coached by West
post. Naturally the men in the regu.
lar army have to be sound physically
and in such a large fort it would seen