The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1939-08-17
Civ Once Had Great Ball Teams

Since those days the city has
produced no great teams, but
the revival of high school base
ball recently may develop good
future town teams -
FootbaII was OF a later vim
tage than baseball, and the first
game in which local players
participated is thought to have
occurred in 1898. a representa-
tive group of citizens it was, too,
which travelled to Sleepy Eye
to engage in the brutal sport. It
included the local high schools
Professor Jones; Frank Peter
son, bartender and Owen Trade
well, Otto Wilson, T. E. Finn
and Stanley ard Angelo Bissell,
the latter one-time University
of Minnesota football great. The
players gave the sport an aus
picious debut by winning the
game.
By 1900 a regular team was
formed, comprised chiefly of
high school boys, but Professor
Jone continued in his role of
player-coach and did some of the
fiercest tackling. The citizen
cry found the game bit con-
fusing, as the following account
of 20 victory over Mankato
indicates: 1.-The crowd was
strictly a learning crowd. Only
a few knew the rules of the
game and the balance was there
to learn what they were, ana
what copnted-What was foul,
and what was a tackle, what
was a touchdown, and what was
a goal" That the battering play
of the day was no sissy's game
is evidenced by the Gazette's
editorLalizing, Swearing was in
dulged in by the players only
once or twice, but it should be
wiped out entirely"
Early Officiating! !!
Treachery among Re,dwood's
opponents was rampant in those
days, and the Gazette's sporting
reporter did not pull his punch
es in condemning it. In 1901
the local town team played what
was supposedly the New Ulm
High school club and the Dutch
men were INSCRIPTIONS enough
TO bring in some ringers who
weren't enrolled in their high
school! The Granite Falls game
that year was a classic, for
Redwood soon found out that
they had made mistake in let.
ting Granite Falls choose re-
fierce. Granite carried the balls
eight times in succession for two
yards gain" No end annoyed
by such biased officiating, Red
wood selected the referee for the
second half, land his work was
satisfactory and honest" Salts
factory indeed, for when Gran
tie ran back a Redwood tumble
for a touchdown, the Redwood
chosen official declared the ball
dead when furnbled, and award
ed the locals the game by default
when the enraged Granite play
ers refused to continue. But
honest" -?
There will be those who will
protest vehemently the conten-
ton that Redwood's greatest
football team was the eleven of
1896. Leading contender for
that title was the team captained
by Ira Rogers in 1913, which
won the coveted Western Min
nesota championship. This fine
aggregation walked over Rem
vile, Madison, Dawson, and
Candy. ''We're the boys that
put the can on Canby'! but had
its record marred by 6-6 tie
with Fairfax and a 1912 tie
with Appleton. That Appleton
game was the last of the season.
and the stake was high-the
championship.
Benson Ineligible
Thereby hangs a tale of das-
tardly deceit which present
Governor Stassen was kind
enough not to exploit during the
last gubernatorial campaign. The
Redwood boys played an inspir-
ed game, but were unable to do
more than match their oppon-
ents. Hopes for a clear and un-
disputed claim to the title were
therefore demolished, until the
Appleton superintendent adj
mitted that three. of his star
players were ineligible scholas-
tically. One was the center, an
other the plunging fullback, and
the third (you guessed it), their
sterling quarterback. Elmer