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About The Texas Aggie. (College Station, Tex.) 1921-current | View Entire Issue (April 1, 1934)
—— en eg. . Coaches Pleased With Spring Practice > SPORT FODDER | Eset | With eleven games carded in- cluding every conference team and three intersectional opponents Homer Norton and his first Aggie eleven will have their hands full next fall. Centenary at Beaumont and Michigan State at San An- tonio are games of particular in- terest to the A. & M. men of those sections. The Temple University tilt at Philadephia will mark the first invasion of an A. & M. team into the east. Temple University is not widely known in Texas but is an institu- tion of some 12,000 students, located in Philadelphia. They have their own big stadium and with the hiring of “Pop” Warner as football coach have announced their intention of taking their place in the athletic world. They are slated to have one of the most powerful teams in the East this year. The coming year will be ‘Warner's second at Temple. Michigan State at San Antonio~ on December 8 will furnish another real intersectional battle as will the Centenary game at Beaumont. None of these games will be any tougher than those against con- ference members and even the opening games against Sam Hous- ton and Texas A. & I. will be hard fought battles. There are no “preathing spells” on the calendar once the season opens. “Stumble” Jordan and “Peck” Merka, veteran Aggie tackles, are bearing down in spring practice. Both of them can see plenty of competition for their jobs right on the field beside them. If tackles can make a football team the Ag- gies should be well fixed for the next few years. Among the youngsters coming on with three years of competition ahead of them are “Pete” Barber, 200 pounds, from Abilene; J. T. Whitfield, 215 pounds, Itasca; “Red” Murphy, 210 pounds, Beaumont; Selmer Kirby, 210 pounds, Amarillo; Nick Willis, 190 pounds, San Antonio; F. B. Bayless, 200 pounds, Houston; W. H. Miller, 260 pounds, Temple, G. J. Clark, 200 pounds, Breckenridge, and one or two others. Watch Leslie Cummings, Bryan | lad and a brother of last year’s football captain. He started as a guard this spring and has been moved to the backfield. He weighs around 180 pounds and is the type of man who can play anywhere. He'll be hard to keep off next years team at some position. Baylor’s football prospects have been dimmed a bit by the recent withdrawal from school of Aubrey Stringer, regular back last year, and the ineligibility of Parry and Barclay, ends counted upon to re- place the brilliant James and Petty. If the loss of these men is as serious as is claimed Baylor’s football prospects will come down into the uncertain class along with A. & M., Rice and T. C. U. The conference this fall will have more star backfield material than at any time in its history. Bohn Hilliard heads 8 lettermen back- field performers at Texas, Robert Wilson and a half dozen others are at S. M. U., Jimmy Lawrence will represent T. C. U., Ralph LaForge and others are lurking in the Arkansas Ozarks, and Baylor's Pierce was not far from the best back in the conference last fall. Rice gets back into harness Bill GRID SCHEDULE COMPLETED WITH SAN TONE GAME Three Intersectional Battles and Full Conference Com- petition Make Up Gruelling Program for Cadet Eleven. Balancing a full Southwest Con- ference schedule with a colorful three-game array of intersectional battles, Coach Homer Norton’s Texas Aggie football team will play eleven games next Fall, Dean E. J. Kyle, athletic council chair- man, has announced. The Maroon and White jersied Cadets will play in a total of six different cities in addition to their five home tilts. The Aggies’ 1934 football sche- dule will set an unusual number of records for the Cadets. It will be the first time since the Southwest Conference has had its present complete membership that the Cadets have played a full schedule of six conference games, and the first time in the Aggies’ athletic | history, so far as Cadet athletic ed as many as eleven full varsity games in one season. The 1934 season also will mark Homer Norton’s first year as Ag- gie head football coach and also will mark the first time that the Aggies ever have wandered as far from home for a game as Phila- delphia, Pa., where they are to meet Coach “Pop” Warner’s Tem- ple University Owls on Friday night, Oct. 5. The Aggies and University of Arkansas Razorbacks will meet on the gridiron for the first time since 1930. Completion of the Aggies’ sche- dule was announced after the sche- duling of a game with the Michigan State College Spartans, of East Lansing, Mich., to be played Dec. 8 at San Antonio. In their third intersectional battle of the year, the Cadets will play the Centenary College Gentlemen at Beaumont on Oct. 23, Sept. 22—Sam Houston S. T. C. at College Station. Sept. 29—Texas A. & I. at Col- lege Station. Oct. 5—Temple University at Philadelphia, Pa. (night game). Oct. 13—Centenary College at Beaumont. Oct. 20—Texas Christian versity at College Station. Oct. 27—Baylor University at Waco. Nov. 3—University of Arkansas at College Station. Nov. 10—Southern University at Dallas. Nov. 17—Rice Institute at Col- lege Station. Nov. 29—University of Texas at Austin. Dec. 8—Michigan State College at San Antonio. Uni- Methodist year’s team for real strength. T. C. U. lost heavily and some day the Frog trick of reaching into the bag and pulling out another fine team after one is wrecked by graduation is bound to fail. Bar- ring upsets, S. M. U., Arkansas and Texas should be the top half of the conference, with the remaining teams all in the uncertain class, but with any of them liable to stage a big surprise. Texas University ran away with the Conference swimming meet held recently in the A. & M. pool, with S. M. U. taking a close second from the Aggies. The Longhorns won every first place but one in the meet. Swimming is the new- est minor sport in the conference Wallace and Bill McCauley and” and just getting started. teamed with Witt and some others they will be plenty good. On past performances the Aggies have nothing to match these boys, but another year may see some of the Cadet backs bloom brightly. Every one of the boys mentioned has had a year or two of experience. Pick- ing next fall’s All-Conference back- field is going to be a tough job. Speaking of football prospects, S. M. U., Arkansas and Texas must be put at the top of the list on paper. The Mustangs lost only one substitute linesman from last fall’s squad, Arkansas lost only one or two men and Texas returns a very healthy group from last fall, including several real stars. Baylor also returns plenty of last As an illustration of the kind of confidence he wants his players to have Cal Hubbard tells a story of the time he captained the football team of little Geneva College and went up to play mighty Harvard in the Harvard stadium. The Geneva team arrived on the field first and while warming up one of the Geneva players ran up to the referee and chirped, “Gosh, Mister, I hope those Harvard fellows show up!” Geneva won. Price Bradshaw, 30, is with the Gulf States Utilities Co., at their Neches power station, Beaumont. A. T. Underwood, ’21, is with the Sun Oil Co., at Beaumont. records reveal, that they have play- | ~ Scenes From Spring Training Above are a few scenes taken from the spring football training camps taken from their second week’s practice. In the center are the coaches working out with the team. They are Head Coach Hom- er Norton, Line Coach Cal Hub- bard, Freshman Coach Ray Mur- ray, and Backfield Coach Manning Smith. The team scrimmages each afternoon and will continue to work out every afternoon until the time for spring practice to end. DAIRY TEAM WINS FIRST PLACE AT - FT. WORTH SHOW A. L. Darnell Coaches Junior Team To Triumph Over Oklahoma, Louisiana and Texas Tech. For the eighth time within the last eleven years the A and M dairy judging team won first place in the annual judging contest held Monday, March 12, in conjunction with the Southwestern Exposition rand Fat Stock Show at Fort Worth. The Aggie team led its nearest op- ponent, Louisiana State Univer- sity, by nearly two hundred points. C. D. McEver, Hillsboro, was high point man for A and M, win- ning third place in the Jersey divis- ion and first in Holstein. W. G. McCubben, Valley View, placed third in the entire contest. The other member of the team that accompanied Coach A. L. Darnell was E. M. Neal, Yoakum. Colleges represented in the con- test besides Texas A and M and Louisiana State University were: Oklahoma A and M; Texas Tech; Texas A and I; and Panhandle A and M of Oklahoma, finishing in the order named. John W. Mitchell, ’19, who was a star basketball player back in his day, is living at 1420 Bishop, Little Rock, Ark. He is a well known basketball and football of- ficial in his section. W. N. Keisling, ’31, is with the Keisling-Rutledge Gin Co., and lives at Vincent, Texas. Maurice Sessions, ’31, is farm- ing at Austwell, Texas. “Well pleased with results, from their thirty days spring football session, enthusiastic over the pos- sibilities for successful football teams at A. &' M., but far from satisfied with the performance of their men,” sums up the reactions of Homer Norton and Cal Hub- bard at the close of Spring prac- tice this week. They had high praise to pay the men who stayed thru the tough month and were very highly pleased with the gen- eral attitude of the boys on the squad. “If we can get better block- ing, the proper team play, and a deep desire to win, we will give a good account of ourselves against any of them next fall,” was Nor- ton’s parting shot to A. & M. foot- ball fans. At the close of the practice per- iod Norton returned to Centenary where he will continue to serve as Athletic Director until he and his family move to the campus this summer. Cal Hubbard reports in the East on April 15th.,, for his summer program as an umpire in the Class AA, American Associa- tion baseball league. Give Me Blocking “Give me some blocking” has been the battle cry of both Norton and Hubbard during the past month, and the blocking of the squad has shown a material im- provement as a result. The Aggies next fall will use the short punt formation as the basis of their of- fensive play, and from that for- mation will be equipped with an offense that is both tricky and pow- erful. Spinners, reverses and fak- es will be sprinkled thru plays that put tremendous pressure and pow- er against opposing tackles and ends, and similar running plays end up in forward, backward or lat- eral passes. Poor forward passing and a weakness in end play loomed dur- ing the spring session, although some of the ends showed real im- provement toward the last. With Randow and Cowser added to the squad next fall the passing should be greatly improved. Those two, |. with “Muggins” Fowler, will do most of the tossing next fall. The signal calling job has given Nor- ton some worry, with Fowler, Cowser and Clifford Gregory look- ing like the most likely prospects for the job. Fish Improve Several freshmen who will be sophomores next fall showed mark- ed improvement and gave notice that they may be starters next fall. Among the backs Reece New- some, 165 pound former Masonic Home star, came by leaps and bounds and will likely get into many ball games. Merka, 200 pound full, and Wright, diminutive speed merchant, showed ability as did “Doc” Pitner, 185 pound Den- ton lad. The latter has great pos- sibilities if he ever comes down to earth. In the line “Pete” Barber looked great at tackle and Ed Stages and Pete Dowling came fast at end in the last week of practice. Les Cummings, moved to the backfield from the line, looked good. The veterans Jack Roach and Stan Stach lead the centers with young Charlie DeWare showing great improvement. Among the guards, Odel Conoley, Marion and John Crow, Stapp Maxwell, look- ed good and the youngsters, Jack Burke, Allen and McGrady show- ed to best advantage. With the ex- ception of McGrady all these guards weigh 185 or more. Among the tackles Pete Barber, J. G. Clark, A. B. Murphy, J. T. Whitfield, J. H. Zich, Nick Willis and the 260 pound W. H. Miller, were all new men and all showed possibilities. All of them weigh around or above the 200 mark. The veterans Jordan and Merka. will have plenty of competition’ from these boys next fall, but have ex- cellent chances to hold their jobs Ends Look Bad The ends made the poorest show- ing of any position during the practice session, although showing much improvement toward the last. Rollins, Tohline, Haynes and NORTON - HUBBARD STRESS VALUR 600D BLOCKING--SHORT PUNT 10 BE BASIS OF ATTACK THIS FALL Wilkins, from last fall’s’ squad were on hand, with Dowling, Stag- es and Westbrook from the “Fish” team. Westbrook was sick during most of the month and got in very little practice. At the close of the session Dowling, Wilkins, Stages and Rollins looked the best. Norton shifts his backs around so much that it is difficult to di- vide them into the usual positions. His No. 1 back is the tail-end back, his No. 2 back is in the usual full- back position, the right half is the No. 3 back and the left half the No. 4 back. His line backer or full back usually plays in the No. 3 position. Every back upon the during the spring session to show what he could do at each position. Three of the best looking backs during the spring session were the veterans “Grandpa” Gregory, Percy Reid and ‘“Muggins” Fow- ler. This fall Randow and Bill Cow- ser will be added to the squad and at this time they look like the best prospects for the No. 1 or tail- back positions. Both are fast and fair passers. Other backs showing to advantage include Bill Kim- brough, Syd Martin, Paul Callahan, Nash Thompson, and Jack String- fellow from last years squad, and Bass, Newsome, Pitner, Wright, Merka, L-Hommedieu and Walker. In summarizing the squad the Aggies look powerful from tackle to tackle, especially in the center of the line. Roach and Stach should give the Cadets a brand of center play equal to any in the conference and the guards should hold their own with any opposition. There are lots of big boys available for tackle jobs and among them these all-important places should be well handled. The ends are a question season moves along. There is not much weight avail- able in the backfield, unless Merka makes a starting place with his 200 pounds. Gregory weighs 180 and Reid 185, with the rest of the best looking backs lighter. Randow, Cowser, and Fowler will likely do a fair job of punting and passing. Randow and Wright will be the fastest of the backs with Cowser and Reid close behind. Although Norton and Hubbard have gotten a fair line on the men available for next fall there is still open competition for every place on the team. It is evident that to play under these coaches a man must be able to block, and must be rough and tough, and able to stand up under punishment. Barring scholastic or other casulties, the brunt of next fall’s grid campaign for the Aggies. There were other lads out for spring football, and some of them may make the grade next year. But its dollars to dough- nuts that at least ten of the eleven starting men next fall have been named in this survey. ‘Cadet Nine Loses Early Season Tilts The Aggie baseball team has hit a rocky road in their early season games. They dropped an 11 inning battle at Henderson and tied a 12 inning game at the same place against the Overton Oilers, strong independent team. In a pair of games played at Beaumont against the Beaumont Texas League team the Aggies dropped the first 3-4, and lost the second by a wider margin. In spite of their losses the team has played fair baseball, and will have a big voice in de- ciding the conference title for the year. E. D. Thomason, 33, is with the Louisville Gas and Electric Co., and lives at 1616 Fernwood Ave. Louisville, Ky. He wants to know if there are any other A. & M. men in his city, and if so why they do not get together for an A. & M. meeting occasionally. J. H. Wheless, ’29, is with the State Highway Dept., and gets his mail at 2450 San Jacinto St, Houston, Texas. squad was given an opportunity mark, but should improve as the men mentioned above will carry the
