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THURSDAY MORNING NOVEMBER 25, 1943
Southwest Conference to be Decided
Today; Fans Crowd Campus as Game Nears
At last the day we have all
been waiting for has arrived, and
the feeling of tension can be felt
all over the campus. It is a well
known fact that no matter how
bad a season an Aggie or Long
horn team may have it considers
the total results pleasing if it
comes out on top of the Turkey
Day classic. This year the Aggies
boast one of the best aggregations
of high school stars in the nation.
The Cadets have developed plenty
of speed and power as well as lots
of tricky plays. Should the Ags
win it will be a decided triumph
for Texas high school football.
The prediction is hard to make.
Both teams have lots of power and
scoring punch and will be giving
their all today as they have never
given it before. The Longhorns, of
course, rate the edge as far as ex
perience is concerned, for the Ca
det team has been through only
part of one season while many of
the Texas stars are veterans. How
ever, the game is being played
here on Kyle Field and the Aggies
will invoke powerful traditional
spirits to help them win over the
Longhorns. The Ags boast an ag
gregation of some of the fleetest
backs in the conference, and easily
the most outstanding punter in the
section, Red Turner.
Texas is not lacking in powerful
backs though. J. R- Calahan, for
mer Texas Tech star will be the
main cog in the Longhorn back-
field, with Magliolo, Park, and
Ellsworth lending able support.
The game should be a toss-up with
the breaks deciding the winner.
We’ll let our sentiment be our
guide and stick with the old Alma
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Trade Wtih Lou —
He’s Right With You!
BANCROFT
Regulation
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Come in now while we
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WIMBERLEY-STONE-dansbv
CLOCKIERS
College and Bryan
Mater. Aggies 20, Texas 14.
Head Manager Warren Gilbert
of the Aggie team may have a
surprise for the fans if he is given
a chance. Warren went to the same
high school, Woodrow Wilson in
Dallas, that the Longhorns’ water-
boy Billy Andrews went to. Now
it seems that the two are rivals,
for Andrews drop-kicked two extra
points against T.C.U. and became
the toast of the Texas campus.
Warren has been practicing up on
his passing and drop-kicking and
should be ready to do his bit in
the defeat of the Longhorns if
Coach Homer Norton needs him.
Should the Aggie manager go
into the game it will be reminis
cent of the origin of the Aggie
“Twelfth Man” tradition. As the
story goes a player who was not
in uniform at all came from the
stands to play when his team need
ed him. That was the Aggie who
began the tradition symbolizing
the fact that the Cadets are al
ways ready to help their team, no
matter where or when.
Visitors to the campus will be
treated to a sample of precision
yelling as only the Aggies can do
it. There has been a great deal
said lately in regard to the Cadets
yelling when the other team has
the ball, but today the Cadets will
be all out in their yelling and it
will take plenty to stop them-
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
IF THERE IS ANYTHING TO
BE THANKFUL FOR, IT IS
THAT THERE ARE MEN WHO
ARE WILLING TO FIGHT AND
TO DIE THAT WE MAY HAVE
SOMETHING TO BE THANKFUL
FOR.
—AGGIELAND—
(Continued from Page 1)
been cleared for parking spaces for
people who will drive to the game.
The Mess Hall has made arrange
ments for guests of students at
the college to eat at a special time
Thursday. The Corps will eat at
11 o’clock this morning and its
guests will eat at 12 noon. A
charge of fifty cents per person
will be made for the second meal.
Many of the spectators at to
day’s game will be alumni of both
colleges. Both graduates of A. &
M. and the University are expect
ed to turn out for this annual
event en masse. Quite a number
of them will be members of the
Armed Forces.
Included in today’s game will be
a special half-time performance
put on by the bands and student
bodies of both colleges. This will
be broadcast by short wave to
members of the Armed Forces who
are scattered throughout the
world. The entire game is being
broadcast in this manner.
The game today marks the fifty-
first time that A. & M. and Texas
University have played against
each other on the football field.
The first game was played back
in 1894 and after that games were
played off and on until 1900 when
a regular series was initiated. Sev
eral times the teams met twice in
the same year.
—LONGHORNS—
(Continued From Page 1)
horn lines are exceptionally strong
and full of top-notch men. Stand
outs for the Cadets are Marion
Settegast and Bill Geer, ends,
Monty Moncrief and Goble Bryant,
tackles, Damon Tassos and Herb
Turley, guards, and Dick Wright
at center.
Stalwarts of the Steer line are
Clyde Harville and George McCall,
ends, Marcel Gres and Jimmy Ply-
ler, tackles, Franklin Butler, guard,
and Kiefer Marshall, center.
The Longhorns will go into the
game the favorites, but all will
agree that anything can happen
and is liable to. One of the high
lights of the pre-game weeks was
the challenge sent to the Long
horn coach, D. X. Bible, by Coach
Homer Norton of the Aggies. The
challenge was that the Longhorns
should leave their Navy boys in
Austin this year and make the
game between collegiate players
only. Bible, of course, did not ac
cept the challenge.
The game will be broadcast by
shortwave overseas, so that all
the exes of both schools will be
able to pick it up. Special cere
monies will also take place during
the halves when each school will
have five minutes of yells and
songs for the men overseas to
hear and reminisce by. A crowd of
over 33,000 persons will be on
hand for the thriller, which will
decide the Southwest conference
champion. May the best team win!
THE BATTALION
Page 3
Aggie Coach Homer Norton Crosscountry Meet
it r*irio j
Has lolorml Sports Record
Coach Homer Hill Norton
Known primarily as a football
coach, Homer Hill Norton, head
coach and athletic director at A. &
M., made his first bid for fame
as a baseball player, patrolling the
outfield at Birmingham High
School in Alabama. Later he did
such an outstanding baseball job
with the Birmingham-Southern
College nine that he was signed by
the Birmingham Barons in the
Southern Association when he was
graduated from college in 1916.
After a brief stay with the
Barons he landed with the Greens
boro, N. C. club in the Piedmont
League. His next stop was Lake
land, Florida, in the “Million-Dol-
lar Circuit,” and at the end of an
exceptionally good year in 1919,
Columbus, Ohio, in the American
Association bought his contract.
Right then Norton forsook profes
sional baseball to begin his career
as a football coach. He went on
baseball’s voluntarily retired list
and accepted the post of head
coach a t Centenary College,
Shreveport, Louisiana, a job he
held through 1920 and 1921, and
later from 1926 through 1933, re
linquishing it only to come to Tex
as A. & M. in 1934.
During his playing days Nor
ton was a four-sport man, win
ning letters in baseball, football,
basketball, and track in high
school and repeating the feat in
college. In 1915 he captained his
football and baseball teams, and
in 1916, his senior year, he was
awarded a medal as the best all-
around athlete in the Southwest and
was named as an all-conference
back. Sports writers said at the
time he was the best all-around
athlete in the Southwest and one
most likely to reach high acclaim
as a professional.
Prior to Norton’s going to Cen
tenary, the school had never play
ed football as an intercollegiate
sport. In his first year they did
play a few other college teams but
there is no record in the books as
to the results. The only record
found for that year is an item in
the “Shreveport Times” which
shows that the Gents took a 13-8
defeat from Marshall.
In 1921, the first year they
played a regular schedule and for
which records are complete, the
team won four games and lost
three. Before the next season open-
ad the school decided it would go
in for football on a large scale
and hired A. N. (Bo) McMillan,
three-time All-merican back of the
“Praying Colonels” of Centrt Col
lege, as head coach.
When “Bo" accepted the offer,
Norton stepped down and served
as line coach during his three-year
regime. The school found no fault
with Norton’s work and only the
feeling that a big game was need
ed caused him to be replaced as
chief-of-staff.
When McMillan left to accept
a more lucrative offer at the close
of the 1924 season, Norton was
offered his old post but declined it
and continued as assistant under
Earl Davis for the 1925 season.
The following year he was pre
vailed upon to become head coach
again, which job he took and held
until he came to Texas A. & M. in
1934.
Since he has been the Aggies’
coach Norton has rolled up an im
pressive record. His 1939 team was
the best in the nation, and many
boys have risen to All-American
mention under his guidance. Cur
rently the talk of Southwestern
football circles is the amazing job
Norton has done this year in mold
ing his high school boys into an
impressive aggregation and bring
ing them through the season al
most perfectly. Whatever takes
place on the gridiron today Coach
Homer Norton will still be the
Aggies’ man.
—DISTRACTIONS—
(Continued From Page 2)
their harmonicas with jives for
several entertaining moments. The
story is about a man in prison.
His wife is courted by another,
who is very attached to the chil
dren. The husband lies to his wife
about a chance for a pardon and
makes her think that he is in to
stay- Later he gets out and takes
odd jobs about town, but in time
his wife and kids find him and the
result is a happy family reunion.
The Lowdown: An old one, but
the singing is swell.
YEA AGGIES, FIGHT!
Keep a Record of Your Days at
A. & M. in Photographs
Marines — we can supply you with a
dress uniform for portraits—also Ma
rine and Army Garrison Caps.
A. & M. PHOTO SHOP
— North Gate —
Second Company won the Intra
mural Cross-country Meet held last
Saturday by a wide majority, de
spite the fact that the individual
winner was W. W. Shannon from
3rd Company. Shannon won the
race in 8 minutes 30 seconds, bare
ly nosing out Bill Terrell in the
home stretch.
Shannon’s winning time was only
five seconds off the record of 8:25
held by Charles Hahn two semes
ters ago.
Second Company, 3rd Co., C Co.,
1st Co., and 3rd HQC finished
first, second, third, fourth, and
fifth respectively. Eleven five-man
teams entered the meet, and each
team that finished received 50
points for running the course. Sev
eral companies had only four rep
resentatives, and these companies
were given 40 points for finishing.
The last man to finish the race
for 2nd Co- was in 24th place.
This was quite remarkable consid
ering the fact that there were over
seventy boys running the course.
Football Figurin'..
By R. L. Weatherly
We will set aside our column for
the statistics of the Aggie football
team of 1943. We only have the
statistics of the first seven games,
but those statistics show that the
Aggies are powerful this year.
Babe Hallmark leads the team
in ground gaining. He has toted
the ball 118 times for a 247 net
yardage gain. Hallmark leads as
a passer too. He has passed 92
passes and has completed 38 for
607 yards which gives him a per
centage of 41.3 for completions.
Marion Flanagan gets a pat on
the back for the best pass snatch
er. He caught 21 passes for 398
yards. Flanagan also leads the
pack in punt returns. He has re
trieved 42 punts for 433 yards.
Bing Turner gets the nod for be
ing the best punter. He has kicked
59 times for a total of 2261 yards.
He boasts a punting average of
38.4 which is kicking in anyone’s
league. Turner leads the team as
high scorer. He has crossed the
goal line with the ball four times
and has booted the ball across the
bar 12 times. This gives Turner a
total of 36 points scored for the
first seven games.
The following are the statistics
of the A. & M. football team of
Passers
No. No.
Yda.
% ot
Player
Attemp. Cora.
Gain.
Com.
Hallmark
...92 38
607
41.3
Beesley
...49 24
335
49
Turner
... 9 3
69
33.3
Spencer
... 1 0
0
00
Jordan
. 1 0
0
00
Pass Receivers
No.
Player Caught
Yds.
Gained
Flanagan ..
21
398
Butchofsky
7
127
Settegast ..
7
110
Turner
6
95
Burditt ...
10
86
Geer
4
44
Hallmark .
2
37
McAllister
2
37
Deere
1
34
Long
2
20
Moore .—
2
18
Wiley
1
5
Pass Interceptions
No. Inter- Yds.Gained
1943 for the first seven games:
Player
cepted
on return
A&M
Ops.
McCurry
2
77
First Downs
70
36
Deere
3
49
Rushing
37
22
Butchofsky ..
_...2
44
Passing
31
12
Wright D
3
39
Penalties
2
2
Flanagan ....
2
16
Net yds. rush
751
316
Wright, C. E.
1
8
Yards lost
249
315
Soyars
1
5
Net yds. f’ward pas. „
1011
301
Beesley
1
3
F’wards attempted ....
152
123
Hallmark
1
0
Passes com
65
28
Intercep. by
16
15
Punters
Punts, number
64
97
No. of
Average
38.4
36.0
Player
punts
Yds.
Ave.
Blocked by
1
2
Turner
59 2261
38.4
Yds. kicks return
726
832
Beesley
..... 3
130
43.0
Punts
637
291
Hallmark
2
64
32.0
Kickoffs
89
541
Kickoffs, No
31
7
Punt Returns
Fumbles
20
13
No. punt
Yds. gained
Ball lost
14
8
Player
returns
on
return
Penalties, No
40
29
Flanagan
42
433
Yards lost
330
225
Hallmark
3
37
Total scores
137
19
Deere
9
108
Touchdowns
20
3
Burditt
1
17
Conversions
15
1
Butchofsky ..
1
23
Safties
1
0
Beesley
2
19
Individual Statistics, Ball Carriers
Yards Yds. Yds.
Gain. Lost Gain.
382 135 247
151
106
105
99
31
33
28
25
21
10
Player Times
Hallmark ....118
Flanagan .... 38
Burditt 4
Turner 47
Beesley 38
McAllister .. 5
Callendar ..... 6
Pogue 1
Soyars 5
Butch’y 6
Deere 3
MARION E. (BROTHER) SET
TEGAST comes from Houston with
3 years of high school football be
hind him. He is 17 years old and
weighs 190 pounds. His position
is end and he towers 6 ft. 1 in. His
No. is 82.
NAVY MEN
Let Us Do Your Altering
LAUTERSTEIN’S
Scorers
Flayer T’downs Convers. Saf’s T.Pts.
Turner 4 12 0 63
Hallmark ._...4 0 0 24
Burditt .... 3 0 0 18
Flanagan ....2 0 0 12
Moore 2 0 0 12
Butchofsky ..2 0 0 12
McAllister ..110 7
McCurry 1 0 t 0 -6
Wright, D. ..10 0 6
Settegast 0 0 12
Shira 0 1 0 1
Turley 0 10 1
LOUPOT’S
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JAMES L. (BABE) HALL
MARK is from Kilgore with three
years high school experience in
the backfield. He weighs 160
pounds and stands 5 feet and 10
inches. He is 17 years old and can
be found in jersey number 12.
When You Need-
Books -
School Supplies -
Drawing Supplies -
Stationery -
Come to the
College Book Store
— North Gate —
YEA AGGIES! FIGHT!
Aggies,Were With You all the Wag!
Let’s get in there and beat Texas. Make this year’s
Thanksgiving Game one that will live in the mem
ory of every Aggie forver.
Let’s Beat Texas for those Exes
fightin’ “over-there” who will
be listening in to every play.
Student Co-Op
One Block East of North Gate