DECEMBER 3, 1951
CUMBERLAND WINS COLLEGE GRID CROWN
The Cumberland Explorers extended their unbeaten streak to 24 games and more importantly claimed their first collegiate football national title after beating Bluegrass State 35-7 to finish the season with a perfect 10-0 record. The outcome was seldom in doubt as the Explorers, needing a victory to claim the title they felt should have been theirs a year ago when they completed the season with a 10-0-1 record but instead the title went to Deep South Conference foe Central Kentucky, which was also 10-0-1 after the two schools tied in their late season meeting.
This time around the Explorers downed the Tigers 17-10 a little over a week ago and then completed the perfect season with the easy victory over the Mustangs. In Saturday's 35-7 win, Cumberland halfback Billy Kirkwood needed just 3 minutes for his first exploration of the Bluegrass State endzone and he would add a second touchdown run in the third period. Quarterback Garland Churchwell was also at the top of his game, scoring once on a run and once more using his aerial prowess.
Next up for Cumberland will be a trip to New Orleans for a New Years Day date at the Cajun Classic, likely against South Atlantic Conference champion Maryland State but that will be confirmed later this week.
Lubbock State snuck into the second spot in the polls, ahead of idle Lincoln thanks to a 31-0 whitewashing of Red River State. The 10-0 Hawks are off to Miami for the Sunshine Classic where they will face the fifth ranked Georgia Baptist Gators. The full slate of New Year's Classic matchups will be released next week.
WEEKEND COLLEGE FOOTBALL RESULTS
Cumberland 35 Bluegrass State 7
Annapolis Maritime 17 Rome State 3
St. Blane 21 Coastal California 17
Georgia Baptist 9 Noble Jones College 3
Alabama Baptist 37 Opelika State 17
Bayou State 17 Baton Rouge State 6
Mississippi A&M 27 Northern Mississippi 24
Darnell State 28 Travis College 23
Lubbock State 31 Red River State 0
Oklahoma City State 64 Eastern Oklahoma 6
Texas Gulf Coast 24 Amarillo Methodist 13
Ferguson 61 McKinney State 7
Miami State 41 College of Omaha 3
Potomac College 24 Petersburg 10
St. Patrick's 51 Commonwealth Catholic 21
Lawrence State 37 Daniel Boone College 20
Wisconsin Catholic 38 Minns College 3
South Valley State 23 Cache Valley 10
Abilene Baptist 14 College of Waco 10
Payne State 54 Northern Minnesota 17
MAROONS CLINCH SECOND IN WEST DIVISION
PALADINS ALSO SECURE PLAYOFF BERTH
The Detroit Maroons are returning to the American Football Association playoffs for the first time since 1945. Certainly, the new format which doubles the playoff field to four teams from the long standing tradition of just having the two division winners meet in a title game plays a major factor but so does the Maroons dramatic turn around from a 4-8 season a year ago.
The Maroons improved to 7-3 with a 34-7 rout over the Los Angeles Tigers at Bigsby Stadium Sunday. Bill Drown was once again a big factor for the winners as the 24-year-old back scored two more touchdowns, giving him five in the last three games. The Maroons entered the game knowing a victory would clinch second place in the West and came out firing on all cylinders.
Drown scored on a 6-yard run on Detroit's second series of the game and then Jerry Loewen doubled the lead when he sauntered 14 yards into the end zone after picking off an errant pass from Tigers quarterback John Stanphill. A little over a minute later Detroit was up 21-0 following an 36 yard punt return for a score by Pete Kuhlman and the outcome was never in doubt from that point one.
Detroit will have the unenviable task of heading to Kansas City in three weeks when the playoffs begin. The Cowboys remain perfect, running their season record to 10-0 with a 35-23 win in San Francisco on Sunday. Pat Chappell completed just 7 of 18 passes and two of his attempts were intercepted but he also threw three touchdown scores, two of them to Bill Tammaro. The Cowboys rushing game was in peak form with Mr. Outside Pat Hill running for 142 yards while Mr. Inside Mason Matthews blasted his way up the middle for 81.
The Pittsburgh Paladins, who lost to Kansas City in last year's AFA championship game, clinched a playoff spot with a second straight win in a defensive struggle with Cleveland. At least this one had a touchdown, unlike last week's 3-0 overtime victory at Fitzpatrick Park. The final score Sunday was 15-3 for the Paladins, with Dusty Sinclair and Wally Dotson combining on a six-yard scoring pass midway through the opening quarter. Roy Jones missed the extra point but was successful on all three of his field goal attempts in the win.
The Boston Americans took a crucial step towards earning the second playoff berth in the East. The Americans were led by 96 yards on the ground and a pair of touchdown runs from Walt Michos to outdistance the Washington Wasps 21-18. Washington staged a furious comeback attempt in the fourth quarter, including a pair of Tommy Norwood to Clint Snodgrass touchdown passes but ultimately fell just short.
Philadelphia's slim playoff hopes were dealt a cruel blow when the New York Stars edged the Frigates 7-3. Stars back James Valdez carried the ball just three times and gained only four yards on the day but one of them was a 1-yard touchdown plunge to account for the only touchdown of the afternoon. The final game of the day saw the Chicago Wildcats win for just the second time this season, downing St Louis 23-3 behind a pair of John Walker touchdown runs.
PACKERS HEATING UP AS NAHC STARTS TO GET SOME SEPARATION
The two hottest teams in the North American Hockey Confederation of late clashed in a home and home series in which both the New York Shamrocks and Chicago Packers came away with one victory. Those two clubs, along with early starter Toronto, have started to show signs of pulling away from the other three NAHC clubs.
The Shamrocks had a brief stumble mid-week with back to back losses in Boston and at home to Chicago but rebounded with three of a possible four points on the weekend. New York, which is the pace-setter in the NAHC with 27 points, has gone 7-2-1 in its past ten games to overtake the Toronto Dukes for first place. The Dukes, who started the season with six wins and three ties in their opening nine games and at one stage had an 8 point lead on the rest of the pack, now find themselves one point behind the Greenshirts. A four-game losing skid in mid-November hurt the Toronto club and they have just one win to show for their last ten games.
Closing fast on both New York and Toronto are the Chicago Packers. Tommy Burns has 15 points in his last eleven games and the Packers reeled off five straight wins, including back to back shutouts from Michael Cleghorn, before losing 3-1 to New York last night. Despite the loss to the Shamrocks, the Packers are suddenly just three points out of first place.
Boston is trying to keep pace but the Bees have been up and down and have come up short in four of their last six outings. Fifth place Detroit had a terrible November, posting a 3-9-1 mark during the month to erase a decent start but the Motors did begin December with a 4-1 victory over the Dukes. That leaves Montreal in the basement as the two-time defending Challenge Cup champions have had all kinds of trouble but they did snap an eight game winless drought with a victory in Boston last night. The Valiants are surrendering the most goals against per game in the league while scoring at the slowest pace, a bad combination that easily explains their 6-12-5 start.
NAHC RESULTS FROM LAST WEEK
TUESDAY NOVEMBER 27 New York's six game winning streak came to an end as Wes Chandler factored in on all three Boston goals to lead the Bees to a 3-2 victory. Chandler scored on the powerplay early in the first period and then, after Eric Abbott evened the score late in the opening frame for the Shamrocks, Chandler set up third period goals by Jacob Gron and Tommy Hart.
WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 28
Chicago 3 at 0 New York : A second straight loss for the Shamrocks as Michael Cleghorn makes 21 saves to guide the Chicago Packers to a 3-0 victory. Marty Mahoney, with his 10th of the season, Joe Fleming and Mike Van Tol scored for the Packers, who have won four in a row and six of their last seven.
THURSDAY NOVEMBER 29
Boston 0 at 3 Detroit : Millard Touhey made 27 saves for his first shutout of the season and Graham Comeau scored twice to lead the Motors past the Bees 3-0. Detroit has lost five of its last seven but both wins in that stretch have come against Boston.
Toronto 1at 1 Montreal : The Dukes have just one win in their last eight games after settling for a 1-1 draw with Montreal. The Valiants are winless in seven but salvaged a point in this one thanks to Pat Coulter's third period powerplay goal after Toronto had taken the lead in the opening period on a Doug Zimmerman marker. Montreal has just two points in their last seven games, both coming from ties with the Dukes.
SATURDAY DECEMBER 1
Chicago 3 at 0 Montreal : Michael Cleghorn earns his second straight shutout with a 34 save performance in the Packers 3-0 victory over Montreal. It was Chicago's fifth consecutive victory and moves them within two points of first place. Jeremy MacLean and Max Ducharme each had a goal and an assist for the winners.
New York 2 at 2 Toronto : Toronto overcame a 2-0 deficit to salvage a tie with the New York Shamrocks and keep the Dukes a point ahead of New York in the fight for first place. Orval Cabbell and Ryan Kennedy scored for the Greenshirts before Mike Navarro and Les Carlson replied for Toronto. The Dukes were outshot 42-24 on the evening.
SUNDAY DECEMBER 2
Montreal 4 at 3 Boston : The Valiants ended an 8-game winless slide with a 4-3 win on the road in Boston. Earl McRae had 3 assists to pace the Montreal attack while Claude LeClerc scored twice.
New York 3 at 1 Chicago : After being shutout at home by Chicago earlier in the week, the Shamrocks left the Windy City with a 3-1 victory and first place in the NAHC standings. Toronto lost so New York leapfrogged the Dukes and has a 1 point lead on Toronto. After a scoreless first period Tommy Burns, with his league high 13th goal of the season gave Chicago a 1-0 lead but 28-year-old rookie Sid Quirion, with his first NAHC goal, quickly tied the game for New York and just over a minute later Joe Martin put the Shamrocks ahead. Patrick Banning added an insurance marker for the Shamrocks early in the third period.
Toronto 1 at 4 Detroit :A three goal outburst in a span of four minutes early in the third period lifted Detroit to a 4-1 win over the Toronto Dukes, and saw the Dukes fall out of first place. Nick Tardif was the story on this evening as the Motors sharpshooter scored three times and assisted on Adam Vanderbilt's goal. Detroit opened the scoring just 12 seconds into the game but Frank Featherstone quickly replied for Toronto but that was the only puck that would elude Detroit netminder Millard Touhey.
UPCOMING GAMES
TUESDAY DECEMBER 4
Chicago at Boston
WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 5
Boston at New York
Detroit at Toronto
SATURDAY DECEMBER 8
Detroit at Montreal
Chicago at Toronto
SUNDAY DECEMBER 9
Boston at Chicago
Montreal at Detroit
Toronto at New York
DUKES CLAIM JUST TWO OF A POSSIBLE SIX POINTS
The Toronto Dukes winless streak has now reached five games although they managed to get three points with ties including two in three games this week.
After the Sunday wakeup call in Boston, when the Dukes were thumped 8-1, the team played a better game in Montreal midweek although Brett does not think Jack Barrell would be thrilled that Gordie Broadway had to make 31 saves in a 1-1 game before almost 12000 in the Arena. Toronto took the early lead on Dick Zimmerman's 4th goal of the season at the 5:00 mark of the opening period. The game was fast paced affair with more hitting than normally seen in games between these Canadian rivals for the hearts of fans across the country. A game with only two total goals would suggested a slow, tight checking affair but this one was certainly not that as attested by 66 shots total by the two teams. Tom Brockers held the Vals in the game robbing Duke shooters time after time. Broadway defended the lone goal until the home side went on the power play when Charlie Brown was whistled for a high stick early in the third. Pat Coulter capitalized on the man advantage, deflecting a Arlen Doherty shot into the Toronto cage to tie the game. Both teams pressed for the win and Toronto had a golden opportunity with a man advantage in the last 10 minutes but neither converted for the victory.
December began at home hosting the high flying Shamrocks. The New York squad plays a high tempo game constantly on the attack, backstopped in goal by two talented netminders in Alex Sorrell and Etienne Tremblay. Broadway was recipient of this nights attack by the green wave. He faced 42 shots in the game including a first period in which the Dukes were outshot 19-1. New York only lit the lamp in the opening twenty minutes as Orval Cabbell opened the scoring less than three minutes after the opening puck drop. Had it not been for Broadway's heroics this game could have been a replay of last Sunday's shellacking in Boston.
The Dukes steadied the ship in the middle frame finally starting to give Sorrell some work but not before they went down by two on a Ryan Kennedy marker. Mike Navarro cut he lead in half on a three way passing play from Maurice Charette and Miles Norman to send the teams to their rooms with NY ahead 2-1 after 40. In a penalty filled third the Dukes managed to come away with a tie when Quinton Pollack fed Les Carlson while up a man to beat Sorrell high on the stick side. Both goaltenders took over the game not allowing any further scoring on a night where the Dukes were very fortunate to come away with a point. Toronto killed all seven shorthanded situations while scoring once on eight power plays.
Into the Palladium Sunday to face the Detroit Motors in front of 16670 rabid fans. Barrell went with Scott Renes between the pipes after Broadway's busy time the night before at home. Toronto's goaltender again was in a shooting gallery, as Renes faced 38 in the game while Toronto was only able to hit the target defended by Millard Touhey two dozen times. Barrell looked like his head was going to come off as the penalty minutes of the game were 20 for his side, 2 for the home team. Renes held the fort for the first two periods until Detroit broke through for 3 goals in the first 6 minutes of the third. two while up a man, to skate away with a 4-1 victory.
Coach Barrell- "We have got tighten up in our zone, our goaltenders are getting bombarded night after night. I cannot remember the last time we held a team to under 30 shots. Broadway, Renes have been great, but they can only do so much if we cannot convert on chances at the other end. We are taking far too many stupid stick penalties. You cannot give the opposition a man advantage time after time without eventually paying the price. That said the zebra should have gotten a couple of helpers in Detroit on Sunday. Seems the door to penalty box was broken on the Motors side. I had better stop before I get hit with another fine. We should have had two points in Montreal but we stole a point from New York who badly outplayed us. The ref decided the Detroit game. Our guys are starting to choke their sticks, we cannot buy a goal at critical time. I tell the guys the goals will come if they relax knowing it will not stop them strangling their sticks. We have work to do in our end first to help our keepers. Do that the other end will sort itself out."
- The Mustangs are the hottest team in the league and they have put some pressure on Rochester at the top of the Western Division. Detroit is 9-5 overall, playing two more games than either first-place Rochester or third-place Chicago. The Mustangs just completed a sterling five-game homestand with a perfect capstone, a 79-71 win over the Rockets to pull to within a game of first place. The game was tight throughout, with the Mustangs nursing a lead that became a 40-26 edge at the half. Rochester chipped away in the second half, but Detroit held on by eight points. Detroit held Rochester to 23.9% shooting and the Marlin Patterson injury definitely impacted the bottom line. Billy Bob McCright was held to eight points, while his opposite number, Ward Messer, scored 20 points and added 20 rebounds to earn Player of the Game honors.
- Detroit's rise in the standings came at the expense of Cleveland, as the Crushers were three-time victims of Detroit during that Mustang homestand. Since starting the season 3-0, Cleveland has lost eight of ten, including five of six. Ziggy Rickard leads the league in scoring at 26.7 points per game, but he is the only Crusher in the top 15 in scoring. Cleveland is in the middle of pack in scoring, but the Crushers are eighth in points allowed and ninth in point differential. The common thread in those three losses for Cleveland were the turnovers and Detroit's ability to steal the ball away from the Crushers. Cleveland coughed the ball up an average of 25.3 times in those three matchups compared to 17.0 for Detroit. Detroit was credited with 14.0 steals per game compared to 6.7 for Cleveland.
- The Philadelphia Phantoms blitzed Washington, 105-72, in a major statement win last Monday night. In their third meeting of the season, they have been high-scoring affairs, with Washington winning on opening night at home, 110-87, and the Statesmen giving the Phantoms their only blemish in Philadelphia a week later, 101-93. The winning team surpassed the century mark, but Washington's shooting was ice cold. Washington only shot 27% from the field and Ivan Sisco was an abysmal 5-for-24, while Don Brito was 2-for-17 and Blake Brooks was 1-for-15. Philadelphia shot the lights out, shooting 44.4% as a team and the Phantoms had their offense running on all cylinders. Jerry Hubbard had 15 assists, while fellow guard Bobby Ray Cornett led the team with 20 points.
WHITNEY COLLEGE STUMBLES AGAINST PITTSBURGH STATE
The Whitney College Engineers reign at the top of the collegiate basketball rankings was shortlived after the Engineers star-studded lineup came up short in its second game of the season. The Pittsburgh State Finches, thanks to a pair of free throws with 8 seconds remaining in regulation time from freshman forward Sam Hollified, nipped the Engineers 57-56. That upset loss dropped the 1-1 Engineers to fifth in the latest collegiate top twenty poll.
A pair of West Coast Athletic Association schools in Rainier College and defending national champion Coastal California are now ranked one and two. The newly number one ranked Majestics improved to 4-0 on the season with just one game last week. It was their home opener and a successful one with Ed Shelby scoring 15 points and Doc Daniels adding 11 in a 62-45 victory over Commonwealth Catholic. The Dolphins did not play last week but move up a spot from #3 to #2 after the Whitney College defeat.
It likely won't last long but a big surprise in the top ten is the emergence of Elyria. The Ohio schoolhas only reached the AIAA tournament five times and not won a tournament game since their shocking run to the National semi-finals in the spring of 1916. They are off to a quick 5-0 start this season including a win over Huntington State that has the Pioneers sneaking into the top ten.
Our Charlie Barrell watch continues as Barrell scored 11 points and had six rebounds in the Colonels 57-34 drubbing of Huntington State in West Virginia on Thursday night. Barrell then stepped on the football field in Atlanta Saturday afternoon for what would be his final collegiate grid appearance. He played most of the game at quarterback but his Colonels had trouble generating any offense and ended up on the short end of a 9-3 score against their in-state rivals from Georgia Baptist. Despite the disappointing conclusion, Barrell led the Colonels grid eleven to a 6-4 record this season and seemed to gain plenty of interest from professional scouts. With football behind him, at least until the AFA draft, Barrell is now free to focus on basketball and there will be plenty of Federal Basketball League scouts tracking him as well. It will make a tough decision for the three sport star, who was taken first overall in last year's FABL draft by Cincinnati and spent much of the summer in the Cannons minor league system. There is plenty of speculation Barrell may attempt to play two sports professionally or may decide to leave the Cannons and focus solely on either basketball or football as a pro career.
WEEKLY RESULTS FOR RANKED TEAMS
MONDAY NOVEMBER 26
at Pittsburgh State 57, #5 Whitney College 56
at #7 Redwood 58, St. Pancras 52
#9 Elyria 56, at Canyon A&M 55
#12 Richmond State 61, at Rome State 42
#13 Ellery 66, at St. Matthew's College 56
#16 Lane State 63, at Gates University 41
#17 Hampden 45, at Eastern Virginia 28
at #22 Ferguson 49, Cowpens State 26
TUESDAY NOVEMBER 27
t #1 Rainier College 62, Commonwealth Catholic 45
at #4 Liberty College 66, St. Patrick's 36
at #8 Opelika State 52, Dickson 44
#14 American Atlantic 50, at St. Gordius 47
WEDESDAY NOVEMBER 28
#6 Indiana A&M 54, at Grange College 42
#22 Ferguson 61, at Brunswick 59
THURSDAY NOVEMBER 29
at #11 Spokane State 41, Coastal State 34
#13 Ellery 58, at St. Martin's College 56
#19 Noble Jones College 57, at Huntington State 34
at #21 Berwick 49, Meade 40
at #23 Western Florida 47, St Andrews College 38
at #24 Grant (IN) 64, Central Kentucky 58
FRIDAY NOVEMBER 30
#7 Redwood 51, at San Francisco Tech 40
#8 Opelika State 62, at Cleveland 56
at #14 American Atlantic 45, Harper College 43
#15 St. Ignatius 58, at Glover (GA) 57
Commonwealth Catholic 51, at #16 Lane State 47
at #18 Brooklyn Catholic 51, Henry Hudson 42
SATURDAY DECEMBER 1
at #9 Elyria 54, Erie 47
at #12 Richmond State 56, University of New Jersey 46
#17 Hampden 63, at California Catholic 55
SUNDAY DECEMBER 2
at #3 Western Iowa 64, St. Patrick's 50
#7 Redwood 70, at Cache Valley 49
at #10 Carolina Poly 58, St. Martin's College 46
#20 Pierpont 48, at Rose Point (PA) 24
#23 Western Florida 70, at Glover (GA) 53
at #24 Grant (IN) 63, Wisconsin Catholic 44
- Boston heavyweight Roy Crawford, who used to be a force in the division and had his title shot against Hector Sawyer in 1949, ran his record to 35-9 with a unanimous decision victory over Beau Peterson (13-4-1) in Memphis, TN., last week.
UPCOMING MAJOR FIGHTS- Tonight- Bigsby Garden, New York City: Middleweight contender Jim Ward (29-3) faces Bobby Price (26-8)
- December 8- Bigsby Garden, New York City: World Middleweight champion Mark McCoy (25-2) makes his first title defense. His opponent will be European champion Yohan Revel (31-1) of France, who will be making his North American debut.
- December 15- Hartford, CT: Middleweight contender Bill Boggs (24-4-1) meets Nick Greene (10-2)
- December 16- Washington DC: Italian Middleweight Hugo Canio (21-2-2) faces Joe Taylor (27-7)
- December 18- St Louis, MO: middleweight contender Dan Drewery (27-4-5) squares off with Adam Curtis (10-1-1)
- December 26-, London, ENG: top European heavyweight Joe Brinkworth (26-3) has a boxing day meeting with Nicolas Arnould (22-2-2) scheduled.
- December 31- Pittsburgh, PA: a pair of former middleweight champs in Millard Shelton (32-6) and Canadian Adrian Petrie (21-5-3) meet.
- December 31 - London, ENG: Heavyweight Ben Budgeford (24-5), who once fought Hector Sawyer for the world title, meets Scotland's Scott McKellar (21-5).
The Week That Was
Current events from the week ending 12/02/1951
- Just two days after Allies and Communist staff officers agreed on the exact location of a 145-mile line across Korea, a key point in armistice talks, all ground fighting in Korea came to a complete stop. UN troops say they have been ordered not to fire at the enemy unless he attacked. The sudden halt caught officials in Washington by surprise.
- A day later the shooting resumed and the head of the 8th Army called the temporary cease-fire order a misunderstanding.
- His aides deny it but there are growing rumours that Gen. Eisenhower will quit his post as head of NATO forces in Europe to run for President.
- The United States agreed to get together with Russia for private disarmament talks as suggested by a group of Asian-Arab states in the United Nations meetings in Paris, however American leaders expressed doubt as to the usefulness of the move.
- Senator Taft, who will be seeking the Republican Presidential nomination, described as "completely false" President Truman's statement early in the week that "special interests" poured money into Ohio last year to re-elect him.
- Syria's military strongman - Col. Abid Shishekly- overthrew the newly appointed premier who had urged closer ties between the Arab nations and Russia. The Premier, just appointed the night before, and all his cabinet members have been placed under arrest after the Syrian army seized control. Shishekly charged the Populist Government with seeking to "undermine the country's independence, break up the army and create a new throne in Syria."