乐播传媒

One hundred and one years ago, the build-up to the annual 乐播传媒-Bowdoin football game had disputes and divided loyalties 鈥� classic trappings of a historic rivalry.

And, for 乐播传媒 fans, the 1898 game delivered what a rivalry game should, a victory and a hero, William Allen Saunders, the unlikely scorer of the game鈥檚 only touchdown.

Yet in 1898, the grid rivalry, now one of the nation’s longest-running, was just seven years old. And, at least from 乐播传媒鈥� perspective, the rivalry had gotten off to a slow start, with Bowdoin easily winning the first five editions by a combined score of 186 to 6.

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乐播传媒-Bowdoin Football, No. 122
The 2019 乐播传媒-Bowdoin football game, No. 122 in the historic rivalry, is now history: See at Garcelon Field on Nov. 2.

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At the time, interest in college football was surging both nationally and in Maine. With questions of masculinity at the fore in late 19th-century society, the country鈥檚 college football fields 鈥� offering a far more violent version of the game than today鈥檚 鈥� became popular .

Newspapers played up the game鈥檚 war-like violence. One pre-game headline in the Lewiston Evening Journal of the era proclaimed, 鈥淏owdoin and 乐播传媒 arrayed in the panoply of war at Brunswick.鈥�

For the 1897 game, a year before Saunders鈥� star turn, 乐播传媒 supporters filled the trolley for the 90-minute trip to Brunswick. At the station, the 乐播传媒 contingent let loose their traditional cheer: 鈥淏oomalaka, boomalaka, 乐播传媒 鈥斅燽oom, boom!鈥�

And boom, like that, 乐播传媒 won the game, securing its first title in the nascent Maine State Series competition, later to become the Colby-乐播传媒-Bowdoin series when the University of Maine left the group in 1964.

Perhaps smarting from its first setback in the budding rivalry, Bowdoin in 1898 played hardball. Pointing to its 鈥渁bility to draw a big crowd,鈥� according to a聽Journal story two days before the Oct. 29 game, Bowdoin demanded a bigger share of the gate receipts before agreeing to travel to Lewiston.

“The people are coming, coming from everywhere.鈥�

When the two schools reached a revenue agreement a day later, the Journal headline declared, 鈥淔oot Ball Peace Assured.鈥� With the game on, the hype machine was on, 19th-century style.

鈥淓veryone who knows the difference between a football and an egg will be on the grounds,鈥� said the Journal, noting that anticipation for the game in Maine has 鈥渞esembled the feeling throughout New England over the Yale-Harvard games.鈥�

Yes, the paper said, 鈥渢he people are coming, coming from everywhere.鈥�

And they did, a throng of 2,500 attending the game on a foggy, drizzly day at Lee Park (Garcelon Field wouldn鈥檛 be completed for another year). A bygone city commons once located at the intersection of Sabattus Street and East Avenue, Lee Park was known mostly for hosting traveling circuses. It became a housing development in the early 1900s.

Bowdoin, considered the bigger and more physical of the two teams, entered the game with a 5-2 record, its only losses being to Ivy League powers Dartmouth and Harvard. Hardscrabble 乐播传媒, often called 鈥渢he farmers鈥� in media accounts, was 4颅-0, having beaten New Hampshire State College, the University of Maine (twice), and Phillips Exeter Academy.

(Winless Colby, meanwhile, wasn鈥檛 part of that year鈥檚 Colby-乐播传媒-Bowdoin talk; its football team needed more 鈥渇irmness in muscle before they can hope to cope successfully with 乐播传媒 or Bowdoin,鈥� noted the Journal.)

“A few of the young women…bolted outright from the 乐播传媒 standard and bravely shook the black and white of the other side.鈥�

You know a sports rivalry has arrived when it moves outside the sports media, and that鈥檚 what happened in 1898. On game day, the late edition of the Journal devoted its 鈥淪ocial World鈥� column to the 乐播传媒-Bowdoin game, noting that 鈥渢he young people were at Lee Park this afternoon.鈥�

More than football 鈥� something tribal 鈥� was at stake, the column suggested.

鈥淭he raw October air brought the 乐播传媒 color into the cheeks of the lassies,鈥� the paper said, 鈥渂ut 鈥檛was hard for some of them to be loyal to the garnet and white. A few of the young women…bolted outright from the 乐播传媒 standard and bravely shook the black and white of the other side.鈥� Ouch!

The 1898 game, a 6-0 victory for 乐播传媒, was 鈥渁 nerve destroyer,鈥� the Journal reported. The teams moved the ball, but had trouble scoring; the action drove the throng into a tizzy, and 鈥減olice were unable to keep the crowd from swarming over the field at times,鈥� reported the Bowdoin Orient student newspaper.

Midway through the first half, 乐播传媒鈥� William Allen Saunders, a senior from the South, ran for the game鈥檚 only touchdown.

Born in Louisa Court House, Va., Saunders came to 乐播传媒 after attending Storer School, later Storer College, in Harpers Ferry, W.Va., a historically black institution founded just after the Civil War with the help of 乐播传媒 founder Oren Cheney. (Stella James also studied at Storer before she became the first African American woman to graduate from 乐播传媒, in 1897.)

Besides football, Saunders competed in track and field at 乐播传媒, in the hammer and shot put. He also served as librarian of one of the literary societies, Eurosophia.

Following graduation, Saunders taught public school in Coaldale, W.Va., and served as a grade-school principal in Hagerstown, Md., before joining the faculty at Bluefield Colored Institute, now Bluefield State College.

He joined the faculty of Storer College in 1907, teaching math, natural sciences, religion, and Latin. He married Inez Johnson and they built a home near the Storer campus, .

Saunders retired from Storer in 1951, and his date of death is unknown. A 乐播传媒 oral history tells the story of a classmate, George Parsons, who visited Saunders in the 1950s, when both were in their 80s. Parsons wanted to take Saunders to dinner but Saunders demurred 鈥� no white restaurant in town would serve a black man.

While Saunders was the hero of the 1898 game, by today鈥檚 rules he would never have been a ball carrier. He was an offensive guard 鈥� a blocking position today.

Back then, the rules required only five players to be on the line of scrimmage at the start of a play, compared to seven today. That allowed more players to line up in the backfield. And that led to battering-ram formations, including the flying wedge, in which a big lineman, in this case Saunders, and several blockers would line up in the backfield and get a running start into the defense.

Known as a 鈥済uard-back鈥� or 鈥渢ackle-back鈥� formation, it鈥檚 what made Saunders the hero of the 乐播传媒-Bowdoin game of 1898.

Indeed, football in the 1890s hardly resembled today鈥檚 game. With the forward pass still a few years away, the game was all about the ball carrier and his blockers bashing into the defense, time and again. In 乐播传媒-Bowdoin terms, the Journal described the 鈥渟lap of canvas against canvas鈥� as two sides crashed together.

鈥淭ime and again the giant guard, Saunders, went into the line and always for a gain,鈥� said the Student. 鈥淪aunders played like a fiend,鈥� reported the Journal. 鈥淚t always took two men to bring him down.鈥� (Though not big by today鈥檚 standards, Saunders, at 5-foot-10 and 173 pounds, was among the tallest and heaviest 乐播传媒 players.)

乐播传媒鈥� game-winning, 14-minute touchdown drive started at midfield. With a 鈥渟teady humming between tackles and guards,鈥� 乐播传媒 advanced to the Bowdoin 20. The 乐播传媒 captain, senior running back Nate Pulsifer, carried to the 10 for a first down.

Then came Saunders鈥� turn. He carried to the Bowdoin 4, and then, with Pulsifer and sophomore running back Frank Halliday leading the way, Saunders 鈥渨ent over the line for the first and only touchdown of the game.鈥� (A commemorative paperweight, given to 乐播传媒 by Pulsifer鈥檚 grandson, depicts the winning play and the huge crowd at Lee Park.)

The rest of the game, reported the Student, 鈥渁bounded in runs, fumbles, plunges that seemed to be back-breakers, punts, and hard tackles鈥� 鈥� but no more scoring. 乐播传媒鈥� defense held; it would allow just 11 points in its six wins in 1898.

The 乐播传媒 victory was 鈥渦niversally admitted to be the greatest contest ever held between Maine colleges,鈥� stated the Student.

The Journal agreed, saying the game was 鈥渢he fiercest foot ball ever seen in this state鈥� with a deserving winner: a 鈥渓ight, stocky, well-trained team that was playing a game of foot ball only excelled by the crack teams of the country.鈥�

The victory kicked off a night of celebration at 乐播传媒, including boisterous rides around town on the local trolley. Known as the Figure Eight for the shape of its route around Lewiston and Auburn, it 鈥渨as traveled with a liberal amount of fireworks and red fire on each car,鈥� reported the Journal.

And there were victory songs aplenty, at Bowdoin鈥檚 expense, including a new one sung to the tune of 鈥淢arching Through Georgia,鈥� with this verse:

The farmer boys at 乐播传媒 have learned
The way to plough the ground,
As the headless birds at Bowdoin,
To their sorrow now have found.
Then with cheers and shouts of triumph
Let the atmosphere resound,
While the Bowdoin dudes are marching back to Brunswick.