I (Wayne) decided to turn out for football at “Prin” during my Freshman year in college. When I got to campus prior to school starting, it was very hot and humid. On the first day of practice we ran a 2 mile. I was impressed with the fact that some players were in very good condition [to run the 2 mile]. Our coach was Jim Crafton. He intended for us to run a version of the Wishbone offense used by Pepper Rogers at UCLA (see reference 6). This was “Prin’s” first year in the College Athletic Conference (CAC), in NCAA Division 3.
We had the best start since 1966. Our first game was a non-league game against Earlham College. Reference 1 was a nice article that was written prior to the game. It contained a photo of the Earlham Team, a list of probable starters ( on each team), and the Earlham Team roster. The article indicated that Earlham had won 9 of the last 10 games against “Prin”. In fact, the article stated that “Prin” had beaten Earlham only once (9 - 6) in 1965; that year “Prin” had a 5-3 record. We got on the bus and drove to Richmond, Indiana; the next day we won 21 - 14. It was a nice win for us! I later obtained an article about the game (see reference 2).
Our second game of the season was a home game (at Elsah, Illinois) against Anderson college. Although the field has some wood bleachers; it also has a sloped section where people can sit on grass. The weather was interesting, as there was thunder, lightning and rain during the game. Anderson got a 13 - 0 lead in the first half; but “Prin” came from behind and scored 2 TDs to win 14 - 13. This was a non-league game also, and as it turned out, it was the only time “Prin” played Anderson college. I later obtained a couple of articles written about that game (see references 3, 4).
The following day I wrote a letter home to my folks (see reference 5). I later calculated that my last 12 game winning percentage had climbed to .625 (decimal), as shown in the “12 Consecutive Football Games” Table below. The previous 12 games included my Senior year in high school, and my next 2 college games. During that time we held our opponents to an average of 9.5 points allowed per game. Because there were 3 ties during that time, in hind sight we were only 3 extra points away from having a winning percentage of .75 (decimal). Although I didn’t know it at the time, this would be my [varsity] team’s best winning percentage. The next Monday when the team went to practice, we found out from our coaches that 2 starters on our [offense and/or kicking] team decided they did not want to play football anymore. It was tough to deal with and very much a shock to our team!
References:
1. “Quakers To Host Principia Saturday", Palladium-Item (Richmond, Indiana), Sept 20, 1974
2. “Principia Controls 4th Period, Outlasts Earlham", Palladium-Item (Richmond, Indiana), Sept 22, 1974
3. “Dewindt Leads Principia Rally", St. Louis Post Dispatch (St. Louis, Missouri), Sept 29, 1974
4. “Ravens Blow 13-0 Lead, Lose 14-13", Anderson Herald (Anderson, Indiana), Sept 29, 1974
5. A Letter Home (written my Freshman year), by Wayne, Sept 29, 1974
6. “Indians win 21-14”, article in campus media: Principia Pilot, Fall of 1974
Note 1: The “Illinois" web page can be viewed by selecting Sitemap->States (US)->Illinois from menu bar at top.
Note 2: The “My Junior/Senior High Football Photos (Part 2)" web page can be viewed by selecting Sitemap->Sport of Football->My Junior/Senior High Football Photos (Part 2) from menu bar at top.
Note 3: The “My College Football Photos (Part 2)" web page can be viewed by selecting Sitemap->States (US)->Illinois->My College Football Photos (Part 2) from menu bar at top.
Note 4: A video inspired by the (1974) Principia @ Millsaps football game can be viewed by selecting Movies->PJ_Millsaps_vs_Prin_1974 from menu bar at top.
