The 1918 Cleveland Naval Reserve football team represented the Cleveland Auxiliary Naval Reserve School during the 1918 college football season. The team compiled a 5–1 record and closed its season by upsetting national champion

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

, 10–9. The team was coached by Xen C. Scott, assisted by Bob Dawson and former Yale star

Ralph Kinney Ralph Parsons Kinney Sr. (September 30, 1881 – July 1, 1956) was an American football player. He played college football for the Yale Bulldogs football team from 1902 to 1904 and was selected as a consensus All-American at the tackle position ...

. The team was led by a

backfield The offensive backfield is the area of an American football field behind the line of scrimmage. The offensive backfield can also refer to members of offense who begin plays behind the line, typically including any backs on the field, such as the ...

consisting of former

Ohio State The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

Gaylord Stinchcomb Gaylord Roscoe "Pete" Stinchcomb (June 24, 1895 – August 24, 1973) was an American football player. He played quarterback and halfback at Ohio State University where he was selected as an All-American in 1920. He later played professional f ...

, former

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

halfback Walter L. Holmgren, former

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...

fullback Judy Harlan, and former Auburn fullback

Moon Ducote Richard Joseph "Moon" "Duke" DuCôté ( ; August 28, 1897 – March 26, 1937) was an American baseball, football, and basketball coach, football and baseball player, football official, and businessman. He first attended Spring Hill College and ...

. The highlight of Auburn's previous season was its tie with Ohio State. Georgia Tech then dominated Auburn to claim the South's first national title. A game between national champion Georgia Tech and undefeated Pitt could not be scheduled, and was moved to the following season. Georgia Tech having lost several players to the War, Pitt won 32–0. The Cleveland Naval Reserves managed to upset Pitt with a 10–9 victory. "I intercepted a

pass Pass, PASS, The Pass or Passed may refer to: Places * Pass, County Meath, a townland in Ireland * Pass, Poland, a village in Poland * Pass, an alternate term for a number of straits: see List of straits * Mountain pass, a lower place in a moun ...

and returned it to midfield in the fourth quarter. I felt I at least had evened up some of the losses we had at Tech" said Harlan. Pittsburgh coach

Pop Warner Glenn Scobey Warner (April 5, 1871 – September 7, 1954), most commonly known as Pop Warner, was an American college football coach at various institutions who is responsible for several key aspects of the modern game. Included among his inn ...

refused to acknowledge the loss, but declared Ducote "the greatest football player I ever saw". Warner, along with some reporters covering the game, insisted Pitt was robbed by the officials who, claiming the official timekeeper's watch was broken, arbitrarily ended the first half before Pitt was able to score and then allowed the Reserves extra time in the fourth quarter to pull ahead. It was Pitt's first loss in four years, since Warner had started coaching there. Ducote had a 41-yard field goal, and Stinchcomb scored a touchdown on a pass from Ducote, and kicked the extra point. Future

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

star

Lenny Sachs Leonard David Sachs (August 7, 1897 – October 27, 1942) was an American basketball and football coach and player. In 1961, he was posthumously enshrined as a coach in the Basketball Hall of Fame. He was born in Chicago, Illinois on August 7, ...

was also on the team. In an 83–0 win over

Cornell Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

's service team, Stinchcomb ran 100 yards for a touchdown. In a 14–6 win over Camp Grant, Stinchcomb was the Navy's star, kicking two extra points and returning a punt 65 yards for a touchdown. In a profile of Stinchcomb published in November 1918, one writer observed:

The reason for such optimistic predictions is the showing Stlnchcomb has made this season in the 'unofficial' football season all grid fans have enjoyed. As backfleld man for the Cleveland Naval Reserve team -- in which branch of the service Stinchcomb has been serving -- 'Pete' has romped around opposing ends -- plunged through their lines and carried his team to the fore ranks of military and naval football ratings."

Schedule

References

External links

Score card for Pittsburgh game
{{World War I military service football teams navbox Cleveland Naval Reserve Cleveland Naval Reserve football American football in Cleveland