The College of Emporia Football Team was a

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

team at the

College of Emporia The College of Emporia was a private college in Emporia, Kansas from 1882 to 1974, and was associated with the Presbyterian church. When founded, it was one of two higher education institutions in the city of Emporia, the other at that time was t ...

Emporia, Kansas Emporia is a city in and the county seat of Lyon County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 24,139. Emporia lies between Topeka and Wichita at the intersection of U.S. Route 50 with Interstates 335 ...

. The team competed from 1893 until the college closed in 1974 and was known for its high quality play for the size of the school as well as its early adoption of modern football methods. The final coach of the program was Dan Taylor.

Innovative play

The team was one of the earliest schools to regularly call the

forward pass In several forms of football, a forward pass is the throwing of the ball in the direction in which the offensive team is trying to move, towards the defensive team's goal line. The forward pass is one of the main distinguishers between gridiron ...

and the option pass under head coach Bill Hargiss and

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 ...

Arthur Schabinger Arthur August Schabinger (August 6, 1889 – October 13, 1972) was an American football and basketball coach and college athletics administrator. Schabinger is credited (although disputed) with throwing the first forward pass in college football h ...

. The school was using the forward pass as a regular play three years before

Knute Rockne Knut (Norwegian and Swedish), Knud (Danish), or Knútur (Icelandic) is a Scandinavian, German, and Dutch first name, of which the anglicised form is Canute. In Germany both "Knut" and "Knud" are used. In Spanish and Portuguese Canuto is used whi ...

and

Notre Dame Football The Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team is the intercollegiate football team representing the University of Notre Dame in Notre Dame, Indiana, north of the city of South Bend, Indiana. The team plays its home games at the campus' Notre Dame ...

. The program would regularly play games against much larger programs. In 1921, the tema competed to a 7–7 tie against

Oklahoma State Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...

and managed a lifetime record of 22 wins, 20 losses, and 2 ties against Emporia State—although ESU records dispute that claim and show the all-time record as 21-21-2. The 1930 Thanksgiving Day game against Emporia State (called "Kansas Normal" at the time) resulted in tragedy when freshman George Day suffered a head injury during a punt return five minutes into the game. He was treated quickly and taken to Newman Hospital for surgery, but he died that evening.

Conference play and season successes

Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference

The team competed in the

Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference The Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). The KCAC is the oldest conference in the NAIA and the second oldest in the United Stat ...

from 1933 until 1970. The program was known for success among the small colleges which included three consecutive undefeated regular seasons (1953–1955) under head coach Wayne J. McConnell and two back-to-back undefeated seasons (1962–1963) under coach

Bill Schnebel William Glen Schnebel (May 7, 1924 – December 9, 2002) was an American football coach. He served as the head football coach at the College of Emporia in Emporia, Kansas from 1956 to 1964 and Northwestern State College—now known as Northweste ...

. Both coaches were recognized as Little All-American Coach of the Year.

Championships

Table data source

Bowl games

The school also played in the 1954

Mineral Water Bowl The Mineral Water Bowl is an annual American NCAA Division II college football bowl game between teams from the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference and an at large opponent hosted in Excelsior Springs, Missouri at Tiger Stadium. History ...

, losing 20–14 to

Hastings College Hastings College is a private Presbyterian college in Hastings, Nebraska. History The college was founded in 1882 by a group of men and women seeking to establish a Presbyterian college dedicated to high academic and cultural standards. ...

, and then returned in 1959 to defeat

Austin College Austin College is a private liberal arts college affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA) and located in Sherman, Texas.Horace Botsford Horace Casad Botsford Sr. (November 28, 1877 – March 26, 1948) was an American football coach. Coaching career College of Emporia Botsford was the first head coach at the College of Emporia in Emporia, Kansas. He held the post for the 1901 sea ...

Henry Brock Henry Brock was an American college football player and coach. He played at Pittsburg State University in Pittsburg, Kansas from 1927 to 1930. Then went on to coach in the beginning of the 1940s. Coaching career College of Emporia Brock was hea ...

Harold Grant Harold S. Grant (January 16, 1900 – December 31, 1997) was an American football coach. He was the fifth head football coach at the College of Emporia in Emporia, Kansas. His teams accumulated a record of 34–4–1. His teams won the Kansas ...

, Homer Hargiss,

Lem Harkey Lem Harkey Jr. (January 7, 1934 – July 3, 2004) was an American football fullback. He played for San Francisco 49ers in 1955. He played college football for the College of Emporia Fighting Presbies in Emporia, Kansas Emporia is a cit ...

Gwinn Henry Gwinn Henry (August 5, 1887 – May 16, 1955) was an American football player, track athlete, coach, and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at Howard Payne University (1912–1913), the College of Emporia (1918� ...

, Steve Kazor, Wayne McConnell,

Walt Newland Walt Newland was an American football coach. He was the head football coach at the College of Emporia for the 1946 season. The school had ceased football competition at the conclusion of the 1942 season due to World War II World War&n ...

Lester Selves Lester Henry "Bud" Selves (July 16, 1906 – April 18, 1991) was an American football player and coach. He was inducted into the Kansas State High School Activities Association Hall of Fame in 1978. Playing career Selves played offense and defens ...

Tom Stromgren Lawrence Thompson Stromgren (born 1936) is a former American football coach. He served as the head football coach at the College of Emporia in Emporia, Kansas from 1965 to 1966 and Fort Hays State University in Hays, Kansas, from 1969 to 1971, ...

;Players A number of player from the College of Emporia went on to play in sports: * Jim Jaquith played professional baseball in 1926 and also played for the

Kansas City Cowboys Several sports team in Kansas City, Missouri have used the name Cowboys: *Kansas City Cowboys (Union Association), a baseball team in the Union Association in 1884 *Kansas City Cowboys (National League), a baseball team in the National League in 18 ...

. *

was drafted by the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...

in 1955 and ended up playing for the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

for one year. * Bill Danenhauer (graduated 1956) NAIA Football All-American.

Baltimore Colts The Baltimore Colts were a professional American football team that played in Baltimore from its founding in 1953 to 1984. The team now plays in Indianapolis, as the Indianapolis Colts. The team was named for Baltimore's history of horse breed ...

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquart ...

and

Boston Patriots Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- most ...

References