The 1949 Maryland State Raiders football team was an

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

team that represented Maryland State College (now known as

University of Maryland Eastern Shore University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) is a public historically black land-grant research university in Princess Anne, Maryland. It is part of the University System of Maryland. It is classified among "Research Colleges and Universities" ...

) during the

1949 college football season The 1949 college football season was the 81st season of college football, intercollegiate football in the United States. It concluded with the top four teams undefeated and untied at the end of the regular season: * 1949 Notre Dame Fighting Iris ...

. In their second season under head coach

Vernon McCain Vernon E. "Skip" McCain (June 4, 1908 – April 5, 1993) was an American college football and college basketball coach and mathematics professor. He served as the head football coach at Maryland State College—now known as the University of Mary ...

, the team compiled an 8–0 record, shut out seven of eight opponents, outscored all opponents by a total of 310 to 8, and was ranked No. 6 among the nation's black college football teams according to the ''

Pittsburgh Courier The ''Pittsburgh Courier'' was an African American weekly newspaper published in Pittsburgh from 1907 until October 22, 1966. By the 1930s, the ''Courier'' was one of the leading black newspapers in the United States. It was acquired in 1965 by ...

'' and its Dickinson Rating System. The November 15 game against Trenton State Teachers College (now known as

The College of New Jersey The College of New Jersey (TCNJ) is a public university in Ewing Township, New Jersey. It is part of New Jersey's public system of higher education. Established in 1855 as the New Jersey State Normal School, TCNJ was the first normal school, ...

) was the first interracial game played on the

Eastern Shore of Maryland The Eastern Shore of Maryland is a part of the U.S. state of Maryland that lies mostly on the east side of the Chesapeake Bay. Nine counties are normally included in the region. The Eastern Shore is part of the larger Delmarva Peninsula that Ma ...

. Maryland State played a second interracial game the following week against Glassboro State Teachers College. Maryland State halfback Sylvester Polk who led the nation with 129 points scored. Other key players included T-slotter Calvin Martin and guard Donald Thomas.

Schedule

References

{{Maryland Eastern Shore Hawks football navbox Maryland State Maryland Eastern Shore Hawks football seasons College football undefeated seasons Maryland State Raiders football