Grand Junction High School - Tiger Yearbook (Grand Junction, CO)

Football ITH only three letter-men back as a nu- cleus to build upon from the championship team of 1927, the 'beginning of the season looked anything but rosy for a successful season for the Tigers. And fthe coach, knowing that most of the strong rivals of the school had veteran teams, brought the team along slowly. As a result of this situation, a greater number of non-confer- ence games were scheduled in order to give the Tigers all the experience possible before the opening of the conference season. More candidates turned out for the team than ever before-in the history of the school. Over fifty-five were out the first few weeks, and four full teams remained out for the entire season. Consequently more men earned letters this sea- son than during any previous campaign. The first game scheduled was with the High School of Moab, Utah, a non-conference school. The game was played on the home field. This was the first time that the Utah school had played on the local gridiron. It was a case of a fighting, green Tiger team outplaying a strong, experienced team on defense that won the game for the locals. Throughout the entire first half Moab gained through the Tiger line until down near the goal line, and then would fail to put it over. The Tigers played a defensive game throughout, and in the last half were in better physical condition. Finally, in the last quarter, Moab tried a long forward pass to one of their ends. It was intercepted by Carter, half-back, who ran for a touchdown. The final score was 6 to 0 in favor of the Tigers. The following week the locals journeyed to Rifle, another non-conference school, and won the game 8 to 0. The offensive strength of the Tigers was better. The defense was able to keep Rifle from crossing the goal line. The next week Fruita came up for the first conference game of the season. This contest was closely fought, and it was only in the last few minutes that the local team was able to score a touchdown as a result of a forward pass. They took the ball on their own 30-yard line and worked it down by a series of passes to score. Shepardson, captain, at full-back position, was outstanding in his defensive play and his ability to pass. The final score was 6 to 0 in favor of the Tigers. Again the defense was able to keep the opponents from scoring. The next opponent was Olathe, another con- ference team. This time the team went up to Olathe. This game was doped to be close, with the edge i11 favor of Olathe, and such prediction proved to be true. It was a very thrilling game to watch, with long 1'uns and many passes for good gains. The Tigers scored first as a result of a fumble by Olathe. Kelley, Tiger back, picked it up and scored. The next score was the result of a tackle smash by Captain Shepardson. In both instances the Tigers failed to kick goal. The score at the end of the half was 12 to 0 in favor of the Tigers. But, during the 116Xt half, Olathe came back strong and, with a series of end runs and passes, succeeded in crossing the Tiger goal line for the first time this year. Then during the latter part of the last quarter they again scored on a pass, and kicked goal. The game ended 13 to 12 in favor of Olathe. Several days after the game the Olathe principal called up and stated that they had used an ineligible man against us and thus would have to forfeit the game to us. This made the score 2 to 0 in favor of the Tigers. The next game was with the strong Paonia team at Paonia. Again the dope was against the Tigers, but, by using straight football, and with the fine offensive work of "Red" Hiatt and Cap- tain Shepardson, the game ended in a tie, 12 to 12. This was really a victory for the Tigers on. account of the fact that they held down a team stronger than they were. The following week, Cedaredge came down and played on the local field. It was during this game that the local team really found itself, a11d was able to score four touchdowns to one for Cedaredge. The next game was with Fruita on their field, and was one of the most thrilling of the yea1'. The game was played in the mud, and was very even. The score was tied, 12 to 12, and only three minutes to play. The ball was in Fruita's possession, when they tried a pass. Shepardson intercepted it and ran 70 yards for a touchdown to win the game, 19 to 12. The following week was the .biggest confer- ence game of the year. It was against Montrose, who was leading the league and who had a vet- eran team. The game was played in the mud, and the half ended in a scoreless tie. Then in the third quarter one of the Tiger backs dropped a punt and Montrose fell on the ball in the mid- dle of the field, and, by a series of line smashes, were able to drive through to the Tiger 5-yard line on account of their superior weight. Then, on the last down, with 4 yards to go, they worked a fake play, which fooled the Tiger backfield, and scored. The locals came back strong in the last quarter and with a series of passes were able to reach the visitors' 30-yard line. Here a long pass was attempted to Hiatt, who fell with it over the goal line. It looked like a sure score, but the umpire ruled that he had dropped it. The final score was 6 to 0 in favor of Montrose. Delta came next on the schedule. The game was played on their field. The teams were so evenly matched that the game ended in an 0 to 0 score. The final game of the season was perhaps the most interesting of all. South Denver came over to play on Thanksgiving day. The game was played in the mud. The teams were evenly matched. The first half was played entirely in the center of the field, and the score was 0 to 0 at the e11d of it. Near the end of the game, South Denver, with strong smashes, was able to score. This was all of the scoring of the game, which ended 6 to 0 in favor of Denver. The Tigers wo11 six game, tied two and lost two. This was not a bad season considering the inexperience of the team. They ranked third in VVestern Slope ranking, with Delta second and Montrose first. The locals scored 78 points, against 42 for the opponents. The only confer- ence team that was able to beat them was Mont- rose, the champions. This was the first confer- ence game that the Tigers had lost since the beginning of the season in 1924. Those who made letters were the following: Captain Shepardson, Vice Captain Dan Hiatt, Westcott, Wilson fcaptain-electl, Quinn, Felm- lee, Weaver, Hall, Sullivan, Rettig, Kelley, Hafey fvice captain-electl, Walker, Rump, Southwell, Benge, Moore, Wickersham and Wm. Walsh.