Independence Junior College - Inkanquil Yearbook (Independence, KS)

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Football When September came around in 1926, the young men from the ice wagons, the ice plants, the pipe lines, the Cherryvale cream- ery, and the plains of Longton gathered to- gether in Independence junior college and started to practice football. It was soon ap- parent that there were too few college foot- ball players to make a team, so several nice young men in the college were persuaded that they had football possibilities, and in this way a team was made up. After several weeks of practice, this team drove to Iola and fought the Iola team toa standstill on a muddy field. Arkansas City was the scene of the next good game. The game was hard-fought, and, except for one period of about five minutes, the Indepndence team gave the Ark City crew a great battle. Weller, the Ark. City Indian star, was stop- ped in his tracks time after time, and was never able to break loose for any long runs. On Neewollah the last good game of the season was played. Iola won the 1925 Neewol- lah game 3-Og she repeated in '26, by putting a drop-kick through the bars in the last part of the second half. Independence played a splendid game, never letting Iola within twenty yards of the goal. Independence lost heavily on this and the Coffeyville game, six of the seven experienc- ed playes were injured in these games. Since there were no substitutes for all these places, part of the injured men were forced to con- tinue in the game. The team fought a good fight from the start to the close of each game. It was very unfortunate that there were not enough men out for football to let Sanders, Hoffman, Snell, Heckert, and Prescott take a little time off to get their iujuries attended to and get back in condition before they return- Here are the histories of the men who play- ed for Independence junior college: Captain Charles Hoffman, fullback. Hoff- 'man learned his football in the line under Burt Beal back in 1922-23, in the Independ- ence high school. This year was Hoffman's second year at our collegeg next year he :will go to K. U. or K. S. A. C. Captain-elect Howard Burns, end. Burns graduated from I. H. S. last spring. In his Page 14 lclass he was very popular, an all-round fathlete, an all-round good fellow. An in- fjury to his eyes kept him from playing the greater part of the season. 1Ex-Captain Alford Prescott, left tackle. Prescott played every minute of every game the last two years. The first of the season Prescott looked like an all-conference tackle. Injuries to his left leg, and which were given no chance to get well, cheated Prescott of his all-conference rating. Ernest Snell, end. Snell made the all-con- ference team with ease, despite an injury to his leg which kept him out of some ofthe games. James Ellsworth, right tackle. Ellsworth is from Cherryvale, a fine football player and a welcome addition to our college family. Harold Bullock, guard. Bullock looks red- headed, acts red-headed and is red-headed. This was Bullock's second year. In every game Bullock could be depended on to do his part. Harold Shile, center a two-letter man. This man Shile is new at center, but old as a scrapper. Merle Vaughn, half, from Longton. Merle receives the medal, he is Independence's high point man. Bob Heckert, end, two-letter man. Heckert was a fine end, but injury to his neck and shoulders cut down his ability to defend his side of the line. Wallace Scott, end. Wallace was inveigled into playing football, a lucky stroke for In- dependence junior college. Jack Sanders, quarter, two letters. A fine quarter, but the big boys hurt him. Brooks Eastman, half. Lots of speed but needed a line in front to make a hole for him. Willet Price, guard. A consistent player, hard to move, hard to hurt. Paul Heinbach, guard. He is learning football a little late in life, but not too late. The O'Brien Brothersg Paul, guard. A fine defensive player. Dale, guard. He carries the battle to the other side. An offensive player, even on the defense.

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BASKETBALL TEAM Top Row, Left to Right-Eastman, Snell, O'Brien, Losey CCoachD, Hoffman. Bottom Row-Sanders, Vaughn, Heckert, Ferrell, Shile. Basketball Success in athletics is still a thing of the future in Independence junior college, if you measure succsess by the yardstick of games lost and won. Last year, our first year by the way, our basketball team beat Chilocco and Coffeyville. This year, with four of the old squad back, Independence was able to win from but two schools, Chilocco and Iola. There is but little pleasure in playing on a losing team, all the time. There is but little pleasure in being represented by a losing team. One gets little pleasure from reading about a consistent loser, and especially little pleasure in writing of such a team. Defeat at the hands of a worthy opponent is not a disgraceg rather, it is a test of sportsmanship, and we had little to say that would remind one of sour grapes. A few of the games were overwhelming defeats, but the most of them were lost by just a few points. Of the games we won, Chilocco was beaten twice, rather easilyg Iola has beaten, but it was the hardest, most sensational finish our team ever staged that finally overcame the Iola lead in the last few seconds of play. There was not a game where we were not beaton by players a little more accurate in their long shots, a little quicker to cover, players who rushed a little harder on the fol- low through, and who were a little more steady under the basket. Ours was a team of men who tried, but the mastery of the mechanics of the game was not theirs. They put all they had into the game and yet their all fell a little short. The members of this year's team were: Robert CBobD Heckert, Captain, center. A two letter man. . Charles CStud3 Hoffman, guard, a two letter man. Football captain '26, I Jack CKikeD Sanders, guard. This is San- der's second year. His goal shooting was largely responsible for our victory over Iola. Ernest CHeroD Snell, forward, second year. Snell had a great deal of trouble to overcome to give the school as much of his time and energy as he did. Paul Ferrell, guard. A new basketball player this year. Harold Shile, guard, A very nervous per- son on the court. Merle Vaughn, forward. A very fast player. Brooks Eastman, forward. Another player with a great deal of speed. The coach for this and last season was L. E. Losey, a very competent coach, who will in the next few years turn out teams that will win the junior college conference. Page 13

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DEBATE Left to Right-Scott, Clemens, Bassett, Prescott. Debate Independence has had a successful season of debate. Although only four students stayed through the gruelling period of prep- aration, the results have been a marked im- provement upon those of last year. Our final ranking was second among the junior col- leges of the state which participated. The question of debate was, Resolved: That the trend from local to federal control in matters that concern the Whole nation, such as prohibition, police protection, federal judiciary, federal aid, and federal taxation which has characterized our government in the twentieth century is inimical to the best interests of the United States. Professor Sudermann was the coach and with his help and the assistance of Miss Gemmel, city librarian, the debaters made a thorough study of the question. Misses Alene Bassett and Mildred Clemens support- ed the affirmative side of the question, while Messrs. Wallace Scott and Alford Prescott took the negative. The latter team Went through the three meets without a defeat. Among their victories was one over Arkansas City, which was won by fourteen points, and one over Iola, garnered by six points. The The negative team, in defeating the affirma- tives of Iola, won over the only affirmative team in the conference which was able to get a decision. The first debate was with Parsons on April 5, and the ladies did the traveling. The affirmative team lost by one point, while the negatives at home Won by two and a half points. The second series, in which all the negative teams were traveling, set us against the Arkansas City teams. This time our boys scored a victory of fourteen points, and at the opponents' own school. Although the affirmatives again lost by one point, we were still with a safe margin, and were privileged to enter the finals by virtue of our average scores. On April 19 Iola, Arkansas City, and In- dependence met in a triangular debate to de- cide the state junior college championship. Independence sent her affirmative team to Arkansas City. Mr. Sudermann took the team in his car, and Mr. Myers accompanied them, incidentally being of great aid in the troubles which came from the heavy rain- fall. At home we met the Iola negative team. Again negatives Won and aflirmatives lost. Whether this was due to the nature of the subject, or the inclinations of the judges, it may be hard to sayg but the curious fact about all the debates was that the affirmatives lost consistently with the one exception of the Iola affirmative victory over Parsons. The fact that We were able to win over this exceptional team and the favorable results otherwise, leads us to call the season a very successful one. As a reward for their hard work the debators were given a dinner at the Booth hotel. Mr. Suderman and Miss Gemmel, together with the four debators were the ones to partake and all agreed that the event closed an activity which had been worth- while, although strenuous. With two debators back for next year, and others coming in from the high school, the prospects for the coming season are very hopeful. -Mildred Clemens. Page 15 ,lg