Alma College - Scotsman Yearbook (Alma, MI)

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FOOTBALL Back Row: Standing, left to right: Don McKeith, Rex Holmes, Vernon Walters, Keith Carey, Robert Kirby, Robert Ruehl, Robert Higgins, and Charles Doyle, trainer. Third Row: Coach Macdonald, Ed Penner, Fred Hartt, Ed Baklarz, Ray Robertson, Wayne Dorsett, Frank Navarre, Andy Edgerton, and Victor Fox. Second Raw: Bruce Butler, Bill LaPaugh, Durell Emling, Marvin Fenner, Gayle Saxton, Harold Hartt, Jack Tait, Francis Cappaert, and Bill Carr, assistant coach. Bottom Row: Harry Dittmar, Robert Marx, Bill Pink, Bud Wilson, Rocky Walker, Max Tullis, Jack King, Charles Rodgers, and Jack Kelly. ALMA'S ALL - MIAA FOOTBALL SELECTIONS Captain Ed Baklarz, tackle Jim Hicks, guard Keith Carey, end Robert Kirby, quarterback 1941 SEASON Alma ,..,..., l2 U. of Grand Rapids .. 0 Alma ....... 46 Adrian ...... ..... , ,.6 Alma ,.,.,... 7 Hope ................,.....,... 7 Alma ....,.. 13 Kalamazoo ........,....... 0 Alma ...,.... 6 Hillsdale ...,.,.............. 0 Alma. ,..... 26 Lawrence Tech ,,..,,....., 6 Alma ..,... 2- Albion ....,.,,..... .,.... O 48 7

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the crucial MIAA battle. In the Field Day Meet at Marshall, the Scot thin-clads won a vital second place. The same day, the tennis team placed third in the Field Day tourna- ment to clinch for the Scots the coveted award-of-the-year. In the current season, the Scots are well on their way for their second-consecutive All-Sports Trophy. The football team rolled through its regular season undefeated and tied but once in seven games, to win the MIAA crown. The Alma cagers, dis- playing the same driving power with which they won the conference the previous year, were again undefeated in conference play, finishing the season with nineteen wins and three losses. With the largest track squad in Alma history, a strong golf team, and a threatening tennis team, the Scots are strong favorites to win the All-Sports Trophy again this year. I'TINKER KIRBY WINS BOSCH TROPHY The annual award made by the Holland Manufacturer, Randall C. Bosch, to the most valuable football player in the conference was voted this year to Robert Tinker Kirby, Alma quarterback. In his four years at Alma, Kirby has been chosen on the All-MIAA first team in football this year, and the second team in 19405 and has been All-MIAA guard in basketball for the past three consecutive seasons. Tinker has also been a mainstay of the track squad in the field events, throwing both the iavelin and the discus. But Kirby's prowess has extended beyond athletic circles. One of the top students in his class, he was awarded the annual University of Michigan graduate scholarship for T942-1943. His other positions inculdez class officer, Student Council vice-president, and student representative of the Independent organization on the Co-operative Council. Truly, Tinker has made a re- markable record during his stay at Alma. COACH MACDONALD, TINKER KIRBY AND MR. BOSCH 47

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Hope-Alma game. i231 King of Alma. Cappaert of Alma about to make block. The varsity football team started out the season slowly this year, but gathered speed and drive as the season progressed until they became a vertiable avalanche as they ended the season by swamping Albion 21-O to even the score for the match which was lost to the Britons at the close of the 1940 season. Coach Macdonald's gridders played a seven-game, undefeated season, being tied but once by Hope early in the season. The power and aggressiveness of the Scots may be seen in the fact that they gained a total of 1,941 yards from rushing and passing as compared to their opponent's 917. This was the best combined offensive-defensive record in the state of Michigan. The Scot gridders started their pre-season practice September 8, in response to the call of coaches Gordon Macdonald and William Carr. Although hampered by condition- ing iniuries, and Kirby's pre-season absence, they were in top trim for their season opener at Grand Rapids. The Scot's season got under way to a slow start on September 27 as they downed the highly-touted University of Grand Rapids gridders, coached by Potsy Clark, to the tune of 12-O. The Alma offense was sparked by Jack Tait, who tallied the first Alma touchdown late in the second period, and the final counter coming in the fourth period as Bill Pink recovered an Alma fumble in the end zone. The Scots' defense was stiff, and credit should go to Cap Cappaert for his fine work in blocking and back- ing up the line. For more than three quarters the Hope team outfought the Mac-men when they met on Bahlke Field in their night game October 3. Hope scord on a pass play early in the game, and it was not until Tinker Kirby went into the Alma lineup in the second period that the Scots looked like possible champions. The Alma score came late in that period on a short pass from Tait to Kirby, with Kirby kicking the extra point to knot the score at 7-7. Such was the score at the end of the ball game, the second half being marked by an unsuccessful field goal attempt by Hope late in the fourth quarter, and by an Alma drive which was stopped by the final gun on the Hope eleven yard line. 49