Pittsburg State University - Kanza Yearbook (Pittsburg, KS)

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countered on a line plunge for the home eleven. Pittsburg's offensive threats were held to a mini- mum by the Kirksville line, but their defensive work was somewhat better. Big Jim Gumfory was easily the most outstanding Pittsburg lineman. The Locals entertained the College of Em- poria Presbyterians on the night of Sept. 26, and after a slow first half defeated them 21 to 0. C. of E., operating from a short punt formation, looked smooth in the first half and the Gorillas couldn't get moving. The half ended in a score- less deadlock. Don German, playing his fourth year for Pitts- burg, opened the scoring for the locals as he smashed over from the ten. A combination of good blocking and brilliant ball-carrying netted the next touchdown as Dale Morrow scampered over from the 22-yard line. Speedy Glen Tolle, who had his best season since he starred for the Pitt team in 1942, slipped around end and went in from the ten-yard line. Passes from Hogue to Dutch Nogel netted many gains and the Pittsburg line, led by Don and Dud Stegge played excellent football. Jack Grim played good ball both defensively and offensively. Page 17 Little Leon Foster, playing his second year for the Crimson and Gold, kicked three extra points, one from the 25 after a penalty, and did a nice job in the quarterback spot. The powerful Springfield Bears came to town on Oct. 3, and humbled the Gorillas 21 to 0. The Pittsburg offensive was stopped cold by the Bears and the locals had a difficult time in holding the Springfield aggregation to three touchdowns. Playing before a homecoming crowd of 7,000 fans on Saturday, Oct. 11, the Pittsburg gridsters and the Hays Tigers battled to a scoreless tie. The Tigers came to town highly favored, but the Goril- las out-played them by far and did everything but win the ball game. Shifty Glen Tolle scored on a nice 20-yard run in the early part of the game, but the play was called back because of a Gorilla penalty, so the Morganmen had to be satis- fied with a moral victory. Big Tom Lester and Dutch Nogel were excellent in slowing down the Hays end runs and in snatching passes on the Pitt offensive. John Hottenstein played a good defensive ball game for the Gorillas as did Firman Mall and Joe Gray. J ack Wallace, who has more hustle than

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The 1947 season for the Gorilla football team wound up with a final record of two wins, six losses, and one tie, and a hold on fifth place in the Central Intercollegiate Conference. As far as wins go, this season could not be termed a success for the Gorillas, but taking some other things into consideration, the boys in Crimson and Gold didn't do badly at all. First there is the matter of team spirit, which the Gorillas never lost from the opening kickoff in the Kirksville game to the final gun in the Emporia fray. Even though they were outclassed many times on the field they never gave up, and the remarkable thing is that they could keep that spirit even though they were losing ball games. Another highlight in an otherwise drab sea- son was the outstanding defensive play of the Pittsburg ball club. With the Gorilla eleven trickily shifting their defensive formations with By JIM BROWN the opponent's different offensive threats, they usually held the scoring fairly low. If the schools in the CIC were rated defensively the Gorillas would be very near the top. Fine coaching was another bright spot in the Gorilla grid picture. Charley Morgan substituted wisely, used good strategy, and took advantage of all opportunities in engineering the ball club. Injuries plagued his team all season and Lady Luck turned her back, but Charley kept his team hustling. Prentice Gudgeon was there to help at all times, and the addition of fiery little Lee Bourn- onville and wise Carl Killion proved to be a good move. On the night of Sept. 19, the Pittsburg Gorillas opened the football season at home against the Kirksville Bulldogs and dropped the ballgame 12 to 6. Kirksvi1le's Serwatka and Asperger scored behind the huge Bulldog line, and Don German Page 16

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eight ordinary football men, backed up the Gorilla line to perfection. German played his usual out- standing game and was especially good on de- fensive work. The Gorillas outgained the Tigers, 159 to 117 yards, and got seven first downs to the visitors' four. The first out-of-town game for Pittsburg came Oct. 17, when they traveled to Topeka to tangle with the Washburn Ichabods in a conference tilt. The Gorillas lost a heartbreaker there 13 to 12. It was a rough ball game with the Pittsburg team fighting hard to bring home a victory. The first three quarters netted nothing for the Morganmen, but in the last quarter they unveiled a passing attack that brought two touchdowns and came very close to bringing two more to the Pittsburg side of the scoreboard. Schuette and Lorenzen hit Winters, Johnson, Tolle, Nogel, and Lester for good gains. German scored the first Pitt touchdown when he went off tackle to pay dirt from the six. Gooch Lorenzen coined the second six pointer for the Locals when he went over on a quarterback sneak. Washburn scored early on a 65-yard run by Mel- vin, outstanding Ichabod football and basketball player. To name any outstanding ball players for Pittsburg in this game would be folly. Every man who made the trip fought his heart out to bring home the bacon. Uri Oct. 24, Pitt traveled to Winfield and was A promising backfield combination for next season receives in- struction on a T-forma- tion play from Coach Charley Morgan. They are Steve johnson, Carl DeRiso, Scotty Moher- man and Leon Foster. defeated 7 to 0. The Moundbuilders scored in the third quarter on a fake try for a field goal with Swofford taking a pass from Boone to win for Southwestern. The game was played in the mud which slowed down the offensive thrusts of both teams. The Gorillas outgained Southwestern and also rolled up more first downs than their oppon- ents. The ball game ended with the ball in posses- sion of Pitt on the Moundbuilderis one yard line. After frowning on the Gorillas for six games, Lady Luck finally gave them a few breaks on Saturday, Nov. 1, as the local eleven pounced on the hapless St. Benedicts Ravens beating them 19 to 6 on a soggy Brandenburg field. Tiny All- mon leaped up from his tackle position to haul down a St. Benedict's pass on the 32 that led to the first touchdown for the victors. A penalty, a running play, and a bullet pass from Leroy Schuette to Tom Lester in the end zone added six points for Pittsburg. Lester injured his knee on that play and was out for the rest of the season. Lesco, slippery back from Neodesha, skidded into pay dirt from the five for the second Pitt touchdown. Running drives by Lesco, DeRiso, and Tolle were outsanding in the next Gorilla touchdown drive that was terminated on a beauti- ful pass from Lorenzen to Lesco, The halfback took the pass over his shoulder on the ten and went over standing up. Jones, rugged Raven full- back, provided a thrilling play as he smashed off Page 18