York Fairgrounds hosted college football games
This Library of Congress photo shows goal line action during a circa 1902 college football game. At the turn of the 20th Century the infield of the half-mile race track at the York Fairgrounds played host to college football games.
The York Collegiate Institute, a predecessor to York College, played some of their home football games at the York Fairgrounds. The following article appears in the Thursday, October 5th, 1899, issue of The York Daily. This early sports article gives details about the college football game played between Dickinson College Reserves and the York Collegiate Institute teams on Wednesday morning at the York Fairgrounds during the York Fair.
“A not very interesting game of football was played on the fair grounds yesterday morning, between the Dickinson College Reserves and the York Collegiate Institute teams. The boys lined up at 10 o’clock and it was very evident that the Institute was far outweighed. The first half went off with a rush, and for a time honors were about even. The Dickinson men made good gains through the line, but when they tried the ends they were stopped by the fine tackling of both Jessop and Yost. With only 10 seconds to play Dickinson got the ball over the first touch-down but failed to kick the goal.
“In the second half our boys weakened and the weight of their opponents began to tell. Wareheim and Yost, of the Institute, were both injured so that they had to be taken out. Wooster finally got through for a long run and a touchdown. The playing of the Institute boys from here out was decidedly ragged, although they showed pluck to the end and kept their opponents down to two more touch-downs.
“The Dickson team had good interference and had no difficulty in gaining with the guards back formation. The line-up was as follows:
- Y.C.I. D.C.R.
- Jessop . . . . . left end . . . . . Schuman.
- Fisher . . . . . left tackle . . . . Johnson.
- Dise . . . . . . . left guard . . . . . Sloan.
- E. Myers . . . . centre . . . . . . Gillespie.
- D. Myers . . . . right guard . . . . Hoke.
- Wareheim . . . right tackle . . . . Brooks.
- Yost . . . . . . . . right end . . . . . . . Smith.
- Cook . . . . . . . . quarter . . . . . . . . Wood.
- Kennard . . . . left half-back . . . . Wooster.
- Garrison . . . . right half-back . . . . Arthur.
- Eyster . . . . . . . . full-back . . . . . . . . Norris.
“Touthdowns—Smith 2, Woolsey 2. Goals—Wood 2. Dickinson 22, Y.C.I. 0, Umpire—W. J. Rothermel. Timers—Samuel K. McCall and J. Howard Manifold. Linesmen—Wm. Mullholland and Edw. W. Spangler.”
The Intercollegiate Football scoring rules for 1899, awarded 5 points for a touchdown, 1 point for successfully kicking the goal following a touchdown, and 2 points for a safety. Resulting in the score of 22 for Dickinson; i.e. 4 touchdowns and 2 successful kicking the goal following touchdowns.
The following are a few early college football milestones, from my post George S. Billmeyer; All American Football Player in 1869. In 1880, the number of players on the field, from each team, was lowered to 11; as we have today. In 1882, the rule of using yards and downs was added; requiring a team to make 5 yards in 3 downs. In 1906 the forward pass was legalized; 37 years after the first college football game! And it took until 1912 for the rules refinement to the present system we now have: 4 downs to make 10 yards.
Related posts include:
- Birds Eye View of Original York Fairgrounds Site
- York Fair Grounds Particulars from 1877
- 75 Years Ago, Joe Bury sells Four and a Half TONS of Hamburgers at the York Fair
- George S. Billmeyer; All American Football Player in 1869
- Five Penn State football games canceled in 1918
- Take me out to the Ballgame of Yesteryear
- The Great Potato Chip Battle; Martin’s versus Utz
- Cliff Satterthwaite artwork drawn at YORK FAIR
- Animals Run Wild at YORK FAIR
- Bingo Banned at YORK FAIR; Cliff Satterthwaite explains his Artwork
- Numbers Game at the YORK FAIR
- The Mighty Atom entertained at the YORK FAIR for over Five Decades
- YORK FAIR Finger Ring Mementos crafted by The Mighty Atom
- Red Lion Fair ran 8 Days in August of 1924
