DECEMBER 16, 1946
STARS SHINE BRIGHT IN AFA TITLE GAME
New York Blanks Chicago 28-0
In what was billed as the match of the year, the New York Stars put up an impressive performance to blank the Chicago Wildcats 28-0 in the American Football Association championship game. Dyckman Stadium played host to this thrilling encounter before a crowd of 47,000 who turned out on the cool, clear afternoon to witness the Stars shine and claim the franchise's third AFA Title.
In contrast to what the score might indicate, the game was anything but one-sided as both clubs were very evenly matched. Chicago actually had the higher net yardage for the game, picking up 230 yards compared to 206 for the Stars but the game turned in a matter of minutes early in the second quarter when two Chicago turnovers led to a pair of Stars scores. Add in a blocked punt for a third quarter touchdown and it made the final score appear like a rout.
Stars quarterback, Tom Griggs, led the charge against the Wildcats with a stellar performance on both sides of the ball. However, the game started off with a rocky start for Griggs as he fumbled the ball twice in the opening minutes of the game. Fortunately for the New York Stars, John Michaels was there to recover the ball after the first fumble, but the Wildcats’ Jimmy Edwards recovered the second fumble.
The Chicago Wildcats’ offense could not capitalize on the Stars turnover, and the game remained scoreless until early in the second quarter when Paul Watts, who was named the game's Most Valuable Player, picked off a Gus Brown pass for a 49-yard interception return to give the Stars a lead they would not relinquish. Things only got worse for Chicago as the Wildcats Dutch Hoffman fumbled on the ensuing kick-off return and the Stars Jerry Reese pounced on it. Six plays later the New York lead was suddenly 14-0 when Griggs found Mike Akerly behind Chicago defender Bob Frum for a 24-yard scoring pass. Before the first half ended Jerry McElheny had increased the lead to 21-0 with a 3-yard touchdown run just a few plays after the Wildcats had an apparent interception overturned by a penalty -one of the ten the Chicago eleven took on the day for 104 yards. Reese would round out the scoring early in the third quarter when he blocked a Steve Branson punt, scooped up the ball on the fly and raced 39 yards for a major to make it 28-0.
The Stars are now 2-1 all-time in AFA championship games with all three meetings against Chicago. The Wildcats won the 1941 title game 10-7 on a last second field goal while New York prevailed 34-0 in the 1937 contest. The Stars also won the AFA championship once in the pre-title game era, claiming the 1930 crown after a 14-2-1 season.
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AMERICAN FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION CHAMPIONSHIP GAME HISTORY
YEAR SCORE VENUE MVP
1946 New York 28 Chicago 0 Dyckman Stadium Paul Watts, NY
1945 Boston 56 Detroit 24 Minutemen Stadium Del Thomas, Bos
1944 Philadel. 30 Detroit 14 Sailors Memorial Ollie Bishop, Phi
1943 Chicago 21 Boston 20 Minutemen Stadium Freeman Stahlberg, Chi
1942 Boston 24 Chicago 21 Whitney Park Del Thomas, Bos
1941 Chicago 10 New York 7 Whitney Park Dutch Hoffman, Chi
1940 Brooklyn 20 Detroit 7 Thompson Field Don Ludwigs, Bkn
1939 Boston 21 Chicago 14 Whitney Park Leon Fitzgerald, Bos
1938 Brooklyn 9 Pittsburgh 7 Kings County Bill Morrisett, Bkn
1937 New York 34 Chicago 0 Bigsby Oval Tom Jamason, NY
1936 Detroit 24 Pittsburgh 7 Thompson Field Vernon Flowers, Det
1935 Pittsburgh 7 Cleveland 0 Forester Field Harvey Bowman, Pit
1934 Pittsburgh 7 Detroit 0 Thompson Field Hank Greshman, Pit
1933 Rhode Island 21 Chicago 0 North Side Park Harvey Bowman, RI
PRIOR TO 1933 REGULAR SEASON WINNER DECLARED CHAMPION
1932 Cleveland Finiches (7-3)
1931 Detroit Maroons and Rhode Island Reds co-champs (12-1-1)
1930 New York Stars (14-2-1)
1929 Detroit Maroons (13-0)
1928 Chicago Wildcats (11-0-2)
1927 Detroit Maroons (10-0)
1926 Chicago Wildcats (13-1-2)
1925 Cleveland Finches (12-1-1)
1924 Toledo Tigers (9-0)
1923 Pittsburgh Pros (12-0)
1922 Evansville Lions (10-1)
1921 Chicago Wildcats (9-1-1)
1920 Youngstown Reapers (7-0)
CONTROVERSY IN CFC AS GOTHAMS IN TITLE CONTEST
Kings Argue 7-7 Better Than 6-6-2 Record
Over the stern objections of the Brooklyn Football Kings, the New York Gothams were officially declared champions of the Continental Football Conference's East Division and will face the Kansas City Cowboys in next Sunday's inaugural league championship game.
The Gothams defeated Buffalo 17-10 yesterday to finish with a 6-6-2 record on the season. The Kings were also at .500 with a 7-7 mark and argued that their 7 wins should be sufficient to give them the division title. However, since both teams finished with a .500 record it went to a tie-breaker. The two clubs split their two games against each other this season so the second tie-breaker was divisional record and the Gothams 4-1-1 mark against eastern foes gave them the division crown over a Kings side that was just 3-3 within the division.
New York will now be a heavy underdog as the Gothams travel to Kansas City to face the 13-1 Cowboys in the first championship match of the new league. The Cowboys, led by passing sensation Pat Chappell, blasted the Gothams 41-3 at Packer Park when they met in September and also won the rematch in New York by a 24-7 count a month later.
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CONTINTENTAL CONFERENCE FINAL STANDINGS
EAST W L T PCT
NY Gothams 6 6 2 .500
Brooklyn 7 7 0 .500
New Orleans 3 10 1 .231
Buffalo 3 11 0 .214
WEST W L T PCT
Kansas City 13 1 0 .929
Los Angeles 9 4 1 .692
San Francisco 9 5 0 .643
Chicago 4 10 0 .286
LAST WEEK'S RESULTS
New York 17 Buffalo 10
Los Angeles 14 San Francisco 3
End of Regular Season
UPCOMING GAMES
CFC Championship Game
New York at Kansas City
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CFC LEADERS - FINAL
SCORING PTS
Walston, KC 115
Gilliam, SF 75
J Wendt, BKN 72
Littlejohn, LA 68
Matthews, KC 66
PASSING COMP-ATT YDS TD INT
Chappell, KC 128-246 2358 26 7
J Wendt, BKN 156-339 1993 11 13
Fuchs, LA 131-245 1531 17 18
Metcalf, SF 106-234 1452 15 11
Mecham, CHC 95-223 1280 6 20
DeSpain, NO 121-280 1071 6 27
RUSHING YDS TD
Parameter, Buf 735 4
Matthews, KC 734 8
J Wendt, BKN 710 10
Stone, SF 707 2
Higman, Buf 622 6
Hale, NY 617 1
RECEIVING CAT YDS TD
D Smith, BKN 42 618 4
Pruitt, NO 27 263 1
Mula, SF 27 347 6
Loveless, NO 24 268 1
Harrelson, LA 23 285 3
Britton, BKN 22 306 2
Tammaro, KC 22 486 6
INERCEPTIONS #
Corbin, SF 6
Chappell, KC 6
Backus, KC 6
Sargent, CHI 6
Clark, LA 6
Engle, KC 5
Higman, Buf 5
ROME STATE'S THOMPSON WINS CHRISTIAN TROPHY
Joins Teammate Donelson as Three-Time All-Americans
Rome State's legendary touchdown twins now each own a Christian Trophy as the most outstanding college football player in the nation after Gus Thompson claimed the award this season. Thompson follows in the footsteps of his backfield mate Chet Donelson, who won the award a year ago. The Centurions pair were named to the AIAA All-American team for the third straight year. It is believed that only two other players have ever been named All-Americans three times. They are the great Urban Dane, star back at Lincoln College in the mid-1920s and Detroit City College end Miller Lamb who did in 1925-27.
Tommy Thompson, the terrific halfback from Noble Jones College -and no relation to Rome State's Gus Thompson- was named the winner of the Bryan Award as the best all-around player while the Ipswich Trophy for the top lineman went to Jack O'Sullivan of St Blane.
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JANUARY 1, 1947 CLASSIC GAME SCHEDULE
EAST WEST CLASSIC Santa Ana, Ca #7 CC Los Angeles (9-0-1) vs #9 Detroit City College (8-1)
OILMAN CLASSIC Houston, Tx. #1 St Blane (8-0-1) vs Payne State (10-0)
SUNSHINE CLASSIC Miami, Fl #2 Cumberland (9-0-1) vs Richmond State (9-1)
CAJUN CLASSIC New Orleans #3 Bayou State (9-0-1) vs #5 Travis College (9-1)
DESERT CLASSIC El Paso, Tx. #8 Red River State (9-0-1) vs Cache Valley (8-0)
LONE STAR CLASSIC Austin, Tx. Oklahoma City State (8-2) vs Kit Carson University (7-1)
BAYSIDE CLASSIC Tampa, Fl. #6 Noble Jones College (8-1) vs Charleston Tech (8-1-1)
PACIFIC COAST CL. San Diego, Ca. Flagstaff State (6-2-1) vs North Carolina Tech (8-2)
SOUTHWESTERN CL. San Antonio, Tx Abilene Baptist (8-2) vs Mile High State (8-2)
SAN JOAQUIN CL. Fresno, Ca. Coastal California (6-2-2) vs Commonwealth Catholic (8-1)
LIBERTY WINS SHOWDOWN WITH NC TECH
The Liberty College Bells reaffirmed their position as the top ranked team in collegiate basketball with a 47-43 victory over a previously unbeaten North Carolina Tech squad on Tuesday. The victory was the Bells 9th straight win and kept them firmly entrenched at the front of the latest media poll while the Techsters, who are now 7-1 on the season, slide from fourth to seventh in the latest rankings.
Ward Messer had 10 points and 10 rebounds to pace Liberty College, which came up a game short of winning the National title a year ago, in the win over the NC Tech. Waylon Orlick and Mike Allen, a pair of seniors Liberty College is counting on to team with the junior Messer and win what would be the school's fourth national title, also had big games with each notching 13 points. It marked the start of a busy week for the Bells, with three games on their docket. The other two games stretched their winning streak to 11 games and were much easier as Liberty College sank Potomac College 50-27 and dumped Dickson 60-37 to finish out it's week.
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[b] AIAA COLLEGIATE BASKETBALL TOP TWENTY-FIVE
# Team FPV Record Points Prv Conference
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1. Liberty College (69) 11-1 1797 2 Indy
2. Carolina Poly (2) 8-0 1729 1 South Atlantic Conference
3. Rainier College (1) 6-0 1658 3 West Coast Athletic Association
4. Noble Jones College 6-0 1576 5 Deep South Conference
5. Redwood 7-0 1373 9 West Coast Athletic Association
6. North Carolina Tech 7-1 1363 4 South Atlantic Conference
7. Mobile Maritime 4-0 1354 8 South Atlantic Conference
8. Central Ohio 5-1 1352 10 Great Lakes Alliance
9. Bayou State 4-1 1269 6 Deep South Conference
10. Indiana A&M 5-0 1064 11 Great Lakes Alliance
11. Lane State 4-1 1051 12 West Coast Athletic Association
12. Lexington State 6-0 1049 17 South Atlantic Conference
13. Texas Gulf Coast 8-1 881 7 Southwestern Alliance
14. Northern California 6-0 861 13 West Coast Athletic Association
15. Narragansett 7-0 688 18 Indy
16. Whitney College 6-1 649 16 Great Lakes Alliance
17. St. Ignatius 4-0 638 20 Great Lakes Alliance
18. Columbia Military Academy 3-0 554 25 South Atlantic Conference
19. Western Iowa 5-1 511 21 Great Lakes Alliance
20. Perry State College 4-0 461 15 Midwestern Association
21. St. Blane 7-2 418 NR Indy
22. Fond du Lac 4-0 325 NR Central Athletic Alliance
23. Coastal California 3-1 245 NR West Coast Athletic Association
24. Chesapeake State 4-1 187 NR South Atlantic Conference
25. Great Plains State 7-2 136 NR Indy
RESULTS INVOLVING TOP 25 SCHOOLS LAST WEEK
MONDAY DECEMBER 9
at #5 Redwood 39, San Francisco Tech 34
at #18 Columbia Military Academy 56, College of San Diego 39
at #12 Lexington State 47, Huntington State 38
#8 Central Ohio 47, at St. Patrick's 44
#21 St. Blane 53, at Penn Catholic 45
at #2 Carolina Poly 38, St. Matthew's College 23
TUESDAY DECEMBER 10
at #1 Liberty College 47, #6 North Carolina Tech 43
at #11 Lane State 46, Lubbock State 38
at #14 Northern California 41, Golden Gate 36
#24 Chesapeake State 42, at Berwick 30
at #15 Narragansett 51, Ohio Poly 47
WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 11
at #9 Bayou State 46, #13 Texas Gulf Coast 39
at #2 Carolina Poly 46, Valley State 36
at #23 Coastal California 65, Oklahoma Bible College 58
#25 Great Plains State 59, at Tinker 43
#12 Lexington State 44, at Bluegrass State 39
THURSDAY DECEMBER 12
at #14 Northern California 42, San Francisco Tech 39
at #4 Noble Jones College 58, Michigan Lutheran 42
#1 Liberty College 50, at Potomac College 27
FRIDAY DECEMBER 13
at #17 St. Ignatius 55, Pittsburgh State 45
#18 Columbia Military Academy 52, at Elyria 40
at #5 Redwood 41, Springfield State 21
at #21 St. Blane 49, Minnesota Tech 39
#15 Narragansett 51, at Tempe College 49
SATURDAY DECEMBER 14
no top 25 scheduled
SUNDAY DECEMBER 15
#12 Lexington State 45, at Ferguson 34
at #25 Great Plains State 41, Wichita Baptist 39
#22 Fond du Lac 45, at Annapolis Maritime 39
at #1 Liberty College 62, Dickson 37
#21 St. Blane 33, at Western State 30
#9 Bayou State 48, at Dakota College 36
UPCOMING MAJOR FIGHTS- Dec 18- Waterbury, Ct: Heavyweight contender Scott "The Chef" Baker (15-1-2) vs Chris May (24-5)
- Dec 26- Jacksonville, Fl: Heavyweight contender Roy Crawford (22-2) vs Robby King (15-10)
- Dec 26- Brooklyn, NY: Welterweight Wayne Dunn (28-7) vs Pierek 'Soda' Popinski (8-6)
- Jan 18- Detroit, Mi: World Heavyweight Champ Hector Sawyer (54-3-1) faces top contender Mark Fountain (21-2-1)
- Feb 22- St Louis, Mo: World Welterweight Champ Mark Westlake (20-2-1) vs Harold Stephens (18-3-2)
- March TBA - Middlweight champion Frank Melanson (31-0-2) vs Nick Harris (19-2-1)
The Week That Was
Current events from the week ending 12/15/1946
- Russia unexpectedly refused to accept a proposal for a United Nations inventory of armed troops at home. The Soviet Foreign Minister demanded an accounting of home troops be removed from an agreement already approved by the UN committee.
- John D Rockefeller Jr offered the United Nations a gift of $8.5 million with which to purchase a large tract of land in midtown Manhattan for a permanent sight.
- John L Lewis action in limiting the coal strike truce to April 1 is being used by both Republican and Democratic members of Congress as a deadline for enactment of new labor-controlled legislation.