- - - Shelby Football - Beginnings: 1894 - 1906 - - -

 
Part IV

 
The 1902 Shelby Football Season
 
 
Shelby Daily Globe - August 30, 1902

 
 

At this meeting, Russell Johnston was named team captain for 1902 and Arthur Rice was chosen team manager.
 
 
Shelby Daily Globe - September 3, 1902

 
 
 

Russell Johnston wasted little time in helping to promote the Shelby Football Team and trying to schedule a game with O. S. U.
 
 
 
Shelby Daily Globe - September 5, 1902

 
 

Arthur Rice resigns his position as team manager explaining that it would require too much time away from his grocery business. Frank Schiffer (Frank C. Schiffer, born 1861) was chosen in his place and will be in charge of the team and game scheduling for the season.
 
 
 
Shelby Daily Globe - September 8, 1902

 
 
Some noteworthy nuggets in this article are:
Charles A. Gleason was replaced by Dr. Morton William Bland as team coach.
Manager Frank Schiffer announced the securement of Charles Follis (of Wooster) to play for the 1902 season.
Dr. Bland and Prof. Turner will coach the 1902 Shelby High School football team.
 
 
Shelby's high school football team lost only two members from 1901. Walter Sutter went to Washington and Jefferson College on a football scholarship and last year's team captain, John Rice, went to Bethany College where he continued to play football. The new high school team coach was Prof. William "Bill" Turner, Jeff Morris' brother in law, and the high school principal. Howard Hunter was elected the new team captain and Frank Strock team coach.
 
 
 
Shelby Daily Globe - September 11, 1902

 

The Shelby Athletic Club officially replaces the previous Shelby Atheletic Association name.
 
 
 
Shelby Daily Globe - September 11, 1902

 
 

This letter from the Fremont, Ohio Crescents football team served as a reminder that the Fremont team, who had disputed Shelby's 1900 state championship, regarded their 10 to 0 loss to Shelby in 1901 as a fluke but would accept a game in Shelby scheduled for October 25. The Fremont team then placed demands for team transportation from Monroeville and payment for all expenses for their 15 men.

Manager Schiffer may have used the letter as a team motivation to aid in preparation for this season's games.
 
 
 
Shelby Daily Globe - September 20, 1902

 
 
 
Shelby Daily Globe - September 25, 1902

 

Coach Bland and manager Schiffer may have wanted another letter or some additional means of motivating the team.
 
 
 
Shelby Daily Globe - September 27, 1902

 

Maybe this was the motivation that was required to get the attention of the Shelby team members?
 
 
 
Shelby Daily Globe - September 29, 1902

 
Shelby Wins 27 to 0

The Ganges Band led the procession from the Shelby downtown area to the Athletic Park located between Mack and Park Avenues, and south of the homes being contructed on Simeon Avenue. The crowd of over 600 fans was eager to see the "giant Willie" Bill Harris and the new players, Dave Bushey (Shiloh) and Charles Follis (Wooster). Branch Rickey had been signed for the 1902 season and may have played, trading off at RH with Charles Follis although there is no indication in this article that he did.
 
 
 
 
Shelby Daily Globe - October 6, 1902

 
 
 
Charles Follis carries the ball around Newark's right end on a muddy Shelby athletic field. . . . . . . . . . . . . Photo courtesy of the Shelby Museum

 
 
Shelby Wins Again 48 to 0

"Col." (Cornelius J. - sometimes "Dutch") Mayer scored the first Shelby touchdown and by the end of the first half, the score was 21 to 0 in Shelby's favor. The second half found the Newark team tired, while Shelby appeared to be fresh and ready to play. Dave Bushey moved from playing LE to playing LH and scored a touchdown on a 75 yard run, while Charles Follis, playing RH, had two scores with runs of 25 and 30 yards. The results were never in doubt.
 
 
Charles Follis played for Shelby 1902 - 1906
For more information about Charles Follis
 
 

 
 
Shelby High School Team loses season opener to Mt. Vernon 27 to 0.

Photo courtesy of the Shelby Museum
 
 
The 1902 team players and lineup were as follows: Clifford Skiles, LE, QB; John Coltman, LT; Steven Metzger, LG; Purd Post, C; Ralph Page, RG; Bob Smiley, RT; Howard Hunter, RE; Carl Sutter, QB, RE; Lawrence Wilhide, LH; Frank Schiffer, RH; and Earl Stambaugh, FB. Frank Strock, Almond Davis, Lawence Metzger, Rolland Moore, Roy Whittle, Seth Drummond, and Howard Skiles also played throughout the season and are shown in the above team photo.
 
 1902 Shelby High School Football Schedule
 
 Shelby High School     Mount Vernon High School  
 Shelby High School     Galion High School  
 Shelby High School     Plymouth High School  
 Shelby High School     Bucyrus High School  
 Shelby High School     Newark High School  
 Shelby High School     Mansfield High School  
 Shelby High School     Shelby Scrubs  
 
 

 
 
Shelby Daily Globe - October 13, 1902

 
Shelby Wins Against Alliance 50 to 0

Dave Bushey and Charles Follis again made long runs on sweeps around the Alliance defense. Many substitutions were made by Shelby in the second half which was reduced to 10 minutes due to Alliance injuries.
 
 

 
 
Shelby High School Team Loses to Galion 10 to 0
Goal line stand ? . . . . . . . . . Shelby Museum Photo

 
 

The Galion team had a weight advantage over a Shelby squad that was unable to overcome this in spite of their knowledge of the basics and a good team effort.
 
 

 
Fremont Crescents vs Shelby A. C.
 
Shelby Daily Globe - October 25, 1902

 
 
 
Shelby A. C. Wins over Fremont 58 to 0
Shelby Daily Globe - October 27, 1902

 
 
Shelby scored at will using various plays and players. It was a route!
Touchdowns:
Charles Follis => 2
Col. Mayer => 1
Howard Hunter => 1
Gus Mayer => 2
Dave Bushey => 2
Russell Johnston => 2
 
 
 
 
Shelby A. C. Loses to East Akron A. C. 16 to 0
Shelby Daily Globe - November 3, 1902

 

From the article it appears that although Shelby had a weight advantage, East Akron was faster, more nimble and simply out played Shelby on that night.
 
 

 
 
Shelby High School Team Wins Over Plymouth 49 to 0.
 

The one bright spot was the fact that the Shelby High School team took their game when they played Plymouth High School at Mansfield. Despite Plymouth augmenting their team by a couple of Shiloh players, they could not stop Shelby and were defeated by a score of 49 to 0.
 
 

 
 
Shelby A. C. Wins over Lorain A. C. 6 to 0
Shelby Daily Globe - November 10, 1902

 
 

"The grandest homecoming ever accorded to any body of Shelby representatives on the athletic field, and was truly the greatest mark of appreciation which the Shelbyites could bestow upon their champions."

The game was played to a crowd of over two thousand fans.
 
The lone touchdown was scored by "Big Bill" Harris in the second half of play and Dave Bushey kicked the goal,
winning the first game the Lorain team had lost in three years.
 
 
 
Shelby Daily Globe - November 13, 1902

 
 
 
Shelby A. C. Loses to Case O.S.U. Medics 16 to 0
Shelby Daily Globe - November 17, 1902

 
 
This was the first time that Shelby allowed its goal line to be crossed this year on their home field. This was one occasion when Charles Follis played against Branch Rickey.
 
 
 
Shelby A. C. - 37, Columbus Barracks Soldiers - 0
Shelby Daily Globe - November 28, 1902

 
 
This game was a bit of an exhibition of Shelby football. Charles Follis scored three touchdowns (one on a 90 yard run), Gus Mayer, Dave Bushey, Bill Harris and Ray Austin scoring a touchdown each.
 
 
Shelby Daily Globe - December 4, 1902

 
 

 
 
 1902 Shelby High School Football Season Results
 
 Shelby High School  0   Mount Vernon High School  6
 Shelby High School  0   Galion High School  10
 Shelby High School  49   Plymouth High School  0
 Shelby High School  0   Bucyrus High School  0
 Shelby High School  48   Newark High School  0
 Shelby High School  10   Mansfield High School  0
 Shelby High School  20   Shelby Scrubs  0
 

 
 
 
 
The 1902 Shelby Athletic Club State Champions
Shelby Museum Photo
 
The 1902 Shelby team (in the above photo) consisted of the following:
Front row (l-r):
Frank Mayer, Arthur Ward - QB, Ferdinand Mayer (mascot and nephew of the Mayer brothers), Smith Weiser - QB, Ray Austin - RE
Middle Row:
Fred Brown - RE, Col. Mayer - FB, Harry Griffith - LG, Russell Johnston - RT, Gus Mayer - LE, Dave Bushey - LH, Charles Follis - RH
Back Row:
Mike Yetzer - RG, Dan Tucker - RG, William Harris - LT, Fred Tucker - C, Walter Hunter - LH, Harry McCool -LG, Campbell - FB
Standing to the right - Manager Frank Schiffer
 
 
 1902 Shelby Shelby Athletic Club Football Season Results
 
Shelby Athletic Club  27 Akron Planets  0
Shelby Athletic Club  48   Newark A. C.  0
Shelby Athletic Club  50   Alliance Orientals  0
Shelby Athletic Club  58   Fremont Crescents  0
Shelby Athletic Club  0   East Akron  16
Shelby Athletic Club  6   Lorain A. C.  0
Shelby Athletic Club  0   Case O. S. U. Medics  16
Shelby Athletic Club  37   Columbus Barracks Soldiers  0
Shelby Athletic Club  226   Opponents  32
 
 

 
 

Part I

 1894 - 1898 Teams

Part II

 1899 - 1900 Teams

  Part III

  1901 Teams

  Part IV

  1902 Teams

 Part V

  1903 Teams

  Part VI

  1904 Teams 
 
 
 

"The History of Shelby Football 1894 - 1985", written by Fred Eichinger, published ca. 1986.

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