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Bell Tower UA Fort Smith Alumni Association P.O. Box 3649 Fort Smith, AR 72913
NONPROFIT ORG. U.S. POSTAGE PAID UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS FORT SMITH
A Look Back
IN WHAT PASSED FOR the “regular season” of 1931, the Fort Smith Junior College football team went 1-5, scoring 39 points to their opponents’ 89. It was only their second season, but, frankly, things weren’t looking much better than they had the first season, when the Lions had been outscored 85-43 on the way to a 1-4 record. Somehow, though, despite their losing record, the FSJC gridmen—as the 1932 Numa yearbook called them—ended up playing Little Rock Junior College at the end of the season for the Arkansas Junior College Championship. It appears there just wasn’t much competition; Little Rock and El Dorado are the only Arkansas junior colleges the Lions played in their three seasons. In the showdown with Little Rock, according to
the Numa, “The two elevens were evenly matched the greater part of the game, although the mud bothered both.” In the fourth quarter, though, the Lions drove 80 yards for the only touchdown of the game and the championship. The following season—and the last for the Lions—things started to look up. With the help of a freshman kicker/receiver named Clair Bates, they went 2-2-2 and shut out Little Rock for the third season in a row. It was hardly a football dynasty, but a championship is a championship. Any particular games, seasons, athletes, or teams you remember from your time on campus? We’d love to hear your recollections! Drop us a line at belltower@uafortsmith.edu or Bell Tower Magazine, P.O. Box 3649, Fort Smith, AR 72913.