MSM ALUMNUS Missouri School of Mines and Metallurgy ROLLA, MO .
V OLUME 19
OCTOBER-NOVEMBER, 1945
NUMBER 5
Football Season
Two Miners Against the Japs
B y D ean D a n ie ls '46
A f r ie nd s h ip t hat s ta r t ed when Rob e r t S ilh a vy '-It , 8969 O ld e n av ~ n u e, Overla nd ,Mo., and E uge ne P. Boyt '-II , ne ph e w of Dr. A. S. M c F a rland of Ro ll a, werc s tud ents at t he M S M , carr ied t hem t h rou g h a se r ies of ach 'e ntu r es tha t w ill rank with most of t h ose cx pe r ie n ced by th e A m e rican troop s In th e J apa nese wa r . Bo th boy s g radua t e d at MSM in 19-11 , ta kin g a dva nced R O T h ey w e n t to Ft. Be lvo ir t hat s u mm e r a n d aft e r fini s hi n g th e r e, t hey d ec id e d t hat t hey want e d to see the worl d , s o th ey vo lun t ee re d fo r ac t ive d u ty in th e army in th e P h il ipp i nes, ar ri vin g t he r e o n Aug. 2 , 194 1. Bo b wa s s ta tion ed at San to Capt. Eug en e Boyt and Capt. Robert SiIhavy Tomas as in s t ru c t o r in o ne of t he e n g inc e r batta li ons. He ha d b ee n to Ma n ila on S u nday, Dec. 7 (t h ey we r e pa s t th e Int e rn a tion a l dat e lin e an d co nse q ue ntl y w ha t wa s D ec, 7 wit h us wa s D e c. 8 wit h t hem). \ I\t' h e n h e awoke t he m o rnin g o f Dec. 8, he wa s to ld t hat th e Jap s ha d bom b ed P ea r l Ha rb or a nd wa r had s ta r te d. He dicin ' t be li eYe it a t fii' st. Ge n e wa s Project E n g inee r fo r th e U .S. En g in eers d e pa r tm e nt a t Cla r k Fi e ld. O n D ec. 8, he too ha d inf o rm a ti o n that wa r had s tarte d , bu t t hey wcre s ur p r ised at t h e b o mb in g attack o n Cla rk Fi e ld, a s th e re was n o a ir ra id wa r n in g . "T he fi r s t in fo rmat io n th ey h a d t hat t h e Ja ps wer e overh e:Id wa s w h en Cla rk F ie ld s tar te d fa ll in g a pa rt ," Ge ne sa id. T he r e w e re nin e pe r so ns in Ge ne's h o use, a pa rt se r va n t s, and o nl y s ix of th em ca m e o ut. Bo b s ta t ed th a t th e boy s had prac ti ca ll y t o t hr ow Ge ne in to a fox h o le an d ho ld hi m t h e r e to ke e p h im from ge tti n g o u t o n to th e fi e ld a nd fac in g a m ur d e ro us s t rafi n g fi re in a n attempt to care fo r t he wou nd ed and d y in g , Gen e s tay e d at Clar k Fi e ld un t il Ch r is tma s E ,'e and t he n e " ac uat e d o n C h ri s t ma s Day mO"i n g in to Ba t aa n. T he r e he was a ss ig ne d to t he 20 1s t Co mbat E n g in eers. H e and Bob we re toget he r fo r a fe w m in u t es in F e b ru ary, bu t d id not see eac h ot h e r a g ain u nt il af te r t he famo us Deat h Marc h . Bob was d e tac hed from Sa n to Toma s a nd se n t so ut h of M a ni la w he re he was at work bl ow ing u p t he b r id ges . T he Jap s w e re c lo se at ha n d a nd in o ne in s t a n ce, Bo b B le w a brid ge und e r .Ta p fi re th at a t t rac t ed p a r t ic ula r a tt e nt ion and he wa s p ro min e n t ly m e n tion ed in \ Va r Depa r tm e n t r eport s se n t back to t he U ni t ed Stat es . In bl owin g t hi s b rid ge, howevcr, Bob's u n it wa s c u t off fr0111 t he ma in forc es in t he
round -15 III ine rs r epo r tcd for p ractice to produ ce the first va rs it y footba ll team at MSM s inc e 19-13. Soo n t he sq uad t h inn e d t o thi rt y-s ix m c n w ho r emain e d w it h t he tea m th e rest of t h e seas on. T he r e wa s not a r e tur n in g le tt e rma n on t he s quad a nd man y of t he pe r so n ne l ha d not p layed any organized football. Seventy-five pe rc e n t of th e s q uad were freshmen. Afte r fi,'e w ee ks of hard pra c ti ce centered mo st ly on fundamenta ls, th e Min e rs lo st th e ir initia l g am e to a s tron g Gni,'crsity of Mi ss o u r i "B " t ea m (25-0) h e r e in Ro ll a. T he game wa s mu c h closer than t he sco re indi ca tes . Breaks an d Missou ri U. expe ri e nce played a deci d e d factor in t he fi na l score. Tn th e ir seco nd s tart one week late r, Springfield T eac he r s Co ll ege ca m e to town and we n t hom e wit h a 20-1 3 victo ry . A ll t he sco r in g cam e in the seco nd half of t h e g am e. Springfi e ld sc o r ed t h e win nin g to uc hdown in t he clo s in g m inu t es of th e ga lll e, t h us brea k in o ' t he 13-13 t ie. On Oct. 19, t he M ine r s t r ave led to St. Louis to p lay St. I_oui s Uni ,¡e r s ity . Upsett in g t he p r ed ict io n s of a St. Loui s G. romp , th e M in e r s he ld a h ig h scori n g' Bi ll ik e n tea m to 32 points . After a ll owi ng t he St. Lo u is U . team to ,core thr ee tim es in t he ope nin g pe rio d , t he Mi ners se tt led down and he ld t he ir heav ie r oppo ne n t s to twe lve poi n t s t he r es t of th e ga me, In t he thi rd q uart e r th ey act ually ocltp lay " d th e Bi ll ik e n's fi r s t t ea m. T he ne xt Sat urd ay th e M in e rs lost a r etu r n ga m e in Sprin g fi e ld, Mo., to th e Sp rin g fi e ld T eac h e r s Co ll ege, 18-7. :F'o ss ibl y ove r- co n fide n ce a nd a s tro n g Spr in gfie ld team cost th e M in e r s t hc ir fo ur t h game . vV ith t wo wee ks of ha rd pr ac ti ce, t he M in e r s p lay e d t he ir fin a l ga m e of t he season aga in s t K irksv ill e Teac he r s Co ll ege in Ro ll a, Nov. 10. T he game wa s a fea tur e at t ract io n of th e MSM Homeco min g ce le bratio n. A lt h o ug h t he M in e r s o u tp laye d t he ir oppo ne n ts, K ir k sv ille w e n t home w it h a 6-0 victo ry. Coac h Dw ig ht Hafeli d ese rv es a g r ea t d eal of p ra ise fo r attempti ng to fi e ld a n e leve n wit h t he m ate r ial at h is di spo sa l at t he s ta rt of t he sea s o n. Not w inn in g a g am e is a bi g bl ow to a.Mi rI e r t ~ a m and coac h, b u t a s H af eli s ay s, "'VVatch nex t year s team!
Football Needs at MSM B y Prof. F . E. Dennie
e.
F r ed Sc hn ee be r ge r, p r es id e n t of MSM A lu m ni A ss oc ia ti o n, ha s as ked m e to ex pr ess w ha t I co ns id e r wo ul d be mo s t nec d ed fo r t he Coac h he re to turn o ut b e tt e r foo tb a ll tea m s. Fi rs t, le t m e say t hat und e r t he p r ese n t circ u m s ta nces r t h in k Coac h Haf e li , wit h t h e ass is ta nce of Lt. " D u ke" Sampson, who has g iven a co u pl e of day s se rvice pe r wee k, has don e a s we ll j o b to put as goo d a tea m o n th e fi e ld a s he has- a team that we can we ll b e p ro ud of. La s t wi n t e r wh e n t he s ubj ec t of havi n g a foot ball team ca m e u p, th e Co m mitt ce o n At hl et ic s told Coac h Ha fe li t hat if t he boys wa n t ed to play foo t ba ll to g o a head and sc he du le ga m es wit h team s not havin g Navy trai nees . 'VVe t ho ug h t tea m s ha " in g Na,'y tra inees wo ul d be too to ug h a nd ex pe rie nccd fo r uny boy s w e hav e. R e m e m b e r, w e have fe , e r t ha n 300 s tud e nt s , have n' t a s in g le b oy w ho ha s eve r p lay ed he r e befo re. a nd mo s t of t hese boys have neve r play ed eve n hi g h sc hoo l foot ba ll . I s aw t hi s g ro up of boy s lo se two ga m es t:l is seas on fo r lack of ex pe r ie n ce d j ud g ment. \Vat c h(Co ntinued
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