The 1915 McHenry High School Football Team

The 1915 football season was an exciting one for the McHenry football team. It was the first season the school had a football team in 1914 and the results, while not bad for an inaugural team, left room for improvement. Like most new sports teams, costly mistakes were made, especially fumbles. Yet, as the year progressed the team showed real improvement. In their first game ever, the McHenry squad lost to Crystal Lake High School by a score of 9-0. However, later in the year, they beat the Crystal Lake team handily 33-7. The team was running their plays more crisply, thanks to the training of Coach C.E. Smalley. This was very impressive as most of the students hadn’t seen a football game, let alone played in one. Smalley was a respected coach who led the basketball team to a championship during the spring of 1915.

Picture of the 1915 McHenry football team. Taken from the 1916 high school yearbook.

The season started on an ominous note, as Prof. Smalley left McHenry High School to teach in Crystal Lake. Within a year, he would be the principal of the high school there. Taking over for him would be Philip Dorr, who taught the commercial and history classes for McHenry High School. Dorr would become very much respected by his team. Most of the students were new to the sport, so the program was almost started from scratch again. The first game of the season was against Crystal Lake High School. While McHenry lost 6-0, they looked very much like a new team. Somewhat embarrassed by their performance, the team then traveled to Elgin to play. In a close game with another score of 6-0, the McHenry scored its first win of the year. The Warriors played much better this time around and looked to be a much-improved unit.

The football team at practice. Note the formations look much more like rugby than today’s game.

Two weeks later, the team took to the road again, this time to Rockford. While the Rockford team won 6-0, the visitors played a better game. The Rockford paper noted that the McHenry team blocked and tackled more consistently, Alfred Richardson in particular was praised for his tackling. Rockford also had a couple of fumbles and a costly penalty that should have given the game to McHenry. However, the Rockford defense buckled down when they had to and shut out their opponent. Rockford themselves didn’t score until the final minutes of the game. The next game, was in Des Plaines where the heavily favored home team beat the McHenry squad 13-0. The Des Plaines club was more experienced and McHenry was down two of its star players. Despite its 1-3 record, the McHenry team was noticeably playing better and starting to feel good about where they were headed.

The McHenry squad at practice. Philp Dorr is in the middle, probably going through a play.

McHenry held its third season opener for the next game against rival Crystal Lake. At this time, the team played in the city ballpark, which is around where McCracken Field is today. Admission to the game cost $0.25 cents. Like the season before, McHenry would have its vengeance on the Crystal Lake club, 31-0. This was a very impressive win given that most games during this time were rather low-scoring affairs. The McHenry squad made good use of the forward pass, which was then in its infancy in the sport and not utilized very often. A third game was set up with Crystal Lake, this time it was McHenry winning 6-0. This time the game was in Crystal Lake with Lester Bacon scoring a quick touchdown and McHenry holding on for the win. The team finished the season with a record of 3-3. The players were proud that the team seemed to improve with each game that they played. Philip Dorr, the new coach seemed to grow into his new role as team leader and gained the respect of his players.

Sources

  • “McHenry Defeats Crystal Lake” The McHenry Plaindealer. (McHenry, IL) 12 Nov 1914, 1. Newspapers.com. Web. 1 Nov 2023.
  • “The McHenry High School Team…” The McHenry Plaindealer. (McHenry, IL) 7 Oct 1915, 1. Newspapers.com. Web. 23 Sep 2023.
  • “McHenry Highs Win” The McHenry Plaindealer. (McHenry, IL) 14 Oct 1915, 1. Newspapers.com. Web. 13 Sep 2023.
  • “Lose to Rockford Seconds” The McHenry Plaindealer. (McHenry, IL) 21 Oct 1915, 8. Newspapers.com. Web. 13 Sep 2023.
  • “Football Game Saturday” The McHenry Plaindealer. (McHenry, IL) 11 Nov 1915, 1. Newspapers.com. Web. 13 Sep 2023.
  • “McHenry Highs Win” The McHenry Plaindealer. (McHenry, IL) 18 Nov 1915, 8. Newspapers.com. Web. 13 Sep 2023.
  • “Right In The Neck Again” The McHenry Plaindealer. (McHenry, IL) 25 Nov 1915, 1. Newspapers.com. Web. 13 Sep 2023.