A Century (and more) of excellence

With any analysis of determining the "great moments" in a 115-year football chronology, there is plenty of subjective opinion, not to mention discrepancies in some of the records and accounts.

There's also a reason for taking the time now to delve deep into the archives. The 1998 season began the second century for football in the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association. Albion won the first championship in 1894, 10 years after the first intercollegiate football game was played in Michigan (between Albion and the University of Michigan) and six years after the league's 1888 founding.

While Albion has more league championships than any other member -- 32 -- all football-playing members (Calvin College has no idea what its missing) share a rich, roguish and sometimes odd history in the sport.

Defender - Ray Henke bats away a potential touchdown pass to a Saint John's (Minnesota) receiver during the 1994 Division III Semifinal. (Photo courtesy St. Cloud, Minnesota, Times)

One of Albion's 500-plus official football victories came against Olivet -- before the acknowledged first intercollegiate football contest was played between Albion and Michigan. The May 19, 1884 clash was, to quote researcher Larry Masteller in his "History of Intercollegiate Football at Albion College," a "modification of soccer, using a football instead of a round ball. The ball was tossed in the middle of the playing field and was subsequently not touched by the hands. It was not kicked through the goal posts as in soccer, but over the goal line."

Albion's athletic program could also be accused of "selected memory loss." Just as Michigan State had trouble recognizing a 79-0 loss to the Britons in June of 1886, Albion's records conveniently omit a 60-0 shelling at the hands of Notre Dame in 1898, as well as the forfeit victories claimed by Olivet and Kalamazoo in 1889 and 1906. (The Olivet game is called an "exhibition match" in MIAA records; there is no record of any scheduled contest with Kalamazoo in the Albion materials.)

Albion College Football Highlights

November 15, 1884 - The first football game involving two Michigan schools is played at Ann Arbor between Michigan and Albion. Michigan wins, 18-0. Albion also earns two victories that year over Olivet, 10-5 and 10-2, starting the oldest active college football rivalry west of the Alleghenies.

June 5, 1886 - The game is missing in the Michigan State University archives, but Albion hosts then-Michigan Agricultural College for football at Albion's Field Day. Albion rolls, 79-0, the most points scored by the Britons against a collegiate program until 1996.

October 17, 1891 - Albion gets off to a good start towards its first undefeated season with a 10-4 victory over the University of Michigan, the only Briton win in 16 games with the Maize and Blue varsity.

1894 - Albion wins the first MIAA football championship, beating Hillsdale twice, 12-0 and 36-10, and Olivet 18-0.

First Champions - The first MIAA football championship team was the Albion College squad of 1894. Among its victims -- Hillsdale twice, Olivet and Notre Dame. Albion also tied the Fighting Irish in the same season, playing twice in South Bend. (Albion College Archives Photo)

November 29, 1894 - Albion plays a rare "away-and-away" series with Notre Dame, with disastrous results for the Fighting Irish. After a 6-6 tie at Notre Dame October 20, Albion returns to South Bend for the rematch. The 19-12 Briton victory prevents Notre Dame from attaining an unbeaten record.

November 13, 1903 - A disputed extra point in the final moments by Michigan Ag requires a three-man review board to literally settle the score. The three experts: Michigan coach Fielding Yost, Michigan trainer Keene Fitzpatrick and Wisconsin coach Arthur Curtis. The panel rules MAC's extra point legal, leaving Albion to settle for both a 6-6 tie and sharing the league championship with the Aggies. It took Albion quite a while to come to grips with the decision. The athletic department records, and even two historical reviews of Albion football, still list Albion the winner.

Scoreless Wonders - The 1904 Briton football team refused to yield, allowing no points in a 7-0-1 season. Albion also shut out the opposition in the 1903 finale and 1905 opener for a 10-game scoreless streak. (Albion College Archives Photo)

1904-1920 - Walter S. Kennedy wins 51 of 88 games as Albion head coach. Albion had four championships under his direction. It's doubtful, especially with his .625 winning percentage (51-29-8), that Kennedy suffered from bad press. During this period, he also worked full time as publisher of the Albion Recorder. In fact, Kennedy resigned as football coach twice, each for two seasons, to devote more time to the newspaper.

October 18, 1919 - A year prior, Albion was leading the River Rouge Sailors (Detroit Naval Air Station) 34-13 when the Sailors employed so-called "rough tactics," so rough that Albion stopped the game and went home. The rematch in 1919 saw Albion get revenge, and then some, with a 178-0 drubbing. Albion scored 68 first quarter points, 95 by halftime, figures that still stand as NCAA records. In a thesis later written by Larry Masteller ('59), "...According to the sailors, no team had been organized but seeing a chance for some liberty they had accepted the game."

1928 - Albion's first 8-0 season includes six shutouts and a 2-0 win against Michigan State, the final game in the series with the Aggies/Spartans. Albion outscores the opposition 121-13.

1939-40-41 - Back-to-back 7-1 seasons (1939 and 1940) include a pair of perfect marks against MIAA competition. In fact, Albion's unbeaten streak in league games reaches 16 before a 21-0 loss to Alma stops the Britons from a third straight league title in 1941. The 16 straight games without a loss is the longest for Albion against MIAA competition until the 39-game unbeaten streak (37-0-2) between 1989 and 1997.

Top Exec - Cedric Dempsey was a three-sport standout at Albion, graduating in 1954. Among his teammates are retired Albion athletic director Frank Joranko, retired NYNEX CEO Bill Ferguson, and former Eastern Michigan University president John Porter. Dempsey is currently President of the National Collegiate Athletic Association. (Photo courtesy Albion College Communications Office)

October 20, 1951 - The longest play from scrimmage with a lateral (52 yards) in Albion football history occurs as part of the Britons' 33-13 win over Wilmington College. Throwing the pass is Frank Joranko, later named the MIAA's Most Valuable Player in football for 1951. Joranko is the only member of the Albion College Athletic Hall of Fame to be inducted twice -- as an athlete (football-basketball-baseball) and later as coach (football-baseball) and administrator (athletic director). The middle man in the play is Cedric Dempsey, later an all-American in basketball at Albion, and, after graduation, Briton basketball coach, athletic director at Houston and Arizona and now President of the National Collegiate Athletic Association.

October 16, 1954 - Can you punt the ball 26 times in a game and win? Albion did in a memorable 1954 road game in the mud with Kalamazoo. In his first season as Albion head coach, Morley Fraser tells his offense to punt on every first down inside Albion territory until Kalamazoo makes a mistake. In 41 snaps, Albion punts 26 times and scores two touchdowns off the 15 remaining plays -- a nine-yard scoring pass after Kalamazoo fumbles the opening kickoff and an 81-yard fake punt and run before the end of the first half -- enroute to a 12-7 victory. Among the members of Fraser's first coaching staff at Albion were Dempsey and the late Fritz Shurmur, who went on to two Super Bowls as the defensive coordinator for the Green Bay Packers.

Coaching Intensity - From time to time, even Morley Fraser (left) had reason not to smile while walking the sidelines at Alumni Field. Fraser-coached Albion teams won five MIAA football championships, including three straight from 1964 to 1966. Briton teams posted undefeated records in 1961 and 1964. At Fraser's right is former Briton player and coach Tom Taylor. Briton Hall of Fame quarterback (and current MIAA acting commissioner) Dave Neilson is also an interested bystander. (Albion Sports Information File Photo)

1961 - Albion goes 8-0, the first of two undefeated seasons under Fraser's direction (the second occurs in 1964). The season starts on the right foot with a 13-0 shutout of Eastern Michigan, one of three wins Albion would earn in the 1960s (the others were in 1960 and 1963) against a soon-to-be member of the Mid-American Conference. Albion won 13 of 19 games in its football series with EMU.

1969 - Tom Taylor returns to his alma mater as head coach, and the result is immediate and positive. Albion is steady, efficient and "perfect," finishing with an 8-0 record.

1976 - Albion finishes regular season play unbeaten (first nine-win season in College history) and leading Division III in total defense (allowing 129.9 yards per game). However, the Britons have nowhere to go for postseason play, since the MIAA will not allow it. The Board of Control approves postseason team play for football and other sports in a three-year "trial period," beginning with the 1977-78 school year.

Briton Pitchmen - Steve Robb (12) pitches to Dexter Davis during Albion's 1976 finale against Lakeland. Albion finished 9-0 and first among NCAA Division III teams in total defense. A year later, Davis rushes for 181 yards in the College's first Division III football playoff game. (Photo courtesy Jackson Citizen Patriot)

November 19, 1977 - Albion takes advantage of the postseason "trial period" by reaching the 1977 Division III football playoffs. On the road against top-ranked Minnesota-Morris, Dexter Davis' 181 rushing yards is more than the entire Minnesota-Morris offense is able to muster. Still, the hosts prevail in a blizzard, 13-10.

November 9, 1985 - The "Mud Bowl" against Hope results in a 0-0 tie, the first of back-to-back tie games with the Flying Dutchmen. Despite the tie, Albion wins the league championship and faces defending champion Augustana in the first round of the NCAA Division III playoffs. The next game Albion would be held scoreless would come at defending Division III champion Mount Union in the second week of the 1999 season.

1990-1999 - Albion would open the decade with a 28-18 loss at Denison and close with a 20-17 loss at Alma. In between, Albion would win outright or share in nine league championships, win 83 of 99 games (83-14-2) and 47 of 52 MIAA contests (47-3-2). The .848 winning percentage in the decade is the best for any four-year college or university in Michigan.

October 5, 1991 - Senior tailback Hank Wineman rushes for a school record 250 yards and three touchdowns in a 41-0 victory at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin. The game was the third in a row that Wineman had rushed for 200 or more yards. Wineman never dropped under the 100-yard mark in a game for two seasons -- 1990 and 1991 -- a then-NCAA Division III record streak of 18 regular season games. In game 19, Wineman runs for 238 yards in an NCAA Division III playoff contest at Allegheny College. (Postseason totals are not included in NCAA records for football.). At the end of the season, Wineman leads all NCAA Division III rushers, averaging 181 yards per game.

"Keeps Going And Going And Going ..." - Hank Wineman ran up the yardage in two seasons as a starting tailback in 1990 and 1991. Wineman gained 100 or more rushing yards in each of his last 19 collegiate contests, including 238 in the 1991 Division III playoff contest at Allegheny College. (Photo courtesy Jackson Citizen Patriot)

November 20, 1993 - Albion's first NCAA Division III playoff victory comes at home, a 41-21 decision of Anderson University of Indiana. The win was also the first for a Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association team in Division III postseason play. Directing the Britons at quarterback was senior Mike Montico (left), the first of five straight Albion/NCAA Football Postgraduate Scholars from 1993 to 1997.

October 29, 1994 - An Alma College record crowd of 6,442 watch undefeated Albion play undefeated Alma. Albion stays the course towards a national championship with a 26-0 shutout of the Scots' potent "Scotgun" passing game. The Briton offense finishes with 610 total yards, while Alma is held scoreless for the first time since its four-receiver shotgun attack is implemented.

December 10, 1994 - Albion wins its first NCAA Division III team title in any sport, defeating Washington & Jefferson, 38-15, in the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl in Salem, Virginia. In his final collegiate contest, Jeff Robinson rushes for 166 yards and three touchdowns. Albion completes the 1994 season with a school-record 13-0 mark.

October l2, 1996 - Albion gained 771 total yards -- three shy of the then-Division III single game record -- in a 69-14 victory over Kalamazoo. The total points establishes a single game school record (against a collegiate opponent) that lasts four weeks -- when Albion scores 80 in an 80-40 win at Alma.

Schmidt Strategy - Quarterback Joe Pesci (right) talks strategy with Pete Schmidt during the 1996 NCAA Division III playoff game with Illinois Wesleyan. Schmidt coached Albion to 104 wins, nine league titles and the 1994 Division III Championship during his 14-year tenure as head coach. After the 1996 season, Schmidt went on to serve as assistant head coach at Indiana University. (Photo by Dave Trumpie)

1996 - Twenty years after Albion leads all Division III football teams in total defense, the Britons end the regular season as the division's most prolific offensive squad. Albion sets school records by compiling per-game marks of 538 total yards and 50.8 points.

October 11, 1997 - Junior running back Virgil Petty runs wild against the Olivet defense, scoring a school-record five rushing touchdowns in a 61-6 win over the Comets. By season's end, Petty breaks Jeff Robinson's single season marks with 21 touchdowns and 126 points. He's also the first 1,000-yard rusher (1,111) since Robinson ran for 1,273 in regular season action in 1994.

September 26, 1998 - At North Manchester, Indiana, Albion is the fifth Michigan college or university to win 500 football games, beating Manchester College 46-7. The other Michigan institutions with 500 or more wins -- Michigan, Michigan State, Hillsdale and Central Michigan. Albion starts the 2002 season with 526 victories, fourth among Michigan football programs.

1998 - For the first time in Albion football history, the term "consensus all-American" can be used with an Albion football player. Senior guard Jason Carriveau (left) is a first-team Division III or Small College all-American on five teams -- Football Gazette, Hewlett-Packard, The Associated Press, American Football Coaches Association, and USA Football. Defensive tackle Pat Slone (right) earns first team honors on two squads -- Football Gazette and Hewlett-Packard.

October 30, 1999 - Special teams are very special as Albion defeats Hope, 20-14, to earn a share of the MIAA championship. Junior kicker Keith Debbaudt is the first Albion player to reach double digits in field goals. He ends the 1999 season with 11 field goals in 16 attempts, kicking two against the Flying Dutchmen. Sophomore Jared Owens returns a third-quarter kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown, the longest kick return (kickoff or punt) in Briton grid history.

October 7, 2000 - Debbaudt gets better in the kicking department, and in the process kicks his way into the Briton record books. His 13 field goals in 14 attempts for the season (including the eventual game-winner shown against Washington University of Missouri) leads all Division III kickers for accuracy. His ability to deliver in the clutch is spotlighted in Albion's 24-23 win over Butler, when he kicks the winning 35-yard field goal with 15 seconds remaining. It's the first winning kick for Albion in a football game in the final two minutes of play since 1988.

September 15, 2001 - In only his third collegiate contest, freshman kicker Andy Cline is asked to deliver two important field goals in the first multiple-overtime game in school history. In the first overtime, Kline's 36-yard boot keeps the Britons tied with Buffalo State College at 24. Kline's 20-yard kick ends the third overtime, giving Albion a 34-31 road victory.

November 10, 2001 - No Albion player had thrown for better than 2000 yards or 20 touchdowns in a regular season. Senior quarterback Travis Rundle did both, capping an MIAA championship season with a 288-yard, two-touchdown performance in Albion's 42-11 win against Hope. Fellow senior John Bennink shattered a pair of single-season receiving marks, finishing the year with 74 receptions and 995 receiving yards.

Updated January 05, 2004 by Albion College Sports Information.