People and Places of Dickinson College

  Dickinson against Franklin and Marshall on the Old Athletic Field, 1890

 Photograph courtesy of the Dickinson College Archives


This game between Dickinson College and Franklin and Marshall was played on the field which was located on the corner of Cherry and Louther streets. (For more on this place and Dickinson football, click here) According to the Dickinsonian, the Franklin and Marshall team arrived in Carlisle on Saturday morning, November 1, 1890, thinking they would have an easy victory.  The eleven of Dickinson thought differently.  Although the Red Devils lost, F&M was victorious by only a point.  The College newspaper reported the game as close throughout; it was just a matter of who had control of the ball.  As was the style in 1890, a rushing game dominated, with most of the Dickinson offensive attack coming from the middle, but there were some energetic runs to the outside.  The F&M team used their "rotary motion," which was effective against their opponents, though they often lost the ball on downs.

The Old Athletic Field
By all accounts the match was played in a sportsmanlike way but the event was not without controversy, as the Dickinsonian reported.  Referees and umpires were not neutral in 1890.  Rather, teams brought their own officials, usually one from either side.  The Dickinson umpire was physiology Professor Willard Geoffrey Lake, new to the College faculty that year after graduating in the class of 1887.  The referee of this game, Mr. H. Apple, was brought from F&M and, according to the newspaper reporter, he was the cause of the controversy.

F&M had the ball, but, in the opinion of the home observers, did not advance the five yards required in 1890 to get a first down and keep possession.   The referee called a first down and continued the play with Franklin and Marshall.  Because of this, F&M scored a touchdown and took the lead 10-9. Things only got worse, according to the aggrieved  Dickinsonian writer, also when on a fumble by F&M, Dickinson recovered the ball but he referee called a foul and gave F&M the ball.  At this point the captain of Dickinson, William F. Patton, asked for a new referee.  F&M refused to play without their man, and the two teams left the field with the 10-9 score.  So, Dickinson came out narrowly with another loss, adding to their three wins and six loss record for the season, the first that used the newly acquired field on Cherry and Louther streets.
 

The roster of the two teams at that game were follows:
Dickinson                  Positions                    F&M
       Bickle.....................Full-back.........Irvine, (capt.)
Patton, (capt.)............Half-back............Nothstein
Harvey......................Half-back.............Gabriel
Mills....................Quarter-back............J. Apple
Masters......................Center.................Line
Frownfelter...............Right guard.............Herrold
McAllister.................Left guard...............Smith
Cleaver...................Right tackle...............Krick
Northrup...................Left tackle...............Wolfe
Hynson......................Right end........... Stonebraker
Terhune......................Left end...............Griffith
Umpire-Prof. Lake, Dickinson
Referee-H. Apple, F&M

 Paul Diorio


 Sources
1. Gobrecht, Wilbur J. The History of Football at Dickinson College 1885-1969. Chambersburg, PA, 1971.
2. Sellers, Charles Coleman. Dickinson College: A History. Middletown, CT. Wesleyan University Press, 1973.
3.  Dickinsonian, November, 1890.