1898 Sewanee Tigers football team

American college football season

1898 Sewanee Tigers football

SIAA champion

Conference| Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association
Record| 4–0 (3–0 SIAA)
Head coach|

* John Gere Jayne (2nd season)

Captain| Dana Smith
Home stadium| Hardee Field

Seasons

← 1897

1899 →

1898 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association football standings

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| Conf. |  |  | Overall

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Team | W |   | L |   | T |  |  | W |   | L |   | T
Sewanee | 3  | – | 0  | – | 0 |  |  | 4  | – | 0  | – | 0
Auburn | 2  | – | 0  | – | 0 |  |  | 2  | – | 1  | – | 0
LSU | 1  | – | 0  | – | 0 |  |  | 1  | – | 0  | – | 0
Georgia | 3  | – | 1  | – | 0 |  |  | 4  | – | 2  | – | 0
Clemson | 1  | – | 1  | – | 0 |  |  | 3  | – | 1  | – | 0
Tulane | 1  | – | 1  | – | 0 |  |  | 1  | – | 1  | – | 0
Vanderbilt | 1  | – | 2  | – | 0 |  |  | 1  | – | 5  | – | 0
Mississippi | 0  | – | 1  | – | 0 |  |  | 1  | – | 1  | – | 0
Texas | 0  | – | 1  | – | 0 |  |  | 5  | – | 1  | – | 0
Nashville | 0  | – | 2  | – | 0 |  |  | 0  | – | 2  | – | 0
Georgia Tech | 0  | – | 3  | – | 0 |  |  | 0  | – | 4  | – | 0
Kentucky State#  | 0  | – | 0  | – | 0 |  |  | 7  | – | 0  | – | 0
Cumberland (TN) | 0  | – | 0  | – | 0 |  |  | 0  | – | 0  | – | 0
SW Presbyterian | 0  | – | 0  | – | 0 |  |  | 0  | – | 0  | – | 0

* $ – Conference champion
* # – State champion

The 1898 Sewanee Tigers football team represented Sewanee: The University of the South during the 1898 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association football season. The team was coached by John Gere Jayne in his second year as head coach, compiling a record of 4–0 (3–0 SIAA) and outscoring opponents 56 to 4 to win the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association title. Due to misgivings over Virginia and North Carolina playing ringers, Caspar Whitney declared Sewanee the best team in the South.[1]

## Before the season

[edit]

Sewanee was coming off the worst season in school history.

## Schedule

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Date| Opponent| Site| Result| Attendance| Source

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October 15| Nashville|

* Hardee Field
* Sewanee, TN

| W 10–0| | [2]
November 10| at Texas|

* Varsity Athletic Field
* Austin, TX

| W 4–0| | [3]
November 12| at Southern Athletic Club*|

* Athletic Park
* New Orleans, LA

| W 21–0| | [4]
November 24| at Vanderbilt|

* Dudley Field
* Nashville, TN (rivalry)

| W 19–4| 4,000| [5]

* *Non-conference game

[6]

## Game summaries

[edit]

### Nashville

[edit]

Nashville at Sewanee |  | 1 | 2| Total

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Nashville | 0 | 0 | 0
• Sewanee | 5 | 5 | 10

* Date: October 15
* Location: McGee Field
Sewanee, Tennessee
* Referee: Throne

Sources:[7]

The season opened with a 10–0 victory to avenge last year's loss to the Nashville Garnet and Blue.[8]

The starting lineup was Waites (left end), Jones (left tackle), Bolling (left guard), Risley (center), Claiborne (right guard), Smith (right tackle), Crandle (right end), Wilson (quarterback), Kilpatrick (left halfback), Gray (right halfback), Simkins (fullback).[7]

### Texas

[edit]

Sewanee at Texas |  | 1 | 2| Total

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• Sewanee | 4 | 0 | 4
Texas | 0 | 0 | 0

* Date: November 10
* Location: Austin, Texas

Sources:[9]

Sewanee beat Texas 4–0, scoring on a trick play.[9]

The starting lineup was Waites (left end), Jones (left tackle), Risby (left guard), Poole (center), Claiborne (right guard), Smith (right tackle), Crandle (right end), Wilson (quarterback), Kilpatrick (left halfback), Gray (right halfback), Simkins (fullback).[9]

### Southern A. C.

[edit]

Sewanee at Southern A. C. |  | 1 | 2| Total

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• Sewanee | 11 | 10 | 21
Southern | 0 | 0 | 0

* Date: November 12
* Location: Athletic Park
New Orleans
* Game start: 3:00 p. m.
* Referee: Leigh Carroll

Sources:[4]

Sewanee defeated the Southern Athletic Club of New Orleans 21–0. A 12-yard run by Jones made the first touchdown. Davis made the next touchdown. He also scored the third, in the second half.[4] Ormond Simkins made the last touchdown, racing for the goal after William H. Poole blocked a kick.[4]

The starting lineup was Waites (left end), Jones (left tackle), Risby (left guard), Poole (center), Claiborne (right guard), Smith (right tackle), Crandell (right end), Wilson (quarterback), Kilpatrick (left halfback), Davis (right halfback), Simkins (fullback).[4]

### Vanderbilt

[edit]

Sewanee at Vanderbilt |  | 1 | 2| Total

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• Sewanee | 10 | 9 | 19
Vanderbilt | 4 | 0 | 4

* Date: November 24
* Location: Dudley Field
Nashville, Tennessee
* Game start: 2:30 p. m.
* Game attendance: 4,000
* Referee: W. P. Taylor (Birmingham)

Sources:[10]

The Tigers beat rival Vanderbilt 19–4. Sewell made the first touchdown on a 7-yard run. Vanderbilt's score came on a 40-yard run around left end by Walter H. Simmons.[10] Simkins scored next on a 2-yard run. After the half, Kilpatrick scored on a 2-yard run.[10] The last touchdown was a 35-yard run from Smith.[10]

The starting lineup was Waites (left end), Jones (left tackle), Risley (left guard), Poole (center), Claiborne (right guard), Smith (right tackle), Davis (right end), Wilson (quarterback), Kilpatrick (left halfback), Siebels (right halfback), Simkins (fullback).[10]

## Postseason

[edit]

Sewanee won the SIAA title.[11]

## Players

[edit]

### Varsity lettermen

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#### Line

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Player  | Position  | Games
started  | Hometown  | Prep school  | Height  | Weight  | Age

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"Wild Bill" Claiborne | guard |  | Amherst Co., Virginia | Roanoke College | 6'0" | 190
A. H. Davis | end
J. W. "Deacon" Jones | tackle |  | Marshall, Texas
William H. Poole | center |  | Glyndon, Maryland |  | 6'0" | 185 | 18
H. S. Risley | guard
Dana Smith | tackle
John C. Waties | end

#### Backfield

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Player  | Position  | Games
started  | Hometown  | Prep school  | Height  | Weight  | Age

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Charles Quintard Gray | halfback |  | Ocala, Florida
Rex Kilpatrick | halfback |  | Bridgeport, Alabama |  | 6'1" | 185 | 17
Henry Seibels | halfback |  | Montgomery, Alabama |  | 5'10" | 170 | 22
Ormond Simkins | fullback |  | Corsicana, Texas |  | 5'10" | 163 | 19
Warbler Wilson | quarterback |  | Rock Hill, South Carolina |  | 5'10" | 154 | 21

#### Subs

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Player  | Position  | Games
started  | Hometown  | Prep school  | Height  | Weight  | Age

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R. G. Arrington
Ralph P. Black
R. E. Bolling
G. G. Cannon
Howard Crandell
Ralph Nesbit
H. M. T. "Bunny" Pearce | end
Charles B. Colmore | back

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Hapgood, Norman (1857). "Harper's weekly". pp. 65 v.
2. ^ "Sewanee wins; Defeats Nashville by a score of ten to nothing". The Nashville American. October 16, 1898. Retrieved April 28, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
3. ^ "Brilliant football; Sewanee defeats the University of Texas". The Times-Democrat. November 11, 1898. Retrieved April 28, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
4. ^ a b c d e "Sewanee makes the score 21 to 0". The Times-Picayune. November 13, 1898. p. 8. Retrieved April 28, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
5. ^ "Sewanee defeats Vanderbilt". The Birmingham Age-Herald. November 25, 1898. Retrieved April 28, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
6. ^ "2004 Sewanee football media guide" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on March 9, 2013.
7. ^ a b "Sewanee Wins". Sewanee Purple. Vol. 12, no. 7\. October 22, 1898. hdl:11005/629.
8. ^ "Football". Sewanee Purple. Vol. 12, no. 6\. October 15, 1898. hdl:11005/628.
9. ^ a b c "Sewanee Plays Fine Ball With Texas". The Times-Picayune. November 11, 1898. p. 8. Retrieved May 16, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
10. ^ a b c d e "Up Goes Sewanee's Purple". The Tennessean. November 25, 1898. p. 5. Retrieved May 16, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
11. ^ "David Wilson's Homepage".

* v
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Sewanee Tigers football

Venues|

* McGee Field (1891–present)

Bowls & rivalries|

* Rhodes: Edmund Orgill Trophy
* Vanderbilt

Culture & lore|

* Porter Cup

People|

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* v
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Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association football champions

Pre-SoCon|

* Georgia & LSU (1896)
* Vanderbilt (1897)
* Sewanee (1898)
* Sewanee (1899)
* Clemson (1900)
* Vanderbilt (1901)
* Clemson & LSU (1902)
* Clemson & Cumberland (1903)
* Auburn & Vanderbilt (1904)
* Vanderbilt (1905)
* Clemson & Vanderbilt (1906)
* Vanderbilt (1907)
* Auburn or LSU (1908)
* Sewanee (1909)
* Auburn & Vanderbilt (1910)
* Vanderbilt (1911)
* Vanderbilt (1912)
* Auburn (1913)
* Auburn & Tennessee (1914)
* Vanderbilt (1915)
* Georgia Tech & Tennessee (1916)
* Georgia Tech (1917)
* Georgia Tech (1918)
* Auburn (1919)
* Georgia, Georgia Tech & Tulane (1920)
* Centre, Georgia, Georgia Tech & Vanderbilt (1921)

Post-SoCon|

* Furman (1922)
* Furman (1923)
* Centre & Oglethorpe (1924)
* Oglethorpe (1925)
* Centenary & Chattanooga (1926)
* Centenary, Furman, Chattanooga & Mississippi College (1927)
* Chattanooga (1928)
* Chattanooga (1929)
* Presbyterian (1930)
* Chattanooga (1931)
* Western Kentucky State Teachers (1932)
* Murray State (1933)
* Furman (1934)
* Middle Tennessee State Teachers (1935)
* Middle Tennessee State Teachers (1936)
* Murray State (1937)
* West Tennessee State Teachers (1938)
* Louisiana Normal (1939)
* Rollins (1940)
* Presbyterian (1941)

National championships in bold
*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template
*[Conf.]: Conference record
*[W]: Wins
*[L]: Losses
*[T]: Ties