Rockhurst Sentinel

Issue date: 10/14/05 Section: Of Interest . . .

[Click to enlarge]

One thing that separates Rockhurst University and big schools like Mizzou and KU are Saturdays in the fall. A typical fall Saturday at Mizzou consists of tailgating, watching your school football game, and hopefully celebrating a victory. At Rockhurst, the closest we have to a football team is our soccer team, and the turnout for the games isn't anything to be proud of. If we had a football team, we might not have a thousand people, but it would still be fun.
We all complain about not having a football team, but did you know that once upon a time Rockhurst College did have a football team? Most students have no idea football was ever played at Rockhurst. Many students have questions. When did Rockhurst participate in intercollegiate football? Was the team any good? Where did they play their games? And most importantly why doesn't Rockhurst currently offer football as one of the school's athletic programs?
The first team kicked off November 7, 1919. A very small Rockhurst College squared off against Kansas City University (now known as University of Missouri- Kansas City) at the old Kansas City Athletic Club field at 32nd and Gillham Road. The Rock eleven called itself the "Blue and White" and upset Kansas City University in a 28-6 victory.
After the Kansas City college match up, Rockhurst football laid dormant until October of 1922. The "Blue and White" had a special game against Rockhurst High School. Rockhurst College lost 3-2 in a low-scoring, unimpressive game.
Until 1926 Rockhurst had many unofficial games and unofficial teams. It wasn't until 1926 that Rockhurst joined the Missouri State Conference. The five teams were Wentworth, Kemper, Chillicothe College, St. Paul's College, and Rockhurst College. Rockhurst played their games on Bourke Field (now known as Lower Burke) The year 1926 also marked the last year that Rockhurst was known as the "Blue and White". In 1927 the student government and the Sentinel sponsored a contest to choose a name for the athletic teams at Rockhurst. "Hawks" was selected from over 300 entries.
The name change seemed to be good luck. The first football Hawks were undefeated and won the league championship. Season one went duplicated the following year as the Hawks went undefeated again and won another league championship. Some final scores from those two seasons include 80-0, 59-6, and 45-0. In 1928 Rockhurst scored 286 points and only let their opponents score an average of 3 points a game. Rockhurst took the league championship again in 1931, the last year that the league existed.

Continued...

Page 1 of 2 next >

Article Tools