Indiana State Football Championship 1920

Gridiron Football Uncategorized

Standings

PWLTPFPAPct
APFA Pro Team
*Muncie Flyers330056141.000
Northern Indiana
*South Bend Arrows (C)99001.000
Goshen Delts
Michigan City Nepos
Rum Village
Mishiwaka Pastimes
Fort Wayne Pyramids
Southern Indiana
*Gas City Flyers992045741.818
Muncie Offers More AC
Muncie Tigers
Wabash AA
Jonesboro AC
Portland-Redkey Legion
Indiana State Football Championship 1920 [Reference: 1]

Playoffs

DateHome TeamAway Team
City Championships
05.12.1920Muncie Offers More AC0Muncie Flyers24
Challenge Game
28.11.1920Gas City Tigers7Muncie Flyers19
12.12.1920Muncie Flyers13Gas City Tigers7
Muncie Flyers won series 2-0
Championship
1920South Bend Arrows6Gas City0
Indiana State Football Championship 1920 [References: 1]

Results

DateHome TeamAway Team
1920Chicago ?LSouth Bend ArrowsW
1920??LSouth Bend ArrowsW
1920South Bend ArrowsWGoshen DeltsL
1920South Bend Arrows41Michigan City Nepos0
1920South Bend Arrows20Wabash AA0
1920South Bend Arrows18Rum Village0
1920South Bend Arrows12Michiwaka Pastimes0
1920South Bend Arrows13Fort Wayne Pyramids0
Indiana State Football Championship 1920 [Reference: 1]

Report North Indiana

The South Bend Arrows, who were sponsored by the alcoholic drink, Arrow, were hurt badly by the prohibition on alcohol, which came into effect in 1920. In order to survive without sponsorship they decided to focus mainly on home matches as well as only playing away matches within a 50 km radies of South Bend.

The two away matches they played in 1920 they won, though who against has gone unrecorded, one was possiblyy against a Chicago team, and the other against another Indiana team.

The rest of the season they played at home, winning all six matches against Goshen Delts, Michigan City Nepos, Wabash AA, Rum Village, Mishiwaka Pastimes and then a final match 13-0 against Fort Wayne Pyramids, giving them the right to call themselves Northern Indiana Champions.

Meanwhile, in Southern Indiana, a team from Gas City had also gone undefeated so a post-season Championship Game, which the the press called the Indiana State Football Championship was organised, with South Bend winning 6-0.

The South Bend Arrows, from the same city as the Irish Catholic University, Notre Dame. with its famed Fighting Irish Football Team, featured on their squad a player with an Irish name, Cavanaugh, who played Right End.

Note: Total Record including Playoffs. *Qualify for Championship Series

Report South Indiana

Who won the Indiana State Football Championship in 1920 is a matter of debate. For starters there was no Official League, and secondly the State’s best team in 1919, the Muncie Flyers, signed up to play in the American Professional Football Association (APFA) – the first National Football League for Pro teams, adopting the name NFL in 1992.

The Flyers, however, were to lose their first game in the APFA on opening weekend 45-0 to the Rock Island Independents of Illinois, and had trouble scheduling matches after that. No team was willing to play them for the next three weeks, and players signed on with the Dayton Triangles in the APFA, Fort Wayne Friars (AAA – National Division 2) or Indiana State Football Circuit teams such as the Wabash AA and Muncie Tigers.

By the end of the season after scheduling three more games and having their opponents cancel to play more lucrative teams (and one cancelled due to rain), the Muncie Flyers were then challenged to a game for the Indiana State Championship by Gas City Tigers, who had won all nine games they had played.

The Flyers won 19-7 and then in a game the Gas City Journal described as “a team of college stars” (Flyers) versus “a team of highly skilled players” (Muncie Offers More AC), the Flyers won 24-0 against the MOM FC to win the City Championship for the second year running. In a rematch for the State Championship, this tome on home ground in Muncie, the Flyers defeated Gas City 13-7 to take the series 2-0.

After playing at AAA (National Division 2) in 1919 against the likes of the Cincinnati Celts and Dayton Oakwoods and finishing the season with a respectable 4-1-1 record, the Flyers found the jump to the APFA (NFL) in 1920 too much, but by the end of the season, having dropped back down to play the Indiana State Championship went 3-0, including two wns against the Gas City Tigers who had won all 9 games they had played, out-scoring opponents 443 points to 9.

References

References

Websites

[1] Emil Klosinski, The Coffin Corner Vol. 14 No. 3, Pro Football Researchers Association (1992) Inflation of 1920; A Tale of Two Cities – [Internet] Available from: http://www.profootballresearchers.org/archives/Website_Files/Coffin_Corner/14-03-463.pdf  [Accessed 18 September 2020]

[2] National Football League (2014) “Past Standings | 1920-1926” 2014 Official NFL Record & Factbook” pg. 398-399. National football League, Time Home Entertainment. 2014.

[3] The Growth of a Game (2015) The Complete List of European NFL Players [Internet] Available from: https://www.growthofagame.com/2015/03/the-complete-list-of-european-nfl-players/ [Accessed 11 October 2019]

[4] Sports Encyclopedia (2020) Muncie Flyers [Internet] Available from: https://sportsecyclopedia.com/nfl/muncie/flyers.html [Accessed 19 September 2020]

[5] Roy Sye, The Coffin Corner Vol. 24 No. 3, Pro Football Researchers Association (2002) Muncie Flyers 1920 – [Internet] Available from: http://www.profootballresearchers.org/archives/Website_Files/Coffin_Corner/24-03-937.pdf  Accessed 18 September 2020]

Acknowledgements

Thanks to Rose McCabe, Ann Hanley, Gabriel McCloyne, Peter Lemass, Ciaran Simms, Gerry Tully.

About this document

Researched, compiled and written by Enda Mulcahy for the

Eirball | Irish North American and World Sports Archive

Last Updated: 18 September 2020

(c) Copyright Enda Mulcahy and Eirball 2020

You may quote this document in part provided that proper acknowledgement is given to the authors. All Rights Reserved.

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