Autumn Warriors

With fall in the air, Arkansans naturally think of football, whether it be the Razorbacks or their local high school team.

Rogers High School was founded in 1911 and by 1914 had a varsity football team. Before 1914, football had been more of an informal local activity. The team’s first coach was a volunteer, Charles Tillman. Tillman, a local mail carrier, coached after school when he had finished his delivery route.

That first year three games were played: two against Bentonville and one against Springdale. In the first game, Rogers beat Bentonville 6 – 0. In the next game, Bentonville trounced Rogers 39-0. The score against Springdale is not recorded, but Springdale won.
 


Rogers High School
Football Team, 1921
(Accession # 75.96.1)
That first year the Rogers team practiced on the campus of the Rogers Academy, but in 1915 moved to its own field – the Frisco tie yard at Second and Locust. Fans watched the games on bleachers made of railroad ties! The first night game was in 1920 when it was discovered that parking cars on the sidelines with their lights on provided enough light to play.

World War I disrupted the football seasons, but by 1921, when this photograph was taken, things were back to normal and the team had a “very good” season. What is most interesting in this 1921 team photograph is the equipment. Compared to today’s high-tech helmets, shoulder pads and shoes, the leather helmets, high-waist pants and clunky spiked shoes seem rather primitive. Surviving a whole season with all of your teeth was probably quite an achievement!
 
Pictured are:
1. Jack Trusenberry
2. Ward Pennington
3. Homes Coleman
4. Ray Hocott
5. Austin Hart
6. Edward Talley
7. Trueman Sprages
8. Don Deason 		9. Lee Derreberry
10. Kenneth Latto
11. Earl Weaver
12. Geegary Saller
13. Dale Hoover
14. Ernest Hood
15. Bruce Trusenberry