The Turkey Day Game – 100 Years Ago (1917)

A hundred years ago in 1917, the United States entered the Great War in Europe. Many seniors at preparatory schools around the country went to enlist but two juniors, Webster’s Al Lincoln and Frank Irland, were rejected by the board for being too young. They stayed home, as Kirkwood residents later lamented – “to play football while the other brave lads of Kirkwood went to fight.” The 1917 championship game of the County League pitted two teams undefeated in league play that year – Webster and Kirkwood. It was a game which set records which might never be broken.

The “dope” on the game given by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch favoured Webster by “at least four touchdowns.” This assessment was based on Webster having played Yeatman, who had played St. Louis Central, who had played Kirkwood. Both of those St. Louis City schools won their respective games against their County foes but Webster had a closer game with Yeatman, who had beaten St. Louis Central, who had beaten Kirkwood…. olden football assessments were a bit convoluted.

For this game, Al Lincoln was moved from fullback to quarterback so that play-calling could be added to his duties. While being quarterback, he ran, kicked, and passed from the fullback position. The game commenced with a 50-yard kickoff by Lincoln to Kirkwood's five-yard-line, which was run up to the 19. Four short plays later Kirkwood was forced to punt. Webster received and brought it up field. One of the features of this game was the use of the "pass" which was still considered novel at its time. On third down, Proctor Wright passed 15 yards to Lincoln, who ran it another 10 yards. Two plays later a pass was thrown to the end zone but Kirkwood intercepted for a touchback. After four short plays, Kirkwood was forced to punt and the game continued on for another 25 plays till the end of the quarter, the score was 0-0.

In the second quarter, Al Lincoln scored on Webster's second possession and, what proved to be an anomaly, Lincoln kicked the extra point into the side post. The ball moved back and forth on Kirkwood's end of the field for the rest of the quarter until, with limited time remaining, Kirkwood had a punt blocked, which was picked up by Frank Irland and run into the end zone for Webster's second touchdown. Lincoln made the extra point. The half ended, 13-0.

Whatever hope Kirkwood had in the game evaporated after the kick off landed in the arms of Al Lincoln. He caught it at the Webster 20 and proceeded on an 80-yard ramble through the entire Kirkwood team. According to the Post-Dispatch, Lincoln “stiff-armed away the two Kirkwood ends who were down on his end with the wind, he dodged two more of the fleeter opponents, and then ran into a whole assembly of the enemy but pounded over or through the mass like a ‘tank’ through the Hindenburg line.”

After Lincoln's touchdown, Kirkwood was unable to move the ball on three plays and punted. After four plays, Webster fumbled the ball and Kirkwood's Julian Payne picked it up and gained 15 yards. Three plays later, Frank Irland intercepted the ball and was able to run it 45 yards to the end zone. Lincoln also scored two more touchdowns and after the second, Kirkwood threatened Webster's goal after a 40-yard run by Overstolz, who was tackled at the 10. Kirkwood was able to move the ball to the two-yard line before turning it over on downs. The third quarter netted Webster 28 points, ending the third quarter 41-0.

The fourth quarter was another Webster romp. After touchdowns were scored by Webster players Proctor Wright, Percy Phillips, and Sanford Avis, Al Lincoln finished the quarter by scoring another two. The game established records which may never be broken in the Turkey Day Game:

Touchdowns scored by a person in a game – 6, Al Lincoln
Touchdowns scored by a person in a half – 5, Al Lincoln
Touchdowns scored by a person in a quarter – 3, Al Lincoln

Touchdowns scored by a team in a game – 11, Webster
Touchdowns scored by a team in a half – 9, Webster
Touchdowns scored by a team in a quarter – 5, Webster

Extra points attempted by a person in a game – 11, Al Lincoln
Extra points attempted by a person in a half – 9, Al Lincoln
Extra points attempted by a person in a quarter – 5, Al Lincoln

Extra points scored by a person in a game – 10, Al Lincoln
Extra points scored by a person in a half – 9, Al Lincoln
Extra points scored by a person in a quarter – 5, Al Lincoln

Extra points attempted by a team in a game – 11, Webster
Extra points attempted by a team in a half – 9, Webster
Extra points attempted by a team in a quarter – 5, Webster

Extra points scored by a team in a game – 10, Webster
Extra points scored by a team in a half – 9, Webster
Extra points scored by a team in a quarter – 5, Webster

Total points scored by a person in a game – 46, Al Lincoln
Total points scored by a person in a half – 39, Al Lincoln
Total points scored by a person in a quarter – 22, Al Lincoln

Total points scored by a team in a game – 76, Webster
Total points scored by a team in a half – 63, Webster
Total points scored by a team in a quarter – 35, Webster

Total yards rushed by a person in a game – 340, Al Lincoln

This year celebrates the 109th varsity contest between the 119th football teams of both schools. Webster leads the series 54-47-7 but in terms of the Turkey Day Game championship title, Kirkwood leads in those games 40-38-5. This is the fifth year in a row in which the varsity teams will have presented themselves to the field on Thanksgiving Day. May the Frisco Bell ring for you this Turkey Day!

By Shawn Buchanan Greene
Webster Alumnus 1987