Spirits were high as the Hendrix Warriors traveled north to Fayetteville in October 1920. Their goal was a daunting one: defeat Southwest Conference member Arkansas on their home field.
The Razorbacks dominated the game statistically, as they moved the ball at will. But each time Arkansas approached the goal line, the Hendrix defense stiffened. Fumbles, missed field goals, and turnovers on downs frustrated Arkansas the entire game. When the officials called the game in the late afternoon, Hendrix celebrated. They had fought the mighty Razorbacks to a 0-0 draw.
Later that month, Hendrix traveled to Sherman to take on the Kangaroos of Austin College. The outcome would not be nearly as pleasant. AC was led by what Texas sports writers called the “fastest backfield in the state of Texas”. The star of that backfield, Ray Morehart, was nearly unstoppable. Against Hendrix, Morehart notched three touchdowns. By the time the merciful final whistle blew, AC had defeated the Warriors 61-0.
The Hendrix game was par for the course for Austin College in 1920. The Roos that year won the TIAA, and did so in impressive fashion. In addition to the Hendrix win, AC also defeated SE Oklahoma (62-0), SMU (42-0), Southwestern (28-0), Trinity (21-0), and Daniel Baker (now Howard Payne) by a school record 109-0. Morehart scored 5 TDs in the Daniel Baker game. Fortunately for the Razorbacks, Sherman and Morehart were not on the schedule.
Morehart’s true passion was baseball, and a professional career awaited after Austin College. After years in the minors, he was called up to the big leagues by the New York Yankees in 1927. That year, he played an important utility/pinch hitter role for the greatest team in baseball history.
On June 8, 1927, Morehart was placed in the starting lineup alongside Babe Ruth & Lou Gehrig in a Yankee Stadium matchup against Chicago. The White Sox held a 5-run lead in the ninth, but a Yankee rally that included a Ruth single and Gehrig double tied the game and sent it to extras. In the 11th, Morehart walked up to the plate with a runner on third. He slammed a walk-off single to right to win the game in front of a vocal home town crowd of 25,000. The Babe and the Iron Horse met him on the first base line to celebrate.
Ewing Freeland, coach of the 1920 Roos, soon left Sherman to tackle a new challenge. He was named as the first head coach at Texas Tech University in 1925. Tech’s second game ever was a home game against Coach Pete Cawthon’s Kangaroos. AC kicked a field goal, becoming the first school to ever score on the Red Raiders. On that dusty field in Lubbock, the former Roo coach and current Roo coach battled to a 3-3 tie.
Former and current Roo coaches will face off once again this weekend in Arkansas, when Coach Loren Dawson’s Roos square up against Coach Buck Buchanan’s Hendrix Warriors. Good luck Roos. Beat Hendrix! And an early congratulation to the Roo coach who is certain to notch an SAA victory.
