This is the story of the first four years of Dublin High School team, when just as today, the boys from Dublin dominated the game on both sides of the line.
In the early years of the 20th Century football was considered a dangerous sport. Numerous deaths among the sport’s participants led to its banning at colleges and high schools across the nation. Players had little padding. Helmets were thin swatches of leather which left the face and the head for that matter virtually unprotected.
Until World War I, baseball and basketball had been the sport of choice at Dublin High School. In the summer of 1919, the city school board agreed to outfit a football team for the fall season. The principal didn’t have to look far to find a coach. W.J. Boswell, the school’s French teacher, had been the captain of Oglethorpe University Football. Boswell was given the unenviable task of assembling a team of football players, many of whom had never played or had ever even seen the game played.
Charles Walker was elected as the captain of the team. One Hundred years ago tonight on October 25, 1919 after weeks of learning the sport, the Dublin Green Hurricane took the train out of town for a game against Swainsboro. Perhaps Coach Boswell took the team to prevent an embarrassing loss on their home field on the old 12th District Fairgrounds on Troup Street.
1919 Green Hurricane
With the blocking skills and running ability of an experienced team, the Irish line opened wide holes and backs ran through Swainsboro defenders like hurricanes in a bayou to smash the boys from Swainsboro 45-0. One of the highlights of the game came when a Dublin end mistakenly ran nearly the length of the field to score a touchdown for the Swainsboro eleven. A swifter teammate stopped the humiliated runner just in time to preserve the shutout.
Riding on a tidal wave of confidence, the Hurricane defeated a strong Waynesboro team by a score of 20-13. In a rematch with the Swainsboro eleven, the Hurricane pulverized Swainsboro by the score of 86-0, a state team record for points in a single game. Just when it look like the Irish would go through an undefeated season, the tide turned. Dublin failed to score in its last two games with Fitzgerald and Waynesboro to finish their inaugural season with a respectable record of 3-2 and outscoring their opponents 151-51.
The offensive star was Walker who accounted for nearly half of the team’s points. Radcliffe Ashe was the anchor of the defensive and offensive lines. Remember nearly everyone played both ways.
The members of the first Dublin team were: Freeman Deese RT, Lloyd Alexander RG, Wilcox C, Radcliffe Ashe LG, Joe Brenzier LT, Register LE, Jed Alexander RHB, Charles Walker, LHB, Emory Daniel QB and Hyrell Kendrick FB. Emory Smith, Victor Slater and Barwick were substitutes.
The 1920 edition of the team opened the season with a new coach and new Oglethorpe alumni, Morton T. Nichols, and a new name, the Dublin Green Hurricane. J.B. Smith was selected as captain. The Hurricane opened their season with another thrashing of Swainsboro 25-0. The Hurricane continued to dominate their opponents with victories over Statesboro A&M (7-6), Waynesboro (7-0), Statesboro A&M (12-7), South Georgia College (52-0) before deadlocking with South Georgia College 0-0 in the 6th game of the season.
The Dublin boys encountered a tough Fitzgerald team but managed to win 27-13 before easily stomping the boys from Fitzgerald 41-0 in a return match. The Hurricane easily defeated Americus A&M (41-0) and Waynesboro (27-0) to capture a berth in the South Georgia Championship game. The Dublin team’s hopes of an undefeated season were dashed when they ran into the “the heaviest team any high school ever went up against in Georgia.” The Douglas team destroyed the Green Hurricane 63 to 6 in the team’s worst loss ever.
The members of the 1920 team were; J.B. Smith, Capt.; Earl Smith, LE; Tom Harville, RT; Radcliffe Ashe, LT; Clyde Wynn, RG; Walter Jackson, LG; Victor Slater, C; Emory Daniel, QB; Hyrell Kendrick, RHB; Doyle Sconyers; LHB; Guy Crusselle, FB. Substitutes: White, Marsh, Freeman Deese, Emory Smith. (Pictured at their homefield at the 12th Congressional District Fairgrounds on the corner of Troup Street and Telfair Street.
For the third time in three seasons, the Dublin Green Hurricane had a new coach. D.W. Rampley’s gridders were just beginning to gel as a team, despite the fact that they averaged less than 150 pounds per man. Coach Rampley had played under Georgia Tech coaching legend John Heisman before transferring to Davidson College, where he became a star running back.
The Hurricane opened the 1921 season with shutout victories over Statesboro A&M (32-0), Tifton A&M (13-0) and Graymont-Summitt (37-0). With 12 victories in 13 games, the Green Hurricane was set to play the greatest game in the history of Dublin football against the powerful team from Savannah High. The Hurricane ran through the Savannah team like a September gale holding them to two 4th quarter field goals and winning the game 27-6. To add insult to injury and in one of the earliest known trash talking incidents, some of the Dublin placed a coffin with the words “Savannah High” painted on the side in a wagon just in view of their homebound train. After a scoreless tie in a rematch with Graymont-Summitt, the Hurricane traveled to Macon to take on perennial power and former Southern champion Lanier High. In a sluggish game, Doyle Sconyers extra point kick was the margin of victory over the Poets, 7-6.
1921 Green Hurricane
The Green Hurricane ended the regular season with overwhelming victories over South Georgia College (20-0) and Warrenton (42-6). The South Georgia Champions traveled to Athens for the state championship against a powerful Athens High team. The Green Hurricane was no match from the boys of the “Classic City,” losing by a margin of 42-0. The members of the 1921 team were; Victor Slater C, Lloyd Alexander G, Wynn G, Radcliffe Ashe T, Jackson T, Smith E, Finlayson E, Emory Daniel QB& Capt., Hyrell Kendrick HB, Linder HB; and Doyle Sconyers FB. Substitutes: Michaels, Deese, Emory Smith, Joiner, Johnson and English.
Coach Rampley returned for a second season to lead his team to another fine season. The Hurricane opened the 1922 season by blanking their first four opponents, Swainsboro (13-0), Statesboro (37-0), Graymont-Summitt (6-0), and Waynesboro (19-0).
In what then became the greatest game ever played, the Irish lost a 6-0 heartbreaker on their home field to one the “Sunshine State’s” best teams, Duvall High School of Jacksonville, Florida. The Dublin eleven defeated GMC before once again defeating Savannah High 6-0 and Statesboro High 19-6.
In a rematch with Athens, the Irish managed to get with one point of the defending state champions, only to lose by the score of 7-6. In the final playoff game of the season, the 7-3 Hurricane lost to state champion Griffin High. The members of 1922 team were; Slater C, Lloyd Alexander LG& Capt., Jordan RG, Carl Lake LT, Radcliffe Ashe RT, Wynn LE, Jackson RE, Michaels QB, Roberts RHB, McLeod LHB, and Linder FB. Substitutes: Spivey, Warren, Woodward, Thomas, Duggan, Stubbs, Joiner and Underwood.
In their first four seasons the Dublin High team posted a remarkable record of 26-7-2. Outscoring their opponents 570 to 219, the Dublin Green Hurricane instantly became one of the most powerful and respected teams in the state.
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