Chadron State College Athletic Hall of Fame
In 1998, at the suggestion of Dr. Sam Rankin, then president of Chadron State, three football teams that were observing milestone anniversaries, were inducted into the Hall of Fame.
The 1948 football team was the second of three great teams coached by Ross Armstrong. The 1947 team had a 7-1-1 record, the ’48 Eagles were 7-1 and the ‘49 team was 7-3. That produced a three-year record of 21-5-1. Both the ’47 and ’48 teams were Nebraska College Conference co-champions and the ’49 team played in the Bean Bowl in Scottsbluff on Thanksgiving Day.
All three teams were made up largely of World War II veterans. They were athletic, mature and tough.
The only loss in 1948 was to Wayne State (17-14) in the season-opener. The difference was a 24-yard field goal late in the game. The team had 24 returning lettermen, including all but one player (the late Gene Alcorn) who had started the final two games in 1947.
Following the loss to Wayne, the Eagles downed York 21-0, tripped Kearney State 20-7, squeezed past Peru State 13-6 on two Wally Calvert touchdowns, rolled over Midland Lutheran 27-7, outscored Black Hills State 35-26, knocked off Hastings 24-6 in a game that featured a 93-yard kickoff return by Jack Barker and topped Doane 14-7.
The ’48 team was the last one from Chadron State to defeat Kearney State until 1996 as the Antelopes won 31 games from the Eagles in the next 48 years (there was a 10-10 tie in 1978). However, entering the 2008 season, CSC has won nine of the last 12 games with Kearney.
