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Pottsville Maroons (2-7) 26, Green Bay Packers (5-3-2) 0

Sunday November 25th 1928 (at Pottsville)

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GAME RECAP (GREEN BAY PRESS-GAZETTE)

(POTTSVILLE) - History repeated itself here Sunday afternoon when the Pottsville Maroons upset the Green Bay Packers, 26 to 0, in a NFL game. Back in 1925, the Bays invaded this Pennsylvania community and took a 31 to 0 lacing. It wasn't quite so bad Sunday but it just about wrecked the Bays' hopes for a league title. Capt. Lambeau and several of the other veterans who played here four years claim the jinx is still on and if they don't ever see Pottsville again it will soon enough. It was a terrible day for football. Old Man Winter arrived a few weeks ahead of time and he sure made his presence felt. A young gale swept the field, carrying with it a coating of white which completely covered all the boundary and field lines. Several times it looked as if the head linesman would have to use a compass to get his bearings on the yards to go. The crowd as a flop yet you couldn't blame the natives of Pottsville. There probably wasn't more than 1,600 in the stands when the game started and it is safe to say that half of them had hit the trail homeward long before the final whistle blew.

MINERS PASS TO WIN

The Miners took a page out of the Packers' book and passed the Bays to death. The going was mighty slippery and the Green Bay secondary had no end of trouble trying to halt the Maroons' air drive which was functioning perfectly. Evidently, the Pottsville club liked the polar going. They handled the slipping oval as if it had a sandpaper covering. What made things all the worse was the fact that Pottsville made nearly all of its passes count when within the scoring zone. The Bays never quit battling but the cards were turned against them. Captain Lambeau made substitution after substitution in hopes of stemming the Pottsville march but it seemed as if it couldn't be done. When the Maroons weren't passing, Tony La Tone, Blood and Moran were punching holes in the Bays' front wall. La ​Tone was team in himself and, when Pottsville needed a couple of yards, he would go out and get a few more for extra measure. Tony sure was a thorn in the Packer side Sunday but this time out he had plenty of  assistance. Ernst called his plays with charming generalship while "Cold" Blood and young Mr. Moran seemed to take special delight in getting even for what the Packers did to them up in Green Bay not so long ago. It is hard to say what was wrong with the Bays. Maybe it wasn't that the Packers were so bad but that the Maroons were so good. They sure were hitting on all eleven and there is no getting away from it they had it on the Bays like a tent. The Bays' line thrusts went haywire while their passes were not so hot.

MUCH CHASTENED TRIBE

However, it was a much chastened tribe of pigskin chasers that hung around the Necho-Allen hotel lobby Sunday night and it is safe to say that there will be a different story to tell when Lambeau & Co. mingle with the Yellowjackets in Philadelphia on Thanksgiving Day. Getting back to the old ball game, the Bays were only dangerous once. This was early in the third quarter when Lewellen grabbed a well directed pass and did a district attorney glide down to the 12-yard area before he was dropped. But the Bays didn't get any further. Two line plays got stuck tight in the drifts and a pair of passes were snowed under. That was just about the end of the Packer offensive although a few completed passes chalked up a couple of first downs in the final frame. The Yellowjackets had a number of scouts at the game to spot the Packers offensive, but the Bays did not show enough while carrying the ball to fill a page in the notebook that "Two Bits" Homan tried to keep the snow off of while parked on a sideline bench near midfield.

MINERS SCORE EARLY

The Miners broke the ice in the first quarter and continued their scoring spree with a touchdown apiece in each of the other frames. The first frame wasn't more than six minutes old when Ernst took a pass from Moran and made the first touchdown of the game. It was a pretty play and the spectators were just as surprised as the Packers. The natives hadn't even expected it because they figured the Bays were odds on winners. Budd missed the goal and the Bays still had hopes. Towards the close of the second quarter, old reliable Red Dunn fumbled a punt and Budd recovered like a hot tomato for the Maroons not many yards from the Bays' goal line. Here the Bays made a game stand for three downs but on the final thrust that trouble making Ernst zipped a toss to Kenneally, and the Pottsville end made it touchdown number 2. This time Budd kicked  the goal. By this time, the Packers hopes had skidded but they kept on fighting. The Bays came out with a lot of fight in the third frame and for a few minutes it began to look as if the worm might turn. An intercepted pass changed the complexion of things and once more the Miners got going down the field even in the face of a sweeping blizzard and it wasn't so long before they scored again. They were kind enough to miss the goal kick.

BLOOD INTERCEPTS PASS

An intercepted pass by this same Blood added insult to injury in the final frame. The Bays were filling the storm swept air with tosses galore in hopes of getting away with a score. On one of these, Blood came out of the blizzard like a snowman, tucked a Packer pass under his wing and slid down the field about 20 yards for a score. Blood was mighty close to the sideline and the Packers kicked long and hard, claiming that he had run out of bounds. Pottsville added the extra point by passing for it. Ernst to Moran. The way they were hurling passes it is quite possible they could have shot at the moon with the cowhide and pierced it. After this score, the Bays started to rough it up a bit and several penalties cost plenty of yardage. It was not long before the whistle blew and the handful of Pottsvillians staged a snake dance through the snow banks on the field just like a bunch of collegians. Among the Packer rooters at Pottsville was Red Glass, tourist extraordinary. He hoofed it in from Columbus, O., where he had been working for several months. Red is looking younger than ever and claims he plans a tour of either Europe

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or Brown county before settling down again to his "daily dozen".

GREEN BAY  -  0  0  0  0 -  0

POTTSVILLE -  6  7  6  7 - 26

SCORING

1st - POTT - Jack Ernst, 40-yard pass from Hap Moran (Johnny Budd kick failed) POTTSVILLE 6-0

2nd - POTT - George Kenneally, 8-yard pass from Ernst (Budd kick) POTTSVILE 13-0

3rd - POTT - Johnny Blood, 21-yard pass from Ernst (Budd kick failed) POTTSVILLE 19-0

4th - POTT - Blood, 35-yard interception return (Ernst pass to Blood) POTTSVILLE 26-0

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PACKERS ANXIOUS TO REDEEM SELVES AGAINST JACKETS

NOV 27 (Philadelphia) - The Packer squad got out of Pottsville just about as quick as the law would allow. Capt. Lambeau figured it was better to come to Philadelphia and get away from the town that has always been the Green Bay jinx in a football way. It was snowing a bit in Pottsville Monday morning and the and the players welcomed the change of scenery as Sunday's game left a bad taste in the mouths of everybody connected with the Green Bay football machine. A check-up on the injuries by Dr. Kelly revealed that Cahoon has a sore shoulder, one of Ashmore's ankles is badly banged up, Red Dunn has a lame back, while Perry and O'Donnell are suffering from twisted necks. Despite the one sided score, the Pottsville game was plenty rough as both clubs were in there mussing up whenever the opportunity presented itself...HOLD TEAM MEETING: The Packer squad put the x-ray on themselves at a team meeting Monday morning before leaving Pottsville. Captain Lambeau presided at the affairs and verbally it was no parlor party. Many of the players could not explain their woeful showing but it was the general opinion that it was just a let down after being keyed up to a high pitch for the game in New York against the Giants a week ago. This football touring business is no joy ride and the different hotels meals and weather conditions are telling a bit on the players. However, this much can be said when the Big Blue Bays step on the field Thanksgiving Day at Frankford, it will be a fighting ball club and those Hornets are going to have a battle on their hands. The boys haven't forgotten the little surprise part the Quaker city gridders handed to them back in the Bay on Sept. 23 and they are determined to get even. Last Saturday the entire Packer squad saw the Jackets battle the Cardinals at Frankford field and Capt. Lambeau paid special attention to the Hornets' running attack...MUST STOP HOMAN: Success of the Packers in Thursday's game will depend a lot on the ability on the Packers' ends to stop "Two Bits" Homan, the Frankford quarter. Homan ran points back for plenty of yardage against the Cardinals. He grabs the cowhide on the fly and does a lot of fancy two stepping en route. The Yellowjacket management is going the limit to book the Turkey Day ​game and, according to Bob Haines, the Hornets' manager, the fracas will draw the biggest crowd on record at Yellowjacket field providing fair weather is on tap. Slick Lollar, who had been on the shelf since early in the season, was sent home Monday by Capt. Lambeau. With Molenda on the job, Lollar's services are no longer needed.

GREEN BAY PACKERS HERE FOR TILT WITH FRANKFORD

NOV 27 (Philadelphia Inquirer) - The Green Bay Packers, one of the most colorful football teams in America. arrived here yesterday for the big Thanksgiving Day contest with the Frankford Yellowjackets. The Wisconsin athletes came direct from Pottsville where they played on Sunday. The Packers have been Turkey Day opponents of the Jackets for some years and always draw a capacity throng, but a new attendance mark for the Frankford Field will likely be set on Thursday from all accounts. Football in Green Bay is a community proposition and everybody is proud of the Packers. They have good reason to be so for the team always has been among the top notch clubs in the country. Curly Lambeau, the Packer captain and coach, has been at the head of Green Bay football since 1919. He is a product of the Rockne football school at Notre Dame and he has two other former Notre Dame stars in the backfield in Harry O'Boyle and Tom Hearden. The Packers are here to avenge a defeat sustained at the hands of the Jackets in the opening game of the season for both elevens. Another player with the visitors who has attracted country-wide attention is Verne Lewellen, new district attorney for Brown county, favorite haunt of sturdy gridiron warriors and equally stalwart lumberjacks. Lewellen's greatest feat on the gridiron is his kicking. His punts seldom fall under fifty-five yards while one powerful boot this season traveled 94 yards, nearly the length of the field. Lewellen is regarded by Frankford players as the greatest kicker on any team since the war. In addition to his brilliant kicking, Lewellen is a high class ball carrier and strong defensive player. Lewellen comes from the University of Nebraska, where he played three years on the varsity and was captain in his senior year.

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PACKERS GETTING IN GOOD SHAPE FOR GAME

NOV 22 (Atlantic City, NJ) - The Packers' sunshine horseshoe has followed the club into Atlantic City and ideal football weather has been on tap for each practice session. The team works out every morning before an admiring throng of spectators and a handful of the Blue Tornadoes (the Atlantic City pro team). Bader field is about a mile from the hotel and the bus ride wakes up the boys just enough so that when it comes time to don the "monkey" suits everybody is bubbling with pep and vinegar. Eddie Kotal's leg injury is still causing him considerable trouble but he's spending most of his time giving the knee hot water treatments and the bruised spot is showing some improvement. Tom Nash is just about off the hospital list and seen some service in the signal drill. The rest of the boys are "rarin' to go" and it begins to look as if Pottsville is going to have its hands full Sunday...GUARDS AGAINST LETDOWN: Capt. Lambeau is working his squad at top speed against any letdown following the skirmish with the Giants. The Packer leader figures that if his club can leap the Pottsville hurdle this weekend, Green Bay will have something to say about the National league championship. Following the Pottsville game, the Bays are booked with Philadelphia, Providence and Bears, all tough nuts to crack, but everyone of them can be figured as key games and this means that there will be an extraordinary amount of fight in evidence. One of the most enterprising Atlantic City camera man shot the Packers in several setups and the films turned out so well he was swamped with orders from the players. A number of these pictures are already in the mails to Green Bay. The southern boys with the club are more than thankful that they aren't up north these days. A paper from home carried the stories about the rain and snow and the team felt pretty well pleased that they are down here among the boardwalk where the gulf stream blow in, warming things up like an early summer night in Green Bay...GUESTS OF FRANKFORD: The Packer squad will be guests of the Frankford Athletic

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association in Philadelphia Saturday for the Yellowjackets-Chicago Cardinal game. A block of seats have been set aside for the Bays and the team is being played up as an added attraction. One of the Philadelphia papers carried the story that the Green Bay Packers would be on hand to see the Jackets meet the Cards and added that evidently wholesale scouting was within the laws of the dollar and cents stopping at the Adelphia, where the Packers are putting up. Pennsy is figured to win by a top-heavy score. Fair weather is forecast for Thursday but there is a biting northwest wind and the home folks are complaining about the chilly spell even though the freezing marks has just been touched. It is a good Wisconsin brand of weather. According to present plans the Packers will leave here Saturday afternoon for Providence where they are scheduled Sunday. After the game with the Rollers, the Bays will return to Atlantic City for a few days practice before boarding a rattler Thursday night for Chicago. The Packers are booked to reach the Windy City Friday night and will stop at the Parkway. The club will practice Saturday morning at Wrigley field in preparation for the game with the Bears, Dec. 9. Tommy Hughitt, rated as one of the best officials in the National league, has been assigned to handle the game here Thursday. President Joe Carr has named three officials to work and none of them are hometown boys. Doctor Kelly has promised the team a turkey supper if they bear the Jackets and several of the boys are already in training for the meal.

JACKETS MUST WIN TO STAY IN RACE

NOV 28 (Philadelphia Inquirer) - The Green Bay Packers, one of the most colorful football teams in the country, meet the Frankford Yellowjackets at Frankford avenue and Devereaux street this afternoon in a National league game. The contest is an important one for the big northeast eleven. They are out to win and keep in the running for the National league championship and the winning of the game means much. At the same time, in Pottsville, the Maroons will be playing the Providence Steam Rollers. Pottsville has come back in great style and a Frankford victory and Providence defeat would send the Jackets hurling into the lead again and then wins in the remaining games over the Giants and Bears would give Frankford the championship regardless of how Providence fared with Green Bay next Sunday. The Packers are a civic team backed by the citizens of Green Bay and some fourteen members of the squad are year-round residents. One player has been signed the past week in Bo Molenda, backfield star of the New York Yankees. Green Bay's players have been here since Monday working out at the Municipal Stadium. Ed Weir's eleven is in prime fettle for the contest. All his players are in shape and it is almost a certainty that Fait Elkins, noted Indian player, will be in the starting lineup at the kickoff. Elkins set a pro football record last Saturday in taking the kickoff of Duke Slater, of the Chicago Cardinals, on his own two-yard line and racing 98 yards for the most sensational touchdown ever made in the annals of the NFL. Tomorrow the Jackets entrain for Chicago where they play the Bears in Wrigley Park on Sunday.

FRANKFORD, PACKERS CLASH TODAY

NOV 29 (Philadelphia) - This afternoon at Frankford field, two of the leading clubs in the NFL, the Yellowjackets and Green Bay Packers will meet in a gridiron argument which will just about make or break the pennant hopes of the rival teams. Tommy Hughitt of Buffalo will be the referee and there will be three other officials on the gridiron. Some of the places about Philadelphia are offering 5 to 3 odds against the Packers. These odds are probably due to the lacing the Bays received at Pottsville last Sunday. This Maroon outfit was twice swamped by Weir and Co. However, the Packer are trying to

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forget the surprise party in Pottsville and the players figure that a win over the Jackets would make the fans forget all about last Sunday's disaster. It is true that the players worry just as much about the folks back home as they do about the old ball games. The Packers are in fair shape. Eddie Kotal is sure to get into the game but it is doubtful whether he will start. Tom Nash is in the best shape that he has been for weeks and he may be in the opening lineup. Ashmore and Perry are not right but Capt. Lambeau is switching Earpe over to tackle and playing Darling at center. The Jackets haven't been saying much about their physical condition but it is well known that several of their boys are not quite in the pink. However, Homan and Elkins are stepping along lively these days and they are apt to cause the boys some trouble on the offensive. The Yellowjackets' management reports a fair advance sale of tickets in this afternoon's game. The park seats about 8,000 and those in charge are looking for a big house although they think chances for a record crowd are not so bright. For some unknown reason, the Yellowjackets haven't been drawing as well as in past years. Last Saturday, when the Chicago Cardinals played here, there were less than 3,200 in the stands.

FOOTBALL AND HOCKEY STARS CROWD HOTELS

NOV 29 (Philadelphia) - There are athletes galore parked at the Adelphia hotel Wednesday night. Aside from the Packers, the Providence Steamrollers stopped off en route to Pottsville; the Cornell university squad, some forty strong, checked in about 7 p.m., and there was two professional hockey teams, the Providence Arrows and the Quaker City All Stars, besides a half dozen boxers fighting at the Armory Thursday night. It was quite a gathering and the coeds, who are as thick as padlocks in Green Bay, had quite a time giving them all the once over. If looks count for anything, football is a parlor game compared with hockey. These puck chasers are carrying slashed faces and cauliflower ears not to mention black eyes and lame ankles. After looking 'em over, Jug Earpe said he would stick to football and his knitting.

LOOKING UP IN THE REALM OF SPORTS - MR. ZWIEBEL TALKS

NOV 29 (Green Bay Press-Gazette) - While scanning the columns of the Pottsville Republican today, we ran across the "Sport X-Ray" column conducted by Ed. A. Zwiebel, Jr., sports editor of the mining country daily newspaper and found that Mr. Zwiebel has a lot to say about out Packers. We had considerable trouble trying to dope out just what Mr. Zwiebel was driving at, and could not see where there was much logic in what he had to say. Personally we think he is "all wet" and does not know what it is all about. However, we are passing it on to you for what it is worth. He says: "Folks who sat through a brief but fine specimen of a blizzard at the Minersville Ball Park yesterday afternoon saw two things, the playing of the best and the worst football teams in the National league as of that date. The Maroons looked like Frankford showed two weeks ago, while Green Bay looked even worse than did the Maroons against the Hornets. Pottsville played what was probably its best game since championship days, while Green Bay got out of its system the "off day" game that sort of comes to a football team once every season. There is probably not a team in Joe Carr's circuit that could have defeated Pottsville yesterday. Pottsville's victory over Green Bay is really more than simply a game won. They trounced a team that crushed them. This is evidence that Pottsville's fighting spirit has not been crushed because of the unsuccessful season. A team that will put up the brand of football before a handful of fans such as the Maroons dispensed yesterday are certainly deserving of a more kind fate. It proves that the club is arriving and had they not been called upon to play such a silly schedule prior to the Frankford game the story might have been different. Green Bay looked very, very silly at times. This aggregation came here ballyhooed as a team coached by a pupil of the great Knute Rockne. The Packers certainly did not evidence that they had any of the Notre Dame's intelligence among them. The Packers played dumb football. That's about the best way that I can describe it. They committed offenses that you would not forgive a high school team. They were consistent, however, because they always did the wrong thing at the wrong time. Thanks to their lack of football intelligence and the great game staged by the Maroons, we are able to boast of two victories in the National league. The Maroons would have won this game no matter what the Packers did, but it would have made a better game had the visitors used a little intelligence. The greatest offense the Packers committed and for which they should be called upon to pay dumb tax is that they passed in their own territory. Twice they did this and each time it resulted in a Maroon touchdown. They have not even learned the value of the forward, and a team not knowing this don't know much football. Not only did the Packers play a poor brand of football, but they looked like poor losers. There was no excuse for either. They were "crabbing" at the officials all afternoon. That kind of playing helps the other team. Seeing that they were being hopelessly beaten, they took it out on the officials. In fact they so abused the officials, using bad language, that a fifteen yard penalty was inflicted in the dying moments of the game. Pottsville doesn't like that brand of ball." Perhaps Mr. Zwiebel is the fellow that wanted to know if the Electoral College had any football players worthwhile.

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