Muncie Flyers complete 1920 Standings

Muncie Flyers - 1920

by Roy Sye

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Muncie Indiana is an All-American city located about 85 miles south of Fort Wayne and about 65 miles northeast of Indianapolis, located in the Gas Belt region of east-central Indiana. Muncie, like many other cities in the early part of the 20th century, grew by annexing neighboring communities. Muncie was no different, annexing the communities of Congerville, Avondale and Heekin Park, to name a few. Not much is left of these communities other than an occasional reference to a bank, grocery store or a city park.

The Muncie Flyers (referred to as the Congerville Flyers) date back to 1905 when they first formed a team. Playing mostly neighboring towns, the Flyers did play against teams in larger cities such as Indianapolis, Fort Wayne and Wabash. In 1919, the Flyers upgraded their schedule and hosted the Cincinnati Celts and the Dayton Oakwoods. Finishing with a 4-1-1 record and winning the Muncie city championship by defeating the Avondale AA, the future for the Flyers looked bright.

On August 29th, 1920 upon hearing the news that a professional league was forming, manager Earl Ball started the process of gaining entry into the league. He quickly signed the following players to contract:

·           QB - Cooney Checkeye                   of Muncie

·           FB - Kenneth Huffine                                          Col: Purdue

·           HB - Archie Erehart                                             Col: Indiana

·           HB - “Dutch” Sternaman                                    Col: Illinois

·           E - Spencer Pope                                                  Col: Indiana

·           E - Jess Reno

·           E - Pete Slane                                    of Muncie

·           T - Russell Hathaway                                          Col: Indiana

·           T - Bobby Berns                                                   Col: Purdue

·           G - John Redmond                                               Col: Indiana

·           G - Al Feeney                                                        Col: Notre Dame

·           G - “Babe” Hole                                of Muncie

·           C - Owen Floyd                                                    Col: Rose Holman-Poly Tech

·           Sub - Mickey Hole                           of Muncie

·           Sub - Cliff Baldwin                           of Muncie

(Note: All of the players listed above played in the 10/03 Rock Island game, with the exception of Dutch Sternaman, who played with the Decatur Staleys and continued as player/co-owner with the Chicago Bears and Al Feeney, who played two more years with the Canton Bulldogs.)

Although not having a finalized schedule, Ball speculated that the Flyers first game would be played in Canton. Ball then attended the famous September 17th “Hupmobile Room” meeting in Canton. (You know the one about bottles of beer in buckets, sitting on the running boards, nobody having the $100 to pay the league fees, electing Jim Thorpe president, etc.) In the days following the meeting, Ball continued to sign players, adding Francis Bacon (HB) of Wabash College and “Big Ed” Davis (T) of Indiana.

Ball came back from the meeting with confirmation that the first association game that the Flyers were scheduled to play was in Rock Island against the Independents on October 10th. Ball was looking to schedule a practice game on October 3rd against the Fort Wayne Friars or the Decatur Staleys. The Flyers ended up playing a practice game against the local Muncie Tigers on September 26th and then playing in Rock Island on October 3rd.

Most of what has been written about the 1920 Muncie Flyers states that the Flyers opened the season in Rock Island and were demolished 45-0. Some reports continue that the Flyers had also scheduled a game the following week in Decatur against the Staleys. But when the Staleys heard about the Flyers poor showing in Rock Island, the Staleys cancelled the game. After that cancellation, all that is reported is that the Flyers folded for the season and then miraculously came back to life in 1921 for another attempt in the APFA and played 2 more APFA games in 1921 and then folded forever.

As Paul Harvey would say “Now for the rest of the story”.

Yes, the Flyers went to Rock Island for one of the first games between 2 APFA opponents.

Yes, the Flyers got crushed by a score of 45-0.

Yes, the Flyers had a game scheduled in Decatur the following Sunday.

Yes, the Staleys cancelled the game due to the Flyers poor performance against Rock Island.

No! the Flyers did not fold up their tents and disappear until next year.

The Flyers were unable to schedule a game for October 10th and went idle for that week. Some of the players signed on with other local teams. Mickey Hole and Cliff Baldwin went across town and played with the Muncie Tigers. On October 17th, Mickey Hole and Cooney Checkeye played for the Wabash AA, losing a close game to the strong Gas City Tigers. Missing 2 games, the Flyers were getting back on track and scheduled 2 more games. The first was scheduled for October 31st in Cleveland against the Tigers and the second was November 7th in Dayton against the Triangles.

During the 2 idle weeks for the Flyers, 2 other strong Muncie teams were grabbing the headlines. The Muncie Tigers defeated the Wabash AA and the Indianapolis Independents, while the Muncie Offers More AC team defeated the Jonesboro AC and the Portland-Redkey Legion. Also strong in the area was the Gas City Tigers, winning their first 5 games by a combined score of 338-9!

The Flyers ended up not playing in Cleveland on the 24th, as the Tigers hosted the Columbus Panhandles; the Flyers practiced instead. The October 28th, 1920 edition of the Muncie Evening Press had this to say about the upcoming game against the Triangles:

“The Flyers club, with an all-star lineup, will play the Dayton Triangle team

at Dayton, Ohio, Sunday, November 7. Both teams are members of the newly

organized American Professional Football Conference”.

Manager Ball signed a few new players to strengthen his team;

·           (G) Tibbs of the Wabash AA and (G) Biesmeyer of the Cincinnati Celts

·           (T) Bourbon “Bunny” BonDurant of DePauw

·           (E) George “Mac” McIndoe of the Fort Wayne Friars

·           (QB) Thomas of DePauw

The new players were welcome additions to the core team of Cooney Checkeye (QB), Mickey Hole (HB), Archie Erehart (HB), Kenneth Huffine (FB), Jess Reno (E), Chuck Helvie (E), “Big Ed” Davis (T), Russell Hathaway (T), Bobby Burns (T), “Babe” Hole (G) and Wilfred Smith (G). However, on game day heavy rains washed out the game against the Triangles. A total of 11 players who were scheduled to play in the Triangle game, also played in the October 3rd Rock Island game. This is good evidence that the Flyer team of November 7th was the same team as the Flyer team of October 3rd.

Again unable to schedule a game for the next 2 Sundays, several players signed on with other teams. Cooney Checkeye, Mickey Hole, “Babe” Hole, Cliff Baldwin, Pete Slane, Kenneth Huffine and Gus Redmond signed to play for the Muncie Tigers on November 21st. On November 18th, the Flyers accepted a challenge made by the Gas City Tigers for a big game to be played in Gas City on Thanksgiving. The Gas City Tigers had won their last 4 games by a combined score of 105-0, giving them a perfect 9-0-0 record and outscoring their opponents by an incredible margin of 443-9!

The Thanksgiving edition of the Gas City Journal had this to say about the upcoming Thanksgiving game;

“Congerville (Muncie) has been playing in the football association with

Akron, Canton, Dayton, Chicago and other big teams, and have been

successful…. Congerville (Muncie) will have a bunch of noted stars in

their lineup, and hope to humble the unbeaten Tigers.”

(I’m not sure what the definition of “successful” is, but if a sportswriter said it, it must have been true!)

The Flyers defeated the Gas City Tigers by a score of 19-7. Halfback Mickey Hole scored 3 minutes into the game on a 45-yard run. On the next possession Kenneth Huffine scored and Checkeye kicked the point after, making the score 13-0. Early in the second quarter Checkeye scored, but failed on the point after. The Tigers finally scored early in the third quarter, but could not cross the goal line again and the game ended with a long awaited victory for the Flyers. The Tigers and their fans were not satisfied with the defeat and challenged the Flyers for another game on December 5th. Six players who played for the Flyers in the Rock Island game also played in this game, including three-fourths of the backfield. This is a good indication that the Flyers team on November 25th was a similar team as the one who played against Rock Island and was scheduled to play against Dayton.

Following the Flyers strong victory over the previously undefeated Gas City Tigers, the Muncie Offers More AC challenged the Flyers for a game the upcoming Sunday to decide the Muncie city championship. This game was billed as the Flyers “a team of college stars” vs. the Offers More AC “a team of highly skilled players”. On a muddy field at Walnut Park, frequent fumbles by the lighter OMAC’s proved to be their downfall as the Flyers quickly capitalized on the turnovers. Following a stern half-time lecture, the Flyers came out quickly in the third quarter and scored, increasing the score to 14-0. Tacking on 10 more points in the last quarter, the Flyers won the city championship, 24-0. With most other teams in the area being done for the season, both the Flyers and the OMAC’s expanded their rosters and played as many as 20 different players during the game. The Flyers again kept the same backfield with Checkeye at quarterback, Mickey Hole and Cliff Baldwin at halfbacks and Huffine at fullback.

Soon after the Gas City Tigers loss to the Flyers, the Tigers started beating the bushes for men to “load up” for the rematch against the Flyers. The Tigers signed Wren, former Harvard star, and Kilrain from the famous Kirklin team to bolster their lineup. The Flyers came into the game with the same players that played against the OMAC’s. The game was scoreless after the first quarter when the Flyers tried a drop-kick, which was blocked. After an exchange of punts, Weaver of Gas City took off on an 85-yard touchdown run. Following the point after, the Tigers lead 7-0. On the next drive, Woody of the Tigers dropped a pass in the endzone and the ball went over on downs to the Flyers. That would be the closest the Tigers came to scoring for the rest of the day. Early in the third quarter, the Tigers fumbled on a punt attempt and the Flyers recovered on the 5-yard line. Four plays later, Huffine went over for the score and the point after was kicked for a 7-7 score. In the fourth quarter, Cooney Checkeye took a punt and raced 60 yards for a touchdown, but failed on the point after. The Tigers tried to rally, but fumbled on their last possession. Final score: Muncie Flyers 13 – Gas City Tigers 7. The Tigers ended up with a 9-2-0 record and the Flyers with a 3-1-0 record, but the Flyers claimed the fictitious Indiana State Championship based on their victories over the Gas City Tigers and the Muncie Offers More AC.

In summary, the Muncie Flyers should be credited with 3 more games played in 1920. Although they played non-APFA teams, the same team that started the season played in these games. Other APFA teams played a heavy non-APFA schedule; Rochester Jeffersons (10), Decatur Staleys (5), Buffalo All-Americans (5), Chicago Cardinals (5), Canton Bulldogs (5), Columbus Panhandles (5), Detroit Heralds (4) and Hammond Pros (4). Hopefully, this article provides sufficient evidence that the Flyers did indeed continue playing (however sporadically) after the Rock Island game.

Game Results for 1920 Muncie Flyers Sun  09/26  H   Muncie Flyers vs Muncie Tigers                                              practice game

Sun  10/03  A   Muncie Flyers vs @Rock Island Independents                   Lost           0-45

Sun  10/10  A   Muncie Flyers vs @ Decatur Staleys                                        cancelled

Sun  10/17                                          no game

Sun  10/24                                          no game

Sun  10/31  A   Muncie Flyers vs @Cleveland Tigers                                        scheduled/cancelled

Sun  11/07  A   Muncie Flyers vs @Dayton Triangles                                       cancelled - rain

Sun  11/14                                          no game

Sun  11/21                                          no game

Thu  11/25  A   Muncie Flyers vs @Gas City Tigers                                  Won           19-7

Sun  11/28   A   Muncie Flyers vs @Muncie Offers More AC                   Won           24-0

Sun  12/05   A   Muncie Flyers vs @Gas City Tigers                                  Won           13-7

Final Record           3-1-0                             Points Scored:        56               Points Allowed: 59

Lineups for 1920 Muncie Flyers

Player Name

10/03/20

Rock Island Independents

11/07/20

Dayton (cancelled)

11/25/20

Gas City Tigers

11/28/20

Offers More AC

12/05/20

Gas City Tigers

College

Baldwin, Cliff “Kip”

-h



RHB



None

Berns, William “Bobby”

T



Purdue

Checkeye, Severin “Cooney”

QB

HB

QB

QB

QB

None

Davis, Ed, “Big Ed/Doc”

T

T

Indiana

Erehart, Archie

HB



Indiana

Floyd, Owen

C

Rose Holman-Poly Tech

Hathaway, Russell

G

T

Indiana

Helvie, Chuck “Stump”

E

E

Purdue

Hole, Ernie “Sarp/Babe”

G

G

RT

RT

None

Hole, Mickey

HB

HB

LHB

LHB

LHB

None

Huffine, Kenneth

FB

FB

FB

FB

FB

Purdue

Pope, Spencer

-e

Indiana

Redmond, John

On roster

G

RT

Indiana

Reno, Jess

E

E

None

Slane, Pete

On roster

LE

None

Smith, Wilfred “Big”

-g



DePauw

Bardeau

LG

-lt

Bissemeyer

G

Cincinnati

BonDurant, “Bunny” Bourbon

T



DePauw

Checkeye, Joe

-fb

-le

Checkeye, L. “Toad”

LG

Cooper, Taylor

LT

C

C

Etchison, Ross

-qb

Fulton, Ken

-rg

RG

Hellas

C

-rg

Hilton

-rg

Hole, Louis

LT

None

Hollymeyer, Ray

-re

-rt

Jacobs



DePauw

Lafferty

-le

Lewis

RE

McIndoo, George “Mac”

-hb

Pittsburgh

Peckinpaugh

RE

RE

Quirk

RG

LT

Randall

-rhb



Ratican

LE

LE

Redmond, Gus

RHB

Franklin

Schaffer

RG

-lg

Schueller, “Tilly”

QB

Cincinnati

Settles

RG

Thomas

-qb

DePauw

Williamson, Dud

-fb

RHB


 * – played in game, position unknown or did not start

-aa – played in the game as a substitute at that position

In the rag-tag days of the APFA, players hopped from team to team, depending on what team was paying the most and what the match-ups were. Below outlines all the players who played with the Flyers and how they hopped from team to team. This list is not complete, but gives a good indication as to how players moved around.

Cliff Baldwin started with the Flyers, then played with the Muncie Tigers, then finished off playing the last 3 games for the Flyers.

Bardeau played 3 games with the Tigers, then played for the Flyers on 11/25 and 11/28.

Cooney Checkeye played in all the Flyers games, and also for the Wabash AA on 10/17 and the Tigers on 11/21.

Joe Checkeye played 4 games for the Offers More AC, then 1 for the Tigers and then for the Flyers on 11/25 and 11/28.

L. “Toad” Checkeye, captain for the Offers More AC, and played 7 games for them, and played for the Flyers on 12/05.

Taylor Cooper played the offensive line for 3 games with the Muncie Tigers, then played in the final 3 games with the Flyers.

Ed Davis played for the Flyers in Rock Island then, played 8 games for the Dayton Triangles.

Ross Etchison played 4 games for the Tigers, then played for the Flyers on 11/28.

Russ Hathaway played for the Flyers in Rock Island, then played 2 games for the Dayton Triangles.

Ken Fulton played 3 games for the Tigers and then played for the Flyers on 11/28 and 12/05.

Chuck Helvie played for the Flyers in Rock Island, then played 5 games for the Dayton Triangles.

Hilton played for the Tigers on 11/21 and then for the Flyers on 11/28.

Babe Hole played in all the Flyers games, and also for the Wabash AA on 10/17 and the Tigers on 11/21.

Louis Hole played for the Tigers on 11/21 and for the Flyers on 11/28.

Mickey Hole played in all the Flyers games, and also for the Tigers on 10/10, 10/24 and 11/21 and for Wabash AA on 10/17.

Ray Hollymeyer played 5 games for the Tigers and then for the Flyers on 11/28 and 12/05.

Kenneth Huffine played in all Flyers games, for the Fort Wayne Friars on 10/17 and 10/31, Kirklin on 11/14 and the Tigers on 11/21.

Lafferty played 3 games for the Tigers and for the Flyers on 11/28.

Peckinpaugh played 1 game for the Offers More AC and then for the Flyers on 11/28 and 12/05.

Randall played 4 games for the Tigers and then for the Flyers on 11/28 and 12/05.

Ratican played 4 games for the Tigers and then for the Flyers on 11/28 and 12/05.

Gus Redmond played for the Tigers on 11/21 and the Flyers on 11/7 and 11/25.

Settles played 4 games for the Tigers and then for the Flyers on 11/28.

Schaefer played 4 games for the Tigers and then for the Flyers on 11/28 and 12/05.

Pete Slane started the season with the Flyers, then played for the Tigers on 10/24 and 11/21, and then finished with the Flyers on 11/25.

Dud Williamson played 3 games for the Offers More AC, then for the Tigers on 11/21, and then for the Flyers on 11/28 and 12/05.

1920 Flyers Team Scoring Summary Player                            Touchdowns and Type                                                      Extra Points & FG  Total Points

Checkeye, Cooney

3 TD’s (2 run, 1 punt return)

1 of 1 FG, 4 of 6 extra points

25

Huffine, Kenneth

3 TD’s (3 run)

1 of 1 extra points

19

Hole, Mickey

2 TD’s (2 run)

12

?Unknown?

0 of 1 FG, 0 of 1 extra points

0

Sources Muncie Morning Star

Muncie Evening Press

Dayton Daily News (courtesy of Mark Fenner)

Gas City (IN) Journal

“Total Football” – Carrol, Gershman, Neft & Thorn