1947 Wilberforce State Green Wave football team
American college football season
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The 1947 Wilberforce State Green Wave football team was an American football team that represented Wilberforce State College of Education (now known as Central State University) in the Midwest Athletic Association (MWAA) during the 1947 college football season. In its 12th season under head coach Gaston F. Lewis, the team compiled a 11–1 record and all outscored opponents by a total of 415 to 79.[2]
| 1947 Wilberforce State Green Wave football | |
|---|---|
| Conference | Midwest Athletic Association |
| Record | 11–1 (3–1 MWAA) |
| Head coach |
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| Conf. | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Team | W | L | T | W | L | T | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 1 Tennessee A&I $ | 3 | – | 0 | – | 0 | 10 | – | 0 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 2 Wilberforce State | 3 | – | 1 | – | 0 | 11 | – | 1 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 22 Kentucky State | 3 | – | 2 | – | 0 | 4 | – | 6 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 13 Lincoln (MO) | 1 | – | 3 | – | 0 | 3 | – | 4 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Philander Smith | 0 | – | 2 | – | 0 | 1 | – | 9 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wilberforce | 0 | – | 2 | – | 0 | 0 | – | 6 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 12 Louisville Municipal * | – | 6 | – | 1 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Wilberforce State was ranked No. 2 among the nation's black college football teams according to the Pittsburgh Courier and its Dickinson Rating System. The team's only defeat was against Tennessee A&I, the team selected by the Courier as the 1947 national champion.[3]
Key players on the 1947 Wilberforce State team included halfbacks Walt Sellers and Carl Baylor, quarterbacks Freddie Hall and Michael "Mickey" Carter, and end Blake White.[4][5]
Prior to the start of the 1947–48 academic year, the State of Ohio withdrew support from the church-supported portion of the school. The two portions of the school then split and fielded separate football teams with different coaches. Lewis, who had been the coach at Wilberforce since 1934, took responsibility for coaching the state school, and Dwight Fisher coached the religious school.[6]
Schedule
| Date | Opponent | Site | Result | Attendance | Source | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 27 | at North Carolina A&T* | Greensboro, NC | W 9–7 | 8,000 | [7] | ||
| October 4 | vs. Kentucky State | W 34–6 | 8,000 | [8] | |||
| October 10 | vs. Tuskegee* | W 20–6 | 25,000 | [9] | |||
| October 18 | Wright Field* |
| W 101–0 | [10][11] | |||
| October 24 | at Tennessee A&I | L 7–14 | [12] | ||||
| November 1 | Lincoln (MO) |
| W 32–6 | [13] | |||
| November 8 | Delaware State* |
| W 31–0 | [14] | |||
| November 15 | at Philander Smith | Hot Springs, AR | W 57–7 | ||||
| November 22 | West Virginia State* |
| W 31–0 | 3,000 | [15] | ||
| November 29 | vs. Bergen Junior College* | W 40–12 | 13,000–16,000 | [4][16] | |||
| December 14 | vs. Prairie View A&M* | W 26–0 | 10,000 | [5] | |||
| January 1, 1948 | vs. Grambling* | W 27–21 | 8,500 | [17] | |||
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