Views of War

Kansas-trained football players achieved the highest recognition in competition with teams composed of players from every section of the United States in the A. E. F. play-offs which took place in France during the winter and early spring of 1919. The 89th division team, which learned to soldier at Camp Funston and was composed of men from Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska, won the A. E. F. gridiron title after defeating another Western army eleven, the 36th division, which was composed of Texas and Oklahoma National Guardsmen. The championship game was played at Paris, March 29, 1919. The score was 14 to 6. [68]

In the 89th line-up that day were Adrian "Ad" Lindsey, who played his last game for K. U. in 1916, and Howard "Scrubby" Laslett, a member of the 1917 team who returned to school after leaving the service and captained the 1919 K. U. eleven. The 89th division, stationed in Germany after the Armistice, organized a football team that swept through the Rhineland like one of Hitler's Panzer divisions. After winning the Third Army title the 89th beat the St. Nazaire Base Section eleven, which had Eddie Mahan, former

Harvard fullback, in its lineup, 13 to 0. Lindsey, on this occasion, repeatedly out-punted the ex-Harvard star. [69]

With Lindsey in the 89th backfield was George "Potsy" Clark, formerly of the University of Illinois, who had been an assistant coach at K. U. before the war. These two, with Laslett, an end, were chosen for the mythical all-A. E. F. eleven by the sports editor of The Stars and Stripes. [70] Both Clark and Lindsey coached at the University after the war.

On the 35th division team, which gave a good account of itself, were several Kansas collegians, including "Pinky" Beals of Washburn, George "Rook" Woodward of K. U., Hyndman of Pittsburg, and Kalama, giant Haskell center. When the 35th played the 7th division at Commercy one rainy afternoon in February, 1919, Beals looked across the field and saw Lt. Sam Stewart, who was Washburn's 1916 captain. Stewart was in the backfield for the regular army team. This game resulted in a scoreless tie, but the 7th division won the play-off at Toul, 6 to 0. The 35th was thus eliminated from competition. The Kansas-Missouri guardsmen had previously defeated the 33d division, 3 to 0, thanks to a field goal from the toe of Kansas' Woodward.