Saturday, November 26, 2016

Middleborough High School Popularizes Football

Football emerged as a popular sport in Middleborough in the late 1800s, largely through the efforts of Middleborough High School students who formed the first teams in town. The school itself initially provided little direction or organization. Teams were formed informally by the students who, as recorded by newspaperman James H. Creedon, were responsible for engaging their own coach and establishing their own schedules in conjunction with other teams in the region. It is through the work of these boys that football was popularized locally. These early roots ultimately led to the growth of semi-professional football in Middleborough when in 1939 the forerunner of the successful Mitchell Memorial Club Cobras was formed. The highly successful team, now simply the Middleboro Cobras, continues to fulfill the community’s passion for the sport as part of the Eastern Football League as does the local high school team.

The 1905 Middleborough High School squad poses for a team photo. As is evident from the makeshift uniforms in the photograph, the team was, like many of the school’s earliest teams, informally organized. Students made do with what they could cobble together including quilted pants and cotton knit sweaters. Noticeable is the absence of protective gear such as helmets and pads, though five of the boys have noseguards which were uncomfortable to wear and  were eventually replaced by facemasks starting in the 1920s.  

Practices were held regularly in the large open field in the rear of Middleborough High School which then occupied the South Main Street school building which was later and better known as the Bates School. In the background, the Episcopal and Baptist churches are conspicuous with Center Street seen in the far distance.

Pictured is the 1908 Middleborough High School team including George Jones, Charlie McCarty, Frank Harrington, Ralph Mendall, Brad Swift, Bill Andrews, Russell Perkins, Everett Clough and Charles Lang. Future Superintendent of Schools J. Stearns Cushing sits in the center and holds the ball marked ’08. “Mel” Gammons, standing in the back row, second from the right, was a noted all-round athlete who was instrumental in the formation of the Middleborough High School basketball team, a sport at which he excelled. The year following this image, the high school was unable to organize a football team, but had sufficient interest in 1910 to field two squads.