Every Thursday throughout the season, GoAugie.com will take a dive into a new decade of Augustana football in honor of the 100th season. The 100th season of Augustana football is presented by CorTrust Bank.
The 1930s, by the numbers, are the most dominant era of Augustana football. The Vikings tallied an overall record of 56-16-1 and won seven South Dakota Intercollegiate Conference Championships. Under the direction of head coach L.A. Olson, the Vikings earned the programs first-ever conference championship in 1932 with a 5-0 league mark and a 6-1 overall record.
Augustana simply went on to win conference titles in 1933, 1934, 1935, 1936, 1937 and 1939. Over the total of seven conference titles, the Vikings did not lose an SDIC contest. In 1937, the Vikings did not lose a game and that is the focus of this week’s look back.
In the Augustana Edda, it is mentioned that six-straight seasons under Olson, six consecutive football championships had been left in his wake. It was under his guidance that he turned around the football, men’s basketball and track & field programs and allowed Augustana to make a bid for a berth into the North Central Conference.
Continuing with the 1938 Edda, “No small part of Augustana’s athletic success has been due to capable Archie Midkiff, assistant and line coach, whose friendly personality and “never-say-die” spirit, on the training field and on the sidelines have endeared him to the hearts of all who have ever come under his tutelage.” A second assistant coach is also directly pointed out with “Spark-Plug” Anderson assisting both football and track, executing his three-fold duties as coach, director of physical education and director of college publicity.
Now that we’ve set the stage for the 1938 season, Augustana opened with a 19-13 win over Hastings on Sept. 25. On oct. 1, it was another close victory, this time 27-19 over Nebraska Wesleyan as Ekeland moved from fullback to quarterback to throw the game-winning touchdown pass.
Homecoming saw 2,000 fans arrive to watch Augustana move past Huron, 36-0. Augustana then moved to 4-0 on the season with a 38-0 victory at Yankton. Once again quoting the Edda, “Paced by Sheley, Schultz and Elkins, the Vikings had a field day on the muddy Yankton gridiron. Putnam, a fleet and much-publicized Greyhound (Yankton’s mascot), was held at bay by Augie’s ‘good old line’.”
Augustana again took it to Northern State (then called Northern Normal) by a score of 25-7. The Edda said it best. “Northern-a rough game, we remember. They were out to get Sheley, but they didn’t, and he passed beautifully to our two ends, Hagen and Plowman. Nelson was successful in his reverse attempts. Final score was 25-7.”
