BOBCAT CALENDAR 1929: Montana State Closes the Roaring '20s with a Bang!
6/7/2020 9:55:00 AM | Football
Cats Capture State Title with Dramatic Wins over Grizzlies, Saints
91 Years Ago – 1929
June 6: Each day leading to Montana State's 2020 season opener, scheduled for September 5, we will look at the season as many years ago as it is days until kickoff of the Gold Rush game.
91 YEARS AGO – Montana State's 1929 season began ordinarily enough, with the Bobcats beat the Centerville club team from Butte 25-0, and losing for the second time in three seasons to a strong Idaho team, 39-6 in Moscow. The Vandals stood on the figurative and literal line of demarcation in the region's college football scene for many years, not quite able to compete with the Pacific Coast Conference schools that would eventually form the Pac 8 (and Pac 10 and Pac 12), but were did manage to compete intermittently with its closest neighbors in Pullman and Spokane (Gonzaga) while mostly dominating Montana (the Vandals stood 12-3-1 against the Grizzlies after the 1929 season, a trend which would largely continue until the teams began playing as Big Sky rivals in 1965). The Cats also fell to long-time rival Utah State 9-0 in Bozeman, completely unable to get the offense untracked.
Thanks began to change the next week, though, when the Bobcats travelled to BYU. Austin DeFrate scampered 60 yards for a touchdown and completed a scoring strike to Peck McFarland. When Max Worthington nailed the point after try, Montana State led 13-0. The Cougars countered with a pair of third quarter touchdowns, but failed to convert the extra points and the visiting Bobcats held on for the win. That spark started a fire that remains historic in Bobcat history, as Montana State won the last five games on its schedule to post what would be the school's longest in-season win streak until the remarkable 1954 team won its first eight games. In fact, to this date only 10 other Bobcat teams have won more games in a row in a single season.
But no one in mid-October 1929 Bozeman knew that, nor would they care if they did, because the train ride to Butte was up next. A crowd greater than 7,000 gathered in Butte' Clark Park to take in the festivities as the Blue and Gold warriors snapped a "20-year jinx" or games against its in-state rivals without a victory by downing the Grizzlies 14-12. The celebration in Bozeman was wild, with the descriptions fitting to scale another celebration 83 years later when a victorious band of Bobcats returned from the west with an exhilerating streak-ending win against UM. Without question it was Montana State's most celebrated win of the 1920s, if not its most important, but it also set the Bobcats on course for a wonderful finiso to the season. The Cats stymied Wyoming 13-0 in Laramie the next week, then shut out North Dakota State 6-0 before topping Mt. St. Charles (Carroll College) in Great Falls on Thanksgiving Day for the mythic, unquestioned state championship.
The Bobcat roster in 1929 is full of Montana State legends. Max Worthington starred in against the Grizzlies, Brick Breeden anchored the line, Austin DeFrate was known for his brilliant athleticism and is in the school athletic hall of fame. But that team featured stars that have since been forgotten, which is pretty much the point of this series. Jason Preston was a rock of Bobcat Athletics until his untimely death a decade or so later. Ivar Twilde drew notice from all over for his work in the backfield as well as his drop-kicking. Vic O'Leary's "line plunges" marked Montana State's teams for the next three seasons. DeFrate found Harold Wylie for a second quarter touchdown on a snow-covered field for the day's only score. Wylie intercepted two passes in the fourth quarter, and Twilde ended the game by picking off a pass deep in Bobcat territory to preserve the win.
CAT-GRIZ RECAP: If you pour over enough accounts of ancient Bobcat-Grizzly games you'll notice a couple of patterns. The first is unbridled optimism by both sides, and another is lauding the losing team for sportsmanship and effort. The first held true for the 1929 Bobcats. The second was unnecessary. The scoring happened early and in flurries. Montana State scored on the game's first possession when Max Worthington caught a 29-yard pass from Austin DeFrate, and Ivar Twilde's drop-kick made the score 7-0. UM answered, A few minutes later the Grizzlies recovered an MSC fumble and used their powerful ground game to draw within 7-6. In the second quarter, Worthington scored again after a 71-yard Bobcat drive, and Twilde's PAT gave the Bobcats a 14-6 lead. Again UM answered, again the extra point failed, and the Bobcats led 12-6 at the intermission. The Montanan said the Grizzlies fought more desparately in the second half, but "the Bobcats had a lead that no team from Montana State, or any other college, for that matter, ever fought so desperately and successfully to save."
MOST COMMON STARTING LINEUP: Left End-Max Worthington, Left Tackle-Earl Semingsen, Left Guard-Leonard Kleffman, Center-Jason Preston, Right Guard- Wagner, Right Tackle- Harrell Renn, Right End- Peck McFarland, Quarterback-Austin DeFrate, Left Halfback-Harold Wylie, Right Halfback-Ivar Twilde, Fullback-Vic O'Leary.
POST-SEASON HONORS: All-America – none. All-Rocky Mountain – Players chosen for New Year's Day all-star game vs. North Central Conference all-stars in Denver: Austin DeFrate, Quarterback; Harold Wylie, Fullback. All-State – (1st) Austin DeFrate, Quarterback; Harold Semingsen, Tackle; Jason Preston, Center. (2nd Team) Peck McFarland. (Honorable Mention) Harrell Renn; Leonard Kleffman; Harold Wylie' Ivar Twilde; Vic O'Leary.
NATIONAL RANKINGS: none
ROCKY MOUNTAIN STANDINGS: 2-1 in RMC, tied for 4th place. In a season that was one of Montana State's best before World War II, the Cats dropped a home game to Utah State, 9-0, but won 13-12 at BYU and 13-0 at Wyoming.
