Original title: “[OC] On this day 100 years ago, the Staleys/Bears played their first official APFA/NFL game ever when they defeated the Moline Tractors 20–0.“
Subreddit: /r/CHIBears
Post date: October 3, 2020
On October 3, 1920, seven games for the newly-formed American Professional Football Association took place, one of which was a battle between the Decatur Staleys and the Moline Universal Tractors. While only one of the teams was part of the APFA, it was officially the first game in Bears history.
The 1919 season was the first for A.E. Staley’s factory football team, one that I covered every week last year and can be read here. During the offseason, Staley hired a young man by the name of George Stanley Halas to grow the team into a fully-fledged, professional organization. After picking up some alumni from the Midwest and his old teammates from school and other pro teams, the new-look Staleys were ready to go as the inaugural APFA season kicked off in 1920. More on that can be read in my write-up from 2018.
First on the schedule was a home game against the Moline Universal Tractors, a team of workers from the Moline Plow Company; the Universal is a model of tractor developed by the company.[1]
“With an eleven made up of many former stars of western universities, the Staley professional eleven will open its season ehre with the Moline Tractors,” wrote a pre-game report a day before kickoff.[2] Coach Halas has his team in fine mid-season form for the opening clash.”
The Decatur Herald on the morning of the game:[3]
Football fans from all over Central Illinois will be in Decatur today to see Staleys and the Universal Tractors clash on Staley Field in the first big professional grid game ever played in this section of the state. The Tractors arrived in this city Saturday evening and are confidant of defeating the Starch Workers. Staleys are on edge for the battle and their supporters are predicting a local victory for the local eleven over the Moline club.
The teams are powerful football machines, composed of men with years of experience in the gridiron game. It will be a hard fought battle and one worth going miles to see.
Walter Eckersol, football authority and rated as one of the best officials in the country, will referee the contest. Millard will act as umpire and Catlin will be head linesman.
Staley Field has been put in top shape for the game. Extra bleachers have been erected on the west side of the field and the greatest crowd that ever saw a football game in Decatur is expected to attend this afternoon’s clash. The contest will start at 3 o’clock.
The Game
The Staleys won the coin toss and elected to receive.[4]
The first three drives of the game will probably sound very familiar for us Bears fans: the Staleys punted on the opening drive (in fairness, it was a pooch punt); the Tractors punted on their first series after gaining -3 yards; the Staleys then turned the ball over on downs.[4]
Momentum finally swung in Decatur’s direction when a Moline punt was blocked and recovered at the Tractor 28. Dutch Sternaman, a future co-owner of the Bears, pounded the ball downfield before breaking through for a seven-yard score.[4]
After getting the ball back following a Moline three-and-out, Decatur began the second quarter with great field position at the opposing 38. A 20-yard run by Sternman set up a series of four-, six-, and two-yard runs until Sternaman punched it in for a five-yard TD. The rest of the first half saw punts and fumbles on both sides.[4]
Halas sent in the backups to begin the second half. Although the defense forced Moline to turn over on downs and Chuck Dressen—one of the original Staleys in 1919—hit Lenny High for a 12-yard pass, they lost a fumble at the ten. The Tractors failed to capitalize and punted. By the end of the quarter, four punts had taken place.[4]
The starters returned for the fourth quarter. The two teams traded punts yet again before the Staleys fumbled at around midfield, but the Tractors puntd for another time. Decatur finally broke through with a punt return by Pard Pearce to the Moline 25, which was followed by a six-yard gain on three run plays and a completed pass from Sternaman to Pearce to the ten. At the opposing four, Sternaman finished the job to complete the hat trick.[4]
Moline fumbled again as Halas recovered. The final four possessions of the game went as follows: Staley turnover on downs, Tractor punt, Staley turnover on downs, short Tractor gain on the last play. Final score: Decatur 20, Moline 0.[4]
The Argus, in an article titled “TRACTORS GIVE STALEYS SCARE” a day after the game:[5]
Holding the Moline Tractors to one first down here yesterday, the Staley professional team, made up of a number of former “Big Ten” and Western university stars, had little trouble in winning the opening game of the season, 20 to 0. Dutch Sternaman of last season’s championship Illinois team put up a great game on the offense, scoring all three touchdowns. The locals used a few simple formations during the game, in anticipation of hard games with Muncie and Rock Island in the next two weeks.
References
[1] Moline Plow Company History
[2] TRACTORS OPEN SEASON SUNDAY WITH STALEYS from The Rock Island Argus, October 2, 1920
[3] STALEY FOOTBALL TEAM MEETS TRACTORS TODAY from the Decatur Herald, October 3, 1920
[4] STALEY ELEVEN OPENS SEASON BEATING MOLINE TRACTORS, 20-0 from the Decatur Herald, October 4, 1920
[5] TRACTORS GIVE STALEYS SCARE from The Rock Island Argus, October 4, 1920
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