Portville Football HQ
1930s
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Newsletter 7-08
1929 - 2007 W-L
Top 25 Teams
1930s
1940s
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Senior Awards
Hoppy Caya
Rick Bowman
 The Hawbaker Clan has begun the big task of publishing
 the scores of all the Panther Football games (as far as we know)

#   1929
1        L
2        L
3        W
4        L 1st home game
5        W
6        L
 
1930
7        L
8        L
9        W
10      L
11      L
12      L
13      L
 
1931  Tri-County Champs
14      W
15      W
16      T
17      W
18      W
19      W
 
1932
20      L
21      W
22      W
23      W
24      W
25      W
26      W
 
1933
27      L
28      W
29      W
30      L
31      W
32      W
33      L
34      W
 
1934
35      W
36      W
37      W
38      W
39      W
40      W
41      W
42      W
43      L
 
1935
44      T
45      W
46      W
47      W
48      W
49      W
50      W
51      L
 
1936  Tri-County Champs
52      W
53      W
54      W
55      L
56      W
57      W
58      W
59      W
60      W
 
1937  Tri-County Champs
61      W
62      W
63      W
64      W
65      W
66      W
67      W
68      W
 
1938
69      W
70      L
71      W
72      L
73      W
74      W
 
1939
75      W
76      L
77      L
78      W
79      L
80      T
81      L

xmiltlatimer.jpg
Milt Latimer 38-8-2

Coach Ceylon Hall  2-4
7     Little Valley   33
7     Perry   18
7     Cuba   0
?     Cuba   ?
13   Otto-Eldred   6
0     Painted Post   26
 
Norm St. Clair  1-6
0     Otto-Eldred   15
?     Allegany   ?
19   Wellsboro   0
?     Bolivar   ?
?     Coudersport   ?
?     Cuba   ?
?     Painted Post   ?
 
St. Clair  5-0-1
13   South Dayton   0
?     Ellicottville   ?
?     Coudersport   ?
6     Little Valley   0
19   Otto-Eldred   6
?     Allegany   ?
 
St. Clair  6-1
0     Allegany   13
21   South Dayton   12
31   Ellicottville   0
31   Little Valley   0
12   Perry   6
6     Otto-Eldred   0
27   Cuba   0
 
Tord Beck  5-3
7     Wellsville   13
7     Allegany   0
13   Alden   0
6     Salamanca   32
34   Little Valley   0
8     Otto-Eldred   6
6     Canisteo   13
13   Andover   0
 
Beck  8-1
14   Duke Center   0
19   Alden   0
13   Allegany   12
51   Coudersport   0
20   Bolivar   6
14   Canisteo   0
57   Cuba   0 
46   Wayland   0
6     Wellsville   13
 
Beck  6-1-1
0     Allegany   0 
32   Alden   0
12   Canisteo   0
45   Coudersport   6
12   Bolivar   6
32   Duke Center   0
25   Allegany   6
0     Wellsville   18
 
Beck  8-1
45   Bradford JV   0
7     Bolivar   6 
6     Cuba   0
0     Port Allegany   6
33   Little Valley   0
12   Springville   0
28   Allegany   0
13   West Seneca   0
6     Canisteo   0
 
Milt Latimer  8-0
7     Bolivar   6 
19   Cuba   0
19   Port Allegany   6
14   Little Valley   0
19   Springville   0
15   Allegany   0
14   Pine Hill   7
32   Otto-Eldred   6
 
Latimer  4-2
34   Otto-Eldred   0
0     Bolivar   6
6     Port Allegany   0
19   Cuba   20
19   Allegany   7
20   Bolivar   0
 
Latimer  2-4-1
7     Springville   0 
0     Cuba   6
0     Bolivar   19
13   Canisteo   6
12   Allegany   13
6     Little Valley   6
0     Bolivar   6

oldfootball.jpg

Players 1930 - 2007

x1921team.jpg
1921 Team

The earliest evidence of American football in Portville, NY is a photo from 1921 (above), when 15 boys joined the gridiron squad coached by Principal Vern Hutchings. 
 
Harold "Red" Miner, who later become a Portville teacher for over 40 years, was on that team (first row, far right).  Red actually lived in the first house up Daggatt Hollow, just north of the Hawbaker Ranch.
 
The old Portville Review newspapers from that era claim that Portville's first official, interscholastic team began in 1929, under Coach Ceylon Hall.  Rupert Chaffee was a RB on the first team and is still living in town, inducted into the Portville Hall of Fame in 2004.
 
Coach Norman St. Clair helped produce the first undefeated Portville team in 1931.  Legends Lee Frair and Jazz Peterson played in the early 30s, when the high school was on Main Street.  In 1934, the new Lowe's Field opened up behind the school (the youth field today), where the varsity played until 1956.

xtordbeck.jpg
Tord Beck (1933-36) 27-6-1

Portville was in the Tri-County League, South during the 30s and 40s.  The high school had some great coaches then, including Tord Beck, who won 80% of his games in 4 years, losing only once to Salamanca, Canisteo, Port Allegany, and 3 times to Wellsville...all bigger towns.
 
Other gridiron monsters of the 1930s included Malcolm Todd, Bill + Bob Husband, DeForest Chaffee, and Bill Hill.
 
In 1937, new coach Milt Latimer led the team to an 8-0 season, allowing only 4 TDs the whole campaign.  Latimer racked up a W-L record of 38-8-2 while at Portville, including 4 undefeated seasons...before moving to Bolivar, where he coached the Bulldogs to great success.

linemannj.jpg
Buford T. Hawbaker 1935

Big Jim Hawbaker's uncle, Buford T. Hawbaker, was a two-way lineman, class of 1937.  "Strangely, we were called the Portville Warriors until the late 40s", noted Buford in a 1979 interview.  "When the school centralized all the little schools from Obi, Bedford, Millgrove, Promised Land, Steam Valley, and the other one-room school houses with the high school...they adopted the panther mascot."

1965