1947 Wilberforce State Green Wave football team

The 1947 Wilberforce State Green Wave football team was an American football team that represented Wilberforce State College of Education (now known as Central State University) in the Midwest Athletic Association (MAA) during the 1947 college football season. In its 12th season under head coach Gaston F. Lewis, the team compiled a 11–1 record and all outscored opponents by a total of 415 to 79.[2]

1947 Wilberforce State Green Wave football
Fruit Bowl, W 26–0 vs. Prairie View A&M
Vulcan Bowl, W 27–21 vs. Grambling
ConferenceMidwest Athletic Association
1947 record11–1 (3–1 MAA)
Head coach
1947 Midwest Athletic Association football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
No. 1 Tennessee A&I $ 3 –0 –0  10 –0 –0
No. 12 Louisville Municipal 2 –0 –1  6 –1 –1
No. 2 Wilberforce State 3 –1 –0  11 –1 –0
No. 22 Kentucky State 3 –3 –0  4 –6 –0
No. 13 Lincoln (MO) 1 –3 –1  3 –4 –1
Wilberforce 0 –2 –0  0 –6 –1
Philander Smith 0 –3 –0  1 –9 –1
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from the Pittsburgh Courier using the Dickinson Ratings System.[1]

Wilberforce State was ranked No. 2 among the nation's black college football teams according to the Pittsburgh Courier and its Dickinson Rating System. The team's only defeat was against Tennessee A&I, the team selected by the Courier as the 1947 national champion.[3]

Key players on the 1947 Wilberforce State team included halfbacks Walt Sellers and Carl Baylor, quarterbacks Freddie Hall and Michael "Mickey" Carter, and end Blake White.[4][5]

Prior to the start of the 1947–48 academic year, the State of Ohio withdrew support from the church-supported portion of the school. The two portions of the school then split and fielded separate football teams with different coaches. Lewis, who had been the coach at Wilberforce since 1934, took responsibility for coaching the state school, and Dwight Fisher coached the religious school.[6]

Schedule
DateOpponentSiteResultAttendanceSource
September 27at North Carolina A&T*Greensboro, NCW 9–78,000[7]
October 4vs. Kentucky State
W 34–68,000[8]
October 10vs. Tuskegee*
W 20–625,000[9]
October 18Wright Field*
W 101–0[10][11]
October 24at Tennessee A&I
L 7–14[12]
November 1Lincoln (MO)
  • Wilberforce Stadium
  • Xenia, OH
W 32–6[13]
November 8Delaware State*
  • Wilberforce Stadium
  • Xenia, OH
W 31–0[14]
November 15at Philander SmithHot Springs, ARW 57–7
November 22West Virginia State*
  • Wilberforce Stadium
  • Xenia, OH
W 31–03,000[15]
November 29vs. Bergen Junior College*
W 40–1213,000–16,000[4][16]
December 14vs. Prairie View A&M*
W 26–010,000[5]
January 1, 1948vs. Grambling*
W 27–218,500[17]
  • *Non-conference game

References
  1. "Tennessee No. 1 in Nat'l Grid Ratings". The Pittsburgh Courier. December 6, 1947. p. 14 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. "Central State Yearly Results". College Football Data Warehouse. Retrieved December 10, 2019.
  3. "Tennessee No. 1 in Nat'l Grid Ratings". The Pittsburgh Courier. December 6, 1947. p. 14 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. "Wilberforce Tops Bergen JC, 40-12". New York Daily News. November 28, 1947. p. 79 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. Bob Brachman (December 15, 1947). "Wilberforce Wins Bowl Tilt, 26-0". The San Francisco Examiner. pp. 24, 26 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. "Two Wilberforce Teams Bring Impossible Snarl". The Tribune. September 4, 1947. p. 12 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. "Alert Wilberforce State Eleven Subdues A&T, 9-7". The Pittsburgh Courier. October 4, 1947. p. 15 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. "Wilberforce State Wins At Cleveland". Dayton Daily News. October 5, 1947. p. Sports 3 – via Newspapers.com.(contemporary newspaper accounts record the game as a win, but College Football Data Warehouse records it as a forfeit by Wilberforce State)
  9. "Wilberforce's Eleven Wins Negro Battle". Chicago Tribune. October 11, 1947. p. 21 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. "Wilberforce State Swamps Kittyhawks". The Coshocton Tribune. October 19, 1947. p. 13 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. "Wilberforce One Of 39 Perfect 11's". The Dayton Herald. October 21, 1947. p. 20 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. "Tennessee State Stays In Unbeaten Ranks". Nashville Banner. October 25, 1947. p. 7 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. "'Force Wins, 32-6". Dayton Daily News. November 2, 1947. p. Sports 5 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. "Wilberforce Victor". Dayton Daily News. November 9, 1947. p. Sports 2 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. "Wilberforce Downs West Virginia, 31-0". Alabama Tribune. November 28, 1947. p. 7 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. "Bergen Drops 40-12 Tilt To Ohio Eleven". The Bergen Evening Record. November 28, 1947. p. 29 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. "Wilberforce Subdues Grambling in Hard Battle". The Pittsburgh Courier. January 10, 1948. p. 14 – via Newspapers.com.
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