Andy Farabaugh, Football Hero

 

Andy FarabaughAndy Farabaugh 1906.04.15

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Andy Farabaugh (1881-1952) was the nephew of steel magnate Charles Schwab and also the accomplished physician, Lawrence Flick. When Schwab was establishing Bethlehem Steel, young Andy moved in and attended Lehigh University. While there he became one of Lehigh’s greatest athletes, lettering in 5 sports. In 1902 and 1903, he was captain and the centerpiece of a  football team that twice beat arch-rivals Lafayette. The Lehigh-Lafayette rivalry is the longest running contest in all of college football. For the 1902 season, the rivalry was stoked when Lehigh lured away coach Samuel B. Newton from Lafayette. With Andy at left halfback and his brother Louis Farabaugh (1878-1958) at quarterback, the Lehigh squad posted records of 7-3-1 and 9-2-1 and won all of the home games. Nearly all the losses were at Ivy League schools, controversial games that were commonly rigged. Lehigh’s campaigns in those two years were nonetheless remarkable. The program was mediocre both before and after the Farabaugh brothers took over.

Collegiate football in the eastern states was essentially the professional level at the time. Touchdowns were 5 points. The passing and kicking were erratic, and the game was far more brutal than today’s NFL. During the 1902 season alone, there were 14 fatalities, and there on the long list of reported injuries was a broken knee cap by Andy Farabaugh.  Washington Times (Wash., D.C.), 1 Dec 1902, “Gridiron’s Victims Number Fourteen Dead.” All the major newspapers carried detailed accounts of the games, which fortunately allows us to track just how great Andy performed. A chart of his successes is at the end of this post.

Lehigh Football Team of 1902

Lehigh Football Team of 1902

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In baseball, Andy pitched the first game at the University of Virginia’s new athletic field in 1902, losing after relinquishing a 3 run lead in the 9th inning. He also pitched an entire 26-1 game loss at Harvard. After his collegiate career, Andy reportedly played with professional teams on a few occasions but did not give it full attention.

His life after Lehigh was tumultuous. In 1904, Andy was involved in an altercation in Allentown with a Mr. John Gosheen over a girl, in which Gosheen was seriously injured and Farabaugh placed under arrest by park guards. Andy was clubbed on the scalp but then escaped the guards by jumping off a trolley and eluding three shots fired at him. He was charged with aggravated assault and battery by Gosheen but acquitted by a jury vote of 11-1, with the civil damages case still pending in Easton, Pa. Later that year, he became gravely ill from typhoid fever and was hospitalized in Providence, R.I., for several weeks.

Andy became an engineer with Bethlehem Steel and other steel companies, and settled in Johnstown, Pa. He evidently worked one year as a mining engineer in Mexico, and in 1910, supervised steel production for Charles Schwab in Europe. His privileged status among the Schwabs finds him in the news travelling quite a bit. When drafted for WWI in 1918, his draft registration card indicated that he was a Superintendent at the blast furnace for Cambria Steel Co., in Johnstown, Pa., living at the Ft. Stanwix Hotel with his wife Vera. (Vera died of breast cancer in 1935). Andy apparently remained Superintendent for most of his adult working life that followed.

A 1942 registration card for WWII indicated that at the age of 61 Andy was not employed and living at 431 Lincoln St., Johnstown, and that he had an operation for pleurisy that resulted in a left side incision. At the time of his death in 1952 from arteriosclerosis, Andy was living alone in Altoona.

Andrew was perhaps the greatest athlete in the Farabaugh family bloodline, although I may be overlooking another candidate. There are the collegiate wrestling careers of Rob and Dave Yahner.  While at the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown in the 1980s, each placed 4th in the NCAA II wrestling tournament. Dave came very close to winning the national title in 1989, losing in OT to the eventual champion. He was a teammate of the great Carlton Haselrig.

But let’s reach back in time and give Andy his due. Here is a compilation of his game accomplishments:

1902:  7-3-1
Coach: Dr. Samuel B. Newton

W/L

Date

PF

Opponent

PA

Location

Notes

L

09-27-1902

0

Pennsylvania

12

Philadelphia, PA

According to a newspaper report, the score was unexpectedly close. “A. Farabaugh excelled for Lehigh.” Louis played quarterback in the loss.

L

10-01-1902

0

Princeton (NJ)

23

Princeton, NJ

After a scoreless first half, Princeton recovered at Lehigh’s 8 yard line after Louis Farabaugh’s high pass to the fullback Butler was fumbled, leading to the first score. Lehigh could only manage one first down the entire game.

W

10-11-1902

34

Rutgers (NJ)

0

Bethlehem, PA

T

10-15-1902

5

Navy (MD)

5

Annapolis, MD

  “In the first half, with the ball on the Lehigh’s ten-yard line, the visitors held Navy off for downs, and A. Farabaugh was given the ball. He made a clear break through the line, and, eluding Halsey and Smith, made a beautiful run of 100 yards and a touchdown.” Near the end of the game a missed field goal kick landed in the Lehigh end zone and was fielded by a Navy player for the tieing score, with Lehigh protesting that it did not touch the ball and at first refusing to resume play. “The Pennsylvanians tried to carry off the ball after the game and nearly precipitated a riot.” Louis Farabaugh also quarterbacked this game. A season list of injuries indicated that on 10/22/02 it was reported that A. Farabaugh suffered a broken kneecap at Annapolis.

W

10-22-1902

41

Union (NY)

0

Bethlehem, PA

W

10-25-1902

46

New York (NY)

0

Bethlehem, PA

W

11-01-1902

39

Haverford (PA)

0

Haverford, PA

W

11-08-1902

34

Virginia

6

Washington, DC

 “Virginia was powerless to stop Leigh’s fierce rushes.” Andy was again at left halfback and also kicked 3 goals. Louis managed the team at quarterback. In another account, it was written that “The play of Walters and A. Farabaugh was brilliant, and they were loudly applauded. Farabaugh made several long runs, and kicked goal from the 35-yard line.”

L

11-15-1902

0

Dickinson (PA)

11

Carlisle, PA

W

11-22-1902

6

Lafayette (PA)

0

Easton, PA

 “Captain Farabaugh tried twice to kick goals from the filed in the [first] half, but missed both attempts. The half ended without either side scoring.” Right end Brush made the only score of the game for Lehigh, a forty yard run for Coach Newton against his former team. “…Farabaugh, Waters and Brush excelled for Lehigh.” Louis Farabaugh did not quarterback this game.

W

11-29-1902

41

Swarthmore (PA)

0

Bethlehem, PA

246

Season Totals

57

1903:  9-2-1
Coach: Dr. Samuel B. Newton

W/L

Date

PF

Opponent

PA

Location

Notes

W

09-26-1903

83

Albright (PA)

0

Bethlehem, PA

W

09-30-1903

40

Manhattan (NY)

0

Bethlehem, PA

L

10-03-1903

0

Pennsylvania

16

Philadelphia, PA

Andy Farabaugh at left half back, Louis Farabaugh at quarterback. Lehigh only reached Penn’s territory once in the game.

W

10-07-1903

10

Swarthmore (PA)

5

Swarthmore, PA

L

10-14-1903

0

Princeton (NJ)

12

Princeton, NJ

 “Twice the visitors were within fifteen yards of Princeton’s goal, and once they came so near a touchdown that Captain Farabaugh and Coach Newton of Lehigh felt ustified in making a strenuous objection. . ..” In another controversy, “… L. Farabaugh, the Lehigh quarterback, touched the ball down on the side lines and kicked it over the Tigers’ goal line. Before anyone realized what had happened Farabaugh had fallen on the pigskin and the Lehigh rooters were dancing with joy. . . After an argument lasting nearly a half hour, Referee Young decided that the Lehigh player had not put the ball in play.”  “As a result of insubordination on the Lehigh eleven, Captain Farabaugh of that team has resigned and will play hereafter on the scrubs.”

W

10-17-1903

71

Villanova (PA)

0

Bethlehem, PA

“The football eleven representing Villa Nova was given a severe trouncing. . .long runs were common. . . Andy Farabaugh kicked eleven of the twelve goals.”

W

10-24-1903

41

Ursinus (PA)

0

Bethlehem, PA

W

10-31-1903

17

Dickinson (PA)

0

Carlisle, PA

After the kickoff, “Lehigh then began a series of mass plays, which netted them a touchdown in about fifteen minutes, and Farabaugh kicked the goal.” Andy also scored a touchdown as the left halfback, and Louis was the quarterback.

T

11-07-1903

0

Cornell (NY)

0

Ithaca, NY

Andy Farabaugh at left half back, Louis Farabaugh at quarterback. In the first half, Lehigh failed to score after reaching the 8 and then the 16 yard line of Cornell. Cornell had a fake kick that nearly scored in the second half.

W

11-13-1903

45

Susquehanna (PA)

0

Selinsgrove, PA

W

11-21-1903

12

Lafayette (PA)

6

Bethlehem, PA

Capt. Andy Farabaugh at left half back, Louis Farabaugh at quarterback, before 10,000 spectators. The game was “marked by wrangles,” and the score tied 6-6 at half. In the second half, “Farabaugh missed a place kick from Lafayette’s 30-yard line. He, however, redeemed his error by making a thirty-yard run for Lehigh, only to miss another place kick from Lafayette’s 20-yard line. Lehigh got the ball on Lafayette’s 5-yard line on a quarterback kick. Landefelt scored another touchdown for Lehigh, and Captain Farabaugh kicked the goal. It was then very dark and the referee’s whistle found the ball at Lehigh’s possession on their own 15-yard line, having secured the pigskin on a fumble when it looked as though the score might be tied.”

W

11-26-1903

12

Georgetown (DC)

6

Washington, DC

 “Lehigh showed itself the better team in all-around work, and their captain-Farabaugh-was decidedly the star of the day. He tore through the opposing phalanxes like a veritable catapult, fighting like a savage creature for his man who carried the ball. . . Capt. Farabaugh gave his team their signals and was quick to get to his post, which was generally on top of the Georgetown crowd, his strength and weight bearing them down as surely as would a falling house. . .Farabaugh, Torrey, Butler and Waters played the best game for Lehigh. . ..” Another account indicated that “. . .Georgetown was thankful that there were only two Farabaughs on the visiting team. . . Andy Farabaugh’s stellar performances have become chronic, no what what the opposition.” The box score shows that Louis Farabaugh shared quartback duties with a McFarline. “The visitors used the delayed pass with great success, and both their touchdowns were due to this particular play. When all eyes and energies were directed at some portion of the line, with Andy Farabaugh or Torrey would make an unexpected assault on the least protected position.”

331

Season Totals

45

 

 

One thought on “Andy Farabaugh, Football Hero

Leave a Reply to Tony Bentivegna Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *