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Historic Moments and Notable Performances
Updated through 2007 season
- Photos of what "might
have been" Hope
football teams date back to 1895. Controversy on a national level over
the nature of the game kept organized
football play at Hope no more than a dream until 1902. Early in the 20th
century Hope played non-collegiate opponents. The first recorded game against
a collegiate
opponent occurred in 1908 when the Flying Dutchmen lost to Benton Harbor
College 19-15.
- Hope's first All-MIAA football player was Louis Japinga '34. The speedy halfback
was also an effective passer and place kicker. He achieved All-MIAA three
consecutive years.
- Ray Smith is the winningest coach in the history of the Michigan Intercollegiate
Athletic Association. In 25 seasons (1970-94) he guided the Flying Dutchmen
to a record nine MIAA championships while compiling a 148-69-9 record.
- When Hope won the 2007
MIAA championship, coach Dean Kreps joined an elite group of MIAA coaches
to win six or more MIAA football
championships
during their career. He is just the fifth coach in the 110-year history of
America's oldest collegiate conference to accomplish the fete, winning six
titles during his 13-year tenure (1995-07). The others are Ray Smith of Hope
(9 titles over 25 seasons from 1970-94); Pete Schmidt of Albion (9 titles
over
14 seasons
from 1983-96); Frank "Muddy" Waters of Hillsdale (6 titles over 6 seasons
from 1954-60); and Royal Campbell of Alma (6 titles over 6 seasons from 1921-35).
- Running back Brandon Graham '98 rewrote the MIAA and Hope record books.
He rushed for six touchdowns in a single game, set a school, led the MIAA
in rushing yardage three consecutive years, and gained nearly 4,400 yards
over his career.
- The 1984 Flying Dutchmen had a perfect season, the only Hope team to go
unbeaten and untied. The 1975 team was also undefeated, but had one tie game.
- The Hope-Kalamazoo football
series is known as the "Wooden Shoes Rivalry".
The teams have been football rivals since 1910. The traveling trophy,
a pair of hand-carved Dutch wooden shoes, has been part of the rivalry
since 1931. For years the wooden shoes were viewed as unique among intercollegiate
trophy games because when a tie occurred the head coach of each team could
have one of the pair until the next year's game. That happened six times
until the NCAA eliminated the tie game ending in 1996. The teams will be
playing for the 88th time in 2008 with Hope holding a 48-33-6 series advantage.
- After leading the Flying Dutchmen to an MIAA co-championship in 1951, all-league
quarterback Ron Schipper '52 embarked on a remarkable coaching career.
Following eight years in the high school ranks, he moved to Central College
in Iowa where over the next 36 years he was one of the most successful
small college coaches in America, compiling a 287-67-3 record. In 2004
he was presented the Amos Alonzo Stagg Award by the American Football Coaches
Association.
- The teacher-coach model
was embodied in Alvin W. Vanderbush. A member of the history faculty from
1946-72, he was Hope's football coach eight of those
years. He guided the Flying Dutchmen to Hope's first outright conference
championship in 1953 with a roster consisting of just 39 players, including
a freshman quarterback. He was the first recipient of the "Hope Outstanding
Professor Award" (1965). In 2004, Hope football alumni honored him
with a plaque at the American Football Coaches Hall of Fame: "Coach Al Vanderbush refused to let us settle for less than our best.
He taught us to play with intensity but never without respect for the rules,
for our opponents and for ourselves. In his daily life, he modeled the man
of Christian character, discipline, intellect and integrity, as effectively
then as it continues in our hearts to this day. We honor him for what he
did for us."(Football players of Hope College, 1946-54.)
- Perhaps the first "domed" stadium
was Holland's Riverview Park where the Flying Dutchmen played their football
games from 1932 through 1978.
Fans on the home side of the field were protected by a covered grandstand
that had been moved to the site from the Holland fair grounds.
- Bob Powers '40, who captained the 1939 team, was the first Hope athlete
in any sport to be named the MIAA's most valuable.
- Joe Schwander became the first Hope quarterback to rush for more than
200 yards in a game when he gained 209 yards on 25 carries in a 38-20 victory over Alma in 2005. He also set a Hope mark for
touchdowns scored by a quarterback in a single season with nine in 2005.
- The 2006 champion Flying
Dutchmen became the first MIAA team to win seven conference games
in a season since 1901. The team had an amazing season losing its first
three
non-conference
games and then winning seven in-a-row in the MIAA.
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