26 13 7 0 6 13 | Western Reserve 7 0 6 13 26 | |
The 1941 Sun Bowl was a college football postseason bowl game between the Arizona State Bulldogs (then known as the Arizona State Teachers College at Tempe) and the Western Reserve Red Cats (now known as the Case Western Reserve Spartans).
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Background
The Bulldogs were champions of the Border Intercollegiate Athletic Association for the second straight year. The Red Cats were 48-6-2 in the six year tenure of Coach Bill Edwards, as they made their first ever bowl game. The Red Cats were champions of their regional Ohio league, Big Four Conference, six of the last seven seasons.
Game summary
Steve Belichick (father of NFL head coach Bill Belichick), ran for the first touchdown of the game to give the Red Cats a 7-0 lead. Joe Hernandez threw a touchdown passto Wayne Pitts to narrow the lead, though the extra point was no good. But Arizona State took the lead on a record setting run. Backed at one point into his endzone while rushing, Hascall Henshaw soon broke free and went 94 yards to the endzone, to give the Bulldogs a 13-7 lead at halftime. Henshaw's run was the school record for longest run from scrimmage until 1968. But the Red Cats jumped back into the lead when Willis Waggle recovered a blocked punt and returned it to the endzone for a touchdown. In the fourth quarter, Richard Booth and Johnny Reis both scored a rushing touchdown to make the score 26-13. The Bulldogs only seriously threatened again once, when they drove all the way to the 14 yard line of the Red Cats, but they failed to convert on 4th down at the 12, as the Reserve held on to win the game. In a losing effort, Henshaw had 147 yards rushing.
Aftermath
Howell would leave the Bulldogs after the game to join the Navy after World War II started. It would not be until 1971 that the Sun Devils won a bowl. Edwards would leave the team to coach the Detroit Lions, later becoming the coach at Vanderbilt and Wittenberg. The Red Cats, now known as the Spartans, moved to NCAA Division III.