Redland Field, Cincinnati.....Tanks vs. The Bears
Redland Field, Cincinnati.....Tanks vs. The Bears
All Material Copyrighted Reproduced with permission of the authors, C. Robert Barnett and Linda Terhume
The Norfolk and Western excursion train, packed with excited Irontonians, rumbled into Cincinnati on that November day the Tanks challenged the Chicago Bears.
Virtually the whole town of Ironton- at least, it seemed everyone was there- piled into Redland Field. But the majority of the crowd were cynical Cincinnatians who planned to see the "Monsters of the Midway" run over the small-town Tanks
The Bears had just finished their NFL season with a 9-4-1 record, good enough for a third-place finish in the 11-team pro league. Their lineup featured two legendary professional and college players, half-back Harold "Red" Grange and fullback Bronko Nagurski.
Grange, a three-time All-American, had signed a six-figure contract with MGM after his 1925 graduation from the University of Illinois, but he chose to play proball and brought much-needed publicity to the then-struggling NFL.
Nagurski had just completed his rookie season with the Bears following a college career as an All-American at Minnesota. In 1929, Nagurski was named to the "New York Evening Sun" All-American team at two positions, fullback and tackle. Later both Grange and Nagurski were among the first players inducted into the Professional Football Hall of Fame.
Now to the game itself.....
Following a short Bears kickoff, the Tanks began to drive the ball deep into Chicago territory with both halfbacks Glenn Presnell and Keith Molesworth carrying the ball. Presnell went into the end zone after a four-yard run. Tanks 6, Bears 0.
The Bears then began a drive of their own, using both Grange and Nagurski. Neither could break away from the sticky Ironton defense, however, and the Tanks took over on their own 12-yard line. Still in the first quarter, Presnell broke over the left side of the Bears line, angled between two crushing downfield blocks and outraced the last Bears defender down the sideline for a spectacular 88-yard touchdown run.
Harold Rolph remembers the play: "I can still see Glenn weaving and bobbing down the field. A beautiful run."
The extra-point attempt was successful. Tanks 13, Bears 0.
Early in the second quarter, the Bears intercepted an Ironton pass deep in their own territory, but on the next play they fumbled the ball back to the Tanks. Ironton ran an end sweep for no gain, then Molesworth broke over right guard and ran 22 yards for the Tanks' third touchdown, Tanks 19, Bears 0.
The Bears were able to pull themselves together enough to push across a touchdown before halftime, and as the teams went into the locker room, the Tanks held a 12 point lead. Cincinnati fans were shocked at the ease with which the Tanks had scored the first-half TD's against the Bears-but not as shocked as the Bears themselves. Rolph recalls:
"Sure, we were excited about playing the Bears but we knew they were human. The Bears thought they were going to come in and have a big time rolling over us but when we scored those quick touchdowns and they could not gain against us, they got kind of frustrated. They just could not seem to get going."Early in the second half, the Bears narrowed the gap when Carl Brumbaugh threw a 40 yard touchdown pass to Joe Lintzenich. The Tanks roared back with a long pass from Presnell to Molesworth to put Ironton deep into Bears territory. Molesworth then scored on a five yard run.
Tanks 26, Bears 13