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CHICAGO DEFENDER

FIRST TEAM

WILLIAMS, Langston ................. End
GRASTY, Lincoln ................. Tackle
JENNINGS, Paul Quinn ............. Guard
BUCHANAN, Wilberforce ........... Center
SLAUGHTER, Atlanta ............... Guard
LAMAR, Atlanta .................. Tackle
SIMPSON, Howard .................... End
COLES (Captain), Howard .... Quarterback
RITCHIE, Wilberforce .......... Halfback
RUSS, Sam Houston ............. Halfback
STEVENSON, Tuskegee ........... Fullback

SECOND TEAM

GAITHERS, West Virginia ............ End
LEE, Hampton .................... Tackle
HODGES, West Virginia ............ Guard
TADLOCK, Tuskegee ............... Center
MILLER, Howard ................... Guard
KINMON, Wiley ................... Tackle
ARCHER, Morehouse .................. End
TURNER (Capt.), W. Va ...... Quarterback
SHIELDS, Union ................ Halfback
C. SMITH, Howard .............. Halfback
WILLIAMS, Hampton ............. Fullback

THIRD TEAM

WRIGHT, Atlanta .................... End
V. SMITH, Howard ................ Tackle
COOKE, Morehouse ................. Guard
ASKEY, Sam Houston .............. Center
REDD, Wiley ...................... Guard
KITCHEN, Tuskegee ............... Tackle
HALL, Alabama State ................ End
EPPS, Virginia Normal ...... Quarterback
SHEPPARD, Atlanta ............. Halfback
BRANCH, West Virginia ......... Halfback
PARKER (Capt.), Straight ...... Fullback


On the other end is Dennis Simpson, another good receiver of passes, a quick thinker and who showed excelently in the Wilberforce game, again in the Lincoln game; and although he was left behind when Howard went to Atlanta, Simpson  is a splendid running mate for Williams. Tall and with reach, his ability to pluck passes out of the air was probably learned at Wendell Phillips high school in Chicago, where Simpson made a precord with the basketball team. Incidentally, Simpson is the first Chicago boy to have ever been picked on any of The Chicago Defender's all - American selections.

Gaithers of West Virginia was one of the best ends in the country last year, he fell just a trifle short of his 1925 ability, but showed enough clas to make the 1926 second eleven. Archer, although a marked man in all games, represents Morehouse on the second team and is the selection of six out of eight experts for all - southern end.

Hall of Alabama State, although one of the best in his section, gets third team end because of his inability to diagnose plays as they are started. Wright of Atlanta, who might have made the second or even the first eleven, is placed on the third, injuries hampering his play towards the latter part of the season.

At tackles, Grasty of Lincoln outshines them all, Lamar of Atlanta gets the other tackle berth and those who have watched the play of these men are solid in their opinion that no two greater tackles exist. Lee, Hampton, and Kinmon, Wiley, are close seconds.

For guards, Jennings of Paul Quinn has been shifted from tackle to that position because that is his regular position in the line and Jennings shoves Miller of Howard off the first eleven. He is one of the few players who can swing out on the interference. Slaughter of Atlanta needs no introduction. A tower of strength, brains, ability to open and close holes and a deadly as well as a hard tackler are some of the fine points in his favor. Miller's tendency to hold went against him.

For center, Buchanan of Wilberforce gets the edge over Tadlock of Tuskegee. While Tadlock is a whale of a center, he didn't show the ability that Buchanan, a much lighter man in weight, has shown. The Wilberforce player can diagnose plays in a jiffy, can play his opponent to a standstill and then get in and tackle the runner. he can rove and has plenty of football brains and guts.

Coles wins the quarterback assignment hands down. There is not a player this fall that has used the football sense that Coles has. Turner of West Virginia, a brainy fellow, gets that position on the second eleven and on the third Epps of Petersburg, the most valuable player in the C. I. A. A., is placed. Coles can punt, run, pass and drop kick.

Ritchie of Wilberforce, a good punter and drop-kicker and one of the most finished players of today, gets the halfback position with Russ, equally as good as Ritchie at drop=kicking, excelling both Coles and Ritchie at punting and about equal with Williams, selected as end at punting, at the other half. Both Ritchie and Russ can pass and receive, they can tackle, are good on carrying the ball around the ends and through the line and both are excellent tacklers.

Those who saw the Big Ten conference games when Aubrey Devine was starring at Iowa, can get a line on Russ when I say that he passes just like the former Iowa university star.

Russ and Ritchie are hard men to hurt. They both have the knack of knowing how to fall to protect them [[?]].

When it comes to fullback there was but one man to pick - Stevenson of Tuskegee - and no team that we could select this year or that any other man could attempt to pick.

SOUTH GETS SIX PLACES; COLES OF HOWARD MADE CAPTAIN OF FIRST TEAM
             ____________________________________

BY FRANK A. YOUNG

Owing to the wealth of material this year, the all - American picking becomes more of a task than ever before. There is an unusual abundance of backfield stars. Several ends have [[?]] into their own and some of the strongest teams in the country have failed to meet other teams equally as strong.

Unfortunately, Howard university, undefeated this year, did not play such teams as Hampton, union and Virginia Normal in its schedule.

Equally unfortunate is the fact that Langston university of Langston was unable to get to play Tuskegee, West Virginia or Howard in a post-season game so that the public could get a true version on how these great teams stacked up against each other.

Atlanta lost to Fisk and Talladega in the southern conference, lost to Howard and in a post-season game lost to Tuskegee. Yet Atlanta has two of the best linemen in the country on the team. Tuskegee ran over all of its opponents with the possible exception of Talladega. Even Lincoln university was defeated after a long trip to Philadelphia, but we must take into consideration that Lincoln has about the poorest team in years and that Coach young did very well under the circumstances. In the Talladega game, Tuskegee had just enough punch to win in the closing minutes of play, 28 to 27. 

Hapton won the C. I. A. A. championship and the first leg on the large silver trophy given by the writer.

Wiley did fairly well in Texas, but lost to Langston ibn their annual battle before the Dallas state fair crowd. Sam Houston college, coached by Taylor, former Lincoln player and under the direction of Dean Mohr, right from Wilberforce, blossomed out as the best bet in Texas, gong through the season with five wins, no defeats and no ties.

Paul Quinn lost five of the best players of the 1925 eleven, these players going in a body to Atlanta. Such moves as those only strengthen my fight for the one year residence rule, which prohibits a player from taking part in games until he has spent at least one year at the school he represents.

The southwestern conference teams have developed a kicking game that is unequaled in any part of the country.

Wilberforce after a bad start with Lincoln university of Missouri, licked [[?]] its opponents with the exception of HHoward.

In selecting Williams of Langston as end for the second time, we believe we have picked the best man in our college circles for that position. He has height and reach, which males him good at receiving passes, he can be pulled back into the backfield on the offensive play, he can punt better than any man we have seen in the last five years and he is eleven men in one when he goes into action.

...would be complete without Stevenson.

We will simply quote from Red Grange, who saw Stevenson ibn the Lincoln - Tuskegee game for the first time: "With a little more coaching and a little more experience, Stevenson would make anybody's backfield."

C. Smith of Howard and Shields of Union press Ritchie hard. Neither come up to Russ nor Stevenson, Williams of Hampton and Parker of Straight get second and third eleven fullback assignments respectively, but neither are Stevenson's equal.

Sheppard of Atlanta, like Ritchie, was also a marked man, but there seemed to be something wrong with Atlanta's inner workings just like there was something wrong with the inner workings of Wilberforce's team which wasn't ironed out until the West Virginia game. Therefore, there were times when Ritchie and Sheppard both shouls have been called on for field goals that they were not. Sheppard's injuries kept him off team number one. Branch of West Virginia gets the other halfback berth on team three.

Askey of the champion Sam Houston team crowded Martin of Howard another good center, out, Big Red[[?]] of Wiley and Coke of Morehouse are two good guards for team number three. Capt., V. Smith of Howard and Captain Kitchen of Tuskegee are selected for tackles on team three.

But after all is said and done, the first team is a corker. There is Williams, Coles, Ritchie, Russ and Stevenson, all excellent punters, place-kickers, drop-kickers and good passers as well as carriers of the ball.

On team two there is Turner, Shields and Williams, who are all good at the same thing, but not quite as good as those picked on team one and there is Epps, Sheppard and Parker, almost as good as those on teams one and two.

There were other good players who probably deserved honorable mention. There is Martin of Howard and Doster of Langston, good centers. There was Fowlkes of Knoxville, Johnson of Clark, Cooper of Talladega, McPherson and Stanley of Atlanta, Wooten and Bailey and Paul Smith of Tuskegee, Bragg of Florida, Warren of Morris Brown, Beck of Clark, Duncan of Tuskegee, Gentry of Paul Quinn, Owens of Sam Houston, Turner and Pollard of Prairie View, Jones and Johnson, two good backfield men, of Langston, Johnson of Alabama State, Yost of Fisk, Campbell of Howard, Redden of Wilberforce, Taylor of Wiley, Johnson of West Virginia, Gallion of Bluefield, Ross and Dan Brown of Howard, Ward of Wilberforce, Edwards of Talladega, Mendenhall, Beckett and Slater of Wilberforce, Graves, Melton and Royal of Straight, turner, Verrett and Taylor of New Orleans, Harrison and McAllister of Southern, Chenier and Labbert of Xavier and others too numerous to mention.