Remembering when Peterborough won ORFU title
Captain Eugene Hurtubise led Intermediates to championship win over Dundas in 1905
On Nov. 25, 1905 a championship football game was played in Peterborough’s Riverside Park.
The Peterborough Intermediates in their nifty blue and white uniforms, with the “Winged P” on the front, beat Dundas for the Ontario ORFU Intermediate title.
Both teams were undefeated entering the second game of the two-game championship series. The week before they had tied the first game of the championship in Dundas, then on this Saturday Peterborough handedly beat Dundas 16-2 for the title.
There were more than 1,000 fans in attendance including 100 who came to the city on a special train from Dundas. The total gate proceeds was $222. Admission to the game was advertised as 25 cents.
The Examiner story gave special praise to captain Eugene Hurtubise. “Hurtubise came in for unintended praise for the manner in which he handled the team this year.”
The captain in those days was in fact the coach.
Hurtubise, a member of the Peterborough and District Sports Hall of Fame, came to the city from Ottawa to work on the construction of the Lift Lock. Besides football he was a noted wrestler. He held the Canadian amateur heavyweight title from 1904 through 1907.
Years later a travelling side show came to Peterborough with a wrestling act, advertising that anyone who climbed into the ring with a wrestler called Shimkus and pinned him would get $10.
Hurtubise, then nearly 40 years old, according to the Peterborough Review report, took the challenge and “administered Shimkus the trimming of his life.” Apparently, Hurtubise followed the show to Belleville and again pinned Shimkus.
Most of football in 1905 had just recently turned to the “Burnside Rules.” The rules, developed by a University of Toronto player, changed North American football from a rugby-style game to a contest closely resembling today’s game.
The rules reduced the number of on-field players from 15 to 12 and a team had three downs to gain 10 yards. There were no forward passes and each down started when the centre heeled the ball backwards from the line of scrimmage to a back.
The star of the championship game was a kicker only identified in the reports as Shaw. Apparently, he was an American and had graduated from Harvard University. Shaw, besides being the team’s punter, used the dropkick to kick the converts and field goals.
The score was 4-0 for Peterborough at half-time. According to reports the second half became extremely physical. The Examiner wrote, “Men were laid out all over the field and although no one was very seriously hurt, it was just because of simple good luck.”
Hurtubise scored the only touchdown of the match and Shaw kicked for all the other points. After the game The Examiner reported that Shaw was “dragged into the Oriental dining room (a downtown hotel) and had to give a speech.”
The championship team was listed in the account without first names. Mulhern was the fullback, Crowley, Shaw and Gillespie were halfbacks and Meagher was the quarterback. Hurtubise was the snap, Craig and Dillon insides, Regan and McDonald middle and Gilbert and Crough outsides.
With the win, Peterborough qualified to play the Ottawa Rough Riders II for the Dominion championship. It never happened because the two teams could not decide on the rules to play the game. Ottawa played with Quebec teams under the old rules, Peterborough played all year under the Burnside Rules.
Football of the day often ended up with physical outbreaks among the fans. With the 100 visiting fans from Dundas, there were some concerns. That was obviously unwarranted as the Hamilton papers reported that Peterborough officials said “the Dundas people were the best losers they had ever seen.”
It is not clear how the Dundas fans took that statement.