Terrill School for Boys 1923 football season, week 2
In week two of the Terrill School for Boys: 1906-1946 season 100 years ago, the Tigers were scheduled to play McKinney High School on the road. The newspaper in McKinney, the "Courier-Gazette," was looking forward to the match as the opening game of the season for the Lions, a Lions vs. Tigers match-up.
Since the game vs. Buckner Orphans Home turned out to be a pre-season tilt, McKinney was to be Terrill's season opener. But as we've discussed, Terrill's coach, J. Monroe Sweeney, was not only a football coach and referee, he was also a baseball umpire. On the eve of baseball's Class A championship of the South, the Texas League chose Sweeney to be one of its two hand-picked umpires for the "Dixie Series," which pitted the Texas League's and Southern Association's champions in a World Series-like playoff.
Since games were scheduled to be played in Shreveport the weekend of September 28-30, Sweeney would be unable to coach Terrill in its opener vs. McKinney, so the game was cancelled. McKinney was able to schedule Oak Cliff High School as a last-minute replacement so that it could retain its season-opener.
The Dixie Series ended up with a third-straight championship for Fort Worth, as the Panthers beat the New Orleans Pelicans, with a 4-2-1 record in the seven games played. Terrill's football season opener would have to wait at least one more week.