By: Burke De Boer Sports Editor
When the Wolves host the Lumberjacks on Saturday it will be the 44th installment of the historic rivalry.
The teams first met in the days of leather helmets. In 1929, the Oregon Normal School traveled to Arcata, California to face Humboldt State Normal College. At the start of the Great Depression teams would play against anyone they could find, wherever there was a field. The men from Monmouth took a train south and won the first encounter, 31-0.
The teams went back and forth in the decades to come. After World War II, the then-Oregon College of Education hired Bill McArthur to coach the football team. As Wolves football became the team that Bill made, they got a leg up on Humboldt State. Notably, at homecoming 1949, the Wolves whupped the Lumberjacks to cap a 9-0 perfect season.
Wolves hold the advantage in the matchup with a 24-19 record.
For further history, check out the football record book at wouwolves.com
Contact the author at journalsports@wou.edu
