1938 Western Washington Vikings football team
{{short description|American college football season}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2023}}
{{Infobox college sports team season
| year = 1938
| team = Western Washington Vikings
| sport = football
| image =
| image_size =
| conference = Washington Intercollegiate Conference
| short_conf = WINCO
| record = 7–0
| conf_record = 3–0
| head_coach = Charles Lappenbusch
| hc_year = 7th
| captain = Fritz Chorvat
| stadium = Battersby Field
| champion = WINCO champion
}}
{{1938 Washington Intercollegiate Conference football standings}}
The 1938 Western Washington Vikings football team was an American football team that represented Western Washington State College (later renamed Western Washington University) of Bellingham, Washington, as a member of the Washington Intercollegiate Conference (WINCO) during the 1938 college football season. In their seventh year under head coach Charles Lappenbusch, the Vikings compiled a perfect 7–0 record and outscored opponents by a total of 98 to 30.{{cite web|title=1938 - Western Washington|publisher=College Football Data Warehouse|accessdate=May 2, 2023|url=http://www.cfbdatawarehouse.com/data/incomplete_data/game_by_game_discontinued.php?teamid=3528&year=1938|archive-date=September 15, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150915174819/http://www.cfbdatawarehouse.com/data/incomplete_data/game_by_game_discontinued.php?teamid=3528&year=1938|url-status=dead}}{{cite news |author= |title=Bellingham Gains Title |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/92548504/the-news-tribune/ |newspaper=The Tacoma News Tribune |location=Tacoma, Washington |agency=Associated Press |date=November 22, 1938 |page=15 |access-date=January 14, 2022 |via=Newspapers.com {{Open access}} }}
The 1938 team was the first to win a conference championship in Western Washington football history.{{cite news|title=Bellingham Gains Title: West Washington Defeats Cheney in Grid Mix|newspaper=The News Tribune|date=November 22, 1938|page=15|url=}} It also remains the only team in Western Washington's 100-plus history to complete a full football season without a loss or tie.{{cite web|title=Western Washington Records by Year|publisher=College Football Data Warehouse|accessdate=May 2, 2023|url=http://www.cfbdatawarehouse.com/data/incomplete_data/year_by_year_discontinued.php?teamid=3528|archive-date=September 6, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150906065804/http://www.cfbdatawarehouse.com/data/incomplete_data/year_by_year_discontinued.php?teamid=3528|url-status=dead}}
Western Washington challenged San Jose State to a postseason game in California, but the challenge was not accepted.{{cite news|title=Vikings Challenge San Jose State College|newspaper=The Bellingham Herald|date=|page=9|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-bellingham-herald-vikings-challenge/123941091/|via=Newspapers.com}}
Western Washington was one of several teams, including Tennessee, TCU, West Tennessee State, Western Reserve, and Maryville, to complete the 1938 season without a loss or tie.{{cite news|title=Eighteen Clubs on Select List in Grid Circles|newspaper=The Scranton Times|date=November 29, 1938|pages=22, 25|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/123918847/eighteen-clubs-on-select-list-in-grid/|via=Newspapers.com}}
The team played its home games at Battersby Field in Bellingham.
Schedule
{{CFB schedule
| attend = y
| source = y
|September 30||{{cfb link|year=1938|team=Saint Martin's Rangers|title=Saint Martin's}}
|October 8||{{cfb link|year=1938|team=Oregon Normal Wolves|title=Oregon Normal}}
|October 15||Fort Lewis (WA)
|October 22||Washington freshmen
|October 29|at|{{cfb link|year=1938|team=Central Washington Wildcats|title=Central Washington}}||Ellensburg, WA (rivalry)|W 13-6||{{cite news|title=Vikings Defeat Ellensburg, 13 to 6|newspaper=The Bellingham Herald|date=October 30, 1938|page=10|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-bellingham-herald-vikings-defeat-ell/123938244/|via=Newspapers.com}}
|November 5|vs|{{cfb link|year=1938|team=Pacific Lutheran Gladiators|title=Pacific Lutheran}}|Lincoln Bowl|Tacoma, WA|W 33-14||{{cite news|title=Vikings Crush Pacific Lutheran, 33 to 14: Bellingham Eleven Continues In Parade of Unbeaten and Untied Teams With Convincing Victory|newspaper=The Bellingham Herald|date=November 6, 1938|page=10|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-bellingham-herald-vikings-crush-paci/123937871/|via=Newspapers.com}}{{cite news|title=Bellingham Downs PLC: Vikings Turn on Power to Score, 33 to 14|newspaper=The Tacoma Sunday Ledger-News Tribune|author=Howie Clifford|date=November 6, 1938|pages=18, 19|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-news-tribune-bellingham-downs-plc-v/123938785/|via=Newspapers.com}}
|November 19||{{cfb link|year=1938|team=Eastern Washington Savages|title=Eastern Washington}}
}}
Players
The following Western Washington players are confirmed from the coverage cited above.
- Fred Baldwin, center
- Don Bell, end
- Fritz Chorvat, quarterback and captain
- Jim Hall, end
- Jack Janikula
- Howard Jones, right halfback
- Al Munkres, fullback
- Leo Reischman, tackle
- Bob Tisdale, left halfback
- Bill Vanderboom, end
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Western Washington Vikings football navbox}}
Category:Western Washington Vikings football seasons
Category:Washington Intercollegiate Conference football champion seasons