1955 Hillsdale Dales football team
{{short description|American college football season}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2023}}
{{Infobox college sports team season
| year = 1955
| team = Hillsdale Dales
| sport = football
| image =
| image_size =
| conference = Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association
| short_conf = MIAA
| record = 9–0
| conf_record = 6–0
| head_coach = Muddy Waters
| hc_year = 2nd
| captain =
| stadium =
| champion = MIAA champion
}}
{{1955 Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association football standings}}
The 1955 Hillsdale Dales football team was an American football team that represented Hillsdale College in the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) during the 1955 college football season. In their second year under head coach Muddy Waters, the Dales compiled a 9–0 record (6–0 against MIAA opponents), won the MIAA championship, and outscored opponents by a total of 302 to 86.{{cite web|title=2009 Hillsdale College Football Media Guide|publisher=Hillsdale College|page=62|accessdate=November 11, 2021|url=https://issuu.com/hillsdalechargers/docs/09hcfbmediaguide}}{{cite web|title=1955 Football Team|publisher=Hillsdale College|accessdate=November 12, 2021|url=https://www.hillsdalechargers.com/athletics/HOF/1955fballteam|via=Newspapers.com}} The season was part of Hillsdale's 34-game winning streak extending from 1954 to 1957.{{cite web|title=1957 Hillsdale College Football Team|publisher=Hillsdale College|accessdate=November 12, 2021|url=https://www.hillsdalechargers.com/athletics/HOF/1957fballteam}}
The 1955 team declined an invitation to play in the 1956 Tangerine Bowl due to the organizers' stipulation that Hillsdale's four black players remain at home. One of the black players was Nate Clark who led the country in scoring with 144 points scored in nine games.
Schedule
{{CFB schedule
|source=yes
|September 17||{{cfb link|year=1955|team=Anderson Ravens|title=Anderson (IN)}}
|September 24|at|Michigan State Normal
|October 1||Olivet||Hillsdale, MI|W 45–6|{{cite news|title=Dales Crush Olivet, 45–6|newspaper=Detroit Free Press|date=October 2, 1955|page=4C|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/88781262/dales-crush-olivet-45-6/|via=Newspapers.com}}
|October 8|at|Albion||Albion, MI|W 14–7|{{cite news|title=Hillsdale Sneaks by Albion, 14–7|newspaper=Lansing State Journal|date=October 9, 1955|page=62|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/88781137/hillsdale-albion/|via=Newspapers.com}}
|October 15||Alma||Hillsdale, MI|W 27–20|{{cite news|title=Alma Downed: Clark's 4 Tallies Win for Hillsdale|newspaper=Detroit Free Press|date=October 16, 1955|page=2C|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/88780987/alma-downed-clarks-4-tallies-win-for/|via=Newspapers.com}}
|October 22|at|Hope||Holland, MI|W 19–13|{{cite news|title=Hillsdale's Rally Nips Hope, 19–13|newspaper=Lansing State Journal|date=October 23, 1955|page=71|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/88780846/hillsdales-rally-nips-hope-19-13/|via=Newspapers.com}}
|October 29||Kalamazoo||Hillsdale, MI|W 41–7|{{cite news|title=Dales Clinch Tie for Title|newspaper=Detroit Free Press|date=October 30, 1955|page=D5|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/88780716/dales-clinch-tie-for-title/|via=Newspapers.com}}
|November 5|at|Adrian||Adrian, MI|W 62–7|{{cite news|title=Dales' Clark Gets 5 TDs In 62–7 Rout|newspaper=Detroit Free Press|date=November 6, 1955|page=2D|url=}}
|November 12||{{cfb link|year=1955|team=Lewis Flyers|title=Lewis (IL)}}
}}
Clark leads the nation in scoring
Halfback Nate Clark rushed for 949 yards and led all of college football with 144 points (24 touchdowns) scored in nine games.{{cite news|title=Hillsdale great Clark dead|newspaper=Detroit Free Press|date=February 12, 2005|page=2B|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/79276945/detroit-free-press/|via=Newspapers.com}} His 144 points led small college football by 36 points over the second-highest scorer.{{cite news|title=Nate Clark Wins Grid Point Title|newspaper=Battle Creek Enquirer|date=December 11, 1955|page=|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/88768037/nate-clark/|via=Newspapers.com}} It was also the highest point total scored by a football player in Michigan since Willie Heston in the early 1900s.{{cite news|title=Did Nate Clark Outscore Heston?|newspaper=The Herald-Palladium|date=November 15, 1955|page=II-2|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/88767739/nate-clark/|via=Newspapers.com}} At the end of the season, Clark was selected by the Associated Press as a first-team back on the 1955 Little All-America college football team.{{cite news|title=Nation's Leading Scorer Makes Little All-America|newspaper=Bergen Evening Record|date=December 1, 1955|page=43|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/88736626/nations-leading-scorer-makes-little/|via=Newspapers.com}}{{cite news|title=Nate Clark On 'Little' All-America|newspaper=Lansing State Journal|date=December 6, 1956|page=69|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/88769710/nate-clark-on-little-all-america/|via=Newspapers.com}}
The Tangerine Bowl bid
In the 1950s, the Tangerine Bowl, played on New Year's Day, matched the best small-college teams in the country. However, the Tangerine Bowl was played in Florida and was a whites-only game. A racially integrated team had never been invited to participate. Coach Waters and other Hillsdale officials lobbied the bowl organizer to break the race barrier and invite the undefeated Hillsdale team to play in the January 2 bowl game.{{cite news|title=Hillsdale Coach Still Battling|newspaper=Battle Creek Enquirer|date=November 16, 1955|page=III-4|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/75746419/battle-creek-enquirer/|via=Newspapers.com}}{{cite news|title=Hillsdale Coach Stays in Florida|newspaper=Battle Creek Enquirer|date=November 15, 1955|page=13|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/75745337/battle-creek-enquirer/|via=Newspapers.com}}
The team ultimately received an invitation to play in the 1956 Tangerine Bowl, but the organizers stipulated that Hillsdale would have to leave its black players at home. Waters put the matter to a vote, and the players decided unanimously to decline the invitation. Clark later recalled: "I felt bad for the team because it deprived them of the opportunity to play in the bowl, but I was proud of the guys who made the decision because we couldn't go as a team."{{cite web|title=A Brief History of Hillsdale, Part 2: The Twentieth Century|publisher=Hillsdale College|author=Jacky Eubanks|date=9 April 2019|url=https://www.hillsdale.edu/hillsdale-blog/writers/jacquelyn-eubanks/a-brief-history-of-hillsdale-part-2-the-twentieth-century/|accessdate=November 11, 2021}}
Tangerine Bowl officials sought to save face by issuing a public statement that Hillsdale had not been invited because they were "too strong" to play against other teams being considered.{{cite news|title=Hillsdale "Too Strong" Loses Out on Bowl Bid|newspaper=Hartford Courant|date=November 26, 1955|page=17|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/75938481/hartford-courant/}}
''A Better Kind of Glory''
In 2021, Hillsdale students, as part of a video-story telling class directed by Emmy-nominated journalist Buddy Moorehouse, produced a documentary titled, A Better Kind of Glory, telling the story of the 1955 team's decision not to participate in the Tangerine Bowl.{{cite web|title=A Better Kind of Glory|year=2021|publisher=Stefan Kleinhenz (director)|author=Regan Meyer (writer)|accessdate=November 12, 2021|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWPE1BgDTDE}} The film opens with these words:This is the story of a football team that gave up their success on the field to preserve the dignity of their brothers off the field. This is the story of a group of young men who placed love for their teammates above the opportunity of a lifetime. This is the story of the 1955 Hillsdale College football team that chose a better kind of glory.
When A Better Kind of Glory premiered, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer and Lieutenant Governor Garlin Gilchrist signed a document honoring the 1955 team for its "outstanding athletic achievements and its dedication to the American principles of liberty and justice for all."{{cite news|title=Students premiere football documentary|author=Madeline Peltzer|date=April 22, 2021|url=https://hillsdalecollegian.com/2021/04/students-premiere-football-documentary/}}