The year was 1931.

From the time that collegiate football first arrived in Commerce, East Texas State Normal College had not done much to really speak of or shout about. The team had some winning seasons in the early years, but the 1920’s were absolutely awful and by far the worst decade in school history, even to this day. Then, something happened. A new athletic conference was formed, one where The Lions would be a part of for the next 90 years.

The advent of the Lone Star Conference came about when 5 colleges decided to withdraw from the Texas Intercollegiate Athletic Association (TIAA). The 5 schools met in Denton, Texas and decided to form The Lone Star Conference. The Schools were East Texas State Teachers College, North Texas State College, Sam Houston State Teacher’s College, Southwest Texas State, and Stephen F. Austin State. They formed a constitution and bylaws and decided which sports to sponsor. Trinity College would then join the foray for the next two years, giving the Lions a full 8 team schedule, which was standard for a small school at that time. The first football season as an LSC team was in 1932, which saw the Lions, under J.W. Rollins go 3-4-1 overall and 2-2 in conference, with rival North Texas State winning the first LSC football title.

1933 would be a different story.

When Lion football fans discuss who the best Quarterbacks in program history are; the names McCord, Wilson, Bounds, and Perez all come up in conversation. However the first great quarterback who made plays and willed his team to big wins was a Man named Robert Adolphus Hitt, also known as R.A. Hitt. He could do it all. Run, throw, all with the passion and ability of early signal callers. His own Coach would later refer to him as “one of the best football players ever produced” by the school. Riding Hitt and a team now used to conference play, the 1933 Lions began their efforts to win their first conference championship in school history.

The season did not start out in an ideal fashion. ET went west to McMurry and could not find the end zone in a 7-0 loss. The next week was the same issue, however their defense was able to keep the opposing squad, Northwestern State College (now Northwestern State University) from doing the same in a 0-0 tie. Conference play started and for two straight weeks, the Lions would head down south into the East Texas Piney Woods and gut out wins against Stephen F. Austin and Sam Houston State, 12-6, and 14-13, respectively. ET returned home to college field where they defeated Trinity 19-0 and two things came to life. In the 1920’s the Victory Bell had been engraved to call the Lion squad the “Dandy Lions” in an attempt to get squad to win. The same bell that had been rung by a future Speaker of the US House of Representatives to call students to class and to evening meal time was now being used to spark Lion spirit during games. It was ringing 19 times that night at College Field after the Lions had taken sole possession of first place in the conference. The next week would put a damper on things as Rollins’ squad went up Highway 11 to the Sooner state where they fell to Southeastern Oklahoma, 20-0. The squad was not despondent and was reminded by both their Head Coach and Quarterback, they had much more to play for. The message seemed to work, as the Lions defeated North Texas for the first time in school history, 6-0, setting them up for a home tilt with Southwest Texas in Commerce. All it took was a 3 yard quarterback plunge from Hitt to secure the game, as the Lion defense shut out Southwest Texas and allowing the Lions to finish the season at 5-2-1, but undefeated in conference. It also gave rise to the school fight song, it’s lyrics long thought lost; but are here below;

“Fight! Fight! Fight! for Alma Mater dear;
We’re gonna win that game today!
Let our voices ring loud and clear
In the old East Texas way.
Yell! Yell! Yell! East Texas you’re all right;
You are the best of all.

We’re gonna down those Bobcats
And then come home tonight,
With a Lion victory call.
Fight, Team! Fight! Fight! Fight!
East Texas Lions are marching on today,
Onward to victory!”

The reason for the choice of “Down Those Bobcats” was because the student body cheerleaders, which at the time were mainly Men, knew the win against Southwest Texas would make history, and by defeating those Bobcats, it did.

There have been many “firsts” in a program like ours. The first undefeated season was the next season in 1934 with an 8-0 record. The first postseason apperance and win was in 1952. The first national championship was in 1972. The first NCAA playoff apperance was in 1990. The first team to win an NCAA National Championship was in 2017.

However, as almost a century has passed, one can hear the ever present Northeast Texas Blackland Prairie wind humming across Hawkins Field at Memorial Stadium, and hearing the voices of hundreds, if not thousands of students and fans to the north at the old College Field yelling “Hail ET!” and celebrating their first Lone Star Conference Championship. Seeing JW Rollins roaming the sidelines with RA Hitt guiding the offense, and Melton Owen leading a determined defense to shut down any offense trying to score, all the while, the faint bell sound ringing to root on the “Dandy Lions of Old ET” leading them to win and “down those Bobcats, and then come home with a victory call.”

90 years ago this year.

Note: JW Rollins would coach for 1 more season, winning another title in 1934 and going 8-0 in the pursuit of the said title. He would resign at the end of only his third season, only to return to East Texas State under the administration of President James Gee in 1947 and serve in the athletic administration until 1963.

Six Lions were selected for the 1933 All-Lone Star Conference team;