Home-field advantage

In the fall of 1921, the Eau Claire State Normal School football team had but one goal for the season: to beat the River Falls State Normal School in the teams’ matchup that year. These photographs, featured in the 1922 edition of the Periscope, the university’s yearbook for many years, are of the game in which Eau Claire beat River Falls 21-13. The gridiron at the time was located in Driving Park, in the 400 block of Roosevelt Avenue. A few years later, the Normal School got its own athletic field behind Old Main (what is now Schofield Hall). Photos, from top: Eau Claire’s first touchdown against River Falls; team captain Arthur Olson breaks through for 20 yards; the pep group in action.