Pineapple Bowl
1948
Hawaii 33
Redlands 32
At
the end of the 1947 season, it appeared that the Pineapple Bowl would
probably not happen. Offers had been made by bowl organizers to several
major programs to face the Hawaii Rainbows, but they had received three
rejections. The bowl stood on the verge of cancellation. The Pineapple
Bowl, which for a time in its history had been known as the Poi Bowl,
was no stranger to cancellation. The bowl had been conducted from 1936
through 1941, but with the attack at Pearl Harbor, had been cancelled
from 1942 through 1944. It resumed again in the form of a military bowl
game between US service teams in 1945. The Utah Utes had come to Hawaii
for the 1947 version.
In California, a local sportswriter in Redlands, Claude Anderson, noticed an AP story that stated there would be no Pineapple Bowl because it was too late to put the game together. Anderson called Redlands University president, George Armacost. Armacost and Redlands alumni living in Hawaii went to work and pushed bowl officials and the game was scheduled. It was a tremendous coup that thrust the Bulldogs into the national spotlight for at least one afternoon. It was a case of school administration and fans promoting their team to another level. The 1948 bowl season is still considered one of the best in college football history. Redlands would share the headlines with programs like Michigan, USC, Penn State and Georgia Tech
The Redlands Bulldogs had literally hung up their cleats and put the uniforms away at the end of the season, but were quickly called back to action for the school’s first post-season contest. Redlands was a small college program from Southern California that competed in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. Running out of a Y formation, they had won the SCIAC title for the third year in a row. Hawaii had posted an 8-5 record in 1947 under Coach Tom Kaulukukui. They had suffered lopsided losses to Michigan State and Utah. Most of their wins came against Hawaiian all-star and town teams. However, they had surprised Fresno State in the Aloha Bowl on Dec. 6, 27-13.
The flight to Hawaii for the Redlands team was aboard a DC-4 and the 3000 mile, 10 hour ordeal was long and exhausting. The national press and the betting public installed Hawaii as a 30 point favorite. The general public saw the match up as suicide for the little California school. A capacity crowd of 12,000 showed up to watch the expected rout, but were just happy that the event had taken place at all.
The
game became like a prize fight. Hawaii started by jumping out to a 13-0
lead early in the game, but Redlands, establishing that they were there
to play, came back with second and third period scores. In the fourth
quarter, the scene exploded with both teams scoring three touchdowns.
The last team to score would win. It was Hawaii. In the final moments of
the game, Rainbows’ Quarterback Sol Kaulukukui arched a pass the Charles
Bassette, but the ball slipped off his fingertips. Redlands’ Ted Runner
lunged for the ball, but deflected it into the hands of Ken Nakamura who
advanced it to the Redlands’ 45 yard line. Kaulukukui then completed
three passes in a row, the last one for a touchdown to tie it with :30
remaining in the game. The successful PAT gave Hawaii the win.
According to the 1948 edition of the Redlands’ La Letra yearbook, “the game proved to be a thriller with the lead see-sawing back and forth between the two teams… The close score belied the predictions that the Hawaiians would win by a top-heavy score.” The lead had changed hands five times in the fourth quarter. This game was dubbed by newspapers all over the country as “the most exciting of all football games on January 1, 1948.” Redlands had come to Hawaii for a chance at the limelight and national prominence. The Bulldogs did not disappoint.
Hawaii now competes in the WAC and is a perennial bowl team. Redlands competes at the Division III level. The team has won its conference 9 times in the last 16 years. As of the end of the 2006 season, the Bulldogs ranked second in overall winning percentage for all of California's colleges since 1990 with a 100-46 mark. The 1947 team was the first and remains the only team to participate in a postseason bowl game. For their efforts in the incredible 1947 season, the entire Bulldog team has been enshrined together in the University of Redlands Sports Hall of Fame.
An innovation to come from the Pineapple Bowl were individualized sideline markers
Attendance: 12,000
