This Week in High School Sports History: Henry Kelting’s 27 Extra Points Remain a High School Football Record

High school sports history is filled with remarkable moments that have mostly disappeared from the larger story of American sports. This Week in High School History looks back at significant, unusual, and sometimes forgotten events in high school athletics.

For the Week of Oct. 12-18:

Henry Kelting converted 27 of 29 extra-point attempts when Moline (Ill.) routed Galva (Ill.), 172-0, in 1902. More than 120 years later, his national record for successful conversion kicks in a high school football game still stands – and seems virtually untouchable.

We’re taking a little liberty with this week’s featured performance, however. The game actually took place Oct. 11, though some record books list it as Oct. 12, the day the game story first appeared in newspapers. Moline’s exploits made the rounds across Illinois, even earning the headline “Champion Score at Football” in the Chicago Daily Times.

The Galva Weekly News offered one of the more honest assessments of the lopsided affair: “Galva wasn’t in it for a minute.”

Even with shortened quarters, Moline led 94-0 at halftime. In the second half, Moline "let up," according to the Galva Weekly News, adding only 78 more points to finish the 172-0 victory.

To appreciate Kelting’s achievement, it helps to understand the scoring rules of 1902. Touchdowns and field goals were worth five points, safeties were worth two, and successful point-after attempts were worth one – the same as today.

A modern team would need to score 27 touchdowns and convert all 27 extra points to reach 189 points, the total necessary to match Kelting’s successful kicks. No high school team has reached that many points in a game since Haven (Kan.) set the national record against Sylvia (Kan.) in a 256-0 contest in 1927.

Interestingly, Kelting does not hold the national record for the most points scored on conversions in a game. That distinction belongs to Carl Squire of University School (Ohio), who kicked 14 conversions in an 1894 game. At the time, successful tries after touchdowns were worth two points, giving Squire 28 points on conversions alone — a national standard that also remains intact.

Kelting’s performance was well documented in contemporary game reports. He was Moline’s starting fullback and scored four touchdowns of his own, worth another 20 points under the rules of the day. His 27 successful kicks and four touchdowns gave him 47 points.

Moline’s 172-point outburst also established a national record for the most points scored by a team in a game. That mark stood until 1912, long before running clocks and modern expectations of sportsmanship became part of the game.

A scoring summary listed 29 touchdowns by nine Moline players. Left halfback D. Arrell and end Hedlin led the way with six touchdowns apiece.

The game might have faded into obscurity had Moline not produced another lopsided victory in 1913, routing Galesburg (Ill.), 126-7. The result prompted the Moline Dispatch to revisit the 1902 game, with particular attention to Kelting’s kicking performance.

According to the account, Kelting made his first 13 attempts. His 14th kick hit the crossbar, and his 15th struck a goalpost. He then converted his next 14 attempts in a row.

Kelting, by then the owner of a local grocery store, was a spectator at the 1913 game, the Dispatch reported.

His achievement eventually reached a national audience through a Ripley’s Believe It or Not! cartoon in 1929. There was just one problem: The cartoon misidentified him as Harry Keltin rather than Henry Kelting.

Henry Kelting Ripley cartoon — In 1929, this Ripley's Believe It or Not! cartoon sparked renewed interest in Henry Kelting's 27 extra-point kicks for Moline in 1902, even though it misidentified his name as Harry C. Keltin. | Access Newspaper Archives

By the 1930s, Kelting had relocated to California, but he remained connected to his hometown’s football history. He wrote a letter about the 1902 game that was published in Moline, recalling a detail that had little to do with the record books.

“I well remember the pair of shoes I was wearing that day,” Kelting wrote. “They were so badly torn, it was hard to keep them on my feet. One of the players had just received a new pair, but would not trade with me before the game, even though I pleaded with him to do so.”

Kelting’s football exploits followed him for the rest of his life. Even his brief, four-paragraph obituary in 1950 mentioned his high school football stardom — a reminder that one extraordinary afternoon in 1902 had secured his place in the game’s history.

Also This Week in History

Oct. 14

2011 – Robert Rhodes of Fort Worth Southwest (Texas) had a national record-tying eight touchdown catches in a football win over Fort Worth Arlington Heights (Texas). Rhodes later played NCAA Division I football for Bowling Green.

Oct. 16

1942 - Larry Bennett of Mogadore (Ohio) hauled in a national football record: 32 catches in a game against Hudson (Ohio). Ed Capri was the quarterback, and all 32 of his completions went to Bennett for a total of 335 yards.

This Week in High School History is compiled by Sheldon Shealer, a sports historian and lecturer at Mount St. Mary’s University, whose research focuses on the history and development of American high school football. Shealer compiles entries from newspaper accounts, state and school records, historical publications, archival collections, and other documented sources. Special thanks to the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS), whose records help preserve high school sports history.

Special thanks to Kevin Askeland for research help in Henry Kelting's kicking records.

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