Carroll College Athletics

Butte High product Bob Murphy, a rugged 175-pounder, averaged nearly 60 minutes a game for three seasons at the Hilltop. “Spud” played both ways at fullback and linebacker, while handing most of the kicking, punting and kick returning. In the middle of the Great Depression, the Saints returned to the gridiron after a 4-year hiatus in the fall of 1937. As a freshman, Murphy led the team in rushing and passing that season, highlighted by a 1-yard touchdown plunge to achieve a tie with Billings Poly Tech, and a 70-yard TD run vs. the Anaconda Anodes.

The next year, he paced the club in rushing, pass receiving  and scoring, and in 1939 he was CC’s rushing and scoring leader. When the Saints posted their first win in six years, 13-0 over Billings Poly, Murphy tallied the second TD with an 18-yard scoring pass and also booted the extra point. In the win over Dillon’s Normal, he rushed for 120 yards and a 1-yard touchdown.