CASHTON…1978-81

Gary Hanson graduated from UW-La Crosse un 1967 and applied as a physical education teacher and football coach at Cashton High School.  With no previous coaching experience, he got the job and has never left town, even after 55-years.  Hanson had a slow start but in 29-years as the coach at Cashton he preached like Vince Lombardi and earned his player’s respect.  He posted 27 Winning seasons out of 29 with his worst losing single season being 5-4 in 1983.  In the years 1978-82 his Eagles posted a spectacular 41-2 record. 

1978

In 1978 they went 8-1 and lost in the semi-finals to Spring Valley.  With a lot of returning starters coming back the Eagles went 11-1, losing in the state finals to a great Cambridge squad.  1978 brought a strong team to the WIAA playoffs.  Only playing an eight-game regular season schedule due the season opener against Westby being cancelled.  An unfortunate accident by a Westby player, their starting center, dying in an accidental hunting accident due to gunshot wounds was the reason for the cancellation.  The Eagles polled well enough for the WIAA to award them a spot in the Division 5 playoffs.  In the semi-finals eventual champion Spring Valley defeated Cashton 26-6.  Coach Hanson thought that the stingy Spring Valley defense was the key to the game as three sure touchdown receptions were stripped away Cardinal defenders.  Another great play was a goal-line stop of Eagle star back Kevin Kirking, throwing him for a loss on the two -yard line.  Going into the semi-final Cashton had only given up 29 points and Spring Valley had allowed 53.  Kirking had 809-yards on the ground in only six games as he was injured for two.  The Cardinals held him to 51-yards.  Several stars, besides Kirking were Fred Von Ruden, Dennis Weibel, Tom Bahr, Marvin Hurtz, Jim Schaub and Mike Geier on defense.  Back Ken Schuttemeier and end Mitch Hundt on defense.  The last names of Von Ruden and Weibel will show up often throughout the years.  One other note is Westby, also with an eight-game regular season, made the playoffs and went on to win the Division 4 title.

1979

The 1979 team went undefeated and even played a 10th regular season game before they lost in the state final game to a very good Cambridge team.  After converting four Clear Lake turnovers in the semi-final 40-7 win into touchdowns the Eagles were primed for the championship showdown.  Still in those days only four teams from each division qualified for the playoffs.  Playing Cambridge on neutral turf in Sun Prairie it was a cold (20-degrees) but sunny Saturday.  Plagued by poor field position for most of the game, Cashton held a slim 7-3 lead with 1-minute to go.  A 24-yard pass to the one-yard line with next to no time left on the clock set up the winning touchdown run for Cambridge and the Bluejays beat the Eagles 10-7.  Five turnovers stymied the Cashton squad.  Kevin Kirkling set a school single season rushing record with 1,565 yards and earned a spot on the Wisconsin State Journal’s All-Area team.

The All-Scenic Conference squad was headed, again, by many Cashton players. 

Above I mentioned the last names of Von Ruden and Weibel.  Those last names showed up again in 1979.

Fred (A senior) and Dan (A junior) Von Ruden were brothers.  Rick (His name is mis-spelled in the Wisconsin State Journal story on the All-Conference team) was not related to the other two Von Ruden’s.

1980

In 1980 Brookwood, the smallest team in the Scenic Bluffs Conference was moved by the WIAA to another conference and because of how well Cashton had performed in the past they couldn’t get a non-conference opponent to fill their open game so they played only eight games.  As I wrote last time in the Belleville blog…BELLEVILLE 1980…NEAR PERFECTION,  the WIAA used a formula to pick most of the playoff teams that was controversial.  The 1980 Cashton team went undefeated, untied and unscored upon going 8-0. Their opponents poor season records hurt them in the WIAA choosing them to make the playoffs.  There was a lot of criticism in the press from around the southern and western areas of the state over the fact that Cashton (As well as Belleville) were not in the expanded playoffs.

Statistically, the Eagles were supremely dominate.  Another team was Belleville, an undefeated team that allowed only three points in 1980, was also denied a chance to compete under similar circumstances.  If I produced statistical records for the other eight teams that were awarded playoff berths, none could compare with Cashton or Belleville defensively and only a few could match Cashton’s offensive prowess.

The Eagles dominated the season ending player honors as out of the 24-players named to the All-Scenic Bluffs squad, 18 of those spots had a Cashton players named.

That’s 11 seniors and a total of six players named on both sides of the ball.  Notice the last name Von Ruden.  Rick and Dan Von Ruden earned all-conference honors as juniors in 1979.  In 1980, with 10 of the 12-players named to the first team defense Dan Von Ruden could only earn honorable mention.  Steve Koenen ran for 1,325 yards, averaging 7.2 yards a carry, in only eight games.

Another note here is that besides the 2019 Stratford team the 1980 Cashton squads were the last two undefeated, untied and unscored upon teams in a regular season (Before entering the playoffs).

1981

1981 arrived and the boys were ready to play.  Having lost 11 starters from the defense (10 first team All-Scenic Bluffs mentions plus Dan Van Ruden, Coach Hanson had to reload.  Plenty of his new starters saw considerable game time in 1980 and they were up to the task.  Plus, a key transfer showed up to direct the offense.  It must have been strange for new starting quarterback Eric Schwarz to line up in the semi-finals against his former teammates from Black Hawk.  The family moved from Black Hawk to the Cashton area during the summer and Eric stepped right in earning All-Conference and All-Area honors.

Eric Schwarz ran for 644 yards, passed for 578 and intercepted 7 passes.  In the state title game, he tossed for three scores, all to end Mile Hauser.  A leader on defense at the linebacker spot as well as a highly thought of receiver, Hauser caught only 16 passes in 1981 but gained 533-yards and scored seven times.  Bruce Hemmersbach was the big man in the running game as he carried 244 times for 1,356 yards, scoring 17 touchdowns and kicking 38 extra points plus three field goals for a total of 143 points.

Check out the seasonal stats.  The team went undefeated and untied but gave up one field goal while shutting out 10 opponents.  Unable to get any offense moving, Stratford had to settle for a 35-yard field goal.

Defensive back Chris Torkelson contributed 10 interceptions on the year.  Hauser earned first team all-State as an end.  Todd Von Ruden (OG), Todd Schreiner (LB) and Hemmersbach (RB) all earned second team all-State.

1982

The season was good but not up to recent standards with the Eagles going 7-2 and finishing in second place in the Scenic Bluffs.  Undefeated (In the regular season) was DeSoto, a team that was in and out of the Scenic over the years turned out to be the conference champs. Rick Von Ruden, star of the 1982 team had three brothers, Todd and Randy (Already mentioned) and Bruce who was a senior star on the 1984 team.

Coach Hanson had several other good teams moving forward, especially the 11-1 1994 squad that fell to Hilbert 26-14 in the semi-finals.  The next week Hilbert took the title.  Hanson decided after the 1995 season to retire from coaching.  He was only 51-years old and wanted to spend more time with the family.  He was elected that year to the WFCA Hall of Fame.  I talked to Don recently and it was an enjoyable discussion.  He left a lasting legacy on the Cashton football as well as the wrestling program he started in 1970.  Don guided that sport for 13-years, posting a 133-45-5 record.

My thanks go out to Scott Wall who put me in touch with Coach Hanson.

BELLEVILLE 1980…NEAR PERFECTION

When I wrote my last blog…STRATFORD…1986 vs. 2019…A COMPARISON I mentioned that I had problems finding stats on 1980-81 Cashton.  I wanted to compare Cashton with the 1986 Stratford team.  Since I couldn’t find the Cashton stats I chose to focus on “the other” undefeated team, Belleville.  This was a school that had given up only seven points on their 9-0 season and yet they also failed, like Cashton, to make the playoffs.   Here’s the lowdown:

THE STATELINE CONFERENCE:

Belleville was part of the Stateline Conference.  Not a real good name for this extinct collection of schools as few are actually close to the Wisconsin/Illinois border.  Belleville played 11-player football until 1930 then started with 6-plaqyer in 1941 until 1953. A six-team League, the Stateline switched to 8-player until 1962. Beginning in 1963 they went back to 11-player. In 1980 the members were Madison Holy Name (Yes, besides Edgewood there was a second Catholic high school in the area), Barneveld, Argyle, Pecatonica, New Glarus, Black Hawk (South Wayne, WI), Juda as well as Belleville.  This was all before the Black Hawk/ Warren (IL) co-op began, the Pecatonica/Argyle co-op, and the Brodhead/Juda co-op all began.  Most schools weren’t within 20-miles of the state line.

THE SCHEDULE AND TEAM STATS:

After posting a 7-2 record in 1979, finishing second in the Stateline, Belleville was picked by opponent coaches to win the conference title in 1980.  The Previous season they had held their opponents to 46 points while scoring 217.  They were returning eight offensive and seven defensive starters, several of whom played both ways. In their final two1979 game's they posted shutouts against Holy Name (40-0) and Barneveld (21-0). Belleville had two other shutouts earlier in 1979. The team would post another shutout in the 1981 season opener to give them 11 shutouts in 12-games.

This past June, assistant coach Tanner Wallom sent me a file on Belleville football history. While a lot of the early stats in Tanner's file are incomplete it is a fine project giving the program a great perspective. I used some of Tanner's info along with that of what I found in the Madison State Journal newspaper to record the team's individual game totals. As seen above the offense wasn’t overpowering but effective enough to win while the defense was outstanding. 

Belleville was not a large village with 1,302 residents.  The members of its conference were generally populated with between 900-1,400 people.  Their two non-conference opponents, Belmont and Verona, were quite different in size.  The Cashton Wildcats played tough against tiny Belmont (About 750 residents) and barely got past Verona, a then village of about 3,300 people. 

In game #2, Verona scored early on a 4-yard run in the first quarter.  The extra point was kicked and the Verona Wildcats led 7-0.  Stopped in the middle of the second, deep in their own territory, Verona punted, and Ron Gehin of Belleville took the ball to the house, 40-yards.  A few minutes later Ken Bartelt, after a Verona fumble, scored a second Belleville touchdown on a 20-yard run.  Bartelt kicked the extra point.  The score was 13-7.  That’s how the game ended, and the only points Belleville would give up in 1980.  Eight shutouts on the great season stood out and others took notice.

Seven players made the all-State Line team, two on both sides of the ball.  A basic running attack, good enough to eat up some of the clock, they did occasionally throw the ball.  Quarterback Brad Flannigan (6’3, 175) was 118-51-3-744 passing.  He threw only two touchdowns and one extra point conversion.  His completions set up a number of rushing scores and Finnigan was the team’s leading scorer, scoring 12 touchdowns.  Others making the all-conference squad were OT/DL Van Rear, 5’11, 170, DL Paul O’Connor, 5’11, 165, LB Ron Gehin, 5’10 and DB, Tim Stadelmann, 6’0,160.  Running back Ken Bartell, 5’9,155 scored five touchdowns and kicked 15 extra points.  Besides Van Rear, offensive guard/defensive lineman Robin Jaggi, 6’1, 175 was the other player to earn honors on both sides of the ball.  Jaggi earned a spot on the State Journal All-Area team.

Wisconsin State Journal, November 18, 1980, All-Area Team

THE WIAA PLAYOFFS...1980

1980 was again a sort of strange year for the WIAA in choosing what teams should be in the playoffs.  In D-1 it was clear that undefeated Superior, Racine Case, Kenosha Tremper and Wisconsin Rapids should be the four teams to represent the “big” schools.  Besides being the only four teams in D-1 they had the only opponents’ composite records over .500.  Tremper would win their second consecutive state title.  In the final D-2 poll Pulaski, Grafton, Whitewater, Sussex Hamilton and Oregon were ranked in that order.  However, Sussex had a lower opponent composite record than Oregon yet was rated higher because they were undefeated while Oregon’s opponents had a higher composite despite that school having lost a game.  The WIAA chose Oregon over Sussex to make the playoffs.  Oregon lost in the semi-finals to eventual champion Whitewater.

The next two divisions were pretty cut and dry as in D-3 the top four teams with winning opponents composite schedule made the cut…Little Chute, Two Rivers, Rice Lake and Edgerton.  Actually, Edgerton’s opponents composite was a losing one as was #5 Medford but just a hair better, so they made they got in, only to lose in OT to Rice Lake in the semis.  In D-4 there was another quirk in the polls.  Mosinee, DeForest, Coleman and Mayville were picked. #2 ranked DeForest had a losing opponent composite and would win in the semis but fall in the title game.  Mosinee, DeForest and Coleman were all undefeated going into the playoffs while Mayville, with a 8-1 record edged out five other one-loss teams by having a winning composite record.

Now we come to Division 5.  The final poll, dated October 23, 1980, in the Wisconsin State Journal shows:

What’s Missing? #17 Belleville with an 8-0 record and a .426 composite. #1 Augusta, the eventual state champion, had a .585 composite while #8 Shell Lake had a .442.  Somehow Belleville got left off the poll.  The WIAA decided, with so many (11) undefeated potential conference champions going into the final regular season weekend to expand the eight teams. Poynette beat Randolph in the season’s final game to win the conference title.  As listed above, Augusta, Cornell, Prescott, Cassville, Cambridge (The 1979 champion), Shiocton, Shell Lake and Poynette were awarded spots in the playoffs.  Shell Lake would be the 1980 champion.  #11 Black Hawk lost the conference title in the State Line final, 20-0 to Belleville.  If the WIAA posted an updated season final ranking I would imagine that Belleville wouldn’t have been overlooked.  They might not have made the playoffs but maybe the team would have been given some additional consideration.  Near-perfection might have helped.  This wasn’t the end a good offense/great defensive team deserved.  

Because of so many D-5 teams going undefeated the WIAA expanded in all divisions in 1981 to eight teams as well as adding a sixth division.  The playoffs went from 16 squads and four divisions in 1976 and 1977.  In 1978 it added a fifth division and 20-teams.   Further expansion in the number of eligible teams and a seventh division would come in later years.

THE STATS:

Knowing that the Wisconsin State Journal covered high schools around the Madison area as well the smaller schools in the southwestern part of the state I searched and found what I needed.  I knew that in the late 1960’s through the early 2000’s the newspaper covered game reports for a number of teams far and wide.  From as far northeast as North Fond du Lac, north to Tomah, northwest to Onalaska, southeast to Burlington and all of southwest of Madison.  In the end I had no idea that the paper covered 143 schools and 17 conferences in all.  I found that not only the Belleville game stats but Cashton as well.  That was a happy surprise as I will cover the Cashton 1980-81 teams in more depth next time.  Hopefully my readers like the season stats charts.  They make good comparisons. 

Special thanks to Tanner Wallom for some substantial details on Belleville's school's history.

STRATFORD…1986 vs. 2019…A COMPARISON

Attempting to compare one team from another, especially teams from different decades is subjective.  It is easier to compare this team from last seasons or even the team from 10 years ago.  It is sort of like asking a parent which of their kids they like best.  Each team or child has different things that you like better than others.  It often takes a lot of thought to come up with an answer as to which team was better.

 As I pointed out in my previous story about Stratford…SUCCESS BREDS SUCCES AT STRATFORD coach Tom Knauf spent 12-seasons at Stratford but he night very well considered his 1986 state championship team to have been his best.  His championship squad posted 10-shutouts and allowed only 13 points.  Other than a team going unscored upon the 1986 Stratford has the second-place spot in the state record book as a team that allowed the fewest points in a 10-game or more season.  Cashton in 1981 allowed only three points in a 12-game schedule.  While I have some player stats in my book that featured the 1980-81 Cashton as one of The Great Teams, I went back and attempted to do a statistical comparison.  Unfortunately, there are scant individual game team totals or full team stats in any of the newspaper end of season recaps.  Cashton went 8-0 in 1980 but failed to make the WIAA playoffs as did Belleville who went 9-0 and allowed only three points.  Why didn’t they qualify?   Because at that time there were only four spots for the D-5 playoffs and the WIAA picked what was thought were the best teams.

The 1980 team went undefeated, untied and unscored upon, the last Wisconsin school to do so.  With only one returning defensive starter, linebacker Mike Houser, little was expected in 1981 but coach Gary Hanson molded his 1981 defense and they did go 12-0 with five shutouts to start the season before…Stratford…yes, Stratford, scored on the Eagles.  Leading 10-0 John Ponczoch kicked a 35-yard field goal for the Tigers.  Two Stratford fumbles were converted into touchdowns and the Eagles won 24-3.   Cashton would shutout their remaining six opponents and beat Poynette 32-0 in the state championship.

It might have been best to compare the 1981 Cashton team to the 1986 Stratford team.  Afterall, they played in years closer to each other, but scores don’t tell the entire story.  I just couldn’t find enough game stats to satisfy my needs. 

 1986 rolled around and coach Tom Knauf and Stratford was coming off a 3-6 1985 year.  With 16 returning lettermen but with heavy losses to his offensive and defensive lines the fellow Marawood Conference coaches picked the Tigers to take the title.  Still, those returning had talent.  Mike Breit was a 6-3, 208 end and a good blocker.  Gary Zuelke was a 5-11, 180 fullback who had finished fourth in the conference with 514 yards.  Seniors Todd Kolbeck, 5-8,150, and Jody Schwabe, 5-10,170 were vying for then starting quarterback spot.  Whoever lost that starting spot would end up as a halfback.  Knauf promised that his team would pass more often as they gained only about 600-yards through the air in 1985.  The team wasn’t blessed with a lot of size although the one returning tackle, Dan Schmidt was 6-2, 250 and lineman Scott Junemann at 6-2, 205, along with Breit were the big guys.  What made the team preseason favorites was the fact that there were nine returning starters who held the previous season opponents to 155 yards per game.  The linebacking crew was strong with Schwabe, Jeff Kohlbeck, 5-8, 155, Ally Schmitt, 5-11, 190, and Dan Drexler, 5-7, 165.  Todd Kohlbeck was also a deep back along with Jeff Downey, 5-11, 160 and Dennis Daul, 5-9, 156.  Lots of defensive talent.

Having been a power running team in the past, even with Zuelke returning, the ground game was good but not overpowering in 1986.  They needed the pass to help score and a tough defense to win. Check out the stat sheet below. 

In game #2 against Rosholt the Tigers overcame 95-yards in penalties and fumbled five times, losing two.  One fumble set up a 16-yard touchdown run while the team allowed only 58 yards rushing.  In game #3 longtime rival Edgar Took Stratford to the brink of a disaster.  The game was much closer than the final 20-7 score indicated.  Look at the stats for each team to compare their efforts.  Jeff Kohlbeck opened the scoring in the second quarter and a 6-0 lead.  The Wildcats scored in the fourth period on a 26-yard pass and a conversion kick.  Edgar up 7-6. The Tigers buckled down and after exchanging punts and starting on their own 35-yard line they drove to the Wildcats 12.  Mike Breit hauled in touchdown pass from Jody Schwabe to take the lead.  In their drive to take the lead Schwabe was 3-4 passing with Breit catching all three completions.  Stratford kicked off and on first down, as they were setting to throw a pass the ball was fumbled, and junior defensive end Greg Schoenfuss (5-9, 175) picked it up and rambled 28 -yards for the final score with 18-seconds left and that sealed the win.

The next seven games were much easier.  After the Edgar game Coach Knauf made sure that his defense only thought about shutouts. The pass defense was tight for the most part all season hauling in 20 interceptions.  D-back Dennis Daul led the team with five picks.

In the semi-finals against Crivitz the Tigers could only muster a first quarter touchdown and an extra point kick.  Darrel Schraeder, the usually dependable kicker missed a 20-yard field goal that was blown off course by the winds at Ashwaubenon, all in the shadow of Lambeau Field. The Stratford ground game made several attempts to get across the goal line but their drives all stalled.

In the title game Jody Schwabe was 6-17-2-152-1 passing.  His second quarter 70-yard pass play connecting with Dennis Daul put Stratford up 6-0.  He would score on a 1-yard run in the fourth period in the 13-0 win. DeSoto during the 1977-85 timeframe won three titles and was runner up twice in championship games. In fact, in 1985 they lost to Manawa 14-6 in the title game.  1986 was truly a magical year for the Tigers:

In 2018 the Stratford Tigers posted an 11-3 record, falling in the state D-5 finals to Bob Hyland’s St. Mary’s Springs, 20-17.  The school has a proud history of being in the hunt for the gold trophy.  Jason Tubbs had succeeded Cal Tackes, who posted a career 236-48 record including a state record six-consecutive state titles.  Cal “retired” in 2012 and turned the head coaching reins over to Tubbs who has continued the Tiger tradition of winning.  I wrote “retired” as Cal still helps out with the program, but Jason is his own man in directing the players.  2018 set up the returning players for the next season, 2019, on a mission to prove they had been denied their due. 

 So, in 2019 Jason Tubbs built what many have seen as maybe the best overall defensive team the state had seen in years.  Maybe, to my thinking, the best ever.  Coach Tubbs challenged his team to get better each week and to leave no doubt in the player’s minds that they were the best.  Because stats have entered our lives, we have some proof as tom how good this team was.  Thanks to baseball, yes, baseball, stats have been a way to compare players and teams, even from different eras. Other sports, like football got on the bandwagon and began to report stats on a regular basis after World War II.

However, to compare 1986 Stratford to 2019 Stratford might not be fair when looking at the offensive numbers. A 33-year difference is too much of a spread of time for comparison as again, offenses were much different.  But defense is defense and how you stop your opponent really doesn’t change much.  You set your defense to match up with your opponent’s offensive strengths.   In 2019 Stratford set the record for 12-consecutive shutouts in a season.  In the state record book four other schools have posted 11-shutouts over the course of a 12-14 game season. Four have posted 10 shutouts in a season but none have equaled the Tigers 12-consecutive game in a season record.  More about some of these other teams will be discussed in the future but now, let’s stay with Stratford.

Those returning got to work right away after the title game doing the weights more often and harder.  The players listened to former graduates who were now playing college ball and learned additional techniques to improve their game.  It had been a tradition at the school that the older players helped the younger ones.  Younger boys wanting to emulate their older brothers. Like a lot of successful programs, they took on a more “blue collar attitude” to drive for success.

Success does breed success.  Going back to 1993 the school has made it to at least the first round of the state playoffs each season.  That is something Coach Tubbs could impress on his team.  The players took the loss to St. Mary’s hard and they looked for revenge each time they took the field.  It helped that the team had size as well as speed.  Ben Barten was a 6-foot-6, 270-pound tackle.  Others on offense were Easton Kilty who stood 6-5, 283, Dawson Moen (6-1, 253), Jaykob Mikelson (6-2, 253), Trevor Denee who was the “small guy” at 5-11, 194 as well as tight end Vaughn Breit who went 6-5, 215.  Middle linebacker Justin Schoenherr posted 115 tackles and 12 tackles for loss.  Outside linebacker Trevor Denee had 101 tackles with 16 tackles for loss.  Inside linebacker Devin Denee posted 66 tackles and 8 for loss, strong safety Justin Radke had 60 tackles and 6 were for losses and Ben Barten played defensive tackle making 60 tackles with 13 for losses.  You may think that the first team defense played most of each game but that’s not true.  Coach Tubbs substituted liberally having 46 players make at least one tackle on the season.  The JV team was often on the field in the fourth quarter.  Like the varsity starters, the backups and those from the JV had just as much pride in holding their opponents scoreless.

 Expected to again bid for the Marawood Conference title, the shutout streak took a few around the state by surprise.  Even though the 2018 squad had posted three shutouts they had allowed 160 points that season. The Tigers had gained 5,465 yards and allowed 1,915 yards in 14 games, what the 2019 team was more remarkable.

As you can see, during the first 12 games, Stratford averaged over 52-points per game.  Stratford played some tough teams during the regular season blowing out Spencer/Columbus (Marshfield) Catholic, Antigo (A school with more than double the number of students as the Tigers), and Auburndale which also made the playoffs.  Edgar, always a tough conference opponent gave Stratford a scare in week eight. The Tigers posted a 12-2 record losing to Black Hawk/Warren (IL) in the D-7 championship. In the playoffs Stratford again faced Spencer/Columbus Catholic and beat them by more the second time, 41-0 vs. 51-0.

They had beaten 12-straight opponents and not allowed a score until they faced Amherst.  The Falcons proved to be no pushover.  After all the school had won D-5 titles in 2015, 2016 and 2017 and they came into the game undefeated.  Stratford scored first and had a 6-0 lead at halftime.  A 37-yard touchdown pass with 6:28 remaining in the third quarter.  Amherst converted the extra point kick and for the first time the Tigers were behind.   The Tigers scored two more times in the second half and pulled out the win but the shutout streak was over.  The schools win streak of 13 games ended the next weekend when Springs won.  In the title game the Tigers jumped out to a 13-0 lead in the first quarter.  They allowed a touchdown in the second quarter and went into the halftime on top 13-7.  The third quarter was scoreless, but the defense was unable to stop Lake Country Lutheran, and they fell 20-13.  It was a heartbreaking end to a great season.

When matching up the two Stratford teams it is easy to see the 2019 version statistically was better both on offense and defense

As I looked things over, the 2019 Stratford team was the best overall defensive team by far.  The school can be proud, even though they were disappointed in not taking title.  But as I have written, success breeds success as Coach Tubbs garnered the 2022 and 2023 D-6 titles and as I write this, they are undefeated and looking for another trophy.