GREAT SUPERIOR TEAMS…PART 7

1958 SUPERIOR CENTRAL

COVERING SOME GREAT HIGH SCHOOL TEAMS FROM 1930 THROUGH THE MID-1960’S ON SEVERAL CITY OF SUPERIOR FOOTBALL TEAMS

The win streak continued in 1958 as the Vikings were accorded the #1 ranking by the UPI at the end of the season. 

Final UPI poll, Nov. 8, 1958 Superior Evening Telegram

Some of the defensive starters from 1957 graduated and a nearly new offensive backfield was introduced to the fans and they delivered.  1957’s star tackle/linebacker Don Kruger was injured early and seldom was healthy enough to play.  Last year’s junior reserves were now the stars of a very good offense. The Vikings were led by two fleet footed halfbacks, Dan Ven Bibber and three-year starter Gene Johnson along with former backup quarterback, junior Chuck Crisp. 

Johnson started in 1956 as a sophomore and scored five touchdowns and then crossed the goal eight times as a junior in 1957.  Look at his 1958 totals: 94 carries for 968 yards for a 10.3 average while scoring eight times and picking up an extra point.  Those totals raised a lot of eyebrows but the stats by Van Bibber were even more impressive. 

Dan carried the ball only 81 times but gained 1,028 yards for a fabulous 12.7 average and 17 scores.  Van Bibber was known for his long scores…32, 68, 34, 64 runs, interception returns of 28 and 65, and receptions of 88, 60 and 37 yards.  He would earn first team All-State on the AP team and second team issued by the UPI.  Scholastic Coach Magazine named him to the national honorable mention list.

Central didn’t throw often but Crisp was effective directing the offense and effectively tossing for 300-yards on 29-55-2 with nine touchdown passes.  They used a split-T offense to power through their opposition.  All total the team averaged 373 yards per game on the ground and Crisp gained all the team’s yards in the air.

The first five games were easy wins but then the Vikings played three close games.  Against Duluth Central the game was tied up late in the game.  The 4-3-1 (At seasons end) Trojans played tough with good defense and a wide- open passing attack.  The game was tied 13-13 with 10-seconds left in the game. 

Now a side story before the telling of the game’s final moments.  Kicker Karl Kunz, normally an offensive/defensive tackle, one of eight two-way players, was called upon to kick his only field goal of his career.  Kunz, who had come to Superior as a junior from Germany, had never played American football before 1957.  Yet, he learned the game quickly and as a junior started both ways for the team.  The 6’2, 222 two-way tackle earned first team All-State by the UPI and although he only earned honorable mention on the AP team, he still earned All-America mention.

Back to the game:  Having kicked one extra point earlier (The second attempt was foiled by a bad snap) Kunz kicked a 27-yard field goal and Superior Central had the lead, 16-13 with 10 seconds to go.  But their opponent tried one more pass after the kickoff.  Having completed several passes earlier the Trojans were shooting for a come behind “Hail Mary”.  Van Biebber picked off the ball and raced 65-yards for the final score, his second touchdown of the game, to seal the victory as time expired.  It was the Vikings 16^th consecutive win.

Game seven was even closer against Duluth East, a team that ended the year with a 4-4-0 record and a team that liked to throw the ball.  All total, the Greyhounds threw 25 passes and completed 14, exploiting the Viking pass defense.  For the most part they were short throws and East turned in 168 yards and two touchdowns through the air.  It was an afternoon game played at Duluth’s Ordean Field before 1,000+ fans.  The Vikings scored early on a 48-yard touchdown pass by Crisp and an important extra point kicked by Kunz.  East scored by way of the pass but failed to score the conversion.  In the second period Van Bibber scored on a 17-yard run for the  lead.  The game went back and forth from then on with no scoring until East was able to score late in the fourth quarter, again on a pass.  And again, they failed to convert the extra point.  Van Bibber fumbled on the Duluth nine which was picked up and returned to the Superior 29.  But, three passes failed and Central escaped with a 13-12 win.  The offense did pick up 16 first downs to their opponents 11 but fumbles and penalties held them back. But a win is a win and the streak was up to 17 games.

The final game was another exciting one as Central faced always tough International Falls.  The Broncos were rated #6 in the state and was undefeated as they faced the Vikings who retained their #1 status in spite of recent close wins.  Almost 6,000 fans jammed their way into Superior Memorial Field to see a classic matchup between two great teams.  In the last four minutes the lead changed three times with Van Bibber, Kunz and Johnson being the big heroes of the game.  Falls dominated the first half as they took a 6-0 lead.  Fullback Ron Johnsted returned a kickoff from deep in Viking territory to start the second half, setting up Superiors first score.  Van Bibber scored from the seven-yard line and then Kunz, along with John Springer, tackled the Falls quarterback for a safety.  Superior was now up 15-6.  With four and a half minutes left Falls scored from 2-yards out after a 10-play drive but even with the extra point, Central led 15-14.  With the fans screaming backup quarterback Jim Bartkowski tossed a pass to QB starter Bob Bateman who took it 72-yards for the lead.  The Broncos were now up 20-15.  Only 1:23 remained on the clock. With the ball on the Superior 42, Crisp tossed the ball to Van Bibber who made it to the International 37. Then Van Bibber hauled in a 37-yard reception, fought his way through a number of tacklers and raced down the sideline for the score with 49-seconds left in the game. Kunz kicked his second extra point to help win the game A last moment interception by Van Bibber iced the 22-20 win.

It had been a rough end of the season but Superior Central now had an 18-game win streak and a state title.  The streak would continue into 1959 with Chuck Crisp at quarterback.  Crisp is mentioned in the papers in 1956-59, starting in his final two seasons.  He appears to be the only Central player that I found that played four seasons.

 1960 Echo Yearbook

The Vikings would win their opener against St. Cloud Cathedral,14-12   The second game was a loss to Duluth Cathedral, 26-18 and the streak ended. 1959 would be a letdown for Crowley as the team finished 4-3-1.  The coach was able to turn things around after losing the next two games after the streak ended by winning games four and five, then tying Duluth Central 32-32 to win the final two games.

Next time 1964 Superior East and Central…what might   have been.

GREAT SUPERIOR TEAMS…PART 6

RETURNING, BACK TO THE SUPERIOR STORY

1957 SUPERIOR CENTRAL

COVERING SOME GREAT HIGH SCHOOL TEAMS FROM 1930 THROUGH THE MID-1960’S ON SEVERAL CITY OF SUPERIOR FOOTBALL TEAMS

If opponents of Superior Central football thought that there would begin a period of lean times with a new head coach in 1951, they were wrong.  Harry Conley retired from coaching sand continued on as the school’s athletic director.  His assistant, Marv Crowley replaced him.  The talent cupboard wasn’t left empty and Coach Crowley used his players to near top form.  The Vikings posted a 6-3-0 record that first season.  Even better things were to come soon on the gridiron for Central.  After several good seasons 1952-55 the ball really began to move, figuratively, as Crowley used a powerful running attack.

Prelude to 1957 

That type of offensive attack was modified a bit in 1956 as quarterback Lyle Skandel gained nearly 550 yards passing (Eight touchdown passes, 61.0 completion percentage) and 575 yards rushing (A team leading 11 touchdowns and five extra points for 71 total points) in leading Superior Central to a 7-1-0 record.  Lyle earned All-State and Honorable Mention All-America.

Superior won their first five games and then met long-time foe, Duluth Central.  The Trojans were also undefeated and the game did not go well for the Vikings as they fell 27-13.  Duluth Central would end the season undefeated, 8-0-0, scoring 234 points and was acclaimed the top Minnesota team in the north.  It was the Trojans first undefeated season since 1931.  The following week Superior Central began a 19-game win streak with a 34-13 win over Duluth East.  The Vikings loss helped Duluth Central reign as the top team in northern Minnesota.  By beating International Falls, the other contender for the top spot in the north, 30-20, Superior paved the way for Trojan honors.  Falls had been considered the team above Duluth Central but the defeat to Superior dropped them to an 8-1-0 record.  International Falls had won the Iron Ridge Conference title four consecutive years and only losing two other times in that span.

1957

With a lot of returners for the 1957 season, Marve Crowley’s team was again expected to dominate.  They did, posting an 8-0-0 undefeated season, their first since 1932.  Most of the returners were on the defense as the squad scored 210 points but allowed only 25 as they posted four shutouts.  Reports varied but at least 20 passes were intercepted by the defense.  They also beat Duluth Central 20-0 in a grudge match.  Superior East, the only Wisconsin foe, was downed 33-7.  The Vikings may have averaged 26-points a game, but it was the defense that won games.

Senior quarterback Roger Skemp ran for led the team in scoring with nine scores and sophomore Gene Johnson scored five touchdowns.  According to the Superior Evening Telegram newspaper in the Bemidji game sophomore center/linebacker Don Kruger intercepted two passes one to set up the final score and the other stopped the Lumberjacks early drive.  The paper noted that Kruger had seven interceptions on the season up to then.  It was the highest scoring game of the year for the Vikings.

Coach Crowley carried off the field after defeating Duluth East to win the Twin Ports Championship and leading the Vikings to their first undefeated season since 1932.  Superior Central yearbook, the Echo.

For whatever reason the UPI did not present a statewide high school football poll in 1957.  The AP didn’t start their polls until 1964.  Only a few Wisconsin teams were undefeated in 1957 along with Superior Central.  Scholastic Coach Magazine listed the top teams from each state nationally and only Madison West was listed for Wisconsin although the Central yearbook, the Echo, noted that the 1957 team was rated #1. 

In 1957 Don Kruger was an All-State offensive tackle/linebacker. Photo from the 1959 Echo yearbook…His Senior picture.

NOTE:  The team photo is a “reverse” …the numbers are backwards in the yearbook.

Take a read of the WFCA page on Coach Crowley...Marvin Crowley - Superior to learn more about tghis outstsanding man. Quite a story.

1958 will be next.

GREAT SUPERIOR TEAMS…PART 5

1944 SUPERIOR CENTRAL

COVERING SOME GREAT HIGH SCHOOL TEAMS FROM 1930 THROUGH THE MID-1960’S ON SEVERAL CITY OF SUPERIOR FOOTBALL TEAMS

Harry Conley was coaching through the 1941-45 World War II years with some but not always great success.  1944 was the exception to middle of the road success.  In 1944 was the final season with one of the school’s all-time star athletes, Harry “Bud” Grant.  The future head coach of the Minnesota Vikings was a multi-sport performer.  In football Bud was a fullback and linebacker and his play in 1944 drew offers from another colleges including Wisconsin and Minnesota.  The Gophers would eventually snare his talents but football wasn’t the only sport he played at Superior or for the University of Minnesota.  He starts on the basketball team and the baseball team as well.

As a junior Grant started at the end position on offense and would occasionally move to the backfield to run a bit but to mainly punt.  The 1943 team was not a great one as their record was only 1-3-1.  It wasn’t until the team’s final game that they put up any points, a 20-13 win over Ashland.  In basketball, well, they were super, going 19-2.  Earlier in the year they beat Eau Claire 41-23 on Memorials home court.  The down staters hoisted the sectional in late February and the Vikings played a terrible game, losing 30-29.  They were favored to go to Madison for the championship rounds but had to settle for the sectional runner-up spot as the next day they barely beat Baldwin 27-23.

The outlook for the 1944 football season was not expected to be a good one.  But maybe, hopefully, better than the year before. 

Superior Central H.S. 1945 Yearbook

Grant was moved from end to fullback and things fell into place.  The season opener was against favored Duluth Cathedral, a team that went 5-1-1 in 1943.  The previous week Eau Claire had asked Central to move their season openers to another time and it was agreed that October 24 would be that date.  In the game vs. Cathedral, it was a punting duel for the first three quarters.  With Grant in the backfield the Vikings finally began to move the ball.  On what the newspaper called a “spin move” (No idea what this could be) Grant handled the ball picking up some yardage and then tossed a “basketball-type” pass to Bud Matthews, his replacement at end, for 15-yards.  Grant then plowed for five yards more and then Ray Halvorson crashed over for the only score of the game, a 7-0 win.

Duluth Denfeld had been the area champion for the previous three years and had beaten the Vikings for 10 consecutive seasons but Superior Central won out 12-6.  Down 6-0 going into the fourth quarter Central got the ball going with Grant plunging from the two for the first score.  The Hunters got desperate and tried to pass the ball.  It was a combination interception return with Halvorson picking off the pass, then pitching it to Grant who ran a bit and then flipped it to Rob Downs who scored.  Both extra point attempts failed, and then a desperate pass by the Denfeld quarterback was snatched out of the hands of a Hunters end, again by Downs, by the 40-yard line to seal the win.

Harry “Bud” Grant vs. Duluth Denfeld…Superior HS 1945 Yearbook

Game three was vs. Ashland and some of the previously mentioned players were the stars.  Right Halfback Rob Downs recovered a blocked punt in the end zone for the first score.   After Central drove to the 40-yard line and then Grant again, from his fullback position, tossed the ball to Downs who ran for the second score.  The final score was another Grant pass, this time to Bud Mathews for a 20-yard score and an 18-0 win.  No yards were listed in the newspaper but the Evening Telegram reported that Grant was the big ground gainer.

Traditional rival Superior East was up next and Central was too strong for the Orientals, winning 27-0, the team’s third defensive shutout.  In the first period Downs went off tackle for the first score, then in the second period Bud Grant scored twice.  Back-up running back Stubby Johnson score on a one-yard plunge and the game ended 27-0.  One of Grants scores was a 34-yard pass reception from quarterback Halvorson.

On October 19 the Vikings pasted Duluth Central 19-0 to win the Twin Ports mythical championship in the battle of the Centrals. Previously undefeated Duluth Central could go nowhere against the Vikings.  Grant scored again on a pass from Halvorson who in turn ran for a touchdown and Downs had a long run for the final score.  The key to the game was Superior forcing six Duluth fumbles.

Five days later the rescheduled Eau Claire game was played and The Old Abes were not up to the balanced Central attack.  Ther final score, 35-12, wasn’t indicative how tough the Vikings were.  The Eau Claire touchdowns were scored in the fourth period against the Superior reserves who fought hard but couldn’t hold back the visitors.  Jimmy Haug, Bud Grant and Stubby Johnson all scored on short plunges with Rob Downs hauling in a touchdown from Ray Halvorson.  The key play was performed by Gene O’Brian who intercepted a lateral in the Eau Claire backfield and raced 60-yards for a score. 

The seventh game was played three days later on October 27 with Central blowing out the Hurley Midgets 38-6 in the team’s final home game.  Bud Grant got the team off toa quick start scoring twice in the first quarter along with a score by Halverson.  The Vikings didn’t score in the second period because Coach Conley began substituting his starters but in the third the first team was back in the game.  Grant flipped a bullet pass to Mathews for a touchdown, then later in the fourth period hauled in a pass for a score. Len Ward caught the final touchdown on a pass from Stubby Johnson.

For several weeks the final game against Anoka, Minnesota, located just a bit northwest of the Twin Cities, was the talk of the newspapers both in Superior and Minneapolis.  If my mentioning Anoka sounds a little familiar check out my story…DEWAYNE JOHNSON…FROM PLYMOUTH AND BEYOND.  Anoka has been a long time Minnesota power and back in 1944 they were very strong.  A good offense…not big on scoring…and a very good defense had led the team to nine consecutive victories.  They were considered the best team in the twin city area.  33 Superior players rode a bus south to meet the Tornado’s.  It was billed as a matchup between Bud Grant and Anoka’s fleet footed back Billy Bye.

Bye was the star of the game scoring in the first period on a 43-yard run and later in the last period he tossed a touchdown and caught a scoring pass.  Bud Grant took a punt on Anoka’s 37 yard line, ran down to the 20 and then lateraled to Ray Halverson for a 37-yard scoring play.  It was a matchup of two undefeated teams and even though Superior lost they clearly showed that they could play with the best as they gained just as much yardage as Anoka but twice in the final were stopped.  Once was when Grant passed to Halverson for a score only to have it called back because of a player in motion.  Twice Grant ran and plunged his team to the Tornado’s two and 10-yard lines only to be stopped.  Anoka would end with a 10-0-0 season and Superior Central would end with a 7-1-0 record.  This would be the best posting by a Harry Conley coached team since the mid-1930’s and the 1944 team ranks with the best squads in Superior Central High School football history.

As a young boy, Harry Peter Grant Jr., nicknamed by his father as “Buddy Boy” and the later shortened to “Bud” went hunting with two friends in northern Wisconsin on Yellow Lake.  The 1940 Armistice Day Blizzard hit.  More information about the blizzard is mentioned in THE FOOTBALL GAME (S) THAT SAVED LIVES…PART 1 and THE FOOTBALL GAME (S) THAT SAVED LIVES…PART 2 

Buds two friends found shelter in a farmhouse but he sat out the storm as he found refuge in a gas station.  After graduation from Superior he enlisted into the navy and trained at Great Lakes Training Center near Chicago where he played football.  Offered an early discharge he ended up at Minnesota.   As mentioned before, Bud Grant would go on to star at the University of Minnesota and then he would play pro basketball for the Minneapolis Lakers in their inaugural 1949-50 season.  He was a teammate of the great center George Miken as the Lakers won the NBA title. 

He then played pro football in 1951 and 1952 for the Philadelphia Eagles after being drafted in the first round (14^th pick overall).  Initially he was placed as a defensive end where he led the NFL in sacks (A then unofficial stat at the time) and then was switched the next season to the offense and hauled in 56 passes for 997 yards and seven scores.  When the Eagles refused to pay him what he thought he was worth he accepted an offer to play for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League.  Grant became the first player to “play out his option” and move on.  He played for the Bombers from 1953-56 and then became the teams head coach for ten years. Bud then accepted the head coaching job with the Minnesota Vikings where he had a great NFL coaching career and earned a spot in the NFL and CFL Hall of Fames.