CRAZY PRESS POLLS…PART 1

I mentioned last time, in the blogs on the 1968-71 Auburndale team, about some of the crazy things that happened in the press polls.

What did poet Ezra Pound, auto maker Henry Ford and industrialist (Known mostly for chewing gum and owning the Chicago Cubs) William Wrigley, Jr have in common? They are all attributed as saying “When two men in business always agree, one of them is unnecessary”. That could have been said of the Associated Press and the United Press International high school football polls. Not that they sometimes didn’t agree on who was the #1 or #2 team some seasons but often their polls were real head scratchers from week to week.

The AP was made up of 7-9 members of the press from the largest newspapers from around the state. They were often from Milwaukee, Madison, La Crosse, Eau Claire, Superior, Green Bay and a writer from the Wisconsin River region plus occasionally a writer or two from other areas of the state. They would vote on Monday or Tuesday by phone, with calls to Milwaukee and the results would be posted in the press on Wednesday or Thursday. In 1947 the AP did the first high school football press poll, but they didn’t start up again until 1965.

The UPI began polls in 1956 with their poll. The coaches selected at random each season to represent the state was made up of 30-37 members each season. Sometimes a coach would vote one week but for some reason not the next or their votes didn’t get turned in time to the person (s) doing the tabulating. Often a voter would feel another team that didn’t make the top ten listing deserved a #1 placing and the next ten teams receiving voted weren’t always printed, depending on the newspaper. The UPI poll would be printed, usually in the Thursday or Friday editions of local newspapers.

On Saturday’s many papers would print an AP recap of the top games from the night before. A reader could learn about a game from Kenosha, Milwaukee, Madison, Sheboygan, Wausau, Durand, Hillsboro, West Bend, Mariette and other locations. In addition to the polls, the AP and UPI would cite a player-of-the week and a list of other top performances, often in conjunction with a story about the rankings. In 1961 the UPI polls reflected one weekly listing for the top largest schools and one for the smallest ones. When the AP debuted, they followed suit with two polls as well. The polls went by different names like Big 10, Little 10, Big Schools, Little Schools and later Big, Large, Medium and Small schools. Often the press poll would change the names throughout the season from Big to Large and back to Big. The UPI also, occasionally conducted a “Private and Parochial” poll while the AP included those schools in their writings when they began in 1965. By 1968 the two press organizations included those private schools in their polls.

While looking at the polls for the 1968-71 seasons for Auburndale I came across a few strange postings. I could spend hours recounting each year, but I decided to point out how different the two sets of polls were for just two years, 1965 and 1968, to give you an idea of what I found.

First, the 1965 AP polls:

The week before the final posting on the left and finals on the right.

Oshkosh and Green Bay East tied in their final game so East jumped up in the finals. Don Bosco lost their final game and dropped four spots. The other schools remained the same. Note that Granville High School no longer exists, and its school district was later split with some moving to Milwaukee as some of the area was annexed and the other part became Brown Deer.

Now the UPI ratings and again, the semi-final poll is on the left and the final is on the right:

The UPI waited several weeks before announcing their final poll and you can see that Milwaukee Boy’s Tech dropped to the #3 spot in the final and Green Bay East jumped from #5 to the #2 position. When looking at the UPI polls you can count the number of first place votes. In the semi-final listing Oshkosh had 29 of the 30 votes while in the final they still had a commanding overall point total but only received 13 of the 31 votes cast.

Now for some really crazy small school rankings. First, the AP:

Not a lot of shifting in the polls overall but the sports writers (AP) differed greatly with the coaches (UPI) as they thought very highly of Lomira and not as much of Barron’s record. Luck was higher in the UPI than in the AP by a wide margin. But the big difference was that the AP liked Randolph for the #! Spot where the UPI voted then to the final #6 spot, down from a tie for #4, even though their record stayed the same.

Now, the UPI final Small School polls:

Please look at the UPI poll closely. It shows a (6) 8-0 record or a 6—8-0 record for Barron and some other teams have a () number or a similar #--record. If you count the numbers in parentheses or the numbers before the – you get the first-place votes. The AP didn’t list their first-place votes. When the semi-final UPI poll for the small schools was recorded there appeared to only have been 26 voters participating. However, they didn’t release their “Also receiving votes” part of the poll so when the final results were tabulated you can count, including those schools in the dark print, 22 first place votes for teams in the top 10 and 12 first place votes for schools in the lower tier. #2 in the semi-final poll Holcombe stayed undefeated but dropped to the “also” category. #6 Alma jumped to the #2 spot without playing any additional games and a few other schools switched positions. If 34 voters were part of the semi-final and final polls and only 26 first place votes were recorded in the semis, then another 8 votes were for lower “also” teams.

As mentioned, the UPI published a Private and Parochial poll whereas the AP included those schools in their rankings. There were 32 coaches who voted in this final posting. Milwaukee Don Bosco finished in the top spot of the UPI and #7 in the overall AP poll while Wisconsin Rapids Assumption followed in the #8 AP spot.

As mentioned, the UPI published a Private and Parochial poll whereas the AP included those schools in their rankings. There were 32 coaches who voted in this final posting. Milwaukee Don Bosco finished in the top spot of the UPI and #7 in the overall AP poll while Wisconsin Rapids Assumption followed in the #8 AP spot.

Next time, 1968.

AFTER THE MICKEY VANDEHEY YEARS…AUBURNDALES 31-GAME STREAK PART 2 1970-1971

The next season, 1970, Dick Varsho was back along with star running back Rich Weiler to start the 1970 season. With Chris Linzmeier gone the previous season’s top linebacker/offensive end, Bob Bassuener took over as the starting quarterback. Bob played well but he was hurt for several games. Despite those hurt’s he still earned all-conference honors as he tossed 11 touchdowns and five conversions. Rich Weiler, who gained 887-yards with 14 scores in 1969 earned the 1970 Marawood Player-of-the-Year honors as he carried 141 times for 1,301 yards and 14 touchdowns on the ground. He added 15 receptions for 286yards and seven more scores. With two two-point runs he totaled 130 points on the year.

Week 5 of 1970 found the Apache alone atop of the now 10-team Marawood with a 5-0 record after they beat Stratford 34-0, the fifth of seven consecutive shutouts to start the season. With the 20-0 defeat of Stratford in the season finale in 1969 they would have an eight-game shutout streak. Pittsville, Nekoosa and Stratford were now all 4-1 and Auburndale was now ranked #1 in the AP Little Ten poll. The team was averaging nearly 40-points per game but then Bassuener was injured and could only play a limited role at quarterback as well as defense. Game 6 should have been another blowout against Athens, but it was close, a real close 6-0 victory. Athens would be 2-4 after the loss but they were able to key on Weiler and it took a flea flicker play to get the Apache on the board. Bassuener came in and tossed the ball to Jerry Weber who then threw the ball to end Terry Paul for a 51-yard touchdown with two and a half minutes left in the game. That same day Nekoosa tuned up for week 7’s matchup with Auburndale with a 42-6 win over Rib Lake. It didn’t help as back-up quarterback Larry Sholes came off the bench to toss three touchdowns and to lead the team to victory.

A close 12-6 win over Pittsville was a defensive battle as the Apache stopped the Panthers on their six-yard line on a fourth and one rushing attempt that was for no gain with 90-seconds left in the game. The next and final week of the season had Stratford hoping for an Auburndale loss to Spencer. Stratford was 7-1 going into their final game and in second place in the Marawood but they tied Athens who was playing great defense, 0-0. Spencer fell to the Apache 28-14 for the schools 27th consecutive win (Or, 29th , depending on if you were reading the newspapers). In the victory Weiler ran for 166 yards and three scores on the ground and caught another score via a pass reception.

The AP would name Auburndale the #1 small school team, but things were different in the United Press International poll. It was sort of like the 1969 AP polls. UPI had, after week eight, Gale-Ettrick as #1, Auburndale #2, Kohler was #3 and Darlington was #4 as all four teams were 8-0. The next and final week poll had Gale-Ettrick (8-0) still at the #1 spot, Kohler (8-0) moving up to #2, Darlington was now 9-0 and in the #3 spot and Auburndale had dropped to #4 even with a 9-0 record. This was a head scratcher but that’s how it ended. 27-consecutive wins but again no love in the polls. End Terry Paul, offensive tackle Greg Haupt, quarterback Bob Bassuener and the Weiler, the POY in the Marawood, were all first team players.

1970 Auburndale Apache’s (Marshfield News Herald)

Dick Varsho didn’t come back as the head coach in 1971 as he took the head coaching football position at Marshfield High School and later at Cornell as he taught history there. He was replaced by Bill Silvertsen, at least the sixth head coach at the school in 10-years. Despite losing a number of stars and having to reload they were favored to again win the Marawood title and were rated atop the AP poll. The newspapers finally had the win streak totals correct as they started out with the actual 27 consecutive wins. The Apache won their first four games before they lost to Stratford who was 3-1 t the time. The Tigers held Auburndale to 21-yards on the ground and 110-yards in the air. They lost three fumbles and tossed an interception as they tumbled 18-0. The streak was over. They didn’t regroup the next week, losing 14-6 to Nekoosa but then they won the final three games to end 7-2 and surprisingly, honorable mention in both the press polls.

Now, I could end but I have a little bit more about Auburndale but not dealing with football. Going back to the summer of 1970 the Apache won the WIAA summer baseball state title, going 18-0 under the tutelage of Dick Varsho. Back in 1960 they won the spring season state title. Summer baseball began in 1965 and lasted until 2018 when spring ball became the norm. Auburndale is the only school to ever win both the spring and summer titles. Quite a feat for the small school. In 1970, star quarterback Chris Linzmeier and Don Vruwink pitched and hit the team to the title. Linzmeier was 11-0 on the mound with a 0.40 earned run average, 140 strikeouts in 70 innings as well as batting .370. Vruwink was 7-0 with a 0.29 ERA in 49 innings along with 95 strikeouts. He led the team with a .433 batting average. He hit a career total of 12 home runs including one each in the team’s 3-1 win over Melrose-Mindoro in the semi-finals and the one against Sussex Hamilton, 4-0 victory.

So, to end, you can now have a look at the streak:

AFTER THE MICKEY VANDEHEY YEARS…AUBURNDALES 31-GAME STREAK PART1 1968-1969

I did a blog on the great athlete, Mickey Vandehey, back on January 25, 2021. Mickey had been a fabulous career as a multi-sport star from 1960-64 who played football, basketball, baseball, track and even golf at Auburndale. He is a Wisconsin high school legend.

The years after Vandehey graduated were not lean ones but, not to the heights that he had taken the Apache to when he started. Mickey had a 26-4-1 record as the starting quarterback. From 1965-68 there were a series of head coaches with middle-of-the-road records. Being in the Marawood Conference meant that they were facing tougher, overall competition each season than when they were in a lesser conference (The defunct C-3) prior to 1963. When they joined the Marawood had eight teams but later added two more teams so that by 1970 there were ten members.

In 1967 Vic Bundgaard was the head coach and the Apache were 5-3 (4-3 in the Marawood). He played a lot of younger members of the squad and that set the stage for the beginning of the streak.

The season began with convincing wins over two non-conference foes, Fall Creek and Colby, before they lined up with their seven Marawood opponents. In 1967 undefeated (9-0) Stratford was rated #1 in the Associated press poll until week nine when they squeaked by Spencer in a 14-13 and they then dropped to #2 in the final “Little Ten” rankings. In a preseason poll of Marawood coaches Stratford and Auburndale were rated even for the conference title. Stratford had 12 returning starters with a total of 34 boys out for the football team.

Auburndale had 14 returning starters and an incredible 54 players start practices considering that the town’s population was only about 400.Stratford had a 15-game win streak and the game eight date for the battle between the two teams was highlighted on both teams’ calendars.

Stratford started with two non-conference wins over Neillsville and Adam-Friendship and then three conference wins before they played Pittsville, always a tough foe. Stratford led 13-8 in the fourth period. Pittsville then scored a touchdown and missed both of the extra points. A misplay earlier by Stratford on a bad snap on a punt that went into their end zone for a safety. That late Pittsville score made the score 14-13 in their favor. Stratford did drive to the Pittsville six-yard line but was stopped on a fourth and one play. Thus ended their 20-game win streak.

The next week Stratford blew out Edgar 60-7 and looked like they were back on track but then they faced Auburndale and they lost again, 20-0. The Apache dominated the game out gaining Stratford 239-yards to 193 and 15-9 in first downs. Auburndale’s season ended with the win. They were 9-0, their best season ever. Stratford had a later finale against Spencer and tied 14-14 to end 6-2-1. Stratford had been ranked #1 until the Pittsville lose but for some reason the polls didn’t show any love for Auburndale. They earned only a number 7 ranking in the final AP rankings.

Five players were named to the all-conference team with offensive guard Jerry Willfahre also earning a spot on the defensive line. Jim Mann was named as a defensive end. Bob Weller earned a spot as on offensive tackle and junior Chris Linzmeier was named to the quarterback spot. They ended 9-0 and they had a lot of young players coming back for 1969. It also ended coach Vic Bundgaard’s final season as the head football coach at Auburndale. He was also a very successful wrestling coach and after the winter season he would announce that he would be moving to Colby, 30-miles north as the head wrestling coach and as an assistant on the football team.

NOTES: I must digress now to explain that my research was done mainly based on using the internet stories of the Marshfield News Herald newspaper. Prior to the mid-1970’s it seems to e that the paper didn’t spend a lot of space for some aspects of sports…statistics, pre-season previews, post season recaps and all-conference stories. The game reports had minimal stats or even scoring recaps. It was hard to get information on the players and even know who the coach was. I weaved through the stories and was able to piece together needed information. This seemed to change sometime in the late spring/early summer of 1970.

1969 brought in Richard “Dick” Varsho as the new head coach. Varsho had been an assistant for the football team and head baseball coach. Now, the name Varsho might sound familiar. Dick passed away in 2020 and his obituary showed only the names of immediate family members. Former baseball major leaguer Gary Varsho and current MLB player Daulton Varsho are both from Marshfield. Same last name as Dick. Maybe their uncle? Nothing mentioned in the paper for a lead.

1969 began the same as the previous season. Two successful victories over non-conference foes, Fall Creek and Colby again. There was no mention in the paper leading up to the game or in the newspaper story on the game about coach Bundgaard coming back to face his former team. Fall Creek fell the week before, 8-7 in a real battle between two fine teams. Five plays into the game the Crickets scored a touchdown and kicked the extra point. In the second quarter Chris Linzmeier ran three -yards for the score then passed to end Bob Bassuener for the two-point conversion and what would turn out to be the win. Fall Creek would end up 7-2 in 1969.

NOTE: The two-point pass or run after a touchdown was new in 1969 as before then when those plays were worth only one-point.

The Colby win was 18-7 but the Apache were in charge all the way and now were ready for the Marawood season. The conference opener was against troublesome Pittsville, a 20-12 win followed by wins over Spencer and Edgar. After the Spencer win Auburndale had entered the Little Ten polls at the #2 spot. However, ranking were strange. Auburndale had kept winning but dropped for some reason to #3 by game seven. In game number six against Athens the team gained a huge 645 yards. They had a semi-close game #8 vs. Marathon, a 20-6 win but all the teams in the Little Ten were having a close game or two. The season ending game would be against Stratford. Durand was ranked #1 followed by Gale-Ettrick (they didn’t become Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau until 1972) at #2 and both were 7-0-0. Auburndale was #3 with an 8-0-0 record. Both of those school were in long win streaks as was #10, Port Edwards (7-0-0).

NOTE: All the newspapers in the area…Marshfield, Wausau and Wisconsin Rapids…had Auburndale with an 18 or a 19-game win streak when it was really 17 going into the season final match with Stratford.

The win over Stratford was a blowout, if you can call a 20-0 victory, as they outgained the Tigers 323-yards to 92. Stratford ended the season with a 7-2-0 record (An earlier loss to Pittsville was their only other loss). The Wausau Daily News had both Stratford and Pittsville with a season final record of 7-1-1 but that wasn’t correct. They were 7-2-0.

Coach Dick Varsho discusses strategy with quarterback Chris Linzmeier during 1969 20-0 win over Stratford (Courtesy of the Marshfield News-Herald)

Here is the AP Little Ten poll before the Stratford game…Oct. 23, 1969

A few days later, Oct. 29, 1970, the final Little Ten poll was released and as you can see, there was a lot of movement.

Note: The AP had not updated Auburndale’s season record which was 9-0-0. Durand’s 36-game winning streak ended with a 20-14 loss to River Falls.

Again, the team earned six spots on the Marawood Conference first team. Offensive end Dennis Raab also was named as a defensive back on the squad. Cliff Altman was named as an offensive tackle; George Swetz was on the defense as a tackle and Bob Bassuener was listed as a linebacker. Chris Linzmeier was a repeat at the quarterback spot. Chris would also garner spots on the Wausau TV-Channel 7 All-Area first team and noted as an honorable mention all-state. Linzmeier posted, the best I can piece together, passing stats of 148-83-1421-14 with eight two-point conversion completions. He gain about 400-yards on the ground and scored eight touchdowns on the ground and even caught a 31 pass for a score against Athens. The senior was a true leader and well respected and a multi-sport star.

The first two seasons of the streak were now complete. Next time, the final part of the streak.