DEWAYNE JOHNSON…FROM PLYMOUTH AND BEYOND

While doing some research on teams from the 1980’s I noticed, looking at the WIAA web site (FOOT Playoff Scores), that Plymouth had won the 1976 first Class B WIAA state title, beating Iowa-Grant 42-12.  In 1977 the Panthers lost in the opening round of the Class B playoffs to the eventual champion, Iowa Grant 21-7.  The next year, 1978, Plymouth was back in the playoffs and won the Division 3 title for a second time, beating Prairie du Chien 34-14. (Don’t be confused …the WIAA changed the titles of the playoffs from Class to Division).  These were terrific teams.

Looking at another WIAA page…Team Champs…I noticed the name of the Plymouth coach, DeWayne Johnson.  Investigating the records further I noticed that the school didn’t make the playoffs for another 13-years (1991).  So, what happened to Johnson?  I was afraid of a tragedy.

At Plymouth   The Sheboygan Press March 29, 1979

While researching the 1979 Two Rivers regular season ending game, I noticed that Johnson wasn’t listed in the game story as being the Plymouth coach.  I then checked the WFCA Hall of Fame where I expected to find his name and get more information.  Not there.  How could a coach just drop out of sight after developing a good program?  Where did he go?  From the mid-season of 1975 the school won 35 of 36 games.  6-3- in 1975, 11-0 in 1976, 9-1 in 1977 and 11-0 in 1978.  I found a story dated March 29, 1979 in The Sheboygan Press that Told what and where he was going.  The story stated that he was resigning to take another coaching position at Anoka High School, about 25-miles northwest of Minneapolis, Minnesota.  He was taking over at a school that had 2,000+ students, grades 10-12 vs. 650+ students, grades 9-12 at Plymouth.  Anoka came calling, Johnson listened and moved on.  But like a lot of coaching moves there is additional information about the new landing spot.

DeWayne Johnson graduated from Cameron High School in 1961 who earned 11 letters playing four sports.  He went on to UW-River Falls where he co-captained the 1966 football team as he earned honors as a defensive end and center.  While at River Falls, he also played on two conference championship baseball teams.  Following graduation DeWayne took a math teaching position and a coaching job at New Richmond.  He was the head baseball coach at New Richmond and assisted with football and basketball.  His baseball teams won two conference titles.  The New Richmond Tigers football squads had a 10-8 record during his two years there.

In 1969 he took the head football position at Plymouth and taught math as well.  Things started slow as the school won only five games the first three years but in 1972 things began to change.  Creating what many thought was the best off-season weight-training program in the state was a start.  The Plymouth Panthers began to quickly improve as a result of the training.  The school won their last two games in 1971 and the won the 10-team Packerland Conference title in 1972 by ending with a 9-0 record.  beginning in 1972 Plymouth won 53 conference games and four titles. 

DeWayne Johnson and his family, wife Sharon who was also a teacher at the Riverview Middle School in Plymouth, and two young boys moved to Anoka in June of 1979.  The Minnesota program he was taking over was a good one. 

Under the previous Coach Stan Nelson, who retired, Anoka had posted a career 154-70-8 record in 26-seasons.  The 1978 season the school had gone 6-3.  Nelson would be inducted into the Minnesota State Football Coaches Hall of Fame.  His team, playing in one of the state’s toughest conferences in Minnesota was the state runner-up in 1963 and then won the 1964 state title.  He also coached three players who went on to play in the NFL, including his son, Steve.  As a linebacker who played 14-seasons with the New England Patriots Steve totaled 207 career tackles.

Johnson at Anoka from the school profile page

Johnson coached and taught for 24-years at Anoka, posting a 212-122-2 record. His Tornado teams won the 1990 and 1994 state titles. In 1996 he was named the state Coach of the Year and was inducted into the Minnesota State Football Coaches Hall of Fame in 2009. DeWayne coached 14 first team All-State players and two who eventually played in the NFL.

Coach Johnson instituted several practices that became staples of the Tornado football program such as a player-parent mixer on the first day of fall camp; an annual team pig roast; a spaghetti dinner the day before a game and a team party following the game. There is an annual community clean-up day during which players volunteer for various tasks to improve the local community. All events that have continued after his coaching days. Anoka's success and team spirit continued after DeWayne Johnson retired in 2002.

He sadly passed in 2019 at age 76.

As I mentioned in the start of this story, it took Plymouth 13 years to make it back to the playoffs. While there have not been any additional state championships the Panthers have made the post season every year, 32 consecutive seasons (Except for the non-playoff 2020 COVID year) since 1991.

A TALE OF TWO RIVERS…PART 3…THE TITLE YEARS

The success of the 1940’s unfortunately, did not continue after the work that coaches, Hall, O’Mealy and Wiersig had performed.  Ray Wiersig left coaching and teaching in 1952.  The 1951 season had gone 3-5-0. After having winning seasons in 1947 (5-2-0) and 1948 (7-1-0) things went south as The Raiders played an independent season in 1949 and then moved to a revamped NEW as they moved to the western division of the conference.  Things got tougher in the new part of the conference and the teams went 2-5-1 and 3-5-0.  Wiersig finished his stint at Two Rivers with an overall 21-17-2 record, winning the conference titles in 1947 and 1948.

After the Wiersig years the Raiders posted four winning seasons between 1952 and 1976.  Three of those records were 1967-69, including an undefeated 8-0 year in 1968.  The team had a 6-3 record in 1969.  Following a 34-7 victory over Shawano the team then had a 6-2 record at that point.   Against Shawano running back John Hoffman carried the ball 30-times for a school record 319-yards, three touchdowns on runs of 42, 60 and eight yards plus a 62-yarder that was called back.  The Milwaukee Pius Popes (7-1-1), on their way to the first WISAA playoffs, invaded Two Rivers on November 1, 1969, and shellacked the Raiders 28-0.  This loss was the start of a 27-game losing streak.  A reversal of their 29-game unbeaten streak from the 1940’s. 

A 22-7 victory over Milwaukee Custer on September 15, 1973, led to a 2-7 season and the losing streak ended.  Their next winning season was 1976 when the team posted a 5-4 record.  Over time led the school to many coaches taking the head position.  Russ Wirnsberger had coached the team to a 13-31 five-year record (1972-76).  Russ, who also was the school wrestling coach, stepped away on his own accord and in came Jerry Bonino. 

Manitowoc Herald-Times-Reporter April 19, 1977

Bonino was no stranger to the Two Rivers football program.  He began coaching as a varsity assistant at Appleton Xavier and then he moved to Iola-Scandinavia for four seasons and in 1965 he became the head varsity coach, directing the team to a 2-7 record.  He moved to Two Rivers and served as the junior varsity coach in his first two seasons at Two Rivers 1966-67 and then became the freshman coach from 1969-76 when his teams had a 33-7-4 record.  He also served as the varsity basketball coach from 1968-80.  Bonino applied for and got the position.  Jerry found himself coaching the smallest school in the Fox Valley Association with an attendance of 1,125 students.  Neenah, a former regular 1940’s opponent, had the largest league student population of 2,716 as city itself grew.  As it turned out in the 1977 season opener, it was Two Rivers vs. Neenah.  Despite losing 14-13, the Raiders felt confident that they could compete with the “big boys” of the FVA.  Neenah was to be the conference champion in 1977.

Following the Neenah game the “injury bug” hit the Raiders and lasted for two years. Because of the large number of crucial injuries Bonino’s first two seasons didn’t go well, going 3-6 in 1977 and 2-7 in 1978 but things were starting to move forward.  Two Rivers only spent two years in the FVA before the WIAA re-aligned them into the Eastern Wisconsin Conference.  By moving to the new conference, they were now the “big kids on the block” among the new group.  The team stayed healthy with 14 lettermen returning for 1979.  

Led by running back Jeff Gospodarek, who gained 1,379 yards and scored 22 touchdowns while gaining over 2,300 all-purpose yards in 1979.  Senior quarterback Todd Wojta passed for 777 yards and on defense intercepted five passes.  Gospodarek went on to play for UW-Eau Claire, tight end Todd Schweigert went to Northern Michigan University and lineman/kicker Wayne Meyer accepted a scholarship to Mankato State.  These were just some of the 1979 stars.

The season highlight was winning the conference title in a showdown against undefeated Plymouth by a 25-14 score.  Plymouth had won the WIAA Class B title in 1976 (11-0), by beating Iowa-Grant 42-12.  The school then lost in the first round of the playoffs in 1977 (9-1) to eventual champion Iowa-Grant 31-8 and came back to win the D-3 title in 1978 (11-0) by beating Prairie du Chien 34-14.  With a 8-1 record in 1979, the school had a 4-year 39-2 record.  The matchup between the two conference title contenders was a true battle.  The next week the opening round of the playoffs Two Rivers were stopped cold by a tough Edgerton defense.  The season closed but the school was primed for the future.

With a lot of experience gained in the 1979 season Two Rivers returned 18 lettermen and the 1980 team was primed to repeat as the EWC champion.  They blended together so well that the team went 11-0 and won the D-3 state title.  Many observers felt that the team was so strong that the Raiders could have won the FRV title if they were still a member of that conference.  They beat Plymouth again in the regular season final by a convincing manner, 20-0 and then battled their two playoff opponents in hard fought games.  Six players made the 1980 Herald-Times-Reporter All-Area team. 

So many seniors started in 1980 that when the next season rolled around there were no full-time returning starters.  Coach Bonino observed before the season that Sheboygan Falls returned a lot of starters and was the probable front runner for the conference title.  He was incorrect as the Raiders blew them out 39-0 in game four.  But in game two the Raiders faced a non-conference opponent that was a much more powerful squad. 

Despite being outgained 100-248 yards on the ground by the Marshfield Columbus, the Dons could eke out only a 10-6 win over Two Rivers.  Columbus had been the 1980 WISAA Class A champion and would end up with a 9-3 record and earned a second-place plaque in the 1981 WISSA championship.  The loss to Columbus ended a 12-game Two Rivers win streak.  It would take a lot for Bonino and his staff to shore up the defense as well as working to improve the offense and they would win 9 of the 10 remaining games.  However, a 22-0 loss to the Kiel Raiders, which put Two Rivers, with their first ever EWC loss put them into second place in the conference.  Two crucial fumbles and two interceptions stymied the offense but the defense was unable to hold Kiel back.

The 20-14 win over Plymouth was in two-overtime periods.  Kiel was upset 7-0 by Kewaskum that weekend and that loss pushed their conference record to 4-2 while Two Rivers was now 4-1 with one game to play.  The Raiders took the title the next week with a 27-20 defeat of Chilton.  TR was able to overcome Mishicot in the first round of the playoffs and then easily defeated Reedsburg in round two.  The Raiders had to overcome a 14-9 deficit in the title game to beat Baldwin-Woodville 23-14 for the title. 

Going into the 1982 season felt that he had to tighten the defense.  The previous season the opponents averaged 10 or 11 more plays on offense.  They also had to cut back on turnovers. With two non-conference games to start the season…Madison East, a school with 1,982 students and again, Marshfield Columbus, a much smaller school with strong WISAA playoff record and a winning tradition…Bonino hoped to minimize the injury bug as well.  One of the strong points on the offense was returning players like quarterback Jeff Peterson, who was 141-73-9-973-10.  Tight end Bruce Jacobs caught 24 passes for 367 yards.  Running back/linebacker Dan Laurent was All-Area who carried the ball 106 times for 466 yards and contributed with 11 receptions for 98 yards. On defense, Laurent posted 82 solo tackles, 39 assists, seven fumble recoveries and three interceptions.  Paul VanLaarhoven was a running back with 300+ yards and as a defensive back he had four interceptions.  Both place kicker Stu Fronk and punter Steve Zunker were All-Area members.

With 18 lettermen returning in 1982, but only three being defensive starters, the key again was to be the defense.  As a team Two Rivers allowed 177 points, and the offense put up 347 points. 

Considered by many to sweep to their third straight WIAA title the Raiders opened against Madison East.  Down 7-6 at halftime the team roared back against the bigger school to win 27-13.  Next was a return match against Marshfield Columbus and it would be a loss.  Yet, Jerry Bonino wasn’t totally disappointed with the team’s performance.  The Dons were now 3-0 after beating the Raiders and on their way to the WISAA Class A finals for the third consecutive year.  They would lose to a much bigger school, Milwaukee Marquette, 7-0.

Down 27-24 with 1:12 to go and facing a fourth and one on the Sheboygan Falls nine-yard line, Bonino elected to not kick a field goal to tie the game.  Instead, he had Jeff Peterson toss a slant over the middle to Bruce Jacobs for a six-yard gain and then Dan Laurent ran around the right side for the winning score.  Stu Fonk kicked the extra point and the game ended with a Raider 31-27 victory.  After this it was pretty much clear sailing for Two Rivers to take their third straight WIAA title, the first Wisconsin high school to do so. 

Bonino would earn his second consecutive All-Area Coach of the Year award.  Jeff Peterson would earn All-State honors with passing stats of 224-126-13-2,030-28.  Bruce Jacobs also earned All-State honors as he caught 48 passes for 841 yards.  Other offensive contributors were: Paul VanLaarhoven carried the ball 167 times for 994 yards to earn first team All-Area as an RB/DB and Kick Returner and Dan Laurent who gained 988 yards on 148 carries.  Seniors Frank Svacina, Larry Feest, Lenny Sleger, Bill Rehrauer, Steve Zunker, Stu Fonk and Tim Luckow were major players in the team’s success along with juniors Rick Peterson and Scott Kintopf.

From 1980-82 Two Rivers Won three consecutive state D-3 titles and three EWC titles.  Jerry Bonino would have a very good decade in the 1980’s.  He posted a 79-23 record, one of the best records by any coach during the period.  Two Rivers won six conference titles and made the playoffs three more times from 1983-89.  His team had only one losing season as well, that was a 4-5 record in 1985.  Jerry would spend 18 years as the school’s head coach ending with a 127-58 record and earn a spot in the WFCA Hall of Fame.

A TALE OF TWO RIVERS…PART 2...THE 1940'S

“It was the worst of times…” Well, not that bad

In May of 1947 Harry O’Mealy turned in his notice in early May.  A month later his replacement, Ray Wiersig, was named to become THE next school coach.  Ray inherited a football program with a 29-game unbeaten streak.  O’Mealy didn’t leave Wiersig without some experienced players. 

Ray Wiersig attended Stevens Point Teachers College and graduated in 1940.  He spent the next six years coaching, first at Argonne for one year then next at Pardeeville for another season only coaching basketball. In 1943 he moved to Sparta and coached football, basketball and baseball and stayed two years.  Next came the job that go him noticed by the school officials at Two Rivers, that as head football and basketball coach at conference rival, Algoma.  In 1945 Algoma had a 3-3-1 record and in 1946 a 2-2-3 posting in football.  Only a lack of depth kept his Wolves from doing better.

So now, the 1947 football season was starting, and this is “The worst of times”, sort of.  The season started poorly, losing to neighbor rival Manitowoc 39-12.  The Two Rivers streak was over and the Wiersig era was just beginning, although school fans began to wonder if he was the right man for the job.  During the loss the Purgolds fumbled 11 times and lost seven.  Six of those turnovers led to six Ships scores.  Ray got the players attention during the next weeks practices and the boys recovered to beat East De Pere 27-12 and the start of a five-game win streak, all conference wins.  It seems that the school had problems against non-conference teams as in game seven, a matchup against mighty Marinette, fumbles and interceptions again became a problem.  In the 35-7 loss the Raiders (Remember from Part 1 the schools had many nicknames) fumbled a state record 14 times, losing only four but they also threw two interceptions.  It seemed that non-conference foes gave the team the jitters.  In eight games the team fumbled 30-times but 25 were in their two loses. Even so, the 1947 season would earn the school their fifth consecutive eastern division of the Northwestern Wisconsin Conference (NWC) title.

In 1948 the good times returned as Two Rivers again went undefeated, 7-0-0 and won another NWC championship.  A realignment of the conference schedule led to a scheduled non-league game against Marinette to be cancelled so they only played the seven games that year.  In 1949 the AP released their All-State team and while no one from the school made the first, second or third teams two player, end Bill Zellnekl and back Earl Kandler were named to the “official” honorable mention lists (The AP started the honorable mention lists), two of 78 named. The team ended 1949 with a 4-4-1 record playing teams like Marinette, Menasha, Clintonville and Watertown.

The Purple Raiders finished the 1940’s with a 62-11-4 record.  Overall, it was the best of times for Two Rivers.

What happened to Coach Hall, Coach O’Mealy and Coach Wiersig?

Ed Hall, as I mentioned in Part 1 moved to Oshkosh High School and coached the basketball team for 10+ years.  Ed was an assistant football coach for 20+ seasons with HOF coach Harold Schumerth. 

Harry O’Mealy had a decision to make in 1947.  He was approached by three schools…Benton Harbor MI, an Illinois high school and Nogales high school in Arizona…to come and be THE coach at their schools.  I’m not sure how he made the decision to go to Arizona but as far as his coaching basketball, things mostly went well.  During Christmas break in 1947, after a lackluster 2-7-0 football season his roundball squad was headed to the state tournament when one of his star players, a freshman center played in two church league games.  The Arizona Interscholastic Association (AIA) made the school forfeit all the games he played in…which was all of 19 out of 21. They could still play in the state tournament, but the forfeits knocked the wind out of their sails in a quest for the title.  In 1948 his baseball team went 11-5, his football squad was 3-6-0 and his 1948-49 basketball squad was the Class B champion with a 25-4 record. 

Things though didn’t get better for his baseball and track teams when two of his sophomore athletes, again the starting basketball center and a guard took an unauthorized trip to visit what is now called Arizona State University at Tempe, a Phoenix suburb, to be recruited early which was against the AIA rules.  He had had enough of the kids not following rules.  His track and baseball seasons were ruined by the loss of the two stars as they were ruled ineligible for the spring.   Frustrated with the lack of players controlling their actions, O’Mealy resigned in June and moved to Missouri to a very small college, Tarkio (Now closed) to coach football, basketball and baseball.  He stayed one year and then moved to Springfield Missouri where he taught high school science, at various times, to three city high schools.  At several of the schools he was the Science Department Chairman. He occasionally helped with the varsity and junior varsity football teams and was recognized as a person that the local newspaper could talk to about local athletes, especially basketball players.  In 1962 he took a one season job coaching the basketball team at the American High School in Frankfurt Germany.  Playing only American teams from bases in Germany and Belgium the team went 13-1.

1960 Springfield MO Hilcrest HS Yearbook

Ray Wiersig an avid baseball fan who briefly played minor league ball, left coaching and teaching mathematics in 1952 and bought a bought the C. Schlei Dray Line in Manitowoc.  He ran the company until he retired in 1983. 

THEN AND LATER

53-years after the 1946 football season there was a reunion of the team.  Below is a picture of the 1946 starters and a1999 photo of those starters who attended the event.

May 9, 1999, Manitowoc Herald-Times-reporter

That’s it for now but coming up will be “A Tale of Two Rivers…Part 3” as I’ll be going “Back to the Future” to cover the early 1980’s Two Rivers championship teams.