AN OFFENSIVE EXPLOSION IN THE NORTHWOODS

On Saturday morning, October 1 I awoke to find two emails from fans reporting an unbelievable score from the night before. It was an 8-player game between Washburn and Mellen. For many of you who don’t know where those two towns/schools are located just use Google Maps. Washburn is in Bayfield County, not far from Ashland, along Lake Superior. Mellen is in Ashland County, about 35 miles southeast of Washburn.

The two emails told me of a Washburn 114-92 victory over Mellen.

That’s not a misprint. 114-92!!!

One of those who messaged me was Paul Barnes for the Ashland News. The other was from Gary Krueger II whose son, Parker plays for Washburn. He also contributed photos of the game to the newspaper. They had been scrambling for records information. But there was a problem. Other than the reported 10 touchdowns scored by Washburn’s running back, Brenden Walson (He also had a reported five 2-point conversions), there wasn’t much to go on until the coach’s posted info on WisSports.net. There was a problem though. Neither team had an official stats person covering the game that night in Mellen

Mellen Granite Diggers Washburn Castle Guards

They did have HUDL tapes, and they would have to be reviewed but that may take time. Meanwhile, I checked the record book and yes, Washburn had scored an 8-player record 114 points, beating the 110 points scored by Luck in the 2015 Jamboree game vs. Abundant Life/St. Ambrose who also scored 64 points themselves on October 31 of that year. So, the new record for a combined score was now 206 vs the 2015 game total of 174. If you look at the 11-player records, you won’t find a scored total that compares. Also, I could confirm that Brenden Walson had set a state record for both 8 and 11-player single game scoring of 70 points. That bested the 8-player record 60 points that Chris Brockman of Bruce set last year when he scored 10 touchdowns vs. Alma Center/Lincoln. Now before you write back that you looked up that games record in WisSports and only count nine touchdowns in the scoring chart, you will see one rushing touchdown by Brockman was not recorded in the chart, but it was confirmed to me by the coach as being 10. The coach said he would add the info in, but he forgot to do so. Also, Watson’s 10 touchdowns tied for the most ever in a game with the afore mentioned Brockman.

I replied back to both people asking for more info and the Washburn coach, Adam Coykendall sent me stats as well as posted the game info on WisSports…Washburn at Mellen - 2022 Regular Season (wissports.net). Mellen’s coach Tom Zakovec also posted but some info is lacking in WisSports for both sides, mainly Mellon only reports 12 touchdowns which if you multiply that by 6 you get 72 points. Where are the other 22 points scored? Well, coach Coykendall shared with me the HUDL film and I was able to confirm today, Monday, October 10 the missing scoring. Quarterback Tommy Zakovec passed for 7 touchdowns and ran for 3 to account for 10 of the 12 known scores. Danny also, even though there are shadows because of darkness and the film at the end of the game was grainy, had a hand in nine 2-point conversions, eight by passing for 78 points. Another new category is born with Single Game Scoring Responsibility. Walson has that currently as you will see further into this story.

What I found after 21 emails with the two coaches plus Barnes and Krueger was a plethora of records set or tied in this game plus a few other spots in the record book to include:

Individual Player Records:

Most Yards Rushing, in a Single Game...651…Brenden Walson, Washburn

Most points in a single game, 80...Brenden Walson, Washburn

Tied for most td's in a game...10...Brenden Walson, Washburn

Most 2-point conversions in a game, 10, tied...Brenden Walson, Washburn

A new category will be added...Most Points Responsible for, Single Game, 86...Brenden Walson, Washburn (Watson was 1-1-0-26-1...11 Touchdowns, 10 2-pt conversions)

Most Touchdowns Responsible for in a Single Game…11…Brenden Walson, Washburn

Most Yards Passing and Rushing in a Single Game...677...Brenden Walson, Washburn

Most Yards Passing, Single Game #5...444...Tommy Zakovec, Mellen

Most Yards Passing and Rushing in a Single Game #2...604 Tommy Zakovec...Mellen (Zakovec passed for 444-yards, carried 10 times for 160-yards and three scores)

Most Touchdown Passes in a Single Game, tied for #5...7 td passes...Tommy Zakovec, Mellen

Most Touchdowns Responsible for in a Single Game, tied #2…10…Tommy Zakovec, Mellen

Most Points Responsible for, Single Game #2...78...Tommy Zakovec, Mellen (10 touchdowns responsible and he threw for six 2-pt conversions)

Team Records:

Most Points Scored by a Team in a Game, 114...Washburn

Most Points Scored by 2-Teams in a Game...Washburn vs. Mellen...206

Most Points by a Losing Team in a Game, 94...Mellen

Most Yards Rushing in a single game, #2...Washburn 771 yards

Most Total Yards in a single game, #2...Washburn, 859 yards

Most Total Yards, two Teams Combined #1...1,567 yards (Washburn, 859 yards/Mellen, 708 yards)

This was keeping me busy this week with the record book doing the updates. The lack of stats points up a problem for a lot of schools and head coaches, especially those playing 8-player ball. Not enough assistant coaches, not enough players and not enough time to do everything. As you can see, while 8-player football is still new overall in Wisconsin the record book also has a lot of holes to fill. Hopefully coaches can get help in keeping and recording the information. Statistics don’t tell you the heart of a player or a coach, but they do give you a road to follow.

A look at the quarter-by-quarter scoring is very interesting:

      1     2     3     4     T

WHS 30     16    30    38    114

MHS 40     14    24   14    92

You will also see that the game was very close for three quarters. Mellen led 78-76 but Washburn gained steam and overtook them in the fourth thanks to some turnovers

One last thing. The game didn’t lead to a scoring explosion by either team this past weekend. Washburn is now 3-4 having won their last three games before losing to 54-12 to Northwoods/Colon Springs who keyed almost exclusively on Brenden Walson who only gained 39 yards in the contest. Mellen was forced take a forfeit to Chequamegon/Butternut/Mercer due to a WIAA scheduling rule on Friday but then scrimmaged South Shore on Saturday. In the scrimmage only nine of their players were able to suit up. It will be interesting to see where the two teams go from here this season. Good luck to the White Guards of Washburn and the Granite Diggers of Mellon. To paraphrase a quote by Toby McGuire in the movie Seabiscuit “Though we be little in numbers, 8-player football players are fierce” (“Though he be little, he is fierce” …from Shakespeare).

I’m attaching a story from the Ashland Daily Press. I think that a recap from the paper gives you a great perspective on the game. Thanks to all who helped. The coaches as well as Paul and Gary.

Washburn-Mellen 114-92 shootout shatters records | High School | apg-wi.com

(RUFUS) KING OF THE HILL...PART 2

Looking back at the 1960 Rufus King football program was much different from both 1940 and today. In 1940 the varsity had 32-players; the “B” squad had 30 and there were sophomore and freshman teams with 39 and 44 players on each. Move froward to 1960 and the varsity had 48 members while the sophomore-freshman team had 64 players. Today, the varsity roster on WisSports.net shows about 32 players…sophomores, juniors and seniors. There is no freshman team and some on the varsity roster are academically ineligible but still practice as they work on their grades.

Gone was Wally Dreyer, off to be the head coach at UW-Milwaukee. In came Raymond Hendrickson who coached for one season, 1960. The future Hall of Fame coach took the team to a 7-1-0 record with their only loss to Washington, a tough 2-0 battle as the Generals again took the city conference crown. Hendrickson first coached for one year at Wisconsin High School in Madison in 1953 followed by five seasons at Augusta (1954-58) then he moved to Milwaukee and coached first at South Division in 1959, King in 1960 and then on to start up the school program at Milwaukee Marshall where he stayed for over 20-seasons.

Joe Beauchamp as a San Diego Charger

After Raymond Hendrickson left, Edward Kotecki became the head coach where the program thrived. Between 1961 and 1965 his teams were 32-7-2, winning two conference titles, coming in second twice and in his first season, 1961, they finished fourth despite a 6-2-0 record. One of the stars was Joe Beauchamp who was a talented halfback as well as a great defensive back. Joe scored six touchdowns but also hauled in six interceptions. Joe ran track and played basketball. As good as he was, he didn’t make the varsity until his junior year as he helped the 1960 team win the conference title with five interceptions. He really blossomed as a senior and then later at Iowa State. In 1966 he joined the San Diego Chargers and over the next 10-seasons he intercepted 23 passes and returned three for touchdowns.

Although he lived for a while in San Diego, Joe often returned to Milwaukee and would show up at King practices and talk to the coaches but especially the [layers to encourage them with their schoolwork and their play. I personally have heard testimonials from some of the former King coaches on how much his coming by meant to all. Sadly, Joe passed away in May of 2020.

The 1962 squad was 7-1-0 losing to Lincoln 19-7 but was the city champ. They repeated again in 1963 and had an overall 6-2-1 record. They lost their season opener against Homestead, 12-7. And later tied Custer 0-0 and lost to Milwaukee West late in the year 17-7. Coach Kotecki had them primed for a championship run but they fell just a bit short, finishing second in 1964 and 1965 going 7-1-1 and 6-1-1. Coach Kotecki moved on after the 1965 season to Cedarburg. In stepped Jerry Zuck.

I haven’t found out a lot about Coach Zuck beyond the time he was at King, 1966-73. His eight-year record was impressive with a 46-17-2 record, three city conference titles and one second place posting. What I have found about King was impressive as they were super on defense. I’m not showing the game scores for the 1968 season, 5-4-0 (5-3-0 in conference play) but look at the following stats: King only gave up 14 points in conference play. They caused 37 total fumbles, recovered 21 fumbles, intercepted 12 passes and had 25 sacks. They allowed only 439 yards.

They had some offense as well behind the play of quarterback Bill Stewart from the middle of the 1968 season through 1970. King went 5-4-0 with Stewart leading them to a 4-1-0 record as a starter. The 1969 team went 7-0-1, winning the conference title as King tied Tech for the #1 spot. Interestingly, Tech earned the #16 spot in the final Associated Press poll. It seemed that few voters thought much of the city conference that year. As early as the third week of the poll, Tech was ranked #10 but later dropped in the voter’s estimation. King was nowhere to be found in the polls even though they were leading the league in holding opponents just under 100-yards on offense. They also had some offense as junior quarterback Bill Stewart was 44-80-3-796-10 passing and rushed for 243 yards and scored four times. Senior end Curtis Davis hauled in 30 passes for 609 yards and eight touchdowns. Stewart and Davis were named to the All-City team.

In the 1970 opener, a 0-0 tie to Marshfield Columbus, the Generals only gained 187 yards but held the “Dons” to only 30 yards on the ground, zero yards passing and only one first down which was a result of a penalty. Columbus coach (A future member of the WFCA Hall of Fame) Walt Kroll was particularly impressed by the defensive line and Kings linebackers. King would have won the game except for fumbling twice, losing both inside the 10-yard line. Stewart led King to an undefeated season, 8-0-1 in 1970. Well, sort of. In the second to last AP po of 1970 posted on November 5, 1970, had King in the #11 spot with a 7-0-0 record. The next week and final week of the poll, posted on Wednesday, November 11 had King in the #10 spot with a 9-0-0 record. So, what’s correct? The record that I found in the yearbook and confirmed in newspaper research so 8-0-1 is correct.

How good of an athlete was Bill Stewart? He stared in football, basketball, baseball and track. Besides earning All-City in football as a junior and as a senior, All-City in basketball both seasons, he finished3rd in the 1969 state track meet competing in the high jump. But that isn’t all his accomplishments. In 1970 he earned 1st team All-State in football, the first African American to gain that honor. He was also Al-State in basketball. His stats for 1970 was 48-100-3-864-9 passing and 60-371-8 rushing and he also scored a touchdown on a pass reception. Bill went on to play football at Northern Illinois and basketball.

When Stewart left King, the cupboard wasn’t empty. Gary Pinkerton stepped into the quarterback spot for the 1971 and 1972 seasons, earning All-City and honorable mention All-State. The 1971 team went undefeated as they posted an 8-0-0 record. If you notice the 1971 record, they played a non-conference game against Muskego. Defense played a great part in the 1972 season. King only played seven conference games and posted a 5-1-1 record. The Generals allowed a total of 146 yards, holding their opponents to -175 yards on the ground. Super defense. The 1972 season and the conference split into two sections with six regular games and then the top teams played for the city title. There were now 14-teams in the conference, and it was harder to make balanced schedules. King’s lone loss that season was in the title game, a 14-9 loss to Boy’s Tech. Later in the 1980’s the conference would split, and some schools would play teams like those in Racine and Kenosha before forming into two Milwaukee City Conferences…The Blackbourn and The Richardson. Named to honor those two outstanding coaches who won many titles during the 1937-73 period.

By 1974 the team was heading south and Jerry Zuck moved on after directing his players to a 4-4-0 season. There would be some very good seasons in the future

(RUFUS) KING OF THE HILL...PART 1

In 1934, Milwaukee Rufus King High School opened its doors and produced its first varsity football team in 1937. The school was named after a former resident of Milwaukee who was a Civil War general, the first superintendent of Milwaukee schools, newspaper editor for the Milwaukee Sentinel as well a diplomat. It was a fledgling program, and they didn’t play any other Milwaukee Public Schools their first year. Instead, they played a variety of schools and did quite well, going 3-1-3 under the head coach, George A. Wolf. I honestly don’t have any background on Wolf other than sparce info from the school yearbooks. Oh, if you might be thinking that the name sounds familiar, there was a George Woolf who was the main jockey of the great racing horse, Seabiscuit.

Rufus King from the 1941 school yearbook

Rufus King from the 1941 school yearbook

Wolf tutored the new classes each year as more students were added to the school. The freemen became sophomores and then juniors. They played an informal schedule each season between 1934 and 1936 against any school that had a JV, a Seconds or “B” squads. The players learned well. King was growing under the school’s principal, Ralph G. Chamberlin to whom the school’s first yearbook was decanted. Again, I can’t find additional info on Mr. Chamberlin except to surmise that he may have been related…a son of, possibly…to G. A Chamberlin who was, for many years, a teacher and football coach at Milwaukee East (Riverside) High School. G.A. was also a main cog in the WIAA as he served on that organizations Board of Control for 32-years.

It was Ralph Chamberlin who helped make sure that the school had a football stadium and not just a practice field. It was a glorious one that has now been relegated to holding track meets, football practices and some daytime JV games. In its heyday the stadium would host 10,000-12,000 fans for the school’s football games. The stadium was nicknamed “The Bowl of Victory”.

The 1937 season started with a 13-7 loss to Whitefish Bay but the next week the “Generals” trounced Menomonee Falls 20-0. They tied Milwaukee Marquette 13-13 and then followed up with a 14-14 tie of Sheboygan. Nearby Messmer was dispatched 27-0 and then they traveled to Port Washington and played to a 7-7 tie. The season finale was against Milwaukee Country Day (A school that later merged with Milwaukee University School, now located in Mequon. Country Day was located at the time in Whitefish Bay near today’s Dominican High School) in a 27-7 victory. Country Day was directed by Hall of Fame coach Kenneth Laard who won 195 games in his 40-years as a head coach. He also started coaching at Country Day after five seasons at Appleton and two at Bloomer in 1937.

George A. Wolf, 1948

1938 rolled around and the team went 5-2-0 with wins over Sheboygan, Shorewood and Marquette. They lost to a fine Oshkosh team and then they played the first Milwaukee City Conference teams. Boy’s Tech went down 26-0 and there was a close win over Custer, 6-0. The final game was against Milwaukee Country Day and their opponent was ready for them as the Generals lost a heartbreaker, 13-0. The season was a success for King and coach Wolf as he and his men looked forward to their introduction to the City Conference in 1939.

They played their first two games of the 1939 season against non-conference opponents and then there was the start of the conference schedule. In their first official conference game they defeated Milwaukee East. Next up was the battle for the conference title, even though it was only mid-season. The Washington” Puregolders” were the team to beat. I’ll leave it to you to read the details in my previous blog, “PLAYING THROUGH THE DEPRESSION…PART 2. The game was a battle and while King lost, they would end up in second place in the conference

Milwaukee was growing now as the city’s population swelled to about 625,000 souls as Word War II was about to grip the whole earth. George Wolf would coach until 1946. His 6-1-1 team of 1943 would place second in the conference. He would post seven winning seasons in his 10 years at King, and he left with a shining 45-24-7 varsity record. Wolf stayed on a few years working in the athletic department and coaching gymnastics. With the city’s growth a need for new high schools was pressing the city fathers. In 1937 when Rufus King played their first varsity football game there were nine other Milwaukee high schools: Washington, Lincoln, Bay View, Tech, East, Custer, South, North and West. Two more were not far behind in opening…Pulaski and Juneau.

As schools were added the landscape of Milwaukee began to change. There were clusters of people with different nationalities and race around the city. The south side was heavy with Poles and Germans. Closer to the downtown area there were many Italians and other European ethnic groups. On the near north side there were clusters of African Americans, many who moved north just before or during the war looking for a better life. There were few Hispanic and Asian-Americans at the time. But the landscape of people and faces were none the less changing. Post-World War II brought movement to the north lakeshore communities and the western suburbs. Coaching personalities in Milwaukee also changed. Gone, besides George Wolf, was Lisle Blackbourn from Washington. New coaches began to take other- city schools to new heights. Robert Neubauer took over at King and had moderate success, going 26-18-3 from 1947-52.

There was a downside to the Neubauer era. On November 20, 1949, tragedy occurred when starting quarterback Frederic “Fred/Fritz” Barthel died following the season ending 24-14 win over Custer. Very late in the game Barthel received a massive concussion and collapsed. He was rushed to Lakeview Hospital (Now Closed) as he suffered an internal hemorrhage. Surgery couldn’t relieve the pressure and he expired the next day, never waking up. Milwaukee Sentinel Sports Editor, Lloyd Larson eulogized Fred in the November 24 edition. That same day the Milwaukee Journal broke tradition when they named a 12-man squad, instead of 11-men, to the All-City 1st team. including Barthel as an addition to the squad. Much loved and honored by his fellow students, and fans. The King/Custer game was a day game, but Fred had volunteered to work the city championship to be held at Marquette Stadium between Pulaski and Bay View. He had turned down any payment, he was working for the fun of it. Kids around his home near Lindbergh Park on north 16th St. in Milwaukee (Now renamed Berrien Park) would flock to see Barthel when he walked by to ask him what was new in the sports world. Fritz’s picture was displayed in the school and the 1950 team vowed to win the Custer game in his memory. Alas, it was not to be as the Generals lost in the fourth quarter 14-6.

November 24, 1949, Milwaukee Journal

Neubauer’s final season, 1952, was his best as King and Washington tied for second in the city and the newest coaching star, Jim Richardson of Boy’s Tec who led the school to the city title. King and Washington went 7-0-1 as the two teams tied in the season’s final game 13-13 before 11,000 fans. Interestingly, Tech played a very close game against a middle of the road Pulaski team, only winning 14-13. King beat Pulaski 15-0 and Washington beat them 14-0. The coaching landscape continued to change as John Powers of Washington stepped down at the season’s end as head coach. He had been there during the glory years with Lisle Blackbourn as his trusted assistant for 11-seasons and then, when Blackbourn moved on Powers became the head coach for the next seven, winning two city titles. Tech had opened its doors 35-years before and had come close to winning the city title several times, but they fell short and finished in second place.

Stepping in to replace Neubauer would be a coach with little experience but surely learned his trade as a player, a collegian and as a pro. Walter “Wally” Dwyer played football at Milwaukee Washington for Lisle Blackbourn as a halfback and was the team captain in 1939.

I need to make a special note here. When I made my all-1930’s team as noted in my blog: PLAYING THROUGH THE DEPRESSION…PART 2 I accidently left Wally off the Honorable Mention list. That gave Washington, with fullback Pat Harder as the top player that season but they also had a fine halfback in Dwyer.

Following graduation Dreyer attended UW-Madison and played on the freshman team. He then was in the Marines reserves and the Corp transferred him to the University of Michigan for military training and while there he earned a letter as he played on the 1943 Big Ten champions, coached under College Hall of Fame Coach Fritz Crisler. From there it was off to service in the Pacific as he saw combat on Okinawa. Dreyer served three years in the military and then returned to Madison and played there from 1946-48, serving as the team captain his senior year. Following his play in the Blue-Gray All-Star game and then it was on to the NFL. He was drafted by the Chicago Bears and played one season before coach George Halas (Who was also the owner of the Bears) traded him to the Green Bay Packers. By now it was 1952 and Wally decided to retire from the NFL and took the head coaching job at Berlin H.S. before moving back to Milwaukee and taking the head coaching job at Rufus King. His first season was not a huge success as the Generals went from 7-0-1 in 1952 to 1-7-0 in 1953. He changed his assistant coach (Most teams in those days only had one assistant) for a man who would be very iatrical in Kings success. Richard “Dick” Krueger moved into the assistant spot and 1954 was a move into the right direction as the team improved with a 5-3-0 record.

At this point I want to make a mention about the 12-team City Conference in 1954: With 12-teams there was a 3-way tie for the City Championship. Boy’s Tech, Washington and South all finished with 6-1-1 records. Tech beat South but tied lowly Lincoln and lost to Bay View. South tied Lincoln and lost to Tech. Washington played to a tie vs. Bay View and lost to middle of the road Juneau. Crazy.

Things got better in 1955 for King as the team went 7-0-1 and won their first City Conference title. 1956 was also fine as the team went 7-1-0 for their second consecutive City title. The team lost a lot of key starters from the past two seasons but even, so they were 5-3-0 and placed second in the city. As I mentioned before the landscape in the city population wise was changing. For the first time, in looking at the school’s yearbooks, I noticed more and more African Americans attending King. The first players from that ethnic group appeared in the 1957 team photo. Earnest Jackson, John Triggs, Jim Weber and Sterling Gray may not have started but they all contributed to the team and would do so moving forward. The African American community had mainly attended Lincoln and North, but now more and more were more attending all the high schools in the city and that only helped all.

1958 the team went undefeated, going 8-0-0 as the Generals finished #3 in the United Press International football poll behind #1 Superior Central and #2 Waukesha. Louis Beauchamp, brother of future star Joe Beauchamp, was one of the stars of the team. 1958 made it three out of four seasons that King was #1 in the conference and even though they posted a 7-1-0 record in 1959 they could be proud of being #2 that year

Wally Dreyer 1958

Wally Dreyer left the school and became the head coach at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee from 1960—71 as well as being named an Assistant Professor of Physical Education. He held the assistant position until 1988 when he retired. While at King he posted a 40-16-1 record and was named to the WFCA Hall-of-Fame in 1993. Richard “Dick” Krueger stayed at King on and off until 1966. He spent time after the 1959 season as a Graduate Assistant at the University of Georgia and at UW-Milwaukee in 1961. He left King in 1966 and became the head coach at Milwaukee Madison where he won four city championships and three division titles in his 20-season’s. He posted an overall record of 168-86-1 as an assistant and head coach.

This is just the first part of the early Rufus King story.