THE FOOTBALL GAME (S) THAT SAVED LIVES…PART 2

Continuing on from PART 1 there were two other games that I found information in dealing with the November 11, 1940 storm.

Tomah vs. Sparta

Farther north of Boscobel, Tomah beat Sparta in their annual matchup.  In the hard-fought game that also featured high winds and a blinding snowstorm, Harold “Red” Larabee took the ball from the Sparta 24-yard line and dashed 23-yards where he was finally pushed out of bounds on the one-yard line.  He then plunged for the touchdown on the next play and then ran for the extra point.  His second quarter score was the games only score.  Each team had eight first downs but only one each in the second half as they battled each other and the weather.

So, how did this game possibly save lives?  Several days later the Eau Claire Leader Telegram reported that three area men, driving to La Crosse to go duck hunting had car problems and had to stay overnight on Friday in Sparta.  Parts for the car were hard to come by and the car wouldn’t be ready until Monday afternoon.  To pass the time until 3pm, the time to pick the car up, they decided walk to the local football game at New Site Stadium.  It was great weather…50’s and sunny.  The storm hit Sparta hard.  They left early to get their car then stayed one more night but cancelled their hunting trip after learning of what happened on the Mississippi River.  More about that later.

Winona (MN) vs Rochester (MN)

Winona traveled to Rochester for an annual season ending matchup.  Both teams were in the middle of their conference rankings.  City officials expected 4,000+ attendees but a late morning rain kept the fan totals down to 600 at the start of the game.  Soldiers Field was muddy to begin at the start, then the winds came followed by the snow 10-minutes later.  A few minutes later those watching the number was down to less than 300.  Rochester would dominate the overall stats and by the by the time the game ended there were only 50-60 diehard fans in attendance.  Players from both sides huddled together to stay warm. As the two teams were placed, for some reason, along the same sideline. 

Down 7-0, Winona attempted a field goal in the second quarter.  With the wind now swirling all about the ball went into the air and seemed to hover for a moment.  First moving to the left then to the right but not going past the line of scrimmage, then the ball flew back over the kickers head and was down on the 37-yard line.  This culminated what was Winona’s only drive of the game as they only had 2 first downs to Rochester’s 12 and were outgained 86 to 271 in the ground game as neither team completed a pass.  Winona’s only score came on a blocked punt that was returned 52-yards by William Corchran for a touchdown, the same player who blocked the kick.   A punt by Winona’s Bob Harders in the third quarter went up in the air and hovered for 10-15 seconds, not moving back and forth like the earlier Winona field goal attempt and then was finally blown back and came down 15-yards behind Harders who downed the ball. 

With the bad weather there were lots of fumbles.  76 Winona high school students who attended the game, not dressed for the bad weather, sought shelter in a newly opened bowling alley and slept overnight there before returning to Winona the next day.   Carleton Dorn, the Winona team captain, spent the night in the hospital with a groin injury but was released on Tuesday and traveled with the team back home.  No mention in the papers (The Rochester Post Bulletin or the Winona Republican-Herald) where the team spent the night. The final score wound up 13-6 in Rochester’s favor. 

Again, a story in the local paper, The Rochester Post-Bulletin, would later credit several people who came back from hunting to attend the game as having survived the storm on the Mississippi River.

Rochester Post- Bulletin November 12, 1940

MORE ON THE BIG STORM

The Crawford County Press (Prairie du Chien) Thursday, November 14, 1940.

The storm moved out of the north-west (Oregon) on Friday, November 8, and traveled across the Rocky Mountains where it picked up steam.  It dipped into the southwest and Texas and zoomed north into Lake Superior gripping, at various times, 28 states.

Chicago Tribune November 12, 1940

At least one hunter died near Prairie du Chien.  Hunters were trapped on numerous islands all along Mississippi River from Wisconsin to central Illinois.  At least three hunters from Janesville died due to the weather 30-miles north of Prairie du Chien in the Ferryville and nine overall along the river.  Several hundred had to suffer through the night of November 11-12, stranded and unable to get to solid ground as the wind and snow made rescue, in most cases, impossible until mid-day or later.

Eau Claire Leader Telegram   Nov. 13, 1940

70 deaths were attributed to the storm wave throughout the Mid-west.  Ships on Lake Michigan sunk due the heavy waves.  On Lake Michigan the Coast Guard lost at least four of their own men attempting to rescue people.  In Nebraska at least 25% of the farm raised turkeys died while in Minnesota the rate was over 33%.  With Thanksgiving only less than three weeks away, the harvest of the birds was diminished.  Some southern states saw temperatures, normally in the 50’s-60’s drop into the upper 20’s for a day but high winds and a few tornadoes’ cut through the region.  In Chicago, which received a few inches of snow saw heavy wind damage.  A Hiram Walker whiskey sign, nearly 10 stories tall that was on a three-story building in downtown Chicago was blown over as wind gusts hit 70-80mph.  Near Mankato Minnesota three people were found frozen to death in their stalled cars, one under a snow drift.

In all I’ve able to track at least 15 Armistice Day Wisconsin football games cancelled or postponed because of the weather.  But truly, because some diehard football fans put off their duck hunting for a game on the gridiron, lives may very well have been saved.

Finally, near Madison several football games were rescheduled and there were local hunting problems.

Wisconsin State Journal November 12, 1940

You would have thought that Rupert J. Batz would have heard that a storm was coming and been prepared.

A special thanks to Derick Kelly, Sports Editor of the Prairie du Chien Courier Press Newspaper for giving me leads on these PDC vs. Boscobel 1940 game that led to more story gathering for PART 2.  Derick has also done a masterful job in collecting PDC high school records, particularly football.

THE FOOTBALL GAME (S) THAT SAVED LIVES…PART 1

The November 11, 1940, newspaper headlines throughout the nation were all about war.  War in Europe was very unsettling.  Bad weather had halted, for a few days, Germany’s bombing of London.  The Greeks were routing the invading Italians.  German advances in Romania were greatly stalled by an earthquake that killed over 1,000 civilians and disrupted the roads and occupied cities.  Japan in the Pacific was storming China.  Inside the news pages there were stories and pictures of the United States getting ready for war as well as the country’s support of England.  America was 13-months away from being directly pulled into the fight.  But on this day, there would be a few high school games and sport hunting to take people’s mind off the world events.  Many Thanksgiving ads were in the newspapers.  A small threat of cold weather was predicted for the upcoming week as the observance of the special day. Armistice Day was, in 1940, on a Monday.

November 11, 1940, was set to be a normal Armistice Day.  Today it’s called Veterans Day having the name changed in 1954.  The 1918 Armistice was Germany’s surrender in World War I to the Allies (United States, Britan, France and others) that took effect at 11AM that day…the 11^th month, the 11^th day and the 11^th hour of the November morning.

Prior to "The Great War" many big games were set for Thanksgiving Day, as I've mentioned in previous stories.  After World War I many teams played special games on both Armistice Day and then a final game on Thanksgiving for a few years.  But in the mid-1920’s the WIAA started taking more control of state school’s athletic season schedules. Many schools season end dates were completed around Armistice Day or even the weekend before in 1940 to help accommodate the start of basketball.  Crucial conference showdowns were often the case around this time in Wisconsin.  The Green Bay East/West dual was often on November 11 or close to then.  I’m also quite sure that in 1940 the WIAA didn’t take into consideration hunting seasons…ducks and deer but these were key dates that impacted attendance at the late season games.

Prairie du Chien vs. Boscobel

As Monday, November 11 dawned the expected high temperature was to be in most parts of Wisconsin around 50-55 degrees and that’s what it was as football fans from Prairie du Chien trekked through the hills of the western farmland to watch the Maroons play at Boscobel.  The game was turning out to be for the SWAL title as both were 5-0-0 in conference play.  Each had dispatched opponents like Cuba City, Lancaster, Darlington, Platteville, Mineral Point, Fennimore, Dodgeville and Mt. Horeb.  Each school in the conference had a six-game, round robin type schedule each season.  The Boscobel Bulldogs were ready for Prairie.  A number of fans for both schools put off hunting ducks on the Mississippi or nearby lakes to watch the game. 

In 1980, the former Maroons coach Cecil Smith, thought that at the 1pm start time the temperature was up in the 70’s. 

1942 PDC Blackhawk Yearbook

In all the other reports from around western and central Wisconsin the state had temperatures in the lower 50’s when the team showed up at 12 noon.  40-years later a bit of his memory about that day may have been a little clouded but there were several points that were clear.  It was a bright, sunny day to start.  He remembered the wind and the snow correctly.  Shortly before the opening kickoff clouds moved in and the wind began to pick up. The temperature started to dramatically drop.  The game itself became a game of who had the wind to their back as punting became the key to field position. 

As the game moved into the second quarter the temperature took an even more drastic dip.  On Tuesday, November 12 the Wisconsin State Journal (Madison), 74-miles east of Boscobel, reported, temperature wise, how things went horribly bad for people in that city. 

For players, fans and eventually anyone else out on the road in southern to central Wisconsin it was hazardous to be outside.  Winds hit the Madison airport so hard that a hanger collapsed.  Madison’s airport, where official weather information was recorded, stated that eight inches fell that day in the city.  On top of the above temperature chart posted on November 12, there were additional stories about the hazardous wind and snow and death.

In Minneapolis shoppers skidded on frozen sidewalks as the afternoon temps dropped from 55 degrees to 25 degrees in two hours with heavy rain turning to snow and winds hitting 60mph. 

In Boscobel the wind was coming out of the west-southwest and seemed to swirl throughout the hills in the area.  Then it began to snow and show hard.  Neither team was making much headway as they each were limited in picking up any bit of meaningful yardage.  Midway through the second quarter coach Smith sent someone out to buy gloves and they returned with 18 pairs.  Just before halftime Boscobel had driven to Prairies one-foot line but failed to score.  Surprisingly, according to the Prairie di Chien Courier Press, despite the wind and snow Boscobel was able to complete several key passes but none led to a score.  Once, Maroon back Mike Elliot dropped back to punt and the wind blew it back over his head.  He was able to recover it before a safety could be scored.  Elliot had the one big run of the game, a 47-yard gain but Prairie failed to capitalize.  That big gain turned out to be Prairie du Chien’s only first down.  Boscobel, the bigger team, was able to pick up 12 first downs as they dominated the game despite the bad weather.  There were a few fumbles for both team, which was surprising considering the weather.  As the game clock was ticking down Boscobel mounted one last drive picking up three first downs, but they stalled at mid-field as the game ended.  In the end with multiple inches of snow the going was tough for both sides.  Coach Smith remembered several feet of snow but that may have been a build-up of drifts.  The game ended tied 0-0.

News reports in the Courier Press, reporting about the storm, felt that a number of fans who missed the day of hunting to attend the game, by their attendance in Boscobel, may have saved their lives. 

Next time, the killer storm and two other games.

THE UNDEFEATED 1970 ALMA RIVERMEN…GETTING SOME RESPECT, PART 2

Prior to the matchup against a 3-3-0 Winona Cotter, played in Winona, there was a twist in the A.P. polls.  In the recent poll Gale-Ettrick stayed #1 with Alma moving up to #4 in the “others”.  But there was a new wrinkle to the polls.   Kewaunee, which had been #10 in the Big Ten A.P. poll had notified the WIAA that their enrollment had dropped and they now had 592 students, eight under the minimum for the A.P. Big Ten poll so they were dropped to the Little Ten and as it turned out they were voted into the #10 spot the week of October 22, 1970.  The 32 points that they were awarded in the Little Ten poll would have kept them at #10 in the Big Ten poll.  The following week Kewaunee would move up in the Little Ten to the #7 spot. The poll posted on Wednesday.

Two days later on Friday night the Rivermen scored first against Cotter on a Jeff Bjork 16-yard interception return and with the 2-pt conversion Alma was up 8-0.  But a 55-yard strike from Cotters Steve Wiltgen to Mike Schultz showed that an opponent could score on the visitors.  The shutout run was over, but Alma wasn’t done.  The defense came up big holding Cotter to -31-yards on the ground and while the team allowed 150-yards passing they held their opponent to 119-total yards.  Cotter completed only nine of 30 passes but also tossed six interceptions with Bjork having three of those picks. Barry Ritscher was 6 of 13 for 94 yards and two scores, ran for 37 more, made nine unassisted tackles and scored the final touchdown on a 60-yard interception return.  With the win Alma moved up to the top spot on the A.P. "others" portion of the poll.

Now the final game was coming up against Elgin-Millville.  This would the fifth consecutive conference loss for the Watchmen as well as their fifth consecutive time that they had been shutout.  The 53-0 game was all Curt Gross.  The fullback scored five touchdowns, collected two 2-pt. conversion runs for 34 points and registered 31 unassisted tackles!  Those 34 points in the game moved him into the top spot in area scoring with a total of 118 points, jumping over Cochrane-Fountain City back Bill Baertsch who had 115 points in eight games.  Gross ended the season with a remarkable 127 tackles.  Barry Ritscher tossed two scores covering 60 and 33 yards against Elgin-Millville.

1971 Alma Yearbook…Note that there are 36 players on the squad…nearly every boy in the high school

1972 Alma Yearbook

It’s sort of strange that the final Little Ten poll showed Alma with an 8-0-0 record when they finished 9-0-0 BUT they got some respect as they jumped into the top 10 Little Ten A. P. poll.

Winona Daily News November 5, 1970

The local poll in the November 10, 1970 edition of the Winona Daily News had Alma tied for #1 with Gale-Ettrick.

Gale-Ettrick, Alma Eleva-Strum and Cochrane-Fountain City were the only Wisconsin schools on the list.  The rest are Minnesota schools including Spring Valley (MN) (Not to be confused with the Wisconsin village 60 miles north of Alma).

Honors came to six of the Rivermen by way of the All-Centennial Conference football first team, posted in the Daily News.  Curt Gross made it as a fullback after being named on the defense in 1969.  Barry Ritscher was named as the squad’s quarterback, Brian Ruff made it at the offensive guard spot, junior Bruce Mueller made the team at the center position.  On defense Tom Reiter and Steve Pearson were named as ends.  Jeff Youngbauer, Steve Brovold and Jim Lorenz were named to the honorable mention list.  Farther south of Winona the La Crosse Tribune named Ruff to the second team of their annual All-Coulee Region Team.

1971 Alma Yearbook

On the season the team gained 3,054 yards on offense for a 339.33 per game average and the defense held opponents to 364 total yards, a 40.44 average.  Individual stats are hard to come by, but Curt Gross gained about 800-yards on the ground, scored 17 touchdowns with 8 2-pt conversions and 127 tackles.  Barry Ritscher was 66-34-698-7 and gained 324 yards on the ground.  Jeff Bjork corralled at least six interceptions with three coming in the Cotter game. Of the stars on the team only one, Barry Ritscher, went on to play college ball where he played defensive back for four seasons at UW-River Falls.

Many of the football players were part of a very successful basketball 1970-71 season as well as winning the 1971 Wisconsin State Summer Baseball Championship.  The football winning streak would expand to 16-games before losing in the fourth game of the 1971 season. 

Realignment came to both sides of the Mississippi in 1971 with the Centennial Conference expanding to 10-teams, all Minnesota schools.  The Wisconsin based Dairyland Conference would expand with Alma joining.  The Riverman started 1971 with two shutouts and allowed a safety in game three before they lost to “the other Alma…Alma Center Lincoln 22-20.  Iverson would stay on as head coach until 1980 when, because of two consecutive 1-8 seasons in 1978 and 1979 along with just not enough players to compete the school dropped the sport for the 1981 season along with baseball for two seasons.  Lynn Iverson spent about 19 years as the head football coach and 35 years as a teacher at Alma.  He passed away a few years ago.

Being the smallest school in the Dairyland they came back on August 28, 1981, under a new head coach, to win the season opener 22-20 in overtime to, guess who?  Alma Center. The program would have its ups and downs as Alma stood on its own at various times after co-oping with Gilmartin as they made the WIAA playoffs in 1989, 1990 and 1996 before going on their own and making the playoffs 2004-07.  They then began co-oping with Pepin in 2009, and the Pepin/Alma 2014 and 2015 teams were the state Division 7 runner-up those years.  The pairing of these two seems to be successful as they have made the playoffs 14 times. 

What Lynn Iverson started, current coach Mike Olson of Pepin is continuing the success.

I want to thank Curt Gross for giving me the heads up on the 1970 ALMA season and Amanda Burrow, Spanish Teacher/Library Assistant at Alma Area Schools who supplied me with yearbook research information. They both helped make this story possible.