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.   

END OF AN ERA AND AN UPSET???

Both November 7 and 8, 1968 goes down as important dates in state and Madison area high school football history.

THE END OF AN ERA

November 8 was the date of the last game that the Madison Central High School Tigers played their final football game ever.  The school opened about 100-years prior to 1968 as Madison High School.  The Wisconsin State Journal newspaper reported that the school started playing football 75-years prior to 1968.  I can’t find anything sooner in any written or photographic material that goes before 1893.  There are photos of the 1894-97 hanging in the between NCAA and the NFHS buildings in Indianapolis…see Lucius Donkle Jr and his son Lucius III looking at the photos of those four teams…A FAMILY AFFAIR RELATING TO THE 1897 MADISON CHAMPIONSHIP…PART 1.  Madison claimed to be the state champions for those four seasons that could be disputed due to inadequate available records of other state-wide schools.  To be sure they were successful.  1897 is the first year that enough records for other state teams can make Madison High the first official state champion along with being the first high school National Champion.

On Friday night, November 8 Madison Central…the name changed after Madison East and West opened in the 1920’s…played a final game at Madison’s Breeze Stevens Field.  Their opponent was Madison West.  The West Regents were 4-4-0 overall, 4-3-0 in conference play going into the contest.  If West won, they would earn a fifth-place spot in the Big Eight Conference.  Meanwhile the Central Tigers were winless, 0-7-0.  They only played conference games that year but if they beat West, they would avoid sharing the bottom place in the conference with winless Janesville Craig. The school was riding an eight-game losing streak having lost their last game of the 1967 season.

The Central/West series started in 1930 and the Regents held a commanding 30-7-2 overall record. By the 1930’s Central was now a middle of the pack, so to speak program.  As it turned out it would be another victory for West and Central would close on a dismal 27-0 loss note thanks to West’s Art Sanger’s running 30-times for 226-yardsand two long touchdown runs of 49 and 78 yards.  Even though Sanger carried the ball 30 times he was pulled in the second half as West’s reserves played the final 19 minutes.  Madison Central would close their football records ranked, at that time, the 11^th winningest state program with 275 victories along with 246 losses and 32 ties.  The Tigers would earn that early state title and the glorious 1897 National Championship before becoming an underachieving program, probably due to losing students/athletes to the newer schools.

THE UPSET???

The day before Central and West played on November 7^th Madison La Follette and Madison East faced off, also at Breeze Stevens Field before 8,500 screaming fans in one of the greatest games in city history.  It had rained sometime prior to the game, and it was hard traction for both teams yet East was able to dominate.  As recently as April of 2025 at a Madison Hall of Fame gathering former players were still talking about it, and why not.  Memorial was ranked number 1 in the state while East was #19.

Nov. 8, 1968 Wisconsin State Journal A.P.  statewide poll released the day after the game.  The same day the Memorial/East game results were printed.

The same day as the poll was released the citation above the game stats tells much the results:

Madison La Follette was favored to win not only because of their press poll rankings but by most fans.  As good as La Follette may have been, East was the dominate team in this matchup thanks to coach Herbert “Butch” Mueller having his Purgolders ready to pound the Lancers.  Much of the credit went to, deservedly so, to All-State quarterback Tim Healy.  In fact, this game probably solidified Healy for all the honors he would receive.  Healy was eight of 16 passing for 138 yards, five to his top receiver Bob Homburg.  While he didn’t pick up a lot of yards rushing it was his ability to get free from defenders that made his play even more dazzling.

Madison Capitol Times, Nov. 8, 1968, East’s Tim Healy runs for a gain against La Follette

But what was even mor impressive was the quarterbacks right foot.  East clearly dominated the statistics yet failed to put up a lot of points.  The running of backs Tom Mucks and Ron Buss picked up 49 and 67 yards rushing respectively.  They along with Bob Storck, Larry Christenson, Ed Bosold and Healy were stars on the defensive end.  It boiled down to a great athlete coming through in the clutch late in the game to kick the only field goal of his career, a 28-yarder, to give his team the victory.  It was a perfect snap, a perfect hold and a perfect kick.  Yes, La Follette got the ball two more times in the fourth quarter and yet couldn’t move the ball.  It was Easts defense on a soggy field and their quarterback that made the difference.  Without a play-by-play description, suffice it to say this was a great game.

THE END RESULTS OF THE GAME

The final Big Eight Conference standings…note that there were 13 teams in the conference that year.

THE FINAL STATE STANDINGS:

East jumps from #19 to the #2 spot and La Follette dropped to #4

The top 10 the week before in the U.P.I poll matched that of the A.P. but now East jumped into the poll to #2 and La Follette dropped to #8. Both polls were posted in the Wisconsin State Journal on November 14, 1968

East would end up dominating the Madison All-City squads with Healy sharing POY honors with West’s Art Sanger.  Sanger made first team All-City as a running back…239 carries for 1,149 yards and 15 td’s.  Healy completed 63 passes for 1,181 yards and 12 touchdowns while running for 238 yards.  Other Purgolders on the first team were offensive guard Paul Ziebarth, offensive tackle Greg Hoffman, end Bob Homburg, defensive end Bob Storck, and defensive back Ron Buss.  Buss was actually the team’s leading rusher with 408 yards even with missing one game.  The team had a balanced rushing game with Coach Mueller substituting players regularly because several also played defense.  Tom Mucks was the sole second team player for the squad but others who picked up honorable mention were:  Center Ed Bosold, tackles Geoff Hurtago, and Larry Christenson, as well as back Randy Sokolak. 

While Tim Healy was named only to the Madison All-City Team as a quarterback and as a co-POY, the voters must have thought that was enough for him.  A few weeks later the AP All-State team was released, and he earned two big honors…First team quarterback and first team defensive back.  It should be noted that it has been rare once the All-State teams placed both an offensive and a defensive team instead of just a top 11-players for a player to be named to both sides of the ball.  1968 was a VERY rare time when hot only Healy but two other players were named to both of the first team groups.

Hartford’s offensive tackle/linebacker Mark Fraundorf and Brookfield Central’s center/defensive end Randy Barrett were honored on both squads to make it the only time this occurred.  Also, a fourth player, Eau Claire Memorial’s Dick Vorphal earned a first team spot as a linebacker and a second team position as an offensive tackle.

In mid-December Healy was named to the U.P.I. first team as the quarterback and 6’4, 222 defensive end Bob Storck was named on both of the first team A.P and U.P.I. lists.  Defensive back Ron Buss was accorded honorable mention on the A.P. team.  Offensive guard Paul Zierbarth was earned special mention on the U.P.I team.

Coach Mueller was named City Coach of the Year.   He retired after the season and was replaced by the soon to be former head coach of the closing Madison Central, Wayne “Knobby” Kelliher who would be named into the WFCA hall of Fame in 1999.

Mueller coached at East for 23-years and had a 112-60-12 record.  He was inducted into the WFCA HOF in 1980.