GREAT SUPERIOR TEAMS…PART 1

1930 SUPERIOR CENTRAL...STATE CHAMPIONS

COVERING SOME GREAT HIGH SCHOOL TEAMS FROM 1930 THROUGH THE MID-1960’S ON SEVERAL CITY OF SUPERIOR FOOTBALL TEAMS

Coach Harry Conley took over the Superior Central football program in 1929.  The “Purple and White” were also known, according to the school yearbook as “The Orphans”.  I ask, why the two nick names?  In the great seasons of 1918-20 they were known as the Vikings.  Central would take up that moniker again in 1932 although the Superior Evening Telegram would occasionally use the Purples or the Purple and White in some stories.  The team only had three returning starters from 1928 and they would post a 4-4-1 record.  Even with a break-even record, Central finished as runner-up in the Head of the Lakes Conference.  The last game of the season was a 13-0 win over Superior Cathedral and the start of a 22-game unbeaten streak that ended in 1932.

Coach Harry Conley…1931 Superior H.S. Yearbook

The Head of the Lakes Conference was made up of three Wisconsin and seven Minnesota schools.  In 1930 Superior returned seven starters and they were expected to win the league title.  They opened the season against non-conference opponent Chisholm (MN) with the team captain, quarterback Dave Liebowitz leading the way with his passing, punting, running and defense, the P&W won out 12-0. 

Game two was a second away-game (Maybe that’s why they got the additional nickname the Orphans) was a trouncing of Cloquet (MN) 33-0.  It was the conference opener as the line Superior dominated, holding the Minnesota team without a first down.  Liebowitz was again the big star, scoring three times with three extra points. 

Another star was left-halfback Gerald Harris who broke away with a 75-yard jaunt just after the game started.  The game also marked the debut of Vander Anderson at the fullback position.  Anderson had been moved from his end position to replace the injured Brother Elmer who had been a team captain as a junior the previous year.  By the end of the season, he would be shifted to the right-halfback spot for some games due to other injuries.  Anderson and Eugene Michelson would alternate between the two positions throughout the year.  Henry Wadsworth Longfellow would move from back-up to starter at the end spot and be a star there.

Things got tougher the next week when Central eked a 6-0 win over their city rival, the Superior East Orientals, highlighted by a 78-yard interception return by Vander Andeson.  It was their first home game but it was marked as a poor offensive performance by both teams.  Central played better than the score indicated, according to the Superior Evening Telegram and should have scored two or three more times yet they couldn’t make it over the goal when needed.

On the road again for game four, this time against Ladysmith who they tied 6-6 in 1929, the Orphans destroyed their Wisconsin foe, 33-6.  The Lumberjacks did score the first points that Superior allowed so far on a “fluke” (No newspaper description) pass play early in the first quarter.  A Superior fumble led to the Lumberjacks crossing the goal early in the first period to take a 6-0 lead.  The Purple and White then got their act together and Dave Liebowitz again was the star of the game, scoring two touchdowns and three extra points.

The weather was freezing and windy on Friday, October 17 as Centrsal traveled across the way to meet Duluth Denfeld at Hislop Park.  The defense was tough against the run but was weak at times vs. the Denfeld passing game.  The run game was working, all be it a few fumbles to slow them down, with Liebowitz, Anderson, Harris and Michelson leading the way to a 19-6 win.  The game was 19-0 before Denfeld put their passing game into effect to get their one score.

With five wins under their belt, up next was Wisconsin foe, Ashland.  Again, the Orphans were on the road.  Maybe the travel disrupted the team a bit as they played a sloppy game without Coach Conley present.  Conley traveled farther north to scout Ironwood (MI) as they hosted Fort Wayne, Indiana the next day.  Assistants Hans Dhols and Wasley Halich directed the squad as they took a 20-0 lead going into the mid-third period before they turned the game over to the second team which allowed a score by the hosts.  Seven lettermen starters for future foe Ironwood drove down to scout Central and then to return quickly to play against Fort Wayne the next day.  The game against Ashland was expected to be a breather for the team before their next game against Duluth Central.

Outplaying their opponents in every period, dominating the field in all phases the Trojans from across the bay proved to be no match for the Orphans who again played on opposing ground at the Duluth Public Schools Stadium.  Superior made 21 first downs to Duluth’s five, completed three of six passes against seven of 27 and would have scored four more times in the 26-6 win as they lost four fumbles inside DC’s 20-yard line.  Liebowitz scored twice on plunges from the one-yard line, kicked two extra points and tossed touchdown passes to Verner Anderson and Arthur Modeen.  With seven wins under their belts the Purple and White were getting noticed by downstate papers.

The stock market crashed in November 1929 and now, a year later there was talk of “charity” games being played by high schools and college teams to support the local unemployed workers and their families.  Post season games were not allowed and the WIAA declared that Wisconsin high schools would not be involved.  The Superior schools had given it some thought but gave the talks up.  New York University vs. Georgetown was the first charity game followed by others such as Army vs. Navy and Marquette vs. Detroit U.  Posters went up for colleges to “Smash the Breadline” for charity. 

Central was now poised to meet Ironwood.  The betting odds favored the Red Devils over the Purple and White.  The Michigan foe had a 5-1 record coming into the game and was a bit bigger team but Coach Conley was confident that his boys would win.  However, again, his team would have to leave the city and become “Orphans”.  The two teams would be fighting for the honor to display, or, in Ironwoods case, continue to display a winner’s banner created in 1928. 

Superior surprised favored Ironwood 7-6 and held the banner until they lost 20-7 in 1929.  Now, the Purple wanted it back as the crimson pennant now flew across the border at their rival school.  Played at Luther L. Wright High School on Longyear Field the two teams met at 2pm.  After the Wolverines scored in the first three-minutes the Orphans came back to score three consecutive times to take a 20-7 lead midway in the second quarter.  Liebowitz tossed for two touchdowns and Harris broke away for an 80-yartd scamper.  Anderson ran twice for the two extra points.   Only the lead wouldn’t last.  Although Central outgained Ironwood, posted 16 first downs against nine and threatened to score three times in the fourth quarter they allowed the Wolverines to tie, with a final 20-20 score.  The pennant stayed with Ironwood despite knowing that Central had outplayed them.   Ending with a 6-1-1 record Ironwood would be declared the Northern Michigan Champion.

The season final was against Superior Cathedral to be played at Superior States Gates Field.  The Irish were a good team that came into the game with a 6-2-0 record. Cathedral had a slightly heavier team but that didn’t deter Conley’s boys from starting fast and cruising to a 33-0 win. 

Official John “Doc” Connell” motions for a Central touchdown vs. Cathedral   Superior H.S. 1931 Yearbook

Dave Liebowitz would lead the charge as he passed for three touchdowns on six of 10 passes for 120-yards, ran for another and passed for an extra point.  The Orphans gained 198-yards on the ground for a total of 318-yards while holding the Irish to 22-yards passing and 58-yards rushing.  The strength of Central was just overwhelming.

The season ended with Superior Central posting a 8-0-1 record and many newspapers declared them the state champs.

1931 Superior H.S. Yearbook

There were many honors bestowed on the team including the All-City Team made up of the three Superior high schools.

The All-City team was voted on by the three Superior high school head coaches…Harry Conley of Central, Peter Guzy of East and Micky McCormick of Cathedral along with John ‘Doc” Connell, the dean of local officials and Ray McBride, the sports editor of the Superior Telegram.

Final standings for the Head of the Lakes Conference. Superior Telegram Newspaper, November 17, 1930

With 10-teams in the conference I couldn't figure out why some teams played 4, 5 or 6 league games.

Although some newspaper game scoring was difficult to decern it appears that Dave Liebowitz scored at least eight touchdowns and five extra points as well as passing for eight touchdowns and three conversions.  After Dave graduated in 1931 his name shows up in many areas of the Superior newspaper.  He tried several times to play college ball, first at Superior State and later at Kentucky. He also was a coal delivery man then worked as a fireman. 

Having been a star in as a basketball and baseball player in high school he played for various teams in the area after graduation.  He signed a contract to play pro-ball in 1936 with the Duluth Eskimos of the NFL.  Yes, besides Green Bay being so far north and in a smaller city, Duluth once had an NFL team (1927) but Liebowitz played when it was in the Northwest Football League, a minor league, semi-pro-outfit.  In 1938 he signed a contract to play in the real NFL for the New York Giants.  He didn’t make the team and was back in Superior and this time he joined the police department.  The last report I had on him was in 1941 when he was listed, among others, on a roster of men being drafted into the army.

Harry Conley graduated from Nelson Dewey High School, later renamed Superior East and attended the University of Michigan school of health and physical education.  After earning a degree in 1925 he spent two years at Ellsworth College in Cedar Falls, Iowa where he coached football (1925-26).  He then moved to coach at Duluth Cathedral for one year then to Dewey/East before being named the head coach and athletic director at Central.  He stayed as coach/athletic director until1951.  His football coaching record was a fine 111-56-3.  Later he served as physical education director for the Superior high schools and junior high schools. While at Central he was also very successful basketball coach.  One of his star players on the gridiron and the court was Minnesota Vikings Coach Bud Grant.  When Harry stepped down as head football coach he was replaced by future WFCA Hall of Fame Coach Marv Crowley.  When the retirement appreciation dinner was held in late April 1951 for Conley, as he was stepping down, nearly 130 former players came far and wide to sing his praises.  Surprisingly to me, Conley is not in the WFCA Hall of Fame.

A FAMILY AFFAIR RELATING TO THE 1897 MADISON CHAMPIONSHIP…PART 2

Thanks for coming back to PART 2.

Here is where the story gets very interesting.  Lucius Sr.’s great-granddaughter Cammy Baker, was engaged to a man who was raised in Madison, where his parents still lived.  A year before the wedding Cammy was in Madison with her fiancé, Adam McCaughan and his Madison friends Scott Grogan and Pete Albrecht, and, out of curiosity, they searched for the championship trophy and found it at Madison Memorial HS.

A year later but before the wedding, Pete remembered how much the trophy meant to Cammy's mom and thought it would be a really nice gesture to see if he could get the trophy loaned to him to be taken to the wedding.  He contacted the athletic director at Madison Memorial High School, and he was very supportive of the plan as long as it was properly packaged for travel. Although Pete lived in DC, he arranged for his parents in Madison to get the trophy and pack it very safely.  Scott then took it with him to the wedding as a checked item. Pete and Scott were both groomsmen for Adam as lifelong Madison friends since elementary school.

They all presented the trophy to Cammy's mom, Bonnie, right after the wedding ceremony and she was ecstatic!  Her joy was equally shared by the other three great-grandchildren of the team captain that were present at the wedding.

1897 MHS National Football Championship trophy and plaque in Naples, Florida with four descendants of team captain, Lucius Donkle Sr.  All three of his children were represented. Lorraine Donkle Weatherby by Lee (on left), Donna Donkle Baker by Bonnie (holding plaque), and Lucius Jr. by Lucius III (holding trophy) and Heidi (on right).

The “traveling” Trophy visits the beach in Florida.  A forerunner pose to the Heisman?

The “traveling” plaque

The wedding went well and the trophy and plaque were returned without any problems.

Today, in 2026, it is on display in Madison at the MMSD office in the Doyle Administrative building near the Kohl Center.  I met with Jeremy Schlitz (MMSD District Athletic Director) who first showed me the trophy.  The area where it normally stored is being remodeled so it was brought into a side room and set on a table.  I looked it over and the wooden stand for the trophy is worn.  The stand needs refurbishing along with the two-name plates and the trophy itself could use polishing.  Originally the trophy was attached to the wooden stand but over the nearly 130 years since the Detroit Athletic Club presented the championship award it has, well, seen some better days.  The trophy has been moved around a bit over the years.  It had several locations at Madison High School, then to the school district offices, being moved from room to room.  In the 1997 celebration it was mentioned that a display case was being donated but it isn’t to be found now.

You can see the bumps and bruises of the stand.  The trophy is loose.  The metal stays have come loose.  Compare this picture of the trophy and stand to the one above taken in Florida. I didn't take a picture of the plaque, but it was in better shape.

There were two other trophy’s that Jeremy brought out for me to view.

The one in the center (Sorry, my picture cut the top off a bit) is from Wisconsin High School for winning the 1960-61 basketball championship of the Badger Conference.  The team had a 16-1 regular season record and finished 17-2 overall.  The award on the right is also for Wisconsin High School, winning the Southern Wisconsin -Six Conference football title.  The school posted a 5-1-0 record.  Both trophy’s show some wear but with some polish they might shine more brightly.  Opening in 1914 and eventually closing in 1962, WHS was a school for university students to get classroom teaching experience.  The classes that did not graduate in 1962 moved to Madison HS which was a short distance away.

So, there you have it.  A story about a family very proud of what their football heritage. 

One final not on the trophies.  The MMSD would really like to find a more permanent home for the three items since their schools don't exist anymore.  They usually sit in various offices at the MMSD building.   I’ve been told that the State Historical Society, on the campus at UW isn’t interested in housing/displaying them. Could the WIAA, WFCA or WBCA be interested?  I volunteered to take them if nobody wants them.  I’ll make room in my house.  I’ll even refurbish them.   Lou, do you have room for the 1897 trophy?

Thanks to Lucius "Lou" Donkle III and his family for all the family info and to Jeremy Schlitz at MMSD who was gracious. enough to show me the trophy's.

A FAMILY AFFAIR RELATING TO THE 1897 MADISON CHAMPIONSHIP…PART 1

Back in early January I sold a book and the buyer’s name was familiar.  I couldn’t quite place the name, but it was my son Tom, who had been my book editor, who recognized it as the same name of one of the 1897 Madison National Championship football players. 

, Lucius “Lute” Donkle From the 1897 team photo

If you’ve read my earlier stories on the championship team, I’ve mentioned Lucius Donkle several times.  Born in 1877 in Verona, WI, Lucius attended Madison High School and in 1897 was named the team captain.  My Lucius Donkle, (Lou) as it turned out upon my inquiring, is his grandson, Lucius III.

Lucius Sr had an older brother, Alfred, nicknamed “Big Dunk” who played on the 1894and 1895 state championship Madison squads.  Known as “Little Dunk” or “Lute” on the teams to tell them apart, Lucius Sr. was one of seven children growing up on a farm.  One of his jobs was to carry heavy tree trunks to be split into rails.  He later claimed that the heavy loads lowered his left shoulder so much that ready-made suits wouldn’t fit so he had them specially tailored.

After high school he attended the University of Wisconsin and then on to the University of Illinois, Chicago Medical School.  Lucius was one of six players on the 1897 team that were later physicians.  A seventh member was Joe Dean who acted as a coach for the championship game along with the main coach, Harry Cochems (Who became a noted lawyer).   Alfred graduated from UW in 1898 and then on to the University of Illinois, Chicago Medical School.  The two brothers planned on working together but in 1903 Alf died from complications a burst appendix.  Lucius and Alf were friends with the Mayo Brothers of Rochester Minnesota fame and the Donkle brothers had wanted to open a similar clinic.  Joe Dean would urge Lucius to return to Madison but he declined and stayed for the rest of his life in the Chicago area.  For many years he served many underprivileged individuals.  He was also known for his skills as a general surgeon.  Having studied in Vienna just before World War I he learned about radium treatment for cancer.  He taught surgery to Loyola University medical students at St. Bernards Hospital in Chicago.  Keeping a private practice, he moved his family to the Chicago south side.  He passed in 1948 at age 71.  

Lucius would marry and have three children, two daughters and then a son who he named Lucius II.   Lucius Jr. attended Hyde Park High School in Chicago and in 1939 the team went 7-3-1 making it to the Chicago Public School finals. He was one of the stars on the team, playing tackle like his father.

1940 Chicago IL. Hyde Park H.S. Yearbook

Lucius Jr. would serve in the military during World War II and eventually graduate from Cornell University with a BSME and then from Harvard University with an MBA.  He would work in the engineering and marketing fields in Illinois. His son, Lucius III, who bought the book, would also play high school football as a tackle (A family tradition) for Rich Central High school in Olympia Fields Illinois and would, like his father, attend Cornell and become an engineer. 

Lucius Donkle III high school picture.

Lucius III lives in Valparaiso Indiana and it is here that the 1897 football continues, 128-years later.  Lucius III pointed out to me that he also had an emergency appendix operation when he was in his 20’s, like his grandfathers’ brother Alfred.  It was the stories that Lucius Sr. told Junior about the championship team that were then passed down to his two sons, Lucius III and Chris and his daughter Heidi that will lead us to the main part of the story.

On October 6, 1997, the Madison School District threw a centennial celebration and reception for 29 relatives of the team players and coaches. Lucius Jr., his son and other family members attended, and a video link is attached:

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?ref=saved&v=10208572357574263

In 2006, to elevate and to help preserve the memory of the MHS 1897 team’s achievement, Lucius Jr. contacted the NCAA headquarters in Indianapolis and offered a copy of the original photos of all four school championship teams, including the 1897 team’s achievements noted below the pictures.  The pictures had been awarded to his father, Lucius Sr. who had been the team captain.  The NCAA graciously accepted the photo array and placed it the hallway between their building and that of the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS), which is located next door on the same campus.  The location between the NCAA and the NFHS buildings selected to represent the transition of student athletes to collegiate athletics.

Lucius Jr. and Lucius III looking at pictures of the early Madison teams.

The citation under the photo’s notes that Madison High School won what is believed to be the only true national high school championship.

Lucius Jr.  with his wife Joellen and Lucius III standing by statues representing the “Flying Wedge” a formation that led to the sport nearly being banned by President Teddy Roosevelt because of so many deaths that occurred playing the game. The formation of the NCAA saved the game through changes in the rules. 

This isn’t the end of the story.  There’s more to come as the “traveling” statue goes to Florida.  Next time, soon, PART 2.