DARLINGTON: THEN AND NOW

THIS IS AN UPDATED BLOG DONE AT 7:14PM, August 4, 2022

First, getting back to the blogs on the 1917 football title:

When I was doing research for the blog, I saw a two-line snippet in the La Crosse Tribune that mentioned several teams in the hunt for the state title. The snippet mentioned that undefeated Darlington, with a 5-0-0 record wasn’t being considered to be in the hunt as they didn’t play tough enough competition (An opinion by the sportswriter, J.E. “Jack” Dahlgren”). At the time I didn’t have access to the Darlington records but to be complete on contenders, I present it here:

Again, yearbooks are wanting for some school records and newspaper stories were sometimes sparse. . The season totals for the Darlington opponents and the second Mineral Point score are not available. However, meticulous research by current Darlington football coach Travis Winkers and assistant coach Lee Black. I was looking to see how tough the Galena, Mineral Point and Monroe teams were for 1917 but found nothing.

Second, now, a brief rundown on the great school’s program

A while back, while looking for some information I ran across a story on the “changing of the guard”, the retirement of the then Darlington coach, Scott Zywicki and the hiring of Travis Winkers. The story stated that there had only been seven coaches ever at Darlington (including Winkers). I knew that they had the second-best (Or is it third best? See the final section for clarification on this…well sort of a clarification) winning total of any Wisconsin high school football team (Just below top dog Milwaukee Marquette High School). Some schools change coaches every few years trying to find the right fit, but I found the story to be incredible for their only having seven coaches. So, I reached out to Travis and he set the record straight.

In an e-mail Travis sent me the breakdown of the school record. Winkers is the seventh coach since 1926. Only seven coaches in the last 86 seasons and just over 600 wins between them Three have gone on to be inducted into the Wisconsin Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame…W.W. Martens, Doug McArthur and Scott Zywicki. I set up a phone interview with Coach Winkers to talk about a lot of things but mainly Darlington. We talked in May, and he was very forthcoming about his previous position at Markesan as well as the Darlington tradition.

The program started in 1894 and between then and 1925 the school posted an 88-39-12 record over the first 27 years. In 1926 W.W. Martens took over and spent 42-years as a teacher at Darlington, 35-years as the head coach. A graduate from Platteville High School and Platteville State Teachers College (Now UW-Platteville), “Wadzy” set the gold standard for excellence. In that time his teams won 11 conference titles and eight undefeated teams as he posted a great 183-61-14 record. Besides teaching Industrial Arts, he spent time scouting for several UW-Madison football coaches…Harry Stuhldreher and Ivy Williamson. When he retired, he was elected to the school board of education. The school football field is dedicated to him.

Coach Martens

Here are the records for all of the coaches:

Travis and I discussed the offense at Darlington. When I put together my football record book, I added a category for teams that had three rushers gain 1,000 or more yards in a single season. Of the 10 Wisconsin teams that have accomplished this feat, Darlington has had five of those seasons…1995, 1996, 2013, 2014 and 2015. I can only find three other schools in the entire country that have had three 1,000+yard rushers in a season more than one time. Under coach Doug McArthur they began to use the wing-T offense. Always a running team, Darlington, under McArthur worked hard with his teams and they powered through the opposition in his 13 years at the school. During that time period the Red Birds won four state titles…1987, 1990, 1991 and 1995 as well as finishing second in 1992, 1994 and 1996. His tenure at the school started slowly, going 0-9 his first season in 1984, followed by 2-7 in 1985 and then 5-4 in 1986. The Red Birds hit their stride in the next 10 seasons going a fabulous 110-17. Born the same year that W.W. Martens stepped down from his coaching spot, McArthur had attended Watertown HS and then moved on to UW-Platteville where he won three letters in football and four in tennis. Before he came to Darlington in 1984 at age 22, he spent a short time at Schullsburg and at Wahlert HS in Dubuque IA. He was only 37 years old when he stepped down to take a job in the private sector. He later returned after additional college studies and became the principal at Darlington from 2009-2015. While at the school he also coached wrestling, track & field as well as golf.

McArthur at a state title game

Dennis Bogacz and Scott Zywicki continued with the wishbone and had great success. Born in Milwaukee, Scott Zywicki attended St. Francis HS and then moved to Greendale where he played football before moving on to UW-La Crosse. He was a graduate assistant there for two seasons before moving to Darlington where he was an assistant to Doug McArthur and Dennis Bogacz. Moving up to the head coaching spot in 2005 he spent 11 seasons in that position before retiring. His Red Birds won seven conference titles and appeared in the state finals four straight times in 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016 finishing as the runner-up. It Coach Zywicki was the story about his retiring that led me to seek out his replacement, Travis Winkers

Coach Zywicki

Travis is 35-years old, but he has a lot of experience. Raised in River Ridge where he was the teams quarterback. He attended U.W. La Crosse majoring in sports management and business. Winkers went to Markesan as an assistant for Kevin Wopat, the current coach at Oshkosh Lourdes Academy, for two seasons before taking over the head spot in 2013. Wanting to move back to the southwestern part of the state he applied for the Darlington job after posting a 40-13 record in five seasons. He and his assistants fine-tuned the offense and they run the wishbone formation and the” pistol”. Their defense is a 3-3-5 because the opposition tends to throw a lot and with a four-year record of 27-14 at Darlington. Even having to replace many key offensive starters there are a number of experienced linemen and seven of the top 10 2021 defenders returning this season and with paid assistants like Lee Black, John McGranahm, and John Sturtz and volunteer assistants Jin Bryson, John Bartaszewicz, Brett Knautz and Tyler Domink. The Red Birds will be ready for their opponents.

Travis Winkers

Setting The Records Straight…sort of

When I was preparing to write the blog, I looked for an updated listing of the all-time winningest football schools. The one I had in my book; THE GREAT TEAMS was a few seasons old and when talking to Travis he said he had heard Platteville was now in second place on the list. I found that hard to believe as my book, information taken from a person who posts in the FORUM section of WISSPORTS. I updated it a bit as I had found some records for Fond Du lac St. Mary’s Springs prior to Bob Hyland starting to coach there and I had done extensive research on Delafield St. John’s. So, I went back to the FORUM (Found under the High School Football section) and asked for an updated list. It was posted and I was surprised to see the results.

In comparing the list from my book and the new one I see that somehow Platteville is credited with 699 wins vs 552 wins from 2-seasons ago. Somehow Platteville did additional research and found 195 games unaccounted for and 147 more wins or someone has made a mistake. I've updated my totals with the assumption that the new research is accurate since the prior number was based on the same source. The new list shows Darlington with only 601 wins vs. the record that Travis Winkers gave me at 693 vs, the list from 2-seasons ago at 590. Yes, Lee Black at Darlington was able to come up with older records and they are now at 693. It would appear that the old Darlington total was based on the past seven coaches and not anything prior to 1925. As a side note, the totals for St. Mary’s Springs have dropped to 491 even though Coach Hyland has 492 wins, and I came up with an additional 47 wins for the school from my research. I had sent the information to the FORUM writer, but he appears to have missed the message. He did get my note on an updated St. John’s record. As I’ve mentioned, getting old information to update records is hard to come by.

Here is a graph of the records of the winningest Wisconsin high school football teams:

I added the 2020 and 2021 season records to the 2019 list o make my own 2021 list and there are a few changes compared to the new FORUM posting. Whether they are #2 or #3 the Red Birds have a right to be proud of their long tradition.

AN UNUSUAL WAY TO THE HALL OF FAME

In 1997 or 1998 I was using the fairly new, virgin, world wide web. I was searching for as much information about high school football, Wisconsin as well as national stories. I searched for football records in all places including state athletic organizations. I ran across the WIAA web site and found a listing for school’s information. Overtime, after Todd Clark, WIAA Director of Communications, must have revamped the site because the information on the web there is much improved and is easier to use. I took that directory and sent out massive amounts of e-mails asking coaches to send me records and to send me stats each week during the season. I got a fair response, and I began to do weekly/season leader lists. I continued to send e-mail requests each season.

In 2003, the new head coach at Big Foot, having just moved from Almond-Bancroft and he began sending stats weekly. Rodney Wedig didn’t just send me a short list but his running seasonal stats sheet. He sent me everything but the kitchen sink. I wished everyone would have done that. Rodney and I would e-mail each other every now and then over the years.

In 2014 I read a story about him leaving Big Foot and taking the head job at Beloit Memorial and we conversed some more about the new challenges he faced after leaving a successful program. I wished him success and we didn’t write each other for the next nine years. I hadn’t kept track of him, but I knew that he hadn’t fared well at Memorial. Then, this past March Rodney sent me a message and a file with his coaching record. I was unaware that he had been named to the 2022 class of the Wisconsin Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame. I then learned that he had moved on from Memorial to Milton. I congratulated him being named to the HOF and noted that his file showed the most remarkable record. It was unusual to say the least and is probably one of a kind.

WFCA Hall of Fame Picture

The file showed his season by season coaching record for his four stops…Almond-Bancroft, Big Foot, Beloit Memorial and Milton. If you could see the chart 9Hard to replicate here), you would find that he has coached every possible record, other than ties, for wins…from 0(Zero) to 14 wins.

In 1995, his first year as a head coach, Almond-Bancroft went 0-9, as also happened at Beloit in 2014 and 2015.

In 2016 Beloit won their only game in a 1-9 season as they won the end of the season matchup with Racine Park in a game between two winless teams that failed to make the playoffs.

His 1999 at A-B and 2018 at Beloit his teams won 2-games…2-7 records.

Next up is his two three-win seasons. 3-6 at A-B in 1998 and 3-7 at Beloit in 2017 (Also with a season ending matchup with Park).

Four wins in 1995 and 2000 at A-B and 2021 at Milton.

He collected 5-wins in each of the 2001 season at A-B, twice at Big Foot (2004 & 2005) and at Milton in 2020 during a COVID shortened season. Three seasons were 5-5 as the teams made the playoffs and 5-2 in 2020 when there were no playoffs.

In his first season at Big Foot in 2003 the team marched to a 6-4 and their first ever playoff appearance.

1997 saw Wedig direct Almond-Bancroft to their first ever playoff appearance as they finished 7-3.

2006 brought his first 8-win season as Big Foot advanced to the second round of the playoffs with an 8-3 record.

After posting a 2-7 season at Beloit in 2018, Wedig directed Milton to a 9-2 in his first season there.

Big Foot posted three 10-win seasons…10-1 in 2007, 10-3 in 2010 and a 10-1 year in 2011.

His final year at Almond-Bancroft, 2002, Coach Wedig posted an 11-1 season just as he did in his final year at Big Foot, in 2013.

2012 Big Foot went 12-1 as they battled Somerset in an overtime loss. 35-33 in the state finals.

A 13-1 season occurred as Big Foot made it to the state finals but bowed to Wautoma 20-0.

The crowning season was in 2009 as Big Foot mauled Kewaunee 42-13 for the championship.

Coach Wedig and I talked in May about his career and the upcoming season. You can see that his teams have made the playoffs 16 times, won nine conference titles and a state championship. Not bad for a guy who played football, basketball and baseball at little Belmont High School. Rodney attended Southwest State University in Marshall Minnesota in 1992. He took a job out of college to teach and coach at Holy Redeemer School in Marshall. He then moved back to Wisconsin and became an assistant football and head girls’ basketball coach at Green Lake.

Rodney worked part time for the Oshkosh Northwestern newspaper and in 1995 received his first head coaching position at Almond-Bancroft. As noted above his first season was a winless one but he won his first game in 1996 as the Eagles finished 4-5. He finished there with a 36-41 record, but it was his 2002 season record of 11-1 that allowed him to find a better coaching spot. That was in Walworth at Big Foot.

After going 6-4 in his first season there, his teams continued to make progress and the playoffs. 11 straight seasons into the playoffs and seven consecutive conference titles. From 2006 through 2013 the Indians were always in the hunt for titles and advancing deep into the playoffs. As at other schools he has used variations of the double-wing and the spread offenses, often with a no-huddle look. At Big Foot he had great linemen who could open huge holes. At his first two stops he was able to “sell the program” to his players, the schools and the community. While at Big Foot he coached running back Mason Dixon who was the WFCA State Player of the Year in 2012. Mason went on to star at Beloit college and is a policeman in southern Illinois. One of his star linemen was former All-Pro center Travis Frederick who played for the Dallas Cowboys'.

Beloit was another story. After going 103-26 at Big Foot, he was only able to garner a 6-41 record at Beloit. While the school has been able to produce some very good individual players that moved on to the college ranks. It has been before 2002 (As far back as I could trace on WisSports.net) that the school has posted a winning season. They have mostly in that 20-year period gone 0-9 or 1-8. A tough nut to crack for anyone.

So, in 2019 he moved to take over at Milton. The team was loaded with seniors who the year before posted only a 3-6 record but under Coach Wedig they progressed to 9-2. Their season ending loss was to always tough Waunakee, 35-28 in the second round of the playoffs. Being in the Badger-South was always tough for Milton but they usually could hold their own with the likes of Watertown, Stoughton, Monona Grove and Edgewood. That’s not to say that Fort Atkinson, Oregon and Monroe were pushovers. But 2020 brought realignment to the league and a move to the Badger-North and now they face Waunakee on a yearly basis and then realignment again in 2022 brings Sun Prairie East and Sun Prairie West into the picture. He does return this season four defensive starters and seven on offense, all linemen so the Red Hawks hope to hold their own. In three seasons at Milton Coach Wedig has posted an 18-10 record.

Rodney was very gracious to spend time in talking to me and I thank him. I asked about his family and his two daughters, Kayleigh and Kelsey played basketball at Big Foot and his three sons played there as well. Jacob was a quarterback and Gus and Matthew were linebackers. Gus played at UM-Duluth and Matthew at Illinois State. He has been married to Tammy for 31-years.

Overall, at age 55, Coach has a 163-118 record going into the 2022 season with more wins to come. It was a pleasure in talking to him and it certainly was an unusual career record to look at as he made his way to the HOF.

The Rest of the Best of the 1920s

After reviewing the best teams of the 1920s I'd like to highlight the best game, coach and players of the decade.

The Best Game

This was another tough call so I had to choose two games and, as it turns out both involved Green Bay East.

The first was the 1927 battle between East and city rival Green Bay West. Before more than 10,000 frenzied fans, Arnie Herber was the difference for West with his passing, rushing, returning kicks, defense and kicking. It was a see-saw battle throughout the game with East taking the lead in the third quarter, 6-0, but a fourth quarter touchdown pass and conversion kick by Herber was the margin to win the game 7-6.

In 1928 Green Bay East met Appleton, a team that would end up in second place in the conference. The Red Devils couldn’t muster much in the way of offense but it was their defense that won the day. There were numerous fumbles throughout the game for both teams. Two safeties, one in the third period and one in the fourth quarter were the margin of victory as East won 4-0. Both safeties were a result of blocked punts.

Two hard fought defensive games that either team in each game could be proud of their performance.

The Best Coach

This era produced many great coaches. First, Curley Lambeau at Green Bay East, who coached the team as well as the Packers during the 1919 through the 1921 seasons. Yes, coaching two teams at the same time!! He was followed by Chester E. Wiley who led the teams for the rest of the decade before returning to his home town of Iron Mountain (MI) to coach. West had Murph White who led them into the 1930s and produced solid teams throughout. Marinette was led by Tom Johnson who led the school to four state titles in six seasons before leaving for Louisville (KY) Male High in 1927. Johnson replaced Harry Wilhelm at Male as Wilhelm in turn moved north to Delafield and coached St. John’s Military Academy to the 1929 state title.

When you look at the list of the top teams of the decade, two coaches stand out. Chester Wiley of Green Bay East coached three of the schools four state title teams in the decade, all in the top 10 and they had another, the 1927 squad, that was defeated by Green Bay West in one of the top games of the decade. They finished 9-1-0 that season. Tom Johnson of Marinette had four state titles and has three teams on the list and posted a 50-5-0 record in six seasons.

Wiley replaced Curley Lambeau as the head coach at East who moved on to devote his efforts full time to the Packers after the 1921 season. Chester Wiley is my choice as the best coach who posted a 68-6-0 record in eight seasons at East. When he left the school was in great shape and continued to be a powerhouse on into the late 1950s.

The Best Players

Arnie Herber

Many of these players would go on to have success at both the college and professional level. Milt Gantenbein, Wayland Becker, Champ Seibold, Arnie Herber and Swede Johnston all played together on the 1936 Green Bay Packer championship team. Arnie Herber has received the most recognition, as a member of the pro football hall of fame and considered one of the first great modern quarterbacks, winning 4 NFL championships with the Packers.

The 1920s was a great period in the sport. America made it through the Great Influenza and Word War I, the Great War, and there was new prosperity. Kids were healthier than ever before. The modern age was upon us as auto’s became more affordable, wages for the most part, were better, airplane flying was the rage and yes, there was still trouble abroad but overall life was good. Until the November 1929 Wall Street Crash. It wasn’t unusual for fans of a particular team who would rent rail cars to go even several hundred miles to cheer on their favorites, filing the stands with 200-500 out of towners.

Players were getting bigger and faster. The game was evolving. Passing was becoming more prevalent and even though it would be 19 years before the first known 1,000-yard passer and 35 years before the state produced the first 2,000 single-season passer the game was utilizing this option more and more. It was a time to revel in great coaching and great playing. It would be a bit more difficult during the Depression as money became tighter but still the crowds would still be large.