A BUSY TWO WEEKS FOR MANY

I last wrote a bit about the hectic week trying to confirm all the information/stats/records on the Washburn vs. Mellen 8-player game. However, there was other activity.

11-Player Records:

The same day of the record setting events in the Northwoods down in the southeast-central part of the state Kohler/Sheboygan Lutheran/Christian was playing Kiel in Kohler. In a frenzied battle, Kiel prevailed 56-42 but the KSLC quarterback, Matt Breitenbach passed for a state season (So far) high 468 yards (35th most yards in a single game) and he’s only a sophomore. He went 35-56-3-468-6 on the game and his main target was senior Noah Heinen who caught a state record 24 passes for 336 yards (Second all-time) and two scores. That took me only a few moments to add their stats to the record book unlike the Northwoods shoot-out.

500th career win

All the while I was digging for the 8-player stats I was looking forward to the St. Mary’s Springs vs. Lomira game results on Saturday night. Why? How could you NOT know that Bob Hyland of Springs was going for his 500th career win. Springs is the #1 ranked Division 6 team by WisSports and the #1 ranked Small School in the AP poll. So, with this past Saturday, October 7, approaching I began to troll for new stories on Coach Hyland. There was a picture of him on WisSports in a story about the top upcoming games that week from around the state but no story on him. When I talked to him this past summer…FROM THE SPRINGS A GIANT AROSE…THE LEDGERS AND BOB HYLAND (wihifootball.com) he really wanted to focus on his players and not really on himself.

As usual, Springs dominated on Friday beating Lomira 35-7 but there was a plot twist. In the third quarter, according to the Fond du Lac Reporter newspaper Coach Hyland walked onto the field to find out from the ref’s what was taking them so long to figure out a holding penalty against Lomira. They hadn’t fully indicated the call after discussion for several minutes and he spoke his mind to them. That led to an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty and then another was tossed and so was Coach. With 1:40 left in the period he had to leave the field and watch the game along the outer fence with some other fans. The Springs fans became livid, and a third unsportsmanlike penalty was thrown. He said afterward that the officials asked him to come out but then things happened. He was his usual self upon reflection as to him it was “just another game”. He knew the #500 win was coming sometime as others keep track, but he now was focused on next week. But for now, Coach can reflect in his own way he is now the third winningest active coach in national history and the fourth overall. John McKissick of Summerville SC retired in 2014 with 620 career wins. John T. Curtis of John Curtis Academy in River Ridge LA is still at it and currently has 608 career wins. Mike Smith of Hampton VA retired last season with 505. Springs has one more regular season game and if they make it to Madison and win it all Coach Hyland will be all alone in the number three spot, one win ahead of Smith. He plans on coaching until 2024.

The Biggest Comeback in State History??

Next up was an email from Tanner Peterson of the Amery Free Press who asked the question, what is the greatest scoring comeback of all time? I have no official record on that stat, but I have to believe that last week’s 62-58 Amery victory over Somerset has to be at the top or very near it. With 5:40 left in the third period Somerset scored to make the score 52-20. Then a furious comeback occurred as Amery reeled off six of the next seven touchdowns that would be scored. With 2:40 left in the game the Warriors crossed the goal line and kicked the final extra point Amery had comeback from a 32-point deficit. Is this the greatest? Let me know of other big comebacks.

New Players in the Game

On Friday, October 7, I was keeping stats for some friends who are assistants for Milwaukee Vincent. Chanell 12 the ABC affiliate in Milwaukee was at the game as Vincent faced Milwaukee North. I called my wife and asked her to record the 10pm news. When I got home, I watched to see the highlights and discovered a side story about a female, Ava Metz, who started at quarterback that night for Pewaukee. Yes, a female. Then I received another email from Paul Barnes of the Ashland Daily Press who I had communicated about the Washburn/Mellen game the previous week. He asked if I had any information about females playing high school football. I told him about Ava Metz, although details of her performance for her team vs. Milwaukee Pius was limited at that time. He responded that Washburn had a female playing several positions. I then wrote Todd Clark, the WIAA Director of Communications, asking if the organization had totals of females playing football this year. I’m still awaiting a reply.

Having females play is not new but unusual. In my book I had a chapter about “The First Touchdown and More”. Donna Wilborn of Mount Horeb scored a touchdown, the first for a female in Wisconsin, in 1979. In the future there would be a few females playing but as kickers. The most notable was Kassy McCarthy from Waunakee who kicked 72 extra points for the state champions. More in a future blog about female players.

Team Shutdowns

When I got home before, watching the news, my wife told me that Waukesha South had cancelled their season. They were to have played Arrowhead that Friday and this week they were to play Waukesha North. For a once proud program they were lacking healthy bodies. Their roster on WisSports shows 50+ players but the school said there were overwhelming injuries. This brings other issues. At the beginning of the season Delafield St. John’s Northwestern cancelled their varsity season due to have a small number of players, few that were juniors and seniors. They played a JV schedule this season.

MPS has a lot of issues as well. Here’s an example: Vincent has, in combination with other schools, around 1,150 students but has a roster of about 32. At the start of the season, they had 23 that were academically eligible. When they played North on October 7, North only had 13 players out of the school with 440 students. They also had the same problems as Vincent. This is a tough situation for MPS. Injuries and a lack of student support. There are other schools that found the numbers issue a problem and switched to 8-player football. That’s ok if your school is small but not for schools exceeding 200 students. As we get out of the drastic part of the Covid situation and things settle down maybe the participation numbers and support will get better. I hope so and I’m sure you too feel the same. The Vincent/North game was homecoming for Vincent. You would have expected a MUCH bigger crowd than the ones that showed up. It seemed like just about 100 people were there. It was homecoming and almost no one came.

Sad.

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