GREAT SUPERIOR TEAMS…PART 4

1952 SUPERIOR CATHEDRAL… PART 2 OF A 2-PART SERIES ON SUPERIOR CATHEDRAL 

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

A few years back when I wrote my book I didn’t know about the record of the 1952 Superior Cathedral Panthers.  Sorry I missed it because they would have been mentioned in several sections of the book.  I hope this will, in some way make up for that “miss”.

I must digress for a moment.  When I found out about 1952 Cathedral, I was frustrated that I would have to spend long hours in Madison at the historical society scanning grainy microfilm.  I delayed my research, waiting for other avenues of getting the story.  At the time the Superior newspapers were not available online.  Often, I’ve had to rely on getting yearbook information from schools and libraries.  For several years I would look at E.Yearbooks.com to see if a copy of the 1953 yearbook would show up but no, it did not.  The public library, the county historical society and the Catholic Archdiocese had no copies.  No info anywhere unless I wanted to go back to Madison and look at the microfilm.  Then, two months ago Newspapers.com downloaded Superior papers.  The digital copy on Newspapers.com was just a grainy as what I would find at the Historical Society but at least I had a search engine to speed things along.  Now I started on research on several teams. 

Just as February opened, I contacted the library and the local historical society again to see if they found copies of the 1953 yearbook.  No.  I then checked E.Yearbooks.com again, and to my delight the book had been posted!!  The online papers are somewhat fuzzy because of age when digitalized.  I was tempted to post the grainy team photo from the newspaper just to show you that there would be only one picture that I could use but I resisted team photo posting.  The one newspaper photo that I posted of Ray Birch in the 1952 Proctor game was at best, the only usable reprint. Luckily the yearbook photos showed up well.  So, with all this, on with the story.

For many years Superior Central dominated the city, often beating the other two high schools in town, Superior East and Cathedral, often by big scores.  Central had more consistently winning teams like the 1918-20 squads under coach Irl Tubbs and then under Harry Conley.  East would have some middle of the road teams.  Central had twice as many students as East and often the better athletes in football seemed to attend that school.

Superior Cathedral was an even smaller school than East with only 225-300 students, usually in the 1950’s having around 250.  In the early years they played both of the two public schools but later it was just the East Orientals that they met each season.  The Cathedral Panthers would join the Michigan-Wisconsin Conference later in the 1950’s but would play an independent schedule in 1952.  In truth, in my research it seems that the school was more of a powerhouse in basketball. 

Cathedral opened in 1923 and started playing football in 1924.  There would be several football coaches over the period up to 1932.  After the 1932 season, with13 seniors, 10 were starters, on the team that had a 0-6-1 record the school had to make a decision.  The football coach, who was also the basketball coach, quit.  His replacement could only coach basketball.  With student enthusiasm at a low point concerning the football program, the school’s principal decided to cancel the program, for the time being, in the spring of 1933.  That cancelation turned out to last 11-years.

The school hired a basketball coach who lasted a few years, doing well in that sport before the school settled on hiring Morris “Morrie” Arnovich, Morrie Arnovich - Wikipedia, a major league baseball player who coached the basketball team during his off season from 1935-38.  Arnovich was born and raised in Superior and had attended Superior Central.  Morrie also attended Superior State College and had been a two-time All-Wisconsin player sat the college.   Before Arnovich arrived, no matter who coached the basketball squads, they were strong on the hardcourt.  Steve Bachand was a four-year starting forward, leading the team and the city in scoring during his sophomore-senior years but never played for Arnovich. 

After graduating high school, Bachand stared at St. Thomas College in St. Paul and set scoring records there.  He would then attend Superior State earning an MBA and later a Masters in history and return in 1938 to coach at Cathedral.  In Steve’s first season, 1938-39, the Panthers went 11-6 but in his next year they were 17-2 followed by an 12-3 record in 1940-41.  World War II rolled in and he left to enter the Army Air Corps (Forerunner of the Air Force) before Cathedral finished the 1941-42 season but he had coached the team to a 10-11 record.  Upon returning from the war Bachand took the dual duties of coaching football (A sport he never played in school) and basketball.  He would later become the school’s athletic director as well. 

What was sort of crazy was that in 1943 the school decoded to reinstitute football as a school sport in the middle of a world war.  From the newspapers I found that over the next three years the Panthers played some larger schools JV teams and even second-string squads but also a few regular varsity teams. 

In one of the first stories about the 1952 team, it was mentioned that they had gone 6-1-0 the previous year.  I wanted to find out how the Panthers fared the next year so I then jumped to 1953 and found that Cathedral posted a 7-0-1 record in 1953.  19-1-1 in the 1951-53 years!!  Could this be the making of a HOF coaching career that has gone unreported?  Next, I searched as to how his early teams performed.  Some newspaper stories had Steve Bachand as the head football coach from 1948-52, others had his story going back to 1947 and ending with 1953.  But I found that he took over the football duties in 1946 and as a new head football coach it wasn’t a good start.  Gone were the games against JV or second-string players.  He scheduled regular varsity opponents and his team got stomped, going 1-6-0 that year.  1947 brought a 2-4-0 record followed by a 3-3-0 posting in 1948.  1949 was a 4-2-1 season but things looked a bit better in 1950 as the Panthers went 4-3-0 with several crucial injuries to overcome.  Then 1951 came along and his team went 6-1-0 before the magical 1952 year.  And 1952-53 was also a magical basketball season as well.  Bachand coached his team, led by football end Dave Tucker (22.2 points per game) and back Ray Birch (19.6 points [per game), to a 21-2 record.  The teams only two defeats were to Superior East by four points, a team they had beaten earlier by 10 points.  In the Wisconsin State Catholic Tournament, they lost in the finals to Menasha Saint Mary’s 69-67.   Tucker would lead the city /area in scoring as a junior and senior and set numerous records.  The only one he didn’t set was for points scored in a game and it was Birch who held that record with 44-points.  Dave Tucker would go on to star on the University of Minnesota basketball team, return for a while as the Cathedral school’s football coach and then coached basketball for many years at Ontonagon MI.

The 1953-54 season was also successful.  As noted earlier the football team was 7-0-1 and basketball was 19-3.  The next few years were hit or miss for Cathedral football.  1954 they earned a 4-2-1 record followed by a 1955 ‘s disastrous 1-7-0 season.  Rebounding in 1956 the Panthers were 6-1-0 but 1957 brought another bleak year as Bachand struggled through with a 1-6-1 season.  Having some great success along some poor results on the football field, Steve Bachand quit the sport, turning the reigns over to William Meyers, his long-time assistant.  No, it turned out not to be a WFCA HOF worthy football coaching career but it would be a gratifying one, non the less.

Steve Bachand would end up spending 31-years at Cathedral as the basketball coach, teach history, working as the school’s athletic director and forge a great impact on the school and the city of Superior.  Superior Cathedral would close in 1969.  The football team would have a breakeven final year in 1968.

Cathedral lost final Bessemer 13-6 in an injury riddled season.  Tied for third place in the M-W.

Bachand had great respect for his players and they had great respect for him.  He was proud of his association with Cathedral and being a citizen of Superior.  Back in 1956 he helped, along with 10 other men, organize the Superior Youth Organization that would sponsor little league baseball.  The SYO officially joined Little League Baseball in the spring of 1957.  Steve was inducted into the Superior city Hall of Fame in 1995, and the WBCA Hall of Fame in 2005.  After Superior Cathedral closed in 1969 Steve crossed the bay to teach at Duluth Cathedral HS.  He later served as the City of Superior Parks and Recreation Department director until he retired.  Lest you think that as he got older his skills as a coach diminished, I will point out that the Panthers basketball team went 19-1 in their final season of 1968-1969.

Yes, my stories are about great football teams and not basketball, I feel a need to include the exploits of some of those great teams, even in a small way.

Coach Bachand being carried off the field after completing a perfect season.  He and his players were one of only a handful of teams to accomplish an undefeated, untied and unscored upon season.

GREAT SUPERIOR TEAMS…PART 3

1952 SUPERIOR CATHEDRAL…PART 1 OF A 2-PART SERIES ON SUPERIOR CATHEDRAL 

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

For many years Superior Central dominated the city, often beating the other two high schools in town, Superior East and Cathedra, often by big scores.  Central had more consistently winning teams like the 1918-20 squads under coach Irl Tubbs and then under Harry Conley.  East would have some middle of the road teams.  Central had twice as many students as East and often the better athletes in football seemed to attend that school though a number of students from East went on to play college ball.

Superior Cathedral was an even smaller school than East with only 225-300 students, usually in the 1950’s having around 250.  In the early years they played both of the two public schools but later it was just the East Orientals that they met each season.  The Cathedral Panthers would join the Michigan-Wisconsin Conference later in the 1950’s but would play an independent schedule in 1952.  In truth, in my research it seems that Cathedral was more of a powerhouse in basketball. 

Upon returning from military service during World War II Steve Bachand took the dual duties of coaching football and basketball.  He would later become the school’s athletic director as well.  Bachand had been a star in basketball and baseball at Cathedral.  He had been a starter on the basketball team before the war and led the team in scoring three years running.  He returned to Cathedral after college to teach and coach basketball before his draft number called him up.  But here he was, in 1946, as the new head football coach and it wasn’t a good start.  Going 1-6-0 that year.  1947 brought a 2-4-0 record followed by a 3-3-0 posting in 1948.  1949 was a 4-2-1 season.  Now things looked a bit better in 1950 as the Panthers went 4-3-0. Nearly the same record as 1950 but with a lot of younger players anxious to do better.  In1951 Bachand and his team went 6-1-0, the best season record that the school had ever produced.  Then magical 1952 year rolled around.

Blessed with good talent from the previous two season’s the team played only a six-game schedule.  The previous three seasons the team had played seven games, which for many schools seven or eight games were normal.  Looking over the yearbook and the Superior Evening Telegram, I couldn’t find a reason, but I have an idea as to why they played only six games.  Several teams around Wisconsin had to cancel or had games cancelled on their schedule due to the polio outbreak of 1950-53.  Like Covid-19, at least at first there wasn’t a prevention for the disease.  It wasn’t always easy for schools in the 1950’s to cancel a game and pick up a new opponent.

The team started their season on September 6, and this was an unusually early start for all the Superior area teams. It was a week or two earlier than past seasons.  Expectations were high after 1951 and the Panthers didn’t disappoint.  They took to the road for the season opener 55-miles northwest to Floodwood, MN.  The town in 1950 had only 667 residents, 90 high school students.  This was a school that was outsized and outplayed by Cathedral and yet the Panthers didn’t blow them away.  Dave Tucker, the star end for the Panthers, had a great game catching two touchdowns (30 and 11-yards).  Jerry Fabbro threw the td’s and did his job to get the team moving a bit.  Fabbro had been a fullback in 1951 but was switched to the quarterback spot.  He would stay there for most of the season and direct the attack. He would on occasion, when needed, revert to his old position of fullback. The rushing game was sluggish and that held the final score down.  Halfback Ray Birch did return a punt 33-yards for a touchdown and kicked an extra point but he and the other halfback, Jack Nault just couldn’t get the ball moving.  Coach Bachand felt that it a mix of early season jitters that caused the team to not score as often as he expected.

From the 1953 Superior Cathedral Memories yearbook (The photo took both pages of the yearbook. The fold blots out the faces of three players).

The Superior Evening Telegram didn’t carry very much in the way of player stats.  It seems Bachand and the other area head coaches were more interested in the scoring stats, which was typical of the era.  Looking at the Cathedral schedule they played, for the most part, comparable size schools, except to Floodwood and Ashland DePadua Catholic.  Superior East had more than twice as many students as did Duluth East, but Proctor and Two Harbors had just a few more students than Cathedral so it sort of balanced out.

Getting ready for Two Harbors Coaches Steve Bathard and Bill Meyers talk things over with captains Don Bedis and Dave Tucker…Cathedral yearbook

In game two against Two Harbors Birch had two touchdowns and placed three extra points.  Fabbro tossed a td pass to Birch for one of his touchdowns, ran for a short score and intercepted a crucial pass that might have led to a score.  The ground game was starting to go.  But they had to overcome penalties.  Tackle Don Bedis, linebacker/center Jack Connelly and Dave Tucker stared as well.

Ashland DePadua was a team that had fewer students but a bigger sized squad.  From tackle to tackle, on the offensive line, the Bruins averaged 200-pounds.  Huge at this time in the sport.  The Panthers cut their penalties in half, down to 55-yards.  Birch and Nault had big gains to get the team into scoring position, but those few penalties again cut the scoring to a minimum.  After three games they were now really ready to roll and against bigger schools.

The next game, against Superior East, was a showdown matching two city rivals.  The Orientals were suffering through a season marred by injuries and their final record would show a 2-5 season.  Several major starters were hurt and out for the contest.  The Panthers took advantage and cruised to a 35-0 win.  Down 13-0 just before halftime, Easts starting quarterback, Roger Lowery was carried off the field and sent to the hospital.  It had been close up to then, but it was downhill for East after that.  In fact, three more starters for East would be forced out of the game in the second half.  Coach Bachand took advantage and substituted his backfield freely as six running backs and two quarterbacks saw action.

Jack Nault catches a 10-yard touchdown vs. Superior East...Cathedral Yearbook

Proctor was next.  They weren’t having a great year, but Proctor felt that they could make a good showing.  They could not. They were outmatched.  Three minutes into the game and Cathedral started the rout with their first score.  The smothering Panther defense continuously stuffed the Rails run game to the extent that Proctor didn’t make it into Cathedral territory until the final play of the game when they end on the 48-yard line.  Ray Birch and Jack Nault each scored twice and by the middle of the second quarter Bachand played his reserves the rest of the way.

Ray Birch scoring vs. Proctor. The only usable newspaper picture I could find.

The season closed on October 17 with a 39-0 victory over the Duluth East Greyhounds and it was a true Panther defensive showcase for the second straight week.  Intercepting four passes and recovering two fumbles Cathedral showed that they were a team for the ages.  Dave Tucker, the star end, proved that he was a very valuable kicker by booming kick-offs deep and punts far.  One punt went 63-yards before it was tapped down but he had several others over 40-yards vs. Duluth East.  Ray Birch scored two touchdowns, intercepted two passes and kicked three extra points.  He would make the UPI weekly honorable mention for state player of the week for the second time that season.  Burch turned out to be the leading scorer on the team with nine touchdowns and 18 extra points (Kicks and runs) for 72 points.

The season that ended on October 17, was seven-17 days before most other high schools around the state so there was at least one hole in the schedule.   But the success at Cathedral didn’t end then.  Tackle Don Bedis was named to the AP All-State third team, in an era when each team was made up of 11-players.

 In early November the UPI released their final listing of the states undefeated teams.  The teams record shone throughout the state in newspaper after newspaper.

My list, retyped because the newspaper stories I found were grainy and left a few final scores out. Cathedral was the only undefeated 6-game team in 1952.

This isn’t the official UPI list as what was released was before the three Milwaukee schools played their final game. I tracked down the scores to the three Milwaukee teams final battles.  All three were undefeated before the final game.  In the 12-team City Conference that year neither King or Washington played Tech.  The two squads played to a 13-13 tie and Tech won their first ever City title with a 28-0 win over Lincoln.

It would be a few years before any other team, Chilton in 1969, would perform the same undefeated, untied and unscored upon year.

Next time is PART 2 of the Superior Cathedral story.

GREAT SUPERIOR TEAMS…PART 2

1931 SUPERIOR CENTRAL

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

After going undefeated, 8-0-1, in 1930, many of the players on that squad returned for 1931.  If you didn’t read my story from 2021,  1930  you should but I’ll give you a brief recap.  Actually, as in some years, many schools/newspapers claimed a local team as the state champion since the WIAA disallowed post-season games now that every school should have been in a conference and have a set schedule.  As I relate in my story 1930 Superior had the best overall record in the state for that season.  In writing my book on the state’s high school football history I designated myself as the judge on several unofficial, mythical state championship teams using all available info.  I think that overall, I was right on with my choices, including 1930. 

1931 rolled around and Superior was primed to go undefeated.  Harry Conley did a strange thing in scheduling the teams last two games.

As you look over the above record taken from the school yearbook the Duluth Central game was set for late October, the Superior Central game was set for November 15 and then the game against La Crosse was scheduled for the 21^st.  I ask WHY?  Basketball season starts soon and Conley was the coach for that team as well.  Why would he schedule games so far apart, time wise?  No answer.

The season started against a tough Chisholm MN squad that had beaten the Vikings of Superior in the season opener in 1929, 13-0.  The Purple and White returned the favor oi 1930 winning 12-0.  When Superior scored early in the first period on a seven-yard run by team captain Verner Anderson to make the score 6-0, many still thought that either team could win.  It was a slugfest with a muddy field caused by a downpour with winds blowing often into the players face.  Whoever could overcome the monsoon like conditions would pull it out.  Superior only had seven first downs but they limited Chisholm to only four with three coming, surprisingly on the weather, via the pass  Once in the third period the Vikings had driven to their opponents five -yard line and looked sure to score but on four consecutive runs the tough Blue Streak defense only allowed three-yards.  The Superior Evening Telegram newspaper noted that the game was a “thrill minus from start to finish”.  Boring.

Yet, the Vikings were able to continue their undefeated streak which was now at 11-games, going back to the season ending 13-0 victory over Superior Cathedral in 1929.  Chisholm would go 5-2-0 on the season so this team wasn’t a pushover.  But the rest of the season would show that in good field conditions the Vikings were a great team. 

In 1929 little Ladysmith tied a much bigger foe, Superior, 6-6 in a game Coach Conley noted that his team was lucky to break even.  In 1930 his team blew out the Lumberjacks 33-6 and this season the Vikings would win by an even more margin, 55-0.  In the biggest scoring victory of the season, it was a showcase for fullback Verner Anderson.  The 200-pounder scored two touchdowns, kicked an extra point as well as a field goal.  On defense he contributed two interceptions that led to touchdowns scored by others.  It was sort of an audition for the future.

As mentioned earlier, the season was drawn out by the schedule of late games with Cathedral and La Crosse but there might be more.  After Ladysmith, the team was on cruise control, strolling through the rest of the schedule. 

La Crosse and Superior had a varied and sometime acrimonious history.  The two played in 1919 with the Vikings losing 37-20 at La Crosse.  In a previous story I mentioned that there was bad blood for the way La Crosse hosted Superior.  The Purple and White made up for the poor treatment by beating La Crosse 14-12 on Thanksgiving Day in 1922, again played in La Crosse.  Superior lost to La Crosse in 1923 39-0.  Those games were against Central.  In 1928 Logan High School was opened and it was against that school that the Vikings played.  The score (25-6) doesn’t indicate how well the team from up north dominated.  The victory should have been by a wider margin. 

The La Crosse Tribune newspaper had a side news item next to the game report.  In PART 1 of Superior teams, I mentioned post season charity games.  Superior Central principal C.G. Wade issued a challenge to Milwaukee Washington. to play a post season charity game.  “Superior would play Washington any day it desired and, on any field,” was what Wade told reporters.  Another side story touted Washington was a monster, high scoring undefeated team.  In reality, Washington ended the season with a 5-0-1 record.  They did win the Milwaukee City Conference title but the tie was a 6-6 affair against 1-2-3 Bay View in their final game.  The Purgolders scored 121 points and allowed only the six points that Bay View put up on the scoreboard.  A good team but Watertown (8-0-0) had a better record and the newspapers from Madison and Milwaukee touted them as the state champion (As I did in my book). 

The WIAA still disallowed a charity game but that didn’t stop Delafield St. John’s from playing one.  Being a private school and not a member of the WIAA (But they followed the state rules) they none the less played Culver Military Academy (IN) in their scheduled regular season finale.  St. John’s lost 18-0 before 25,000 fans at Soldiers Field in Chicago.  The game was played on a cloudy, chilly, overcast day with a wet field.  Had it been sunny and clear as many as 10,000 more people might have attended the game.  It was held for the Cook County American Legion relief fund. 

The season ended for Superior Central and they were 9-0-0.  This time they didn’t get the respect for a title but they had a second consecutive undefeated season and an eventual 22-game unbeaten streak.  They would win their first three games in 1932 vs. Cloquet, Superior East and Ladysmith before falling 7-6 to Duluth Denfeld.  In his first three seasons as head coach, Harry Conley had a great 21-4-2 record.

I mentioned earlier that against Ladysmith Verner Anderson “auditioned” against Ladysmith.  Upon graduation, Anderson and teammate Henry Wadsworth Longfellow would attend Northwestern.  Verner would stay there for several years starting on both the football and basketball teams.  He had been an All-State basketball center at Superior and also played that spot at Northwestern.  Verner would transfer to Superior State College and earned a teacher’s degree.  His first teaching job was at Ladysmith where he also served as the football and basketball coach as well as athletic director.  He would return to Superior in 1940 as a teacher and Dean of Boys at Central.  He helped Conley coach football and basketball before moving into administration as an assistant principle at Central and later he was a long-term principle at Pattison and Blaine elementary schools. Like Conley, Anderson is in the Central Athletic Hall of Fame.

Next up, 1952 Superior Cathedral…undefeated, untied and unscored upon.