A NOTE ON A 1926 GAME

I was excited when I read the email on May 28 from Newspapers.com that new papers had been added to the web site.   Would there be some from Wisconsin?  There were 200 new papers from multiple states and Canada that many would be glad to delve into history.  I scrolled down the list and found seven from the Badger State with one LaFarge and a newer Green Bay paper.  BUT there were five from Kewaunee!  Why would I be excited about Kewaunee?  Well, in recent year since the offensive end/defensive back Greg Rabas days (1974-76) and then the late 1990’s their passing attack has been formidable. The school has made it to the playoffs many times and even to a state title game.  Some potentially good stories might be in the various papers.  But nothing recent was on my radar.  What I wanted to look at was how the school and the local Kewaunee newspaper covered the 1926 Kewaunee vs. West De Pere blowout loss.  How bad was it?  It was a 126-0 loss that the STORM took at the hands of the Phantoms.

Sure, there’s a Monday, October 25, 1926, story in The Green Bay Press Gazette story (The games Kewaunee played were on Saturday’s and the Gazette didn’t publish then a Sunday edition).  But this is just one side of the loss that saw many state records being set.  I wanted the Kewaunee side of the loss.  What I found was profoundly disappointing.  Besides the high school not having any yearbooks from that football year (In the 1927 book), The same was with the public library and any local historical society offices.  Nothing there.  Now, I looked at The Kewaunee Enterprise from Newspapapers.com for information.  Published every Friday in 1926 (Later, every Thursday through 2007) I looked in at the October 29 edition.  Nothing.  What do you mean there’s no story?  Not even a score.  No mention.  Crickets. Why?

Well maybe it was the embarrassment of a season that most wanted to forget.  The STORM opened with a 42-0 loss to Manitowoc on September 25.  The next week, October 2, they lost 16-0 to East De Pere, then on October 9 there was a 19-0 defeat at the hands of Two Rivers.  October 16 the team was handed a 56-0 drubbing.  All four games have a one or two short paragraph blurb in the paper about the losses. The October 23 blowout story should have been printed in the October 29 edition, as I wrote above, but there was nothing to give an insight.  The STORM will finally score the next day on October 30, the final game, in the 23-8 defeat to Algoma.  The STORM allowed 282 points in six games.  The Enterprise didn’t even mention the head coaches name in the six game stories and there would of course be no season recap.  There was no pre-season or post season info.  The paper just moved right into the basketball season.  I’m just disappointed that The Enterprise was so spare in reporting the football stories.

You may ask, what did The Press Gazette have to say?  Multiple paragraphs.  Below is a recap of that story now taken from my book, “The Great Teams” along with info on the star of the game, Gilford Skinandore:

"Gilford Skenandore – Oct 23, 1926"

“In a crushing defeat of Kewaunee, West De Pere Nicolet’s Gilford Skenandore set a single game Wisconsin state scoring record as he ran for four touchdowns, returned four punts for scores and kicked all 18 of West De Pere’s extra points for a total of 66 points. He did this all on a water-soaked and very muddy field. Weighing only 136 pounds, “Skinny” and his teammates beat Kewaunee 126-0. All his extra points were dropkicks. 

Green Bay Press-Gazette 25 Oct 1926

The four punt returns for touchdowns and the 18-extra points are also Wisconsin state records. The scoring distances in the game story printed in the Green Bay Press Gazette seems to have been revised several days later but it appears he returned punts of 103, 35, 70 and 70 yards for four scores and rushed for 85, 60, 60, and 55 yards for the other four touchdowns.

He was a star forward on the basketball court and in track, 100- and 200-meter dashes, long jump and high jump. As late as the 1970s, Skinny still held the school record for the 100-meter dash. More remarkable is that he tore a ligament near his right knee in a collision on the basketball court in late January and still was able to set the school dash record several months later”.

Besides the 1926 West De Pere-Kewaunee score of 126-0, the 1928 100-0 defeat of La Crosse Aquinas at the hands of La Forge are the two last games in which a team scored at least 100 points prior to 1919.  My record book includes listings for 30 such 100-point scoring games.  Interestingly enough the highest score by a Wisconsin 11-player football team occurred in 1902 when Stoughton smashed Kewaunee 145-0.  That Kewaunee was Kewaunee Illinois, not the one up along Lake Michigan, north of Manitowoc and Two Rivers previously mentioned. 

To say that the STORM lost heart early in the game and was just going through the motions would probably be correct.  The field was muddy and hard for many to maneuver, but West De Pere could somehow do so.  There were numerous turnovers and poor tackling that led to easy scores.  66 points, 18 extra-point kicks, four punt returns for touchdowns with one for 103-yards are all state records (And highlighted above in BOLD) held to this day by Gilford Skinandore. 

Remarkable.

1959 OCONOMOWOC

In my previous story, “1946…A SEASON WITH VARIOUS NOTES…PART 1” I mentioned that the Associated Press began posting lists of undefeated teams each season from 1945-1954.  The 1946 list included Oconomowoc, a team that had an 8-0-0 record.  Coached by Virgel Licht from 1939-64 the Racoons or as they were nicknamed back then, the “Cooenys or Coon’s”.

Wisconsin State Journal, November 1, 1946

Having posted two previous undefeated seasons, both having 7-0-1 records, 1946 was the first undefeated, untied team for Licht as his men won the Little Ten Conference title outright.  They scored 161 points and allowed only 41 points.

From “The Cooney”, Oconomowoc H. S., 1947 Yearbook

Oconomowoc would have several very good years after 1946 but to most observers, the 1959 team would be their best.

1959

There were many stars on the 1959 squad as the team rolled up 279 points and allowed only 30 with five consecutive shutouts.

The Coaches…Line Coach L. Kroner, Head Coach Virgil Licht and Backfield Coach Wally Reams

After losing an early season game, 19-0 vs. Beaver Dam in 1957 the Cooney’s went 27-1 getting to the last two games of the 1960 season before losing 13-12 to Beaver Dam.  Over the 28-game stretch, Oconomowoc won 25 games and tied.  Overall, the team scored 828 points and allowed 175 in the 28-game run.

After scoring six touchdowns in the first 2 ½ games, star back Bob Monroe was lost for the remainder of the year.  Monroe was the defending Waukesha County 1958 scoring champion with 90 points, 84 in conference play.  Most observers thought that Monroe was one of the school’s best backs ever.  The scoring slack was taken up by quarterback Jim Braatz who had 10 touchdowns on the ground and tossing 12 td’s, end Bill Holden caught seven scores, and John Counsell ran, caught and returned six more.  The Coons scored 19 touchdowns on runs, passed for 14 and had six special team scores.  The special team touchdowns were on an 87-yard kickoff return by Phil Kienast and on five punt returns by various players.  Throughout the season, the team ran a reverse almost every time on the punt returns and this caused problems for their opponents.  Bob Monroe had twoscores of 86 and 75-yards in game two vs. Beaver Dam.  

In the season opener, a 46-18 win over non-conference opponent Monroe High, back Brian Cloutier scored a touchdown but had a hairline fracture in his right leg, just an inch above the fracture he suffered in 1957 as sophomore.  One of the interesting play’s occurred when halfback Pete Jolly, a lineman in 1958, intercepted a pass, sort of.   He snatched the ball out of Monroe quarterback Eave Grams hand as he was throwing.   Jolly stood still for a second, not knowing what to do then ran 35-yards for a score. 

It should be noted that the Little Ten Conference added two teams to the group in 1959 with Hartland Arrowhead and Ripon joining so the league had 12 teams. 

Waukesha County Freeman   November 5, 1959

Junior Mark Cloutier, Brians brother, was one of the mainstays who replaced Bob Monroe.  He was a hard driving fullback who scored several times on the year.  In the season finale, as he carried 20 times against West Bend, he had a slight leg injury on the very last play of the game/season.  Mark would be okey after resting after a few days.

Coach Licht was a supporter of the single -wing offense which was considered “old school” at the time as no one around used that formation.  He also employed, at times, the shotgun which was ahead of his time.  He had a philosophy that every opponent team had to prepare hard every week for his team.  How could you beat the success that Oconomowoc had?   

The defense was outstanding giving up only 413 total yards, 141 rushing.  Opponents were only 24 of 68 passing and allowing the Conney’s to intercept 14 balls.  The team also recovered 14 fumbles.  Phil Kienast was a nearly unstoppable linebacker, using his 210 pounds and his speed to level opponents with over 100 tackles. 

John Counsell, father of future Milwaukee Brewer coach, Craig, was recruited by coach Licht to be a quarterback because of his strong arm after seeing him throw a baseball in from the outfield.  Councell declined as he liked catching passes better than throwing.  He told Licht that it was fun to catch the ball and the coach replied that the idea wasn’t to have fun but to WIN!

So then, Licht talked Jim Braatz, also a baseball player, who didn’t play football as a freshman or as a sophomore to come out and play football.  With a good arm and running ability, Braatz proved to be a fit as the starting quarterback.  Councell would become media specialist with the Milwaukee Brewers.  Braatz later worked for Brownberry Ovens in Oconomowoc. 

Lineman Tom Bartz accepted a football scholarship to Maryland and played two seasons, 1964 and 1965 for the Denver Broncos and later worked for the Wisconsin Department of Transportation.  Bob Monroe taught school in Germantown.  Phil Kienast earned a scholarship to Notre Dame, suffered a knee injury and never played again but became a college professor.  Harold Roberts opened an excavating company as well as serving as Delafield’s fire chief.  Bill Holden attended UW-Madison, and at one time held the Big 10 high jump record.  After graduation he became an airline pilot.  These are but a few of the success stories for the teammates of 1959.

Coach Licht coached from 1936- 1961 and posted a career record of 143-49-15 while earning a spot in the WFCA Hall of Fame.  His football teams went undefeated six times and won 10 conference titles.  He also coached the school’s basketball tam winning three Little Ten championships.  He also served as the school’s athletic director for 30 years. 

1946…A SEASON WITH VARIOUS NOTES…PART 2

The season ending highlight was the story on the A.P. All-State team which was released on November 29.  Not much in the way of individual statistics except ages, height and weights and a few bits about notable players performance…” Great tackler, fast runner etc.” Few statistics other than scoring totals were often kept at this time.  As colleges began, in the 1920’s and 30’s it took a while for high schools in Wisconsin to start tracking individual player rushing, passing and receiving game and season stats.  Sometimes the stats that were reported were estimates.

The1946 A.P. All-State Team and some Player Information

From the Wisconsin State Journal, November 29, 1946

About several of the players on the squad: 

Tom McCormick of Madison Edgewood was All-State in 1945 as a junior and repeated in 1946, the first player to do so.  On the 1945 team there were two others that were ex-servicemen who were juniors as they returned to school.  But, because of their age, 20-years old, they were ineligible to play in 1946.  Milwaukee Washington, coached by Lisle Blackbourn, had three players on the team and five schools had two members.  A team with two players was South Milwaukee.  End Gene Clark and back Harry Hugasian were two of the three juniors on the 1946 squad.

There were a series of three weekly ballots submitted to the A.P. by coaches and sportswriters stating in week seven, dwindling the list down to 38 players.

As mentioned in my blog about Boscobel, running back Jerry Schafer led the state in scoring.  Jerry scored 162 points on 25 touchdowns and 12 extra points.  He scored a SWL Conference record 143 points in seven league games.

I also mentioned in a Clintonville story that Gladwin “Bobby” Born scored 11 touchdowns in 1947.  I found, thanks to A.P. stories and then research in the Appleton Post-Crescent that as a junior in 1946 he scored 17 touchdowns for a total of 102 points.  Here are some from a team that collected stats: In the New London game, he carried 19 times for 209 yards and two long scores.  Against Wabeno he scored twice and gained 219 of the teams 239 yards and followed up with six scores in a 60-0 win over Marion.  He made the final list but was not named to the 1946 All-State team, but the pollsters made up for it by naming him to the 1947 squad.

 For several seasons Bob Petruska of Lake Mills was considered one of the top players in the state.   In 1946 he led the state in rushing with 1,461 yards on only 94 carries for a 14.3 average.  He scored 15 times during the season, had a four-conference game punting average for a 52.0 per kick and six touchdown passes.  He was playing in ’46 with an injured right hand and completed 6-6 for 112-yards and twoscores.  In 1945 he tossed 14 touchdowns and ran for 12.

Then there’s Tom Curry of Tomah

One of the great stories of 1946 was about the Tomah Indians and their “little” left halfback, Tom Curry.  He was the “talk” of the state in 1946.  The team started a 33-game unbeaten streak in 1942 and in 1946 they went 8-0-0.  As a junior in 1945, Curry played quarterback scoring seven touchdowns and 12 extra-point kicks as well as passing eight touchdowns.  Against La Crosse Aquinas he had a 58-yard punt and against Westby Curry threw three touchdowns.  In basketball he scored 283 points.  In baseball he played shortstop and hit .414.  In track he broad jumped 19 ft., 6-inches.  In boxing he won three bouts.

Curry was now 16-years old in 1946, and he moved to the left halfback position.  The 5’4, 120-pound back was explosive.  Scoring 17 touchdowns and kicked 18 extra-points for a total of 120 points Tom had long touchdown runs of 72, 70, 66, 44, 41, 30, 29, 26, 24 and 20.  He threw three option scores. Curry had scoring games of 22, 21, 20, 20, 18 and 14.  Curry was listed in various papers as weighing 119, 120, 121, 138 or, in the case of the A.P. All-State Prep squad listed as weighing 128-pounds.  He is the smallest player ever to make first team All-State and he aslo, as previously mentioned, stared in other sports.  Besides being the class president Curry earned four letters in football and basketball, three in baseball and boxing and two in track.  That’s 16 varsity letters.  In basketball he played both guard and forward (At 5’4)!!

November 29, 1946, Wisconsin State Journal

Other Prep Notes on the Season:

Besides the A.P. stories, The Wisconsin State Journal reporter Joe Dommershauen was given a byline entitled “Prep Notes”.  Besides covering various Friday and Saturday games, Joe took information from many state-wide news reports.

He reported that John Lilly of Muscoda and Bud Carrington of Merrill both were credited with 100-yard touchdown runs.  With the ball on the 1-inch line, Lilly ran a fake punt play to score.  Carrington went from the opponent's goal line to his end zone with an interception.  I may have to update the record book with these two efforts.

Getting back to Boscobel’s Jerry Schaefer.  When he reported for fall practice the school only had 26 players showed up and 12 were freshmen.  Eight of the 26 weighed 120-pouns or less.  Boscobel finished in third place in the SWAL and a 6-2 record.

Fullback Warren Lay of Jefferson averaged 10.5 yards per carry.   His top game was against Delafield St. John’s Military Academy when he carried the ball 17 times for a 11.1 average. He also didn't make the final cut for the All-State team.

Ashland not only ended Wausau’s 46-game win streak, and they only lost one game, a 7-6 defeat to Superior Central.  The Oredockers won the Wisconsin-Michigan Conference title, and they scored their first win over Ironwood in 25-years.

St. Patrick's High School in Eau Claire (Now known as Regis) had to cancel two games due to outbreaks of polio.   As recounted in my book, this disease was the scurge of the nation that hit a high point in the early 1950’s before a cure was available.  St. Patrick's lost out on playing “bookend” games, the first was to be the season opener against Rochester (MN) Lourdes and their next to final game against Medford.  Shawano also had to halt play for 10-days in early October as two players contracted polio.

On October 26 Dick Hartman of Milwaukee Washington kicked a, then, state record 60-yard field goal.  That same day, Dick Tracy of Milwaukee Boy’s Tech duplicated the feat but becaues there were 12 Tech players on the field it was nullified. 

Despite earning weekly A.P. notice six times during the season, Allen Bostad of Stevens Point failed to make the A. P. All-State team.

Algoma quarterback, Bob Zastrow, in a 38-6 win over Sturgeon Bay on November 2 threw four touchdowns, ran six-yards for a touchdown, ran 80-yards for a score of an interception.

In early November the WIAA voted to modify the 19-year-old age for participation in sports.  The current rule was amended so that if a player in a current sport turned 19, he could continue to play in that sport but not any later sports. As an example, if at the start of the fall season a 19-year-old would not be eligible but if he turned 19 during that season, he could continue playing that sport.

Finally, Manitowoc ran into defeats on two sucessive weekends.  Leading 6-0 against Green Bay East, fullback Eddie Wagner dropped back to punt, but center Bill McElliott snapped the ball over Wagners head.  East recovered and two plays later they scored, kicked the extra point and won.  The next week tied 7-7 against Sheboygan Central, Wagner again dropped back to punt.  McElliott again snapped the ball over Wagners head.  Wagner picked the ball up and attempted torun with the ball and was buried by Sheboygan’s defenders.  Central scored the deciding score and won 14-7.

1946 was a very good year for the press to communicate better prep information.