A MULTI-SPORT FAMILY OF STARS…PART 1

After the 1950 football season ended, the “Bear” came calling.

The Clintonville “Truckers” finished 7-1-0 on the 1950 season and won the Northwoods Conference title. They were led by Don Jirschele who earned 3rd team Associated Press All-State after scoring 17 touchdowns and kicking six extra points for 108 points. In a 60-0 win over New London, Don scored seven times on runs of 41, 40, 29, 14 and 2 yards as well as returning two interceptions for scores of 100 and 87 yards each. He was named All-Conference football both as a junior in 1949 and then again, the next season. Jirschele had very good speed with power from his halfback spot, but he suffered several minor injuries in his career that sent him on the bench during games occasionally. He had a twisted ankle several times and even a more serious broken nose. The head gear before the 1960’s and the invention of additional padding in the helmet as well as the introduction of the facemask was, well really only protecting the ears.

Don started as a sophomore not only in football but also on the basketball and track teams. He played baseball during the summer and was a star there as well. He had a brother, Dick, who was an early star for Clintonville who then played football in the 1940’s at Central State College (Now University) in Wilberforce, Ohio. Dick was also a multi-sport star in high school. Other than the touchdowns recorded there were scant other records to refer to.

So, the “Bear” came calling. Don Jirschele answered. Paul “Bear” Bryant was coaching at Kentucky and was just turning that program around utilizing a good running game with passing by All-American Babe Parilli. This was before he moved on to Texas A%M and then to Alabama. Jirschele played two seasons for the “Bear” before being inducted into the Army. He served two years in the military service and then in 1955 he signed a contract to try out with the Green Bay Packers, but a broken ankle prevented him pro pursuing a pro career. He returned to Clintonville and became a very important individual on the local sports scene. For year he coached the Clintonville A’s baseball team (BABA…Badger Armature Baseball Association) and even had the local baseball field named in his honor. He spent time as an assistant to his former coach, Tony Ellis with the football team. Clintonville is a small town, but Don was known far and wide not just for sports but for community affairs. He organized the local 4th of July activities for several years. He also worked hard to develop all sports in the community, not just for boys but also for girls. Don passed at age 87 in 2020.

Don’s life was also one of tragedy. Three of his four sons developed muscular-dystrophy and they died in their 40’s. Don and his wife also had several daughters and thankfully the disease didn’t touch them.

Don Jirschele…Sept. 21, 1949…Appleton Post-Cresent

Despite the disease of the three boys, Jim, Doug and Pete, they were there more often than not io cheer their brother Mikes efforts. Doug was his brother Mile’s best friend. With Mike there was pride in his athletic accomplishments and there were many.

As a young boy Mike Jirschele excelled in most sports. Back when the NFL sponsored the Punt, Pass and Kick contests Mike earned a trip to New Orleans to compete with other kids his age. The PP&K was initially a contest for boys that began in 1961 and broken into several age groups. Later, girls were included but the program ended in 2017 as the NFL decided to go toward a team approach for encouraging the sport rather than individual competition. Some states still have their own PP&K programs. And while mike was very good at football, he loved the baseball diamond. In high school he stared in football, basketball and baseball but when summer break hit, he played for the local BABA team against many older players, and he excelled.

As a sophomore in 1974 Mike started on the gridiron at quarterback and defensive back, like his father Don had done. The team posted a 7-2 record and improved the next season to 8-1, losing the season opener to conference champion Marinette. Mike earned All-Conference at both positions (If they named a kicker or punter to the teams, Mike would have earned those spots) as well as first team All-State U.P.I. (Second team on the A.P. team) as a quarterback. His team ran the wishbone and Mike was the primary runner, even from the quarterback position. He had 166 carries for 1,368 yards and scored 19 touchdowns, kicked 25 extra points and two field goals (One was a conference record 46-yader) for 145 points. His passing stats were modest with 71 attempts, 31 completions, only three interceptions for 428 yards and six scores. In the 10-team conference he nearly outdistanced the #2 rusher who had 767 yards by a 2-1 margin and his closest scoring opponent on the conference lists had 67 points. Against Seymour he tied his dads school scoring record with 42 points on six touchdowns, four extra-point kicks and a 2-point conversion run.

Mike started as a guard on the varsity basketball team as a sophomore (A 9-9 season) and would end up as the school’s all-time leading scorer with 1,101 points. As a junior he set sectional playoff scoring records as he led the team to a 20-5 record and just lost to St. Francis in the Class B title game 68-66. He scored 28 points in the title game with 16 of them coming in the fourth period to take the lead several times and then to keep the Truckers close. In that fourth period he also created three turnovers, hauled down four rebounds and, standing 5’10, he out jumped 6’5 Dave Dorlack on a jump ball. With three seconds to play in the game, down by two points, St. Francis dropped back and allowed the inbound pass to go to Jirschele who quickly took several steps and then let the ball go towards the basket as time expired. Unlike Beloit’s Lamont Weavers last second, 55-foot shot to win the 1969 title, his half-court shot missed. The St. Francis fans exploded with joy. Mike fell o his knees and lay face down on the court for about five seconds when his coach, Carl Bruggint, came over and asked if he was ok. Mike looked up and simply said “Yep.” There were no tears, just an acceptance that he and his team had done their best. He impressed many at the state tournament for his overall play. He would earn third team All-State by the UPI that season as well as first team All-Bay Conference.

A state-wide legend was growing.

Baseball season started soon, and the Truckers were a middle of the road team, but Mie was hitting well and playing shortstop. In one game he was involved in a triple play, catching a line shot, stepping on second for the next out and then tossing the ball to first to complete the play. Unfortunately, he also made an error in the game that led to his team losing. He hit several homers that year and was named to the All-Bay team…a triple feat after winning first team spots in football and basketball. Then it was on to summer ball where he again excelled and major league scouts were beginning to take notice.

More on Mile Jirschele and Family of Stars next time.

THE BEST EVER??

1992 rolled around and Cliff Christl of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel sent out requests to 300 current and former coaches, players and sportswriters to submit their thoughts on who they thought where the best ever in Wisconsin high school football. The voters were to help create an all-time first team and second team of great players and recognize the top coaches. The voting was to be done on the basis of a player’s high school career and not what they did in college or if they made it to the pros. Some voters didn’t keep post high school graduation efforts out of their lists. The lists were to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the formation of the Milwaukee City Conference in a 1993 article and it would take time to collate the replies. A few schools had been playing football for several years before the conference was formed in 1893, most notable Delafield St. John’s Military Academy and Madison High School. From the polling of the group a first and second all-time squad was finalized along with the best coach of the last 100 years.

There were a total of 44 names on the two all-time offensive, defensive teams plus a kicker and a punter for each of the two teams and 136 other names were on the honorable mention list. A few players made it onto the first or second team at one position and then on the honorable mention list for another spot. Tom Straka of Madison West (1977) made the first team defense as a defensive back and the second team as a receiver. Todd Gregoire of De Per Pennings (1973) made the second team as a kicker and honorable mention as a linebacker. Bob Petruska of Lake Mills (1946) earned the spot as the punter on the all-time second squad and honorable mention as a running back. Jim Melka (1979) of West Allis Hale made the honorable mention list at running back and linebacker while Jum Strzykalski (1940) of Milwaukee South Division was also named to the running back and linebacker spots on the honorable mention squad. All fine players as were those others who only were mentioned once (Hopefully I didn’t miss anyone else). Well, I did find another who stood out and he’s what the blog is about.

Now, the player who received the most overall votes and was listed as the Player of the Century was Kenosha (1950) native Alan Ameche. I believe that Ameche was a great fullback with some decent speed. He led Kenosha to the mythical state title, then won the Heisman at Wisconsin and was a good NFL player. He took a handoff from Baltimore Colt quarterback Johnny Unitas to run into the end zone to win the NFL title in 1958 in a sudden death final, billed at that time as the greatest NFL game ever. He wasn’t in the league of fullbacks such as Cleveland’s Jim Brown (Who in my thoughts, no one was or ever has since been as good of a running back) or the Packers Jim Taylor. But he was solid. NFL back. I’m old and have watched a lot of pro games on TV and regretfully, only two in person and I never remember watching Ameche. But I did see a lot of Brown and Taylor.

When I was doing my blogs on the 1950’s I spent a lot of time going through the Kenosha News newspaper. While Ameche was in an era where high school players went both ways, I failed to find notations about his defense. He was probably good but maybe not as notable as a few others on that great 1950’s team. Yet, I still listed him as the Player of the Decade. Looking over the list of great players from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel story one player did stand out above all others. That was Waukesha’s John Anderson.

John Anderson…Waukesha Freeman 1973

The All-Century Team listed Anderson as a first team linebacker and on the first team offense as an end. He was the only player noted to make both first team squads. On top of that he made honorable mention as a kicker and as a punter. Again, the only player to make the listings in four categories and his voting status was nearly 20-years after he played his last high school football game. He did go on to have a very good career at the University of Michigan where he played as a linebacker. He was drafted in the first round of the NFL draft by the Green Bay Packers. He ended his career as having the most tackles by a Packer and he tied Ray Nitschke with 25 career interceptions. But I’m keying in on his high school days.

So, what made so many people vote for John Anderson in four different categories?

First, he was a tremendous blocker on the Waukesha offensive line as well as a very good receiver…33 receptions for 416 yards and nine touchdowns. Standing 6’3, 205 he could have had many more receptions if the team passed a lot and also tossed the ball downfield more often. But, in a run first-offense he was outstanding. On defense he made 86 tackles, recovered three fumbles, forced seven fumbles, intercepted five passes, knocked down six passes and blocked two kicks while sitting out many games shortly after halftime due to the team being so far ahead. As a kicker he was 43 of 48 on extra points and four of six on field goals, including a 45-yarder. Overall, he scored 111 points on the season. And while the Freeman newspaper didn’t report punting game totals in their box score’s he is thought to have averaged between 41-42 yards per punt and had the knack of placing the ball just so there would be no return or out kick the coverage.

Maybe his top game was the second of the season, a 43-0 rout of Wauwatosa East in which he caught five passes for 70 yards including a 33-yard touchdown, returned an interception for 60-yards for a score, recovered a fumble and returned it 18-yards for a touchdown, he was 5-6 on extra points, kicked a field goal and made 12 tackles. This as his team overcame six of their own fumbles.

Four weeks later in a 34-6 win over Wauwatosa West, an undefeated team that was 5-0 coming into the game and ranked #10 in the UPI poll Anderson twice kicked his Blackshirts team out of danger when stopped in their own territory with punts of 57 and 54 that could not be returned by West. A few minutes later on defense he helped stop the West team by forcing two turnovers that led to Waukesha scoring.

The 1973 season was magical for Waukesha for the first seven games. They had defeated Wauwatosa West to drop them from being in contention for the conference title but game eight was a matchup against South Milwaukee, a game neither team would forget. The Blackshirts had given up only three touchdown, 20 points, and had five shutouts in their first seven games. South Milwaukee was good but not spectacular as the two faced each other. The Rockets turned miscues into opportunities they just outplayed Waukesha, 54-35. Kevin Kuckevar for the Rockets scored four times on a 70-yard punt return, a 65 and a 63-yard pair of scoring runs and a 65-yard reception. John Luby had an 85-yard kickoff return for another South Milwaukee score. The Blackshirts won their final game and did finish #6 in the UPI final poll but the loss in game eight was a heartbreaker. You can see all the scores in my June 7, 2021, blog on the great Waukesha teams…” Waukesha-1964-1976”.

As the season ended Anderson was getting a lot of recognition for his great senior season. First, he was named Player of the Year the Suburban conference and earned honors as an end, linebacker and kicker. Next, he was the Waukesha County Player of the Year in the Freemans ratings. Then he was named Player of the Year on the Milwaukee Sentinel All-Area Team and that was followed by earning All-State honors in both final listings by both the UPI and AP polls. In the UPI poll he was listed as Honorary Captain.

He was more than just a football player. He was named All Suburban conference in 1973 as a junior and 1974 as a senior in basketball. He again earned honors by the Waukesha Freeman newspaper as the county’s basketball Player of the Year (He averaged 14 points and 12 rebounds as a power forward) in 1974. Besides starting three seasons for coach Ken Holub on the football team he also started three seasons for coach Dick Hughes on the Blackshirts basketball team. Anderson was a very good tennis player and was the teams MVP as a senior leading his team to the state tournament. The Milwaukee Pen and Mike Club (An organization of writers and broadcasters) named him the 1974 Player of the Year.

As a junior in 1972, Jim Anderson earned All-Suburban Conference for football as he caught 16 passes for 250 yards and four scores while kicking 25 of 28 extra points and two field goals.

Because of his overall talent, a guy who it seemed to be that he could do just about anything on the football field he gained a lot of notice and caught the attention of voters on the All-Century team. Now, thirty years after the article and as I’ve noted in other blogs and my book that there were a lot of players who could “do it all.” But maybe, just maybe, John Anderson is/was truly the best ever.

SEARCHING THE RECORDS TO SET THINGS RIGHT

Looking for the correct answers as I explain an extensive search.

History -like any person’s story-it’s messy. It doesn’t always fit into neat boxes. About 30 years ago I was at the Milwaukee Public Library sifting through old newspapers…The Milwaukee Journal and the Milwaukee Sentinel in particular, when I happened upon a record that I found to be very important. This is a tail about that record and confirming it.

A story in the Sentinel in 1963 mentioned that a player from Pewaukee, Charles Page, was a very good running back and an expert defender on defense. So good defending against the pass that he had 18 interceptions that year.WOW.18 interceptions in a single season! That record went to the top of that category on my records list I saw in a 1964 story that he had 13 more that year for a career total of 31. That was the career record until a few years later I discovered that Roy Gruel of Glenwood City ended his career, 1981-84, with 33. In 2003 Jake Owens of Stevens Point Pacelli tied Gruel with 33. That all fit into “neat boxes.”

About 2009 or 2010 I received an email from a person who said that he knew Charles Page. The person had found my records list on the WFCA web site, and he noticed Charles’ name. So, he asked Mr. Page about the record and Page said he had a few but he didn’t think it was that many. I told the reader that I would make time to look through the local papers for confirmation, but I also asked that he give Charles my email address and to contact me. Well, I never heard from Charles Page, and I never got around to looking deeper into the local newspapers. I got busy doing other things and when I didn’t hear back the record checking went into the back of my mind.

However, over the years every time I did updates and looked over the interception section I thought of that email from the reader. I lost his address to reconnect and I’m sorry for that.

Now, fast forward to July of this year, 2023. I was again at the in the downtown Milwaukee library and I was allowed to look at the real newspapers and not to have to resort to microfilm (THANKS MPL!). They will let you look at the old papers instead of microfilm if they are still in good condition. They have the Journal and Sentinel in big, heavy binders going back to when the papers were first printed in the 1800’s. I was trying to get info for a blog on Don Bosco high school and while turning the pages for October 1964 in the Milwaukee Journal I saw a small story about Charles Page and another player on the Pewaukee team. The article said that after the team’s first seven games Page ‘s rushing stats were 82-1007-12.3-14 with two more games to play. Impressive, even for a small school program and in only seven games. But in reading the story the other player mentioned was Don Strauss, listed as a superb defensive back. It said that he had intercepted 18 passes in 1963 and had 10 more in 1964 so far. To say that I was shocked was an understatement. How could this be? I was so sure that what I had written down on paper back in the 1990’s and then transferred to my computer files was correct. So, the hunt to get to the truth began.

First, I went to the Waukesha Public Library and looked up the sports pages from October and November 1963 and 1964 and found next to nothing about the two players. In later years the Waukesha Freeman newspaper would have recaps for the teams they covered. But in 1963 and 1964 the paper just mainly covered Waukesha High School and Catholic Memorial with scant attention to other schools in the county. An occasional story here and there about Muskego, Mukwonago or a Brookfield school but almost nothing on other teams. While that coverage would change in the future it didn’t help my search now. I looked for that papers All-Waukesha County football team. For 1963 there was nothing except that Charles Page was listed as honorable mention. The stories those days were low on statistical info for most players on the All-County team and the first and second teams were made up of only 11-players each. You would have thought that the 18 interceptions would have gotten him on the second team if not the first team. There was no mention of Don Strauss. I then looked at the 1964 All-County team and Charles Page was now listed on the second team. No final stats there, just his name, so his record is unfinished for my curiosity. Again, Don Strauss isn’t mentored. With 28 career interceptions from the Milwaukee Journal story, you would think that there would be some mention, honors.

Next, on to the Pewaukee Public Library to check out the high school’s old yearbooks. I looked at the 1963, 1964 and 1965 yearbooks and found one page with the team picture and the record for the seasons scores and the next page had pictures of the senior players. No story about the team. Dead end there. I followed up with a visit to the Hartland Public Library to look at the Lake County Reporter newspaper. Now this was a weekly paper, small in size but seemed to want to cover a large area. Maybe later the paper would do so but not in 1963 or 1964. I found two game stories for the 18-games Pewaukee played in those years and very little about a small school next to the town, Arrowhead. In fact, while the paper covered news from Pewaukee, Delafield, Merton, Okauchee Lake, Nashotah, Chenequa and North Lake there very little football coverage. No pre-season previews and no season ending recaps. Of the only two stories that I found on Pewaukee they were from 1964. A story similar to the one in the Milwaukee Journal mentioning Page but nothing about Strauss. This was an article also mentioning the upcoming game against Kewaskum and Homecoming in particular. Another dead end.

So, I decided to email the principal, vice-principal and the athletic director at Pewaukee. I explained my plight and wanted to know if they knew the interception records or any alumni info on the two players. No response but that isn’t a surprise since it’s summer and they probably aren’t checking the school emails. Their possible contact with either Charles or Don was very slim. Schools also don’t often carry records that far back with any consistency.

But five days after I sent my email, I decided to do two things. I had the next day off and I decided I would burn some gas. I live in Milwaukee, not far from the airport. Pewaukee’s final two games were against Kewaskum and Grafton. Small towns then…Kewaskum about 1,700 people, Grafton about 4,500 and West Bend about 12,000. Hartland was small as well with about 2.100 residents. My plan was to go to the West Bend library to look up any info about the Pewaukee vs. Kewaskum game in that city’s newspaper. Kewaskum was only about nine miles from West Bend in those days and had no local paper. I would then go to Grafton and take a chance that the newspaper there would have relevant info. I was willing to hunt down my needed info. However, my plans sort of changed when I did a Google search the night before my trip of Don Strauss

I had done one search earlier, before I emailed the high school and only got 253 links to obituaries for various men from around the country named Charles Page. I never had done one for Don Strauss. When I did, I hit the jackpot. Unlike Page I only found one Google obituary for a man named Don Strauss. In that obituary I found that Don Strauss was born in Milwaukee County in 1947. After graduation he ended up in Florida as a firefighter for the Fort Lauderdale Fire Department where he worked for 21-years. He passed in 1995 at age 47 and had a brother still living back in Pewaukee at the time of his death. That info didn’t help with the interception record though but I now knew a bit more on Don Strauss than I had on Charles Page. When I did my Google search I had just put in Strauss’ name and Pewaukee WI. Google offered me a lot more options but no Don Strauss in Pewaukee so, at first, I clicked on the obituary option and got the above info. I took obituary out of the search and came up with, surprise, the Pewaukee High School football records lists…Records - Individual & Team (pewaukeefootball.org) First, I found that they credited Charles Page with an even 1,200 yards rushing in 1964 with an even 12.0 yards per carry. With two games to go and the info based on the Milwaukee Journal story plus the one in the Lake County Reporter that means he only carried 18-times in the last two games for 193-yards. I have been able to find the scores of those two games, Kewaskum was a 40-0 win and Grafton was a 20-26 loss as per the yearbook. The 193-yards seemed suspect to me. Here’s why. A look at the Grafton News Graphic newspaper said that going into the game between the two schools that Page had 1,070 yards going into the final game and another story on the game had him rushing 24 times for 85 yards so that doesn’t add up to 1,200 yards. Plus, if the Journal story was correct then the 82 carries plus the 24 in the Grafton game would have given him 106, not including what he had in the Kewaskum game.

However, the News Graphic mentioned another player, Tony Lorscheidt who ran wild against Kewaskum, scoring five times and twice against Grafton where he gained 70-yards on 15 carries. In the pre-game story between Pewaukee and Grafton, where the above 1,070 season yards were mentioned, it was mentioned that Lorscheidt was scoring a lot of points in conference play. Did that also mean that Page’s 1,070 yards were in conference play only? Could the 14 season interceptions in Pewaukee’s records be only for conference games? None of the true totals, doing a newspaper game-by-game search, can be found except for their opener against Burlington St. Mary’s. That was a 7-0 win for Pewaukee, and I did find that St. Mary’s did throw two interceptions and one that cut a drive short was hauled in by Don Strauss. Page didn’t score in the game but had a 57-yard run to set up the only score by Tony Lorscheidt. I got the story from the Racine Journal Times. Small town papers just didn’t fully cover most schools or post a box score of football stats. If there were we could get a better feel for what the real numbers are.

Looking down farther on the Pewaukee records I find that in 1963 Don Strauss is credited with 14 interceptions, not 18 and there are no career totals. He is credited with a 101-yard interception return against Campbellsport (The Pewaukee records has Campbellsport spelled with only one L) in 1964. Since the Journal said Strauss had 10 interceptions so far after the first seven games in 1964, he may have had more against his last two opponents.

Here is my analysis on the subject:

While I trust what most newspapers print, they do make mistakes…either their error or what is reported. Numbers can be out of order. BUT, if a coach reports 18 interceptions as opposed what the school records show, who is correct? I really don’t know but I have made changes in the records. Plus, a later story from the Journal had Page with 13 for 1964. So, what’s right? I’ve made some corrections to my lists.

I have removed the name of Charles Page from the interception records and replaced it with the name of Don Strauss. Strauss is now listed tied with another Pewaukee player, Ron Anderson (1967), for the number two spot on the single season record and Larry Lusness of Osseo from 1953 is on the top spot. I have put Strauss at the number three spot on the career interceptions list even though the Pewaukee web page records don’t show career records.

So, there you have it. I am about to send the updated records list to be posted soon on the WFCA records page so you can see the official changes and a few other updates.

Your comments?