Gary Hanson graduated from UW-La Crosse un 1967 and applied as a physical education teacher and football coach at Cashton High School. With no previous coaching experience, he got the job and has never left town, even after 55-years. Hanson had a slow start but in 29-years as the coach at Cashton he preached like Vince Lombardi and earned his player’s respect. He posted 27 Winning seasons out of 29 with his worst losing single season being 5-4 in 1983. In the years 1978-82 his Eagles posted a spectacular 41-2 record.
1978
In 1978 they went 8-1 and lost in the semi-finals to Spring Valley. With a lot of returning starters coming back the Eagles went 11-1, losing in the state finals to a great Cambridge squad. 1978 brought a strong team to the WIAA playoffs. Only playing an eight-game regular season schedule due the season opener against Westby being cancelled. An unfortunate accident by a Westby player, their starting center, dying in an accidental hunting accident due to gunshot wounds was the reason for the cancellation. The Eagles polled well enough for the WIAA to award them a spot in the Division 5 playoffs. In the semi-finals eventual champion Spring Valley defeated Cashton 26-6. Coach Hanson thought that the stingy Spring Valley defense was the key to the game as three sure touchdown receptions were stripped away Cardinal defenders. Another great play was a goal-line stop of Eagle star back Kevin Kirking, throwing him for a loss on the two -yard line. Going into the semi-final Cashton had only given up 29 points and Spring Valley had allowed 53. Kirking had 809-yards on the ground in only six games as he was injured for two. The Cardinals held him to 51-yards. Several stars, besides Kirking were Fred Von Ruden, Dennis Weibel, Tom Bahr, Marvin Hurtz, Jim Schaub and Mike Geier on defense. Back Ken Schuttemeier and end Mitch Hundt on defense. The last names of Von Ruden and Weibel will show up often throughout the years. One other note is Westby, also with an eight-game regular season, made the playoffs and went on to win the Division 4 title.
1979
The 1979 team went undefeated and even played a 10th regular season game before they lost in the state final game to a very good Cambridge team. After converting four Clear Lake turnovers in the semi-final 40-7 win into touchdowns the Eagles were primed for the championship showdown. Still in those days only four teams from each division qualified for the playoffs. Playing Cambridge on neutral turf in Sun Prairie it was a cold (20-degrees) but sunny Saturday. Plagued by poor field position for most of the game, Cashton held a slim 7-3 lead with 1-minute to go. A 24-yard pass to the one-yard line with next to no time left on the clock set up the winning touchdown run for Cambridge and the Bluejays beat the Eagles 10-7. Five turnovers stymied the Cashton squad. Kevin Kirkling set a school single season rushing record with 1,565 yards and earned a spot on the Wisconsin State Journal’s All-Area team.
The All-Scenic Conference squad was headed, again, by many Cashton players.
Above I mentioned the last names of Von Ruden and Weibel. Those last names showed up again in 1979.
Fred (A senior) and Dan (A junior) Von Ruden were brothers. Rick (His name is mis-spelled in the Wisconsin State Journal story on the All-Conference team) was not related to the other two Von Ruden’s.
1980
In 1980 Brookwood, the smallest team in the Scenic Bluffs Conference was moved by the WIAA to another conference and because of how well Cashton had performed in the past they couldn’t get a non-conference opponent to fill their open game so they played only eight games. As I wrote last time in the Belleville blog…BELLEVILLE 1980…NEAR PERFECTION, the WIAA used a formula to pick most of the playoff teams that was controversial. The 1980 Cashton team went undefeated, untied and unscored upon going 8-0. Their opponents poor season records hurt them in the WIAA choosing them to make the playoffs. There was a lot of criticism in the press from around the southern and western areas of the state over the fact that Cashton (As well as Belleville) were not in the expanded playoffs.
Statistically, the Eagles were supremely dominate. Another team was Belleville, an undefeated team that allowed only three points in 1980, was also denied a chance to compete under similar circumstances. If I produced statistical records for the other eight teams that were awarded playoff berths, none could compare with Cashton or Belleville defensively and only a few could match Cashton’s offensive prowess.
The Eagles dominated the season ending player honors as out of the 24-players named to the All-Scenic Bluffs squad, 18 of those spots had a Cashton players named.
That’s 11 seniors and a total of six players named on both sides of the ball. Notice the last name Von Ruden. Rick and Dan Von Ruden earned all-conference honors as juniors in 1979. In 1980, with 10 of the 12-players named to the first team defense Dan Von Ruden could only earn honorable mention. Steve Koenen ran for 1,325 yards, averaging 7.2 yards a carry, in only eight games.
Another note here is that besides the 2019 Stratford team the 1980 Cashton squads were the last two undefeated, untied and unscored upon teams in a regular season (Before entering the playoffs).
1981
1981 arrived and the boys were ready to play. Having lost 11 starters from the defense (10 first team All-Scenic Bluffs mentions plus Dan Van Ruden, Coach Hanson had to reload. Plenty of his new starters saw considerable game time in 1980 and they were up to the task. Plus, a key transfer showed up to direct the offense. It must have been strange for new starting quarterback Eric Schwarz to line up in the semi-finals against his former teammates from Black Hawk. The family moved from Black Hawk to the Cashton area during the summer and Eric stepped right in earning All-Conference and All-Area honors.
Eric Schwarz ran for 644 yards, passed for 578 and intercepted 7 passes. In the state title game, he tossed for three scores, all to end Mile Hauser. A leader on defense at the linebacker spot as well as a highly thought of receiver, Hauser caught only 16 passes in 1981 but gained 533-yards and scored seven times. Bruce Hemmersbach was the big man in the running game as he carried 244 times for 1,356 yards, scoring 17 touchdowns and kicking 38 extra points plus three field goals for a total of 143 points.
Check out the seasonal stats. The team went undefeated and untied but gave up one field goal while shutting out 10 opponents. Unable to get any offense moving, Stratford had to settle for a 35-yard field goal.
Defensive back Chris Torkelson contributed 10 interceptions on the year. Hauser earned first team all-State as an end. Todd Von Ruden (OG), Todd Schreiner (LB) and Hemmersbach (RB) all earned second team all-State.
1982
The season was good but not up to recent standards with the Eagles going 7-2 and finishing in second place in the Scenic Bluffs. Undefeated (In the regular season) was DeSoto, a team that was in and out of the Scenic over the years turned out to be the conference champs. Rick Von Ruden, star of the 1982 team had three brothers, Todd and Randy (Already mentioned) and Bruce who was a senior star on the 1984 team.
Coach Hanson had several other good teams moving forward, especially the 11-1 1994 squad that fell to Hilbert 26-14 in the semi-finals. The next week Hilbert took the title. Hanson decided after the 1995 season to retire from coaching. He was only 51-years old and wanted to spend more time with the family. He was elected that year to the WFCA Hall of Fame. I talked to Don recently and it was an enjoyable discussion. He left a lasting legacy on the Cashton football as well as the wrestling program he started in 1970. Don guided that sport for 13-years, posting a 133-45-5 record.
My thanks go out to Scott Wall who put me in touch with Coach Hanson.
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