EAST VS. WEST…MADISON…1977

On October 22, 1976, two teams met up to help decide the conference championship and secure the Madison city championship.  That championship covered the four Madison public high schools…East, West, Memorial and La Follette.  West blanked East, 12-0 and the next week would end up with an 8-1 record.  The setback for East dropped their championship chances, narrow as it was, and they would end the season with a 6-3 season record.  Neither team earned enough poll points for the WIAA to set them up for the first public school playoffs.  Both teams had a number of underclassmen, and they expected to have good seasons in 1977.

The two head coaches were looking forward to the September 23, 1977, matchup.  They each knew they had “the horses” to go all the way to the state playoffs.  Sometimes there were split loyalties in families entering a city game.  It all depended on where you lived.  The season before in 1976, Dick Falch became an assistant to West’s Burt Hable while his son, Rich was a halfback at East.  Now, Rich was back for his senior year.  Going back to 1975 Ben Hable, an all-state end for Madison Memorial opposed his father in the clash between the two schools.  Ben scored a touchdown that game, but Memorial came up very short in a 41-6 trouncing by West which was also Hable’s 100^th career win.  For this 1977 September game the question was where would Mrs. Helen Falch, Dick’s wife, Rich’s mother, sit for the game?  She chose the Purgolders side to support her son. 

The 1977 regular season matchup came two days after the WIAA released its first of the season computer rankings.  Ther Regents were rated #1 in the Class AA poll and the Purgolders were in the #4 spot behind #2 Stevens Point and #3 Green Bay Southwest.  East’s head coach, Knobby Kelliher, was feeling the effects of a bad case of the flu but he was up to coaching.  East would use halfback Rich Falch and fullback John Richards to be the lead blockers for one of the state’s best runners, Timm Minor.  The Purgolders played 22 starters, none who went both ways and had several larger defensive players in the 220-pound range.  West had six two-way players in Tim Straka at offensive end and defensive back, Jeff Knoche who also played o-end and d-back, quarterback/ d-back Pat Devine, halfback/d-back Pat Gilbert, o-guard/d-tackle Kevin Miller, fullback/linebacker Matt Svensson and offensive tackle/ defensive guard Dick Judd.

It was raining hard for the September 23^rd game and East jumped to a 14-8 lead.  Pat Gilbert scored first for West on a 12-yard run and then the two-point conversion run.  Timm Minor, the City and Big Eight Conference scoring leader blasted in from the five for East’s first score.  Rich Falch would get loose for a 44-yard scamper and a two-point reception by end Brian Elliott from quarterback John Robertstand the Purgolders.  Late in the second quarter Easts Tim Straka would haul in a 10-yard touchdown pass from Pat Devive and a kick for the extra point by mark Disrud.   West would enter the lockers at halftime with a 15-14 lead.  The Regents would shut down the East running game in the second half, score again on a Pat Gilbert 1-yard run and a Disrud extra point kick to win 22-14.  Timm Minor would gain only 76 yards in the game, his lowest total throughout the year.  Falch picked up only 54 yards including his big second quarter jaunt.  The stronger Regent defense led by many including Matt Svensson shut down Easts run game.  Svensson also gained 117-yards on 22 carries to power the offense.  Madison West would maintain the #1 spot in the poll, but East would drop out of the top 10.

The two teams would go undefeated until their playoff showdown on November 5.  In fact, Madison West was the only Class AA team to go undefeated during the regular season (9-0).  The showdown was set by the WIAA as the two schools were slated to meet in the first round of the playoffs.  West was favored but with halfback Timm Minor piling up rushing yards and touchdowns East had a good chance to win.  While Coach Kelliher relied on his super star halfback and his team’s defense, Coach Hable’s Regents were more balanced overall.  With a good running game and a little better passing attack, thanks to end Tim Straka’s receiving talents and a bit tougher takeaway defense they had the horses. 

At Madison’s Mansfield Stadium before 7,000+ fans the battle began at 7:30pm and the Regents took quick control.  Junior Dan Trieber broke loose early in the first quarter for a 68-yard sprint and West never looked back.  Trieber again scored on a 4-yard run and along with Mark Disrud’s extra points West took a 14-0 lead, a lead that they held onto at halftime.  Trieber would gain 131-yards rushing and along with the Pat Gilbert’s 75-yards as West piled up 234-yards on the ground.  Minor would rush 29 times for 128-yards and the Purgolders only score.  Gilbert would score a final West score in the fourth period and the Regents would win 22-6.  Trieber would run for a two-point conversion to complete the scoring.

The next week West would meet Stevens Point for the title and win 19-14 for the state title.  Tim Straka would star as he hauled in two touchdown passes (21 and 68 yards) and intercept two of the four Regent passing takeaways to seal the title.  Down 14-0 in the second quarter, Straka led the comeback.  As it turned out it would be the city of Madison’s state title so far in the playoff era.  The next season in 1978, Madison Memorial would make it to the finals against Antigo and lose 21-14 in OT.  This would be the last time a Madison team would make it to the state finals.

Both coaches, Wayne “Knobby” Kelliher and Burt Hable were elected to the WFCA Hall of Fame, 1999 and 1996 respectively.   Knobby also wrote a book, “Football, Madison Style” that gave me some insight into the various early Madison teams that I used for my book on Wisconsin high school football history.  Burt Hable coached me for a week during the summer of 1969 when I attended a pre-season camp in upper Wisconsin near Eagle River prior to my senior year.  Both coaches’ efforts helped me in different, positive ways to view the game.

The season totals:

        Madison West:                                          Madison East:

Offense:

Rushing             2.826                                             2,140

Passing                641                                                454

Total Yards       3,467                                             2,594

Average P.G.   315.2                                            259.4

Defense:          

Rushing:          1,423    1,074

Passing               641                                                  541

Total Yards     2,064                                               1,615

Average P.G.  187.6                                                161.5

Comparatively speaking, both had adequate offenses, comparable to that era, to get the job done and very good defenses.  Each team also had star power. 

For All-City honors (There were seven Madison high schools at the time), West had eight players named in nine first team positions.  Tim Straka was named as an end on offense and a defensive back on defense.   Kevin Miller was named at offensive guard, Vic Hoffman at offensive tackle, Pat Devine at quarterback and Pat Gilbert at running back.  Named on defense, besides Straka, was defensive lineman Dick Judd, linebacker Bart Wear and linebacker Matt Svensson.  Three players on offense and three others were named to the All-City second team plus six others earned honorable mention.  On the season Straka would catch 25 passes for 452 yards and seven touchdowns to go along with nine interceptions.  In four of his teams 11 games Straka caught the go-ahead touchdown.

East was led by Timm Minor who gained 1,332 yards on the ground and scored 18 touchdowns.  Minor was named to the All-City offense along with guard Kevin Powers and tackle Doug Johnson.  On defense Brian Elliott held down a end spot, lineman Paul Gorman, linebacker Ray Nyland and defensive back Paul Ripp.  One East player was named to the second team offense and three were named to the defense as well as nine players received honorable mention.

When the Associated Press All-State team was named on November 23 Tim Straka was again named on both sides of the ball as an end and defensive back.  East’s Timm Minor was also named to the first team at running back.  Bart Wear from West was named as the first team center, Brian Elliott of East was on the first team defense at the end spot and Ray Nyland earned a position as a linebacker.  On the second team, offense Kevin Miller of West was named as a guard while East’s tackle Doug Johnson earned a spot mas well.

Two very good teams coached by two very special men that rose to be the best in the city of Madison and the state.