GREAT SUPERIOR TEAMS…PART 5
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1944 SUPERIOR CENTRAL
COVERING SOME GREAT HIGH SCHOOL TEAMS FROM 1930 THROUGH THE MID-1960’S ON SEVERAL CITY OF SUPERIOR FOOTBALL TEAMS
Harry Conley was coaching through the 1941-45 World War II years with some but not always great success. 1944 was the exception to middle of the road success. In 1944 was the final season with one of the school’s all-time star athletes, Harry “Bud” Grant. The future head coach of the Minnesota Vikings was a multi-sport performer. In football Bud was a fullback and linebacker and his play in 1944 drew offers from another colleges including Wisconsin and Minnesota. The Gophers would eventually snare his talents but football wasn’t the only sport he played at Superior or for the University of Minnesota. He starts on the basketball team and the baseball team as well.
As a junior Grant started at the end position on offense and would occasionally move to the backfield to run a bit but to mainly punt. The 1943 team was not a great one as their record was only 1-3-1. It wasn’t until the team’s final game that they put up any points, a 20-13 win over Ashland. In basketball, well, they were super, going 19-2. Earlier in the year they beat Eau Claire 41-23 on Memorials home court. The down staters hoisted the sectional in late February and the Vikings played a terrible game, losing 30-29. They were favored to go to Madison for the championship rounds but had to settle for the sectional runner-up spot as the next day they barely beat Baldwin 27-23.
The outlook for the 1944 football season was not expected to be a good one. But maybe, hopefully, better than the year before.
Grant was moved from end to fullback and things fell into place. The season opener was against favored Duluth Cathedral, a team that went 5-1-1 in 1943. The previous week Eau Claire had asked Central to move their season openers to another time and it was agreed that October 24 would be that date. In the game vs. Cathedral, it was a punting duel for the first three quarters. With Grant in the backfield the Vikings finally began to move the ball. On what the newspaper called a “spin move” (No idea what this could be) Grant handled the ball picking up some yardage and then tossed a “basketball-type” pass to Bud Matthews, his replacement at end, for 15-yards. Grant then plowed for five yards more and then Ray Halvorson crashed over for the only score of the game, a 7-0 win.
Duluth Denfeld had been the area champion for the previous three years and had beaten the Vikings for 10 consecutive seasons but Superior Central won out 12-6. Down 6-0 going into the fourth quarter Central got the ball going with Grant plunging from the two for the first score. The Hunters got desperate and tried to pass the ball. It was a combination interception return with Halvorson picking off the pass, then pitching it to Grant who ran a bit and then flipped it to Rob Downs who scored. Both extra point attempts failed, and then a desperate pass by the Denfeld quarterback was snatched out of the hands of a Hunters end, again by Downs, by the 40-yard line to seal the win.
Game three was vs. Ashland and some of the previously mentioned players were the stars. Right Halfback Rob Downs recovered a blocked punt in the end zone for the first score. After Central drove to the 40-yard line and then Grant again, from his fullback position, tossed the ball to Downs who ran for the second score. The final score was another Grant pass, this time to Bud Mathews for a 20-yard score and an 18-0 win. No yards were listed in the newspaper but the Evening Telegram reported that Grant was the big ground gainer.
Traditional rival Superior East was up next and Central was too strong for the Orientals, winning 27-0, the team’s third defensive shutout. In the first period Downs went off tackle for the first score, then in the second period Bud Grant scored twice. Back-up running back Stubby Johnson score on a one-yard plunge and the game ended 27-0. One of Grants scores was a 34-yard pass reception from quarterback Halvorson.
On October 19 the Vikings pasted Duluth Central 19-0 to win the Twin Ports mythical championship in the battle of the Centrals. Previously undefeated Duluth Central could go nowhere against the Vikings. Grant scored again on a pass from Halvorson who in turn ran for a touchdown and Downs had a long run for the final score. The key to the game was Superior forcing six Duluth fumbles.
Five days later the rescheduled Eau Claire game was played and The Old Abes were not up to the balanced Central attack. Ther final score, 35-12, wasn’t indicative how tough the Vikings were. The Eau Claire touchdowns were scored in the fourth period against the Superior reserves who fought hard but couldn’t hold back the visitors. Jimmy Haug, Bud Grant and Stubby Johnson all scored on short plunges with Rob Downs hauling in a touchdown from Ray Halvorson. The key play was performed by Gene O’Brian who intercepted a lateral in the Eau Claire backfield and raced 60-yards for a score.
The seventh game was played three days later on October 27 with Central blowing out the Hurley Midgets 38-6 in the team’s final home game. Bud Grant got the team off toa quick start scoring twice in the first quarter along with a score by Halverson. The Vikings didn’t score in the second period because Coach Conley began substituting his starters but in the third the first team was back in the game. Grant flipped a bullet pass to Mathews for a touchdown, then later in the fourth period hauled in a pass for a score. Len Ward caught the final touchdown on a pass from Stubby Johnson.
For several weeks the final game against Anoka, Minnesota, located just a bit northwest of the Twin Cities, was the talk of the newspapers both in Superior and Minneapolis. If my mentioning Anoka sounds a little familiar check out my story…DEWAYNE JOHNSON…FROM PLYMOUTH AND BEYOND. Anoka has been a long time Minnesota power and back in 1944 they were very strong. A good offense…not big on scoring…and a very good defense had led the team to nine consecutive victories. They were considered the best team in the twin city area. 33 Superior players rode a bus south to meet the Tornado’s. It was billed as a matchup between Bud Grant and Anoka’s fleet footed back Billy Bye.
Bye was the star of the game scoring in the first period on a 43-yard run and later in the last period he tossed a touchdown and caught a scoring pass. Bud Grant took a punt on Anoka’s 37 yard line, ran down to the 20 and then lateraled to Ray Halverson for a 37-yard scoring play. It was a matchup of two undefeated teams and even though Superior lost they clearly showed that they could play with the best as they gained just as much yardage as Anoka but twice in the final were stopped. Once was when Grant passed to Halverson for a score only to have it called back because of a player in motion. Twice Grant ran and plunged his team to the Tornado’s two and 10-yard lines only to be stopped. Anoka would end with a 10-0-0 season and Superior Central would end with a 7-1-0 record. This would be the best posting by a Harry Conley coached team since the mid-1930’s and the 1944 team ranks with the best squads in Superior Central High School football history.
As a young boy, Harry Peter Grant Jr., nicknamed by his father a “Buddy Boy” and the later shortened to “Bud” went hunting with two friends in northern Wisconsin on Yellow Lake. The 1940 Armistice Day Blizzard hit. More information about the blizzard is mentioned in THE FOOTBALL GAME (S) THAT SAVED LIVES…PART 1 and THE FOOTBALL GAME (S) THAT SAVED LIVES…PART 2
Buds two friends found shelter in a farmhouse but he sat out the storm found refuge in a gas station. After graduation from Superior he enlisted into the navy and trained at Great Lakes Training Center near Chicago where he played football. Offered an early discharge he ended up at Minnesota. As mentioned before, Bud Grant would go on to star at the University of Minnesota and the he would play pro basketball for the Minneapolis Lakers in their inaugural 1949-50 season. He was a teammate of the great center George Miken as the Lakers won their third consecutive NBA title.
He then played pro football in 1951 and 1952 for the Philadelphia Eagles after being drafted in the first round (14th pick overall). Initially he was placed as a defensive end where he led the NFL in sacks (A then unofficial stat at the time) and then was switched the next season the offense and hauled in 56 passes for 997 yards and seven scores. When the Eagles refused to pay him what he thought he was worth he accepted an offer to play for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League. Grant became the first player to “play out his option” and move on. He played for the Bombers from 1953-56 and then became the teams head coach for ten years. Bud then accepted the head coaching job with the Minnesota Vikings where he had a great NFL coaching career and earned a spot in the NFL and CFL Hall of Fames.