GREAT SUPERIOR TEAMS…PART 9
- 22 hours ago
- 7 min read
COVERING SOME GREAT HIGH SCHOOL TEAMS FROM 1930 THROUGH THE MID-1960’S ON SEVERAL CITY OF SUPERIOR FOOTBALL TEAMS
1964 SUPERIOR EAST
WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN EVEN GREATNER
With all the returning lettermen (20) Superior East easily filled 1964 schedule as they were able to rejoin the Michigan-Wisconsin Conference and add several non-conference opponents. One could not say that Coach Jerry Roesch shied away from tough competition. St. Paul Cretin Prep, a school that had about 1,400 male students was a bigtime opponent. They were the pre-season #1 Minnesota team. Cretins Tom Warner was a Minnesota coaching legend with a 93-17-4 record coming into the 1964 season. They would end the year with a 7-1-0 record and ranked #5. His squads had won 10 straight Central Catholic Conference titles coming into the season. The Orientals were up against a very tough team and they came out on the losing end 13-7. There was one star for East and that was quarterback Mark Fitzgerald who led a furious comeback attempt. Down 13-0, Fitzgerald drove the team down the field and tossed an 11-yard touchdown to Mike Regenfuss. Though the comeback failed, Fitzgerald was 20-32-0-209-1 through the air.
After the opening loss the Orientals cruised through the next seven opponents. They scored 287 points after the seven they scored vs. Cretin. That’s an average of 41 points per game per the final seven games. Overall, the defense was superb, allowing 44 total points, for a 5.5 per game average.
Game 2, a 37-0 win over Ironwood saw many of the 1963 stars totally show up. Tom McCauley scored 5 times including an 83-yard ko return, runs of 32, 12 &10 and a 66-yard reception. He had 4 carries for 61 yards and caught 5 passes for 112 yards. Mark Fitzgerald was 9-16-1-154-2. Halfback Pat Longrie gained 86 yards on the ground and Pete LaPerre picked up 35-yards on five carries. It should be noted that both LaPerre and Longrie were transfers from Superior Cathedral and they were added to the experienced East team. End Bob Peck caught 4 passes for 41-yards and one score. Mike Regenfuss intercepted a pass.
Next up was Superior Cathedral and another 37-0 win. Three recovered Panther fumbles that led to touchdowns. Tom McCauley scored twice on nine and 18-yard runs plus an extra point. The team gained 284 yards and allowed only 79.
Wakefield (MI) had won their first four games but East was too strong of an opponent. East had 196 yards on ground, McCauley picked up 114 -yards. He scored on a 29-yard run and on a 40-yard interception return plus a 1pt extra point reception Fitzgerald 10-14-0-145-1 and the extra point conversion.
The season moved on and the Orientals kept scoring. The Ashland Oredockers had three conference wins and hoped to give East a challenge. They failed. They were “dubbed” 48-0 as McCauley scored three times and Pat Longrie pitched in with two more. In all East put up 48-0 as McCauley scored three times and Pat Longrie pitched in with two more. In all East put up 30 first downs. Mark Fitzgerald was injured in the game and missed the next two. Back-up quarterback Mike Reganfuss moved from his end spot to direct the team. After the first five games McCauley had 12 touchdowns.
The Hurley Miget’s, a team that had a good winning tradition and three wins on the season coming in could not contain Tom McCauley as he scored four more touchdowns. His scores were runs of 13, 10, and 41 yards and a 63-yard pass reception from Regenfuss. McCauley had two long touchdown runs called back and now had 99 points on the year on 16 touchdowns and three extra points. The team rang up 334 yards on the ground.
At this point, McCauley had 434 yards rushing and led the team in receiving with 425 reception yards. Pat Longrie had 410 yards rushing with six td’s and four extra points. End Bob Peck had 198-yards receiving. Splitting the passing duties had Fitzgerald with 42 completions on 73 attempts and 604 yards with eight td’s and Regenfuss was 19 of 42 for 289-yards and four scores.
Game #7 was against the Bessimer Speed Boys, and it turned out tom be the Mark Fitzgerald/Pat Longrie show. Fitzgerald came back from rib injuries that had kept him out for two weeks and he tossed 3 touchdown passes. Longrie had a 94-yard run and scored three total touchdowns. McCauley chipped in with a six-yard run and Regenfuss returned to his end position and hauled in a 30-yard touchdown.
Spring Lake Park was 6-2 on the season but was an undersized team compared to East. It was another mismatch. McCauley led the way as he scored three times and Longrie scored twice while Bob Peck caught two touchdown passes. Fitzgerald threw two touchdowns and Regenfuss tossed one.
This was Easts final football game. The school ended with a 144-137-17 all-time school record. 1964 was Coach Jerry Roesch’s best season as well as the school's nest all-time single season record with a 7-1-0 posting. He became the head coach of the newly created Superior Senior High School. As head coach at East, he had a 70-38-0 record in 14 seasons with the Orientals. He stayed at the new school for six seasons and had a 30-10-3 record. Before he moved on to coach Eau Claire North his record stood at 100-48-3. At North his teams posted a 5-12-1 record in his two seasons with the Huskies. Superior East finished #11 in UPI poll.
Just Some Superior East Stars:
The Post Season Honors:
As you can see, the two teams dominated the All-City team. Together the 10 Central and nine East players, almost all were seniors. They two schools would have made up a great combined team if the new school opening hadn’t been delayed.
MORE HONORS:
Central’s Bob Olson, a junior, earned 1st team UPI All-State, 2nd team on AP and Scholastic Coach Magazine Honorable Mention All-America in 1964. He p[icked up 1,007 yards rushing, averaging 6.7 yards per carry and scoring 14 touchdowns. As a senior in 1965 Olson was named 1st team All-State by both the AP and UPI as well as being named to Scholastic Coach’s All-America 1st team squad. In 1962 he played defense as a freshman for Central before playing both fullback and linebacker the next three seasons. He’s the only player for Central that I found that started four seasons on the varsity. Olson attended Notre Dame and was, when he graduated, the school’s all-time tackler. He was a 4th round draft pick by the Boston Patriots but fractured his elbow and could never play again. Also had two knee surgeries. He tried to comeback in 1971 but was cut.
Frank Howenstine was named 4th team UPI All-State and later played at the university of Minnesota. Dan Hartlund was UPI honorable mention All-State after completing 49 of 93 passes, only four interceptions and gaining 1,050 yards and 11 scores.
In 1965 tackle Tom Buchanan earned UPI Special Mention while Mike Reganfuss was named as a back on the Honorable Mention UPI squad. Mike, a three-sport player at Central was a great basketball player who started three years at Minnesota and was a two-year team captain.
Doug Sutherland was the team’s punter, played offensive guard and defensive tackle. In 1965, as a senior, Doug earned honorable mention AP All-State. Sutherland was a three-year starter at Central and went on to become a 3rd team Little All American at Superior State. He was drafted by the New Orleans Saints in 1970 where he played as a middle linebacker and guard before being traded to the Minnesota Vikings. While there Doug played for 10-years as a defensive tackle. He is in the Minnesota Vikings Hall of Fame.
Pat Walsh attended Minnesota along with Packy Paquette who was a sophomore in 1964 and gained 208 yards on a 5.8 average and had seven scores. Walsh scored eight touchdowns. Bill Pence also played at Minnesota. Ed Paquette played at Northwestern after gaining 608 yards on 100 carriers and scoring 12 times. Sheldon Goldberg was an offensive guard at Nebraska.
East had their own special stars earn awards in the post-season and beyond. Tom McCauley earned 5th team UPI All-State after scoring 123 points. He played for UW as a wide receiver. Drafted by the Minnesota Vikings but then played three years with the Atlanta Falcons as a defensiove back. He was a member of the 1959 state championship Little League championship team and the 1965 state champion American Legion team.
Bob Peck was named to the UPI All-State 4th team as an end. He attended Superior State and many observers thought he could have played D-1 ball. Pat Longire and Bill Pence attended the University of Minnesota and played football there.
Mark Fitzgerald, a three-sport athlete at East and played hockey for the University of Wisconsin and was team captain as a senior.
Such a great amount of talent between the two schools.
If they had been one team they couldn’t have been stopped.
In my opinion, if the teams were combined, this could have been a team of such immense greatness. THE GREATEST EVER.
One final note:
Ole Haugsrud was born in Superior in 1899 and attended Superior High School (Which later became Central HS). Haugsrud Stadium in Superior where Central, East and Cathedral often played was named for him. In the early 1920’s he pooled some money and owned the first NFL team in Minnesota, the short-lived Duluth Eskimos. In 1960 he became a minority owner of the newly founded NFL Minnesota franchise. In a meeting he suggested to the other owners the name for the team be called "The Vikings" and he also suggested the team colors be mainly purple. It was agreed and that is how the Minnesota Vikings got their name and color. A Wisconsin school giving a Minnesota team their legacy.
This should be my final story on earlyer Superior schools but, who knows. I may discover a team that I overlooked. I hope you enjoyed the stories.
Comments