THE 1954 MIGHTY MIDGETS OF HURLEY GO UNDEFEATED
Hurley has a long history in high school football. Looking at the schools record book…Football Records Book there are scores of games for most season going back to 1894. It should be noted that the overall game records for the Mighty Midgets are a little bit incomplete for the first 20+ years but any school would be proud to have such a record book. This may be the best school record book that I have seen online. The team wasn’t always a top-notch champion until WFCA HOF Coach Scott Erickson appeared on the scene in 1992 (Ending in 2024). Since then, they have won a number of conference championships. The 1996 11-2 team succumbed 63-6 to a great Darlington squad in the state D-5 finals. 2013’s Midgets went 11-2, losing to eventual D-6 champion Shiocton in the state semi-finals, the third time they made it to those semi-final games. In 2021 the team opened the season with 11 consecutive games before losing #12 to Coleman in round 3 of the D-6 playoffs. So, the school has had success but only one undefeated team. 1954.
True, Hurley only played seven games that season but they went none the less undefeated and untied. The school never shied away from playing bigger schools like Superior Central or Marinette but more often played schools of similar size from both sides of the Wisconsin-Michigan border. Hurley produced several major college ball players like Florian Helinski who played for Indiana University as a quarterback/defensive back and punter. In 1949 against Superior Central Florian came to the line with the ball on Hurley’s one foot line, dropped back to punt and then decided to run and run he did. Going from nine yards deep in his end zone he went all the way downfield for a 99-yard touchdown (Called 109-yards by the Superior Evening Telegram newspaper and many other papers around the state). I note it in my state record book…State Records.
In 1954 there were at least seven Hurley graduates on the Superior State (Now UW-Superior) football team.
In 1953 the school posted a 3-3-2 record and in 1955 the Mighty Midgets went 1-6-0 but sandwiched in between those seasons there was real glory. 1954 saw the squad host in the season opener Marinette (4-3-1 in 1954), one of five home games that year, and win 12-6 against a school three times their student size. Tied 6-6 Hurley came back to push over a second score for the win. The Midgets held the Marines to only three first downs as they exacted revenge for the Marinette 33-0 victory in 1953. Both sides had chances to score but neither could get more points. Marinette receivers dropped two passes where they could have scored easily. Hurley fumbled several times and had a touchdown called back. The Midgets would get better as the season progressed.
So, it went. Ironwood, which had beaten the bigger Escanaba and Duluth Denfeld teams before losing to Hurley were taken down easily 32-0. Several first half mistakes…a fumble near the end zone and a back field in motion penalty stalled a drive but with all the first half problems the second half was different. Hurley scored 19 second half points and came away with the win. The win broke the Ironwood Red Devils 12-game winning streak.
Fullback Dick Zell was the leading rusher who had several touchdowns during the season called back due to penalties. Zell gained 1,252 yards, scored 17 touchdowns and 104 total points in only 7 games. Against Superior Cathedral he ran for 252 yards and four touchdowns. Halfbacks Can Johnson and Gerald St. Catherine shared the load much of the time. Jim Langlois played almost every position…quarterback, guard, fullback, center and end and had some good runs on his own during 1954. Lon anglois and Zell were named co-captains. Dick Zell would earn first team all-state and Jim Langlolis earned second team honors.
As a team Hurley seldom passed but they relied on the run and tough defense. Game three was against Bessemer and from then they cut down on their mistakes and then after that the team couldn’t be stopped. The Midgets rang up 228 points overall (32.6 points a game) and allowed only 35 points (5.0 points per game). The team was composed of many veterans and they jelled under their new coach “Chief” Gianunzlo.
Most of the starters were seniors. The end position rotated with Earl Richards, Jerome Morzenti, Bob Sbraggia and Ron Lundgren. The tackles were Roland Wyszynaski and Troland Zanella with the interior players being Tim Trier, Dick Grasso and of course Jim Langlois. Dave Bartolutti was the regular quarterback directing the offensive attack.
I couldn’t find out how the school came up with the nickname Midgets but Hurley isn’t the only school with that manicure. Other schools with that nickname are Dickenson ND, Freeburg IL, Estherville Iowa and Putnam County MO. Butternut Wisconsin also has the nickname. In 2019 a 36-perosn committee took suggestions from over 75 people and decided to change the name to North Stars.
Hurley moved to 8-player football in 2024 and have had some success as this season (2026) they went 9-3 but lost 48-42 to Athens in level 2 of the playoffs. The North Stars look to keep the wins going with 19 underclassmen, 13 of whom played defense this season.
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