What's the Call?

A recent post was an excerpt from my book. It featured the section describing the 1966 Elmwood vs. St. Croix Central game. The strangeness of that game reminded me of something I saw in high school…yes, 50+ years ago. I have seen some very strange plays and official calls over the years but if someone were to ask me what the craziest thing I ever saw was, it would have to be this. And I don't even know how it ended.

As a sophomore in 1967 I was on the Delafield St. John’s Military Academy JV team. The JV had played on Thursday and I was free to watch the varsity play on Saturday afternoon. It was very late October or very early November. You know how the weather can change around here. The game started off cloudy and about 45 degrees. Most of the cadets were dressed like myself with our uniform jacket. Not a heavy winter coat. As the game progressed so did the weather and not in a nice way. The wind picked up, gusting in the range of 30 miles per hour and it got colder. The field ran along atop a hill from east to west. By halftime the temperature had dropped considerably and the wind was even stronger as the gusts must have been in the low 50s. Then it started to snow. I remember telling a couple of the guys around me that I was going back to the barracks. It was just too cold to stay. As I walked along the sideline to leave our opponent punted and the ball really flew and was downed on our two-yard line. We were facing the wind. I paused to watch the game and we ran three rushing plays but only got to the 11-yard line. I walked a few more steps when our punter came onto the field. I stopped to watch some more. The snow was now flying sideways as the wind was really blowing hard. From the sidelines it was hard to watch but I did. The ball was snapped and the punter, standing just inside the goal line, took the ball and really put his foot into it. Just then, the wind came crashing in from the west and the ball was lifted high into the air and went no further than the five- or six-yard line then blew back, over the punter and through the goal post. It was like a reverse field goal. I was pelted with heavy snow and I turned and left the field BUT I never learned how the officials ruled the play.

How would you have ruled it? Down the ball on the 11-yard line and turn it over to our opponent? Was it a safety as the ball went through the back of the endzone? Help me out, please. Let me know by e-mail or the Contact section of the blog.

Other teams and Belmont 2020

One of the questions I've been getting asked is “Why isn’t my team mentioned in the book?” “Did you ever look at TEAM X?”

Well, the answer is maybe I never discovered enough information on a school to be able to consider the team. Prior to the radio interview last week, I went to Muskego High School and dropped off a copy for the co-host, Ryan McMillon, to look over. He asked me if Muskego was in the book and I said, no, but the reason for that is their story hasn’t ended. They are still going strong and that chapter will be added in the future. There is plenty of information about Muskego. Yet, some chapters are yet to be discovered.

Another person who purchased my book, Cameron of Hudson, asked me about the Belmont teams of the late 1970s. Their parents had attended the school back then and it was a fair question. I replied that I had heard a little something about the teams but in truth I never spent time researching the school’s teams. Cameron said that information on their end would be coming to me soon and I look forward to seeing things. Belmont, a small town near Platteville, doesn’t have their own newspaper and I would have to rely on the Platteville Journal newspaper for the facts. After Cameron wrote me, I tried finding information online and there were just some game scores with almost no story in the Wisconsin State Journal or The Capitol Times. I’m sad to say that like several other key Wisconsin newspapers (The Milwaukee Journal, the Milwaukee Sentinel and the Waukesha Freeman) the Platteville paper isn’t listed on newspapers.com.

This all got me thinking about the 2020 season and I ran across a series of stories written by Travis Wilson on WisSports.Net. Travis is the General Manager and the principal football writer for the web site. One story I referenced is his season ending recap of the 2020 fall football season. As usual he wrote a very solid and informative recap covering a lot of material for the 2020 season this past week. Check it out here:

In the recap Travis mentions that Belmont in 2020 was the top 8-player team even though the playoffs were cancelled for the season. Now there isn’t a lot online from other sources about the 2020 Belmont football team but I did catch a story or two and I’ve been able to put the following together.

With only a 2018-19 school enrollment of 99 students, coach Brandon Wiese felt that the football team would be better served by moving to 8-player football. The Braves started 8-player ball last season and this year things really paid off. In 2019 the team finished with a 9-3 record, losing their final game to Wausau Newman Catholic, 49-16 in the semi-finals. Because of covid-19 they were only able to play six regular season games and an unofficial title game against Gilman, the only other undefeated 8-player team. The Braves came out on top 24-20 in a hard-fought game played in Mauston on November 8th.

The big star for Belmont the past two seasons was Riley Christensen who some colleges are taking a look at. Riley played quarterback and linebacker for Belmont and is 6’2", 220. In 2019 as a junior, Riley played all 12 games and passed for 854 yards and 11 touchdowns and ran for 1,960 yards and 30 scores. This year he passed for 478 yards and 9 touchdowns and ran for 1,372 yards and 26 more touchdowns. Remember, these stats were in just seven games. In the battle against Gilman Riley, he carried the ball 43 times for 347 yards and all four of his team’s touchdowns.

Before the season kicked off, Belmont was getting statewide recognition. Early on, coach Wiese had been named the Green Bay Packers High School Coach of the Week and with all the problems covid-19 gave their schedule, Wiese kept his team focused on the next game and staying healthy. Born and raised in Fennimore, coach Wiese played football, basketball, golf and baseball for his high school and went on to attend UW-Platteville. He spent 2014 as an assistant at Potosi for one season before moving to Belmont, first as an assistant and then being promoted in 2016 to the head coaching job. When accepting the award from the Packers, Coach Wiese, as usual, passed a lot of praise on to his assistants for their hard work. I’m sure the success will continue.

So, if you have other coaches, teams or players that you feel should get some mention, don’t hesitate to send me a note and maybe send me some information as well. Thanks, and Cameron, I can’t wait to see what information about the 1970s Belmont teams you have for me!

Varsity Blitz and Elmwood vs St Croix Central

I recently appeared on the Varsity Blitz High School Coaches Show with Mike McGivern and Ryan McMillan. You can listen to that show here. I appear in their first segment.

On the show, I discussed one of the stories from my book and I wanted to share that story here. This is taken directly from my book The Great Teams: A History of Wisconsin High School Football.

Elmwood vs St. Croix Central 1966

It was Friday, September 30, 1966. The ball was on Elmwood’s 22 or 23-yard line with about six minutes left in the third period. It was fourth down. The ball was snapped and shot through the legs of the Elmwood punter. Don Riley of St. Croix Central picked the ball up on the 15-yard line and ran it in for a touchdown. The extra point attempt failed and the score stood 6-0. That’s how the game ended. The first time.

It looked like St. Croix Central would go undefeated again in 1966 and win the Dunn-St. Croix Conference championship but the ball that had been picked up for the touchdown was technically a muffed punt and by the rules it could not be advanced. The touchdown resulted in the ref’s making an oversight interpreting the muff rule. The game was appealed to the WIAA and it was ordered that the game be replayed from the time of the ball being muffed. No one at the time could recall a similar ruling.

Nearly five weeks later, they would play again. On Thursday, November 3 at 1:45 pm the streets of Elmwood were nearly empty as it seemed the whole town was at the football field for a replay of the final part of the third quarter and on. The season was supposed to be over but the conference title had to be determined. St. Croix Central stood 7-0, 5-0 in conference play while Elmwood was 5-2 with a 4-1 conference record.

First, there was a minor controversy that had to be resolved. One referee thought the ball should be placed on Elmwood’s 22-yard line while another pointed to the 23. It was finally settled with a compromise on the 22 ½ yard line. With six minutes on the clock in the third quarter the game resumed. St. Croix Central had the ball and it took them seven plays to score on a one-yard run by fullback Norman Ross. He was given the ball again for the extra point try and junior, Jerry Sinz, rushed in and stopped him short of the goal. The two teams exchanged the ball several times until, with about four minutes left in the fourth, Elmwood quarterback Jim Nelson began a drive. With just under two minutes remaining he fired a bomb to Greg Nelson who, with two defenders around him, made a finger-tip catch as he fell into the endzone to tie the game. Fullback Jim Bock then bulled his way over the line for the conversion and the win. A few minutes later the final whistle blew for the second time.

Central ended the season 7-1 and fell from the top-10 of the AP final Little Ten poll. Elmwood ended with a 6-2 record and tied Central for the conference title. Jerry Sinz, who made the game saving tackle, preventing Central’s conversion would go on to play ball at UW-Stout before becoming a hall of fame high school football coach at Edgar.