A FAMILY AFFAIR RELATING TO THE 1897 MADISON CHAMPIONSHIP…PART 2

Thanks for coming back to PART 2.

Here is where the story gets very interesting.  Lucius Sr.’s great-granddaughter Cammy Baker, was engaged to a man who was raised in Madison, where his parents still lived.  A year before the wedding Cammy was in Madison with her fiancé, Adam McCaughan and his Madison friends Scott Grogan and Pete Albrecht, and, out of curiosity, they searched for the championship trophy and found it at Madison Memorial HS.

A year later but before the wedding, Pete remembered how much the trophy meant to Cammy's mom and thought it would be a really nice gesture to see if he could get the trophy loaned to him to be taken to the wedding.  He contacted the athletic director at Madison Memorial High School, and he was very supportive of the plan as long as it was properly packaged for travel. Although Pete lived in DC, he arranged for his parents in Madison to get the trophy and pack it very safely.  Scott then took it with him to the wedding as a checked item. Pete and Scott were both groomsmen for Adam as lifelong Madison friends since elementary school.

They all presented the trophy to Cammy's mom, Bonnie, right after the wedding ceremony and she was ecstatic!  Her joy was equally shared by the other three great-grandchildren of the team captain that were present at the wedding.

1897 MHS National Football Championship trophy and plaque in Naples, Florida with four descendants of team captain, Lucius Donkle Sr.  All three of his children were represented. Lorraine Donkle Weatherby by Lee (on left), Donna Donkle Baker by Bonnie (holding plaque), and Lucius Jr. by Lucius III (holding trophy) and Heidi (on right).

The “traveling” Trophy visits the beach in Florida.  A forerunner pose to the Heisman?

The “traveling” plaque

The wedding went well and the trophy and plaque were returned without any problems.

Today, in 2026, it is on display in Madison at the MMSD office in the Doyle Administrative building near the Kohl Center.  I met with Jeremy Schlitz (MMSD District Athletic Director) who first showed me the trophy.  The area where it normally stored is being remodeled so it was brought into a side room and set on a table.  I looked it over and the wooden stand for the trophy is worn.  The stand needs refurbishing along with the two-name plates and the trophy itself could use polishing.  Originally the trophy was attached to the wooden stand but over the nearly 130 years since the Detroit Athletic Club presented the championship award it has, well, seen some better days.  The trophy has been moved around a bit over the years.  It had several locations at Madison High School, then to the school district offices, being moved from room to room.  In the 1997 celebration it was mentioned that a display case was being donated but it isn’t to be found now.

You can see the bumps and bruises of the stand.  The trophy is loose.  The metal stays have come loose.  Compare this picture of the trophy and stand to the one above taken in Florida. I didn't take a picture of the plaque, but it was in better shape.

There were two other trophy’s that Jeremy brought out for me to view.

The one in the center (Sorry, my picture cut the top off a bit) is from Wisconsin High School for winning the 1960-61 basketball championship of the Badger Conference.  The team had a 16-1 regular season record and finished 17-2 overall.  The award on the right is also for Wisconsin High School, winning the Southern Wisconsin -Six Conference football title.  The school posted a 5-1-0 record.  Both trophy’s show some wear but with some polish they might shine more brightly.  Opening in 1914 and eventually closing in 1962, WHS was a school for university students to get classroom teaching experience.  The classes that did not graduate in 1962 moved to Madison HS which was a short distance away.

So, there you have it.  A story about a family very proud of what their football heritage. 

One final not on the trophies.  The MMSD would really like to find a more permanent home for the three items since their schools don't exist anymore.  They usually sit in various offices at the MMSD building.   I’ve been told that the State Historical Society, on the campus at UW isn’t interested in housing/displaying them. Could the WIAA, WFCA or WBCA be interested?  I volunteered to take them if nobody wants them.  I’ll make room in my house.  I’ll even refurbish them.   Lou, do you have room for the 1897 trophy?

Thanks to Lucius "Lou" Donkle III and his family for all the family info and to Jeremy Schlitz at MMSD who was gracious. enough to show me the trophy's.

A FAMILY AFFAIR RELATING TO THE 1897 MADISON CHAMPIONSHIP…PART 1

Back in early January I sold a book and the buyer’s name was familiar.  I couldn’t quite place the name, but it was my son Tom, who had been my book editor, who recognized it as the same name of one of the 1897 Madison National Championship football players. 

, Lucius “Lute” Donkle From the 1897 team photo

If you’ve read my earlier stories on the championship team, I’ve mentioned Lucius Donkle several times.  Born in 1877 in Verona, WI, Lucius attended Madison High School and in 1897 was named the team captain.  My Lucius Donkle, (Lou) as it turned out upon my inquiring, is his grandson, Lucius III.

Lucius Sr had an older brother, Alfred, nicknamed “Big Dunk” who played on the 1894and 1895 state championship Madison squads.  Known as “Little Dunk” or “Lute” on the teams to tell them apart, Lucius Sr. was one of seven children growing up on a farm.  One of his jobs was to carry heavy tree trunks to be split into rails.  He later claimed that the heavy loads lowered his left shoulder so much that ready-made suits wouldn’t fit so he had them specially tailored.

After high school he attended the University of Wisconsin and then on to the University of Illinois, Chicago Medical School.  Lucius was one of six players on the 1897 team that were later physicians.  A seventh member was Joe Dean who acted as a coach for the championship game along with the main coach, Harry Cochems (Who became a noted lawyer).   Alfred graduated from UW in 1898 and then on to the University of Illinois, Chicago Medical School.  The two brothers planned on working together but in 1903 Alf died from complications a burst appendix.  Lucius and Alf were friends with the Mayo Brothers of Rochester Minnesota fame and the Donkle brothers had wanted to open a similar clinic.  Joe Dean would urge Lucius to return to Madison but he declined and stayed for the rest of his life in the Chicago area.  For many years he served many underprivileged individuals.  He was also known for his skills as a general surgeon.  Having studied in Vienna just before World War I he learned about radium treatment for cancer.  He taught surgery to Loyola University medical students at St. Bernards Hospital in Chicago.  Keeping a private practice, he moved his family to the Chicago south side.  He passed in 1948 at age 71.  

Lucius would marry and have three children, two daughters and then a son who he named Lucius II.   Lucius Jr. attended Hyde Park High School in Chicago and in 1939 the team went 7-3-1 making it to the Chicago Public School finals. He was one of the stars on the team, playing tackle like his father.

1940 Chicago IL. Hyde Park H.S. Yearbook

Lucius Jr. would serve in the military during World War II and eventually graduate from Cornell University with a BSME and then from Harvard University with an MBA.  He would work in the engineering and marketing fields in Illinois. His son, Lucius III, who bought the book, would also play high school football as a tackle (A family tradition) for Rich Central High school in Olympia Fields Illinois and would, like his father, attend Cornell and become an engineer. 

Lucius Donkle III high school picture.

Lucius III lives in Valparaiso Indiana and it is here that the 1897 football continues, 128-years later.  Lucius III pointed out to me that he also had an emergency appendix operation when he was in his 20’s, like his grandfathers’ brother Alfred.  It was the stories that Lucius Sr. told Junior about the championship team that were then passed down to his two sons, Lucius III and Chris and his daughter Heidi that will lead us to the main part of the story.

On October 6, 1997, the Madison School District threw a centennial celebration and reception for 29 relatives of the team players and coaches. Lucius Jr., his son and other family members attended, and a video link is attached:

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?ref=saved&v=10208572357574263

In 2006, to elevate and to help preserve the memory of the MHS 1897 team’s achievement, Lucius Jr. contacted the NCAA headquarters in Indianapolis and offered a copy of the original photos of all four school championship teams, including the 1897 team’s achievements noted below the pictures.  The pictures had been awarded to his father, Lucius Sr. who had been the team captain.  The NCAA graciously accepted the photo array and placed it the hallway between their building and that of the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS), which is located next door on the same campus.  The location between the NCAA and the NFHS buildings selected to represent the transition of student athletes to collegiate athletics.

Lucius Jr. and Lucius III looking at pictures of the early Madison teams.

The citation under the photo’s notes that Madison High School won what is believed to be the only true national high school championship.

Lucius Jr.  with his wife Joellen and Lucius III standing by statues representing the “Flying Wedge” a formation that led to the sport nearly being banned by President Teddy Roosevelt because of so many deaths that occurred playing the game. The formation of the NCAA saved the game through changes in the rules. 

This isn’t the end of the story.  There’s more to come as the “traveling” statue goes to Florida.  Next time, soon, PART 2.

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.