Attempting to compare one team from another, especially teams from different decades is subjective. It is easier to compare this team from last seasons or even the team from 10 years ago. It is sort of like asking a parent which of their kids they like best. Each team or child has different things that you like better than others. It often takes a lot of thought to come up with an answer as to which team was better.
As I pointed out in my previous story about Stratford…SUCCESS BREDS SUCCES AT STRATFORD coach Tom Knauf spent 12-seasons at Stratford but he night very well considered his 1986 state championship team to have been his best. His championship squad posted 10-shutouts and allowed only 13 points. Other than a team going unscored upon the 1986 Stratford has the second-place spot in the state record book as a team that allowed the fewest points in a 10-game or more season. Cashton in 1981 allowed only three points in a 12-game schedule. While I have some player stats in my book that featured the 1980-81 Cashton as one of The Great Teams, I went back and attempted to do a statistical comparison. Unfortunately, there are scant individual game team totals or full team stats in any of the newspaper end of season recaps. Cashton went 8-0 in 1980 but failed to make the WIAA playoffs as did Belleville who went 9-0 and allowed only three points. Why didn’t they qualify? Because at that time there were only four spots for the D-5 playoffs and the WIAA picked what was thought were the best teams.
The 1980 team went undefeated, untied and unscored upon, the last Wisconsin school to do so. With only one returning defensive starter, linebacker Mike Houser, little was expected in 1981 but coach Gary Hanson molded his 1981 defense and they did go 12-0 with five shutouts to start the season before…Stratford…yes, Stratford, scored on the Eagles. Leading 10-0 John Ponczoch kicked a 35-yard field goal for the Tigers. Two Stratford fumbles were converted into touchdowns and the Eagles won 24-3. Cashton would shutout their remaining six opponents and beat Poynette 32-0 in the state championship.
It might have been best to compare the 1981 Cashton team to the 1986 Stratford team. Afterall, they played in years closer to each other, but scores don’t tell the entire story. I just couldn’t find enough game stats to satisfy my needs.
1986 rolled around and coach Tom Knauf and Stratford was coming off a 3-6 1985 year. With 16 returning lettermen but with heavy losses to his offensive and defensive lines the fellow Marawood Conference coaches picked the Tigers to take the title. Still, those returning had talent. Mike Breit was a 6-3, 208 end and a good blocker. Gary Zuelke was a 5-11, 180 fullback who had finished fourth in the conference with 514 yards. Seniors Todd Kolbeck, 5-8,150, and Jody Schwabe, 5-10,170 were vying for then starting quarterback spot. Whoever lost that starting spot would end up as a halfback. Knauf promised that his team would pass more often as they gained only about 600-yards through the air in 1985. The team wasn’t blessed with a lot of size although the one returning tackle, Dan Schmidt was 6-2, 250 and lineman Scott Junemann at 6-2, 205, along with Breit were the big guys. What made the team preseason favorites was the fact that there were nine returning starters who held the previous season opponents to 155 yards per game. The linebacking crew was strong with Schwabe, Jeff Kohlbeck, 5-8, 155, Ally Schmitt, 5-11, 190, and Dan Drexler, 5-7, 165. Todd Kohlbeck was also a deep back along with Jeff Downey, 5-11, 160 and Dennis Daul, 5-9, 156. Lots of defensive talent.
Having been a power running team in the past, even with Zuelke returning, the ground game was good but not overpowering in 1986. They needed the pass to help score and a tough defense to win. Check out the stat sheet below.
In game #2 against Rosholt the Tigers overcame 95-yards in penalties and fumbled five times, losing two. One fumble set up a 16-yard touchdown run while the team allowed only 58 yards rushing. In game #3 longtime rival Edgar Took Stratford to the brink of a disaster. The game was much closer than the final 20-7 score indicated. Look at the stats for each team to compare their efforts. Jeff Kohlbeck opened the scoring in the second quarter and a 6-0 lead. The Wildcats scored in the fourth period on a 26-yard pass and a conversion kick. Edgar up 7-6. The Tigers buckled down and after exchanging punts and starting on their own 35-yard line they drove to the Wildcats 12. Mike Breit hauled in touchdown pass from Jody Schwabe to take the lead. In their drive to take the lead Schwabe was 3-4 passing with Breit catching all three completions. Stratford kicked off and on first down, as they were setting to throw a pass the ball was fumbled, and junior defensive end Greg Schoenfuss (5-9, 175) picked it up and rambled 28 -yards for the final score with 18-seconds left and that sealed the win.
The next seven games were much easier. After the Edgar game Coach Knauf made sure that his defense only thought about shutouts. The pass defense was tight for the most part all season hauling in 20 interceptions. D-back Dennis Daul led the team with five picks.
In the semi-finals against Crivitz the Tigers could only muster a first quarter touchdown and an extra point kick. Darrel Schraeder, the usually dependable kicker missed a 20-yard field goal that was blown off course by the winds at Ashwaubenon, all in the shadow of Lambeau Field. The Stratford ground game made several attempts to get across the goal line but their drives all stalled.
In the title game Jody Schwabe was 6-17-2-152-1 passing. His second quarter 70-yard pass play connecting with Dennis Daul put Stratford up 6-0. He would score on a 1-yard run in the fourth period in the 13-0 win. DeSoto during the 1977-85 timeframe won three titles and was runner up twice in championship games. In fact, in 1985 they lost to Manawa 14-6 in the title game. 1986 was truly a magical year for the Tigers:
In 2018 the Stratford Tigers posted an 11-3 record, falling in the state D-5 finals to Bob Hyland’s St. Mary’s Springs, 20-17. The school has a proud history of being in the hunt for the gold trophy. Jason Tubbs had succeeded Cal Tackes, who posted a career 236-48 record including a state record six-consecutive state titles. Cal “retired” in 2012 and turned the head coaching reins over to Tubbs who has continued the Tiger tradition of winning. I wrote “retired” as Cal still helps out with the program, but Jason is his own man in directing the players. 2018 set up the returning players for the next season, 2019, on a mission to prove they had been denied their due.
So, in 2019 Jason Tubbs built what many have seen as maybe the best overall defensive team the state had seen in years. Maybe, to my thinking, the best ever. Coach Tubbs challenged his team to get better each week and to leave no doubt in the player’s minds that they were the best. Because stats have entered our lives, we have some proof as tom how good this team was. Thanks to baseball, yes, baseball, stats have been a way to compare players and teams, even from different eras. Other sports, like football got on the bandwagon and began to report stats on a regular basis after World War II.
However, to compare 1986 Stratford to 2019 Stratford might not be fair when looking at the offensive numbers. A 33-year difference is too much of a spread of time for comparison as again, offenses were much different. But defense is defense and how you stop your opponent really doesn’t change much. You set your defense to match up with your opponent’s offensive strengths. In 2019 Stratford set the record for 12-consecutive shutouts in a season. In the state record book four other schools have posted 11-shutouts over the course of a 12-14 game season. Four have posted 10 shutouts in a season but none have equaled the Tigers 12-consecutive game in a season record. More about some of these other teams will be discussed in the future but now, let’s stay with Stratford.
Those returning got to work right away after the title game doing the weights more often and harder. The players listened to former graduates who were now playing college ball and learned additional techniques to improve their game. It had been a tradition at the school that the older players helped the younger ones. Younger boys wanting to emulate their older brothers. Like a lot of successful programs, they took on a more “blue collar attitude” to drive for success.
Success does breed success. Going back to 1993 the school has made it to at least the first round of the state playoffs each season. That is something Coach Tubbs could impress on his team. The players took the loss to St. Mary’s hard and they looked for revenge each time they took the field. It helped that the team had size as well as speed. Ben Barten was a 6-foot-6, 270-pound tackle. Others on offense were Easton Kilty who stood 6-5, 283, Dawson Moen (6-1, 253), Jaykob Mikelson (6-2, 253), Trevor Denee who was the “small guy” at 5-11, 194 as well as tight end Vaughn Breit who went 6-5, 215. Middle linebacker Justin Schoenherr posted 115 tackles and 12 tackles for loss. Outside linebacker Trevor Denee had 101 tackles with 16 tackles for loss. Inside linebacker Devin Denee posted 66 tackles and 8 for loss, strong safety Justin Radke had 60 tackles and 6 were for losses and Ben Barten played defensive tackle making 60 tackles with 13 for losses. You may think that the first team defense played most of each game but that’s not true. Coach Tubbs substituted liberally having 46 players make at least one tackle on the season. The JV team was often on the field in the fourth quarter. Like the varsity starters, the backups and those from the JV had just as much pride in holding their opponents scoreless.
Expected to again bid for the Marawood Conference title, the shutout streak took a few around the state by surprise. Even though the 2018 squad had posted three shutouts they had allowed 160 points that season. The Tigers had gained 5,465 yards and allowed 1,915 yards in 14 games, what the 2019 team was more remarkable.
As you can see, during the first 12 games, Stratford averaged over 52-points per game. Stratford played some tough teams during the regular season blowing out Spencer/Columbus (Marshfield) Catholic, Antigo (A school with more than double the number of students as the Tigers), and Auburndale which also made the playoffs. Edgar, always a tough conference opponent gave Stratford a scare in week eight. The Tigers posted a 12-2 record losing to Black Hawk/Warren (IL) in the D-7 championship. In the playoffs Stratford again faced Spencer/Columbus Catholic and beat them by more the second time, 41-0 vs. 51-0.
They had beaten 12-straight opponents and not allowed a score until they faced Amherst. The Falcons proved to be no pushover. After all the school had won D-5 titles in 2015, 2016 and 2017 and they came into the game undefeated. Stratford scored first and had a 6-0 lead at halftime. A 37-yard touchdown pass with 6:28 remaining in the third quarter. Amherst converted the extra point kick and for the first time the Tigers were behind. The Tigers scored two more times in the second half and pulled out the win but the shutout streak was over. The schools win streak of 13 games ended the next weekend when Springs won. In the title game the Tigers jumped out to a 13-0 lead in the first quarter. They allowed a touchdown in the second quarter and went into the halftime on top 13-7. The third quarter was scoreless, but the defense was unable to stop Lake Country Lutheran, and they fell 20-13. It was a heartbreaking end to a great season.
When matching up the two Stratford teams it is easy to see the 2019 version statistically was better both on offense and defense
As I looked things over, the 2019 Stratford team was the best overall defensive team by far. The school can be proud, even though they were disappointed in not taking title. But as I have written, success breeds success as Coach Tubbs garnered the 2022 and 2023 D-6 titles and as I write this, they are undefeated and looking for another trophy.