Name/Title
Autumn Chronicles '63Description
Autumn Chronicles '63, written by Philip Buteyn and formated by Jim Laird. This is an account of the 1963 Waupun Senior High School football season. Waupun won all of the football games that year. Mr. Buteyn maintains the copyright ownership. Indexed by Richard Peters. There are two copies, one in the book case on the main floor and one in the photo index files.
=============
Autumn Chronicles '63
written by
Philip Buteyn
word processed by
Jim Laird Autumn Chronicles '63
Author's note: The following story is true....okay, most of it is true.
Introduction
Some may ask: "Why are you writing this?" My reply is simple: I've got time to kill. Lots of time. Plus, the football season of '63 still is the most memorable time of my high school years. More memorable than burying the Casper twins in the student council election; more memorable than getting my driver's license on the third try; more memorable than being ASKED to be on the Homecoming Court in '62; more memorable than being turned down by a chick when I asked her to be my date for the Prom in '64; and even more memorable than when I turned that magic age of 18. Even though I wasn't much of a football player, I loved being on that fabulous Waupun Warrior team that went undefeated and ended up being ranked number 9 in the state that year. That's why I'm writing this.
Chapter One
Physical Description: Autumn Chronicles '63
Extended Description: Autumn Chronicles '63, written by Philip Buteyn and formated by Jim Laird. This is an account of the 1963 Waupun Senior High School football season. Waupun won all of the football games that year. Mr. Buteyn maintains the copyright ownership. Indexed by Richard Peters. There are two copies, one in the book case on the main floor and one in the photo index files.
=============
Autumn Chronicles '63
written by
Philip Buteyn
word processed by
Jim Laird Autumn Chronicles '63
Author's note: The following story is true....okay, most of it is true.
Introduction
Some may ask: "Why are you writing this?" My reply is simple: I've got time to kill. Lots of time. Plus, the football season of '63 still is the most memorable time of my high school years. More memorable than burying the Casper twins in the student council election; more memorable than getting my driver's license on the third try; more memorable than being ASKED to be on the Homecoming Court in '62; more memorable than being turned down by a chick when I asked her to be my date for the Prom in '64; and even more memorable than when I turned that magic age of 18. Even though I wasn't much of a football player, I loved being on that fabulous Waupun Warrior team that went undefeated and ended up being ranked number 9 in the state that year. That's why I'm writing this.
Chapter One
This story actually begins in the fifties. It begins on the playgrounds of Washington, Lincoln, and St. Joe's school; it begins at the Fox Lake elementary school and in the parks of Waupun. It begins with a rather unique bunch of young boys who love to play football--tackle football, if you will; even though the teachers tell them that only touch football is allowed at school. These kids carry themselves with a bit of a swagger. They have a rather unusual sense of self-confidence that is hard to describe. And they've got some good role models in the kids that would make up the championship team of 1960. It's almost as if it's their destiny to eventually do something great
That "something great" begins to take place as football practice begins on August 19th. The weather that day was pleasant, a high of about 75 degrees. It would be a portend of beautiful autumn days to come. That first practice seemed rowdier than the previous years--after all, Gary Hendricks, called by Lou Pluim one of the most capable players he ever coached, was back after missing the previous season due to poor grades. And to call Gary Hendricks a rowdy-type of guy is a bit of an understatement .I, too, was back after a year's absence. I'd spent the previous season bringing up the rear for our school's first cross country team. It wasn't really a wasted year for me; I'd be able to use what I'd learned about that sport when I'd become Dodgeland (Juneau) High School's first cross country coach 7 years later. But, I wasn't going to miss this football season and the thrill of being back on the team. And I KNEW this was going to be no ordinary season.
We got our first taste of competition when we took part in a 3-way scrimmage with Juneau and Plymouth. Juneau was coached by DeLore Prust--and Prust had run Waupun's fledgling little league baseball program when we were in grade school and junior high. He was a great guy who eventually devoted himself to girls' softball--a softball complex in the Fox Valley is named after him. (Coach Pluim warned us not to call him by his first name, as we had been accustomed to when Prust ran the baseball program.) It was a cool day in Plymouth that Saturday, and our team looked pretty impressive as it dominated the scrimmage. The coaches, Pluim and Bill Wucherer, however, were quick to caution us that tons of improvements needed to be made if we were to stand a chance once the regular season began. On Tuesday, September third, school started. According to the Waupun Leader News, here are a few of the things that happened in our little town as the build-up to the first football game took place: The new Schrank Clinic was being built; the Alto Fair had once again been a success; Mary Lou Remus and Ralph Shoemaker took part in a pantomine and tap-dance show on a LaCrosse tv station; Alto had won the city softball title (which was a very big deal back in those days--we're talking fast-pitch); and former Waupun football player Mert Harmsen had completed basic training as a Marine at Camp Pendleton. (He'd need that rugged training when he'd eventually marry Sheri Miles.) (Mert would eventually marry a second time, become a grade school teacher in Mayville; and have a 6 foot, ten inch son who would win a basketball scholarship to Northwestern University.) With the start of school came cooler temperatures with highs in the sixties and low seventies. And with the start of school came the anticipation to continue Waupun's winning streak in football--which had reached 5 at the end of the previous season. But it would not be an easy task, by any means. Waupun's opponent, Madison Edgewood brought an 11 game winning streak of its own to start the season. And Edgewood, a Catholic school, regularly had some of the best athletes in the city of Madison on its roster. The bus ride over to Sun Prairie, where the game would be played, was a quiet one, as I recall. Coach Pluim had told us that he had a lot of concerns about our readiness for this game, and we'd better concentrate on the tough task that lie ahead. But it was a beautiful evening, with temperatures in the sixties, and the game was just as tough as we thought it would be. The game was almost delayed when a brawl started to erupt on the Waupun bench. It seemed Denny Marshall tried to squeeze in between Ken Hoekstra and myself where we had secured great seats right on the fifty yardline. After we convinced Horse that he was expected to play in this game, rather than watch it with us, he went out on the field and things returned to normal. And it was a good thing that Horse played. After falling behind in the first quarter, 7-0; Horse hauled in a 45 yard touchdown pass from Curt Powell to tie the score at the end of the quarter. In the second quarter, Waupun took the lead, 13-7, when Pete Merhalski picked up a fumble and rumbled in, thanks to a de-cleater of a block by Marshall, fora touchdown. Edgewood took a brief lead, 14-13; but with 26 seconds left in the first half, Marshall hauled in a 5 yard pass from Powell, and dragged a couple of defenders into the end zone with him. Waupun was now up, 19-14. Edgewood didn't go down easily in the second half. In the third quarter they reached the Warrior 14 yardline, only to have Randy Dykstra stop the drive with an interception. In the fourth quarter, Edgewood got to the Waupun 11, only to have Waupun stiffen and Butch Roberts chased quarterback Jim Gerlach 23 yards back to stop that drive. Joe Richter would eventually intercept an Edgewood pass with a little over a minute to play, and as the Warrior fans who'd made the trip to Sun Prairie counted down the clock the realization hit us that we'd done what a lot of Madison sports writers thought was impossible: we'd stopped Edgewood's winning streak. Statistics showed Waupun with only 7 first downs to Edgewood's 16; 55 yards rushing to Edgewood's 127; and 99 yards passing to Edgewood's 127. But Edgewood turned the ball over 4 times--often in key situations. And besides, the most important statistic, the score, was in Waupun's favor. It was noisy bus ride back to Waupun. Autumn Chronicles Chapter 2
The Saturday morning after the big win over Edgewood, I couldn't sleep in until my customary 10 o'clock wake-up time. I was just too darn anxious to get downtown and pick up a morning newspaper. So I did a run-walk down Drummond, cut across the now-vacant lot where the First Reformed Church used to stand, hurried past the curvaceous Indian statue atop City Hall hill, past the Hub and Men's Store, and into the Blue Bird magazine store. I ignored the current issue of Playboy, fresh on the racks, (despite the urge to check out the latest interesting articles) and tossed my dime on the counter for the Wisconsin State Journal.
I then went outside into the bright sunlight of a September morning, pulled out the sports peach, and there it was, right on the front page; the story of the previous night's victory. My gosh! Waupun had made the front page of a Madison paper. We were finally getting some attention outside of Waupun.
Inside Waupun, we were getting plenty of attention. The Badgers and the Packers, both coming off of championship seasons, were yet to begin play--so Warrior football was the talk of the town. (Even Dutch Gotschall cracked a smile when I stopped at the Corner Drug Store for a cherry Coke.) We had a pretty good fan-following at the Edgewood game, and we expected even more support for our next road game: at Oconomowoc.
If we expected rave reviews from our coaches at Monday's practice, we were in for a shock. It was hard to believe we had won Friday night, judging by Coach Pluim's comments in the Leader News. "Our biggest problem is complacency, " he said. "They are already starting to count the number of wins. They can stop after one if they don't settle down and think about Friday's game."
Our three heavy-hitting practices that week were held under sunny skies with temperatures in the high seventies. And there WAS a lot of chatter about how we could beat any team on the schedule. But we were playing a team Friday night that Waupun hadn't beaten since 1947.
Outside of football, there wasn't much excitement in Waupun during the days leading up to our trip to Oconomowoc. Fox Lake was making the big switch to dial phones, so Gary Mullin and Denny Braun wouldn't have to talk to the operator anymore when calling long-distance to Waupun. Even smaller news was the fact that Tom Hidde had won a watermelon-eating contest at Dodge Park (If it had been a hamburger eating contest held at Michael's bar, I would have won hands-down.) and that Mrs. Cleveland had won the ladies golf tournament at the local country club.(I believe she mentored Dick Long in golf techniques.)
By Friday, the temperatures had cooled down, the high that afternoon was only in the mid-fifties. It was going to be a perfect night for football.
The bus ride over to Oconomowoc was a long one, what with Cooney being close to Milwaukee. Oconomowoc was the wealthiest community in the conference, and that wealth tended to show in the attitude of their football team. One could easily sense, as we trotted unto the field, that the Coons looked at us with sense of superiority. Here was this team from a small prison town intruding on their turf. They expected a win--a big, easy win. But they were in for a surprise.
After a scoreless first quarter, Curt Powell intercepted a pass on Cooney's 30 yard line. It didn't take long, and running back Joe Richter scored on a two yard run. Gary Hendricks then began his string of legendary kicks, booting the extra point clean out of the park.
After Hendricks kicked off down the Cooney goal line, Oconomowoc scored it's first touchdown on a pass from Eckert to Wood. Ed Saxe, whom I'd get to know a couple of years later at DCTC, scored the point after.
Cooney's jubilation was quickly tempered, however, when Denny Marshall returned the ensuing kick-off to midfield. It took two passes for Richter to score Waupun's second td. Later in the second quarter, Marshall would snare one of Powell's passes, streak down the sideline, and put Waupun up at half time, 19-7.
The only scoring in the third quarter was an Oconomowoc touchdown that Tim (Father?) Flanagan scored on a pass. Flanagan then opened the fourth quarter with another touchdown, giving Cooney their first and only lead of the night at 20-19.
It was crunch time for the Warriors--and they more than just responded. Marshall took the kickoff back to Cooney's 35, almost breaking it all the way. A few plays later, Horse Marshall went in for the touchdown on another Powell pass. Then after some solid defense by Hendricks, Bill Shaw, Mullin, and Marshall, Waupun forced Cooney to punt, Waupun's ground game took the ball to the Cooney 6, where Richter scored on a pass from Powell. Waupun was now up, 33-20.
Richter would then seal the win with an interception with 1:24 left on the clock. Oconomowoc had not been shut out; but they did shut up.
Statistically speaking, Waupun had a big edge in total yardage: 298 to 179. 196 of those yards were through the air as Powell connected on 9 of 15 passes; with Marshal getting 101 of those yards. On the ground, Richter had 51 yards in 12 carries; he also added 88 yards in receptions.
The convincing win quieted the Cooney players at last. In fact, it was so humbling that a year later, when Horse and I roomed with one of the Oconomowoc players, Joe Conway, at DCTC, we asked him about his recollections of this game. He claimed he couldn't even remember playing Waupun. Convenient amnesia.
CHAPTER 3
Our cozy little town was buzzing by Monday morning. Buzzing about Warrior football. Finally, the team was going to have a home game, and even though a lot of locals had made the trip to see the two big road wins, for many of the townsfolk, this would be their first chance to see the undefeated, streaking Warriors.
Heck, even downtown merchant Bob Rompre was hoping to get to see the second half of the game after he closed his store at nine o'clock. Bob was a former Olympic hockey player who grew up in Minnesota, but he loved watching football, as well. And Bob Elvers, down at the shoe store where one used to be able to get their feet x-rayed to see if their shoes were a proper fit (that kind of explained why so many people in town had feet that glowed in the dark) was talking Warrior football with anyone that would listen.
But, there was more than just football going on in town that week. The city nurse, Laura Reslock, issued a warning that impetigo could sweep the city. It was time to back off on all of that hugging and kissing in the back seats of those Chevies and Fords that the kids loved to drive. And W.A. Glascoff announced that the cranberry canning season was going well--and his canning plant didn't even have to hire any migrants to get the job done. (Our city could feel so much safer, knowing that Hollanders were doing most of the work, instead.)
In a real hot issue, the School Board couldn't seem to decide whether or not to publish a high school honor roll. "Unless it really means something, let's not publish it," they announced. Boy, that was a relief for me. Being very modest about my grades, the last thing I wanted to see was having a list of names in the paper. (Of course, if they didn't go down as far as the 150th rank in the class, I had little to fear.)
The last official week of summer seemed like, well, summer. Practice started on Monday with temperatures near 80 degrees and it didn't cool down until Friday. But Coach Pluim cooled us down right away--it was obvious he had watched a different game then we had played. He was far from being a happy camper; he said we'd better get our heads out of the sky or we were in for a big tumble Friday night against Ripon. Boy, I'd hate to have seen his reaction towards us if we had actually lost the Oconomowoc game.
But the coaches serious approach to the next game didn't slow Gary Hendricks down one bit. Hendricks was more than making up for missing the previous season due to poor grades. At six-two and 210 pounds, with speed that was almost as fast as our running backs, Hendricks was the real deal. He played tackle on offense and linebacker on defense. And he played 'em well. But the thing that captivated most of the fans attention was his kicking.
Gary wore a square-toed kicking shoe when he kicked off or did point-afters. At a time when pro kickers rarely kicked much deeper than 5 yards into the end zone, Gary was consistently knocking them inside the five yard line, as well as quite often into the end zone. And his point-afters drew ooohs and aaahs as they went far beyond the goal post.
But his teammates noticed him most during practice. Gary was a yapper. He loved to ride people, he enjoyed getting them worked up. And two of his favorite targets were Gary Mullin and Denny Marshall At times he'd jab them unmercifully, just trying to get a rise out of them. And when they responded, he knew he'd been successful. Other guys, like Powell and Richter, rarely took Hendricks' bait; but if you showed any sign of responding, you were in for a long practice.
And the practices were long enough, and hard enough, the way it was this week. Since Lou Pluim had come to town, Waupun had lost only one game to Ripon--that being during Lou's first season. The last two wins had been pretty one-sided: 19-0 and 32-6; but this year's version of the Ripon team figured to be much tougher. They'd lost both of their games so far; one to Watertown, 12-6; the other to Oshkosh, 12-0. But these were much bigger schools--they were looking forward to playing someone their own size.
Ripon's main running threat would be Tim Stellmacher, a short, but fast scatback. (A relative of his would later play for UW.) The quarterback would be Steve Thompson, who's dad, Jerry, had been a star running back for the UW Badgers back in '44 and '45. Along with a tough pass defense, these two could cause Waupun some serious problems on Friday night.
When we ran unto the field for warm-ups on Friday night, we were amazed at what we saw: the place was packed. Fans were even standing around the snowfence in the west end zone. We expected a crowd, but this was amazing. And it would get even more amazing as the season progressed. These folks loved their football team!
If there was one game during this season that Waupun deserved to lose, this was it. We were lucky to win this game, very lucky. But sometimes you make your own luck.
Waupun scored it's first touchdown, following a six-play drive, early in the second quarter when Powell ran the ball in from the four yard line. Hendricks kicked the ball out of the park for a 7-0 lead. However, Ripon came right back with 73 yard drive, capped off by Randy Haima (with a name like that, he should have been playing for Waupun) capping it off with an explosive 29 yard touchdown dash. At half time, Waupun was up, 7-6.
The third quarter was scoreless until Ripon's Thompson capped off a 62-yard drive with a 9 yard run for the score. Suddenly, the Warriors found themselves on the short end of the score, 13-7. It started to feel like the Cooney game, all over again.
And Waupun DID respond. Solid runs by Richter and Pete Merhalski and a fine catch by Marshall brought the ball deep into Ripon territory with Richter running in for the score. Thanks to another strong PAT by Hendricks, Waupun was back on top, 14-13.
Ripon, however, was far from dead. Hendricks' kick into the end zone forced them to start from their 20; but in 9 plays they had moved to Waupun's 43 with only about 3 minutes remaining in the game. Faced with a 4th and 2, Ripon's hopes collapsed on them. Thompson had the ball jarred loose just as he was about to hand it off and Powell picked it up, racing (okay, maybe it's wrong to use the words "racing" and "Powell" together) behind Hendricks and Marshall into the end zone. Waupun was suddenly breathing a little easier with a 21-13 lead.
Following the Waupun kickoff, Ripon's last hoped died on their first play from scrimmage as Richter picked off a pass and returned it to Ripon's 15. Three plays later, Richter went in for the score; and Hendricks' kick made the final score 28-13.
Even though Waupun doubled Ripon's score, the statistics were virtually even. Ripon had 197 yards rushing, Waupun had 181. Ripon had 10 yards passing, Waupun had 29. Richter was the offensive leader for Waupun with 95 yards in 14 carries. The passing game had been restricted to only 3 completions in 10 attempts--it would be the only game where Waupun's passing attack would be ineffective.
This game, being as close as it was until the last 3 minutes, would serve as a wake-up call for the Warriors. Next week would mean a trip to Mayville--always a tough place to play. And Mayville would have some special motivation besides the fact that Waupun had beaten them the last three times: they easily remembered that a bunch of us had torched their homecoming bonfire a day early last season. It could be a very interesting road trip.
CHAPTER 4
As I WALKED to school on the Monday following the Ripon victory, I was already thinking about how tough practice was going to be again. Yes, we'd beaten Ripon; but it was an ugly win--and Coach Pluim had as much toleration for ugly as I had for manual labor.
It was a beautiful, early fall Monday morning, and I watched a lot of my teammates cruise into the school parking lot in their cars as I trudged in with my tongue hanging out from exhaustion. (It was a mile walk from my home to school--all of it uphill.) There was Pete Molter in his '53 blue and white Chevy--his folks had bought that for him as a birthday present. (Pete's folks had wanted to surprise him with the car; so they hid it in a neighbor's garage. But Pete got wind of it, found the car, and took Dick Long out for an initial cruise. He got nailed by the cops for driving with only a temporary license.) Bill Shaw drove in with an ugly-green '51 Ford, big Bob Braskamp tooled in with a brown '55 Chev. School was in session.
Wisconsin football coach Barry Alvarez has often said that to have a great season, a team needs 4 great players and a lot of good ones. Well, we had those four, in my opinion. First, there was Richter, a senior leader on the team. Joe no longer had the speed he once possessed; a knee injury during the summer after his sophomore year had stolen some of his speed. But he had more moves than a Dutch boy in the back seat of a '55 Chevy with a girl on Sunday night. Coach Pluim once told me that Joe was the only runner he had ever seen who could pivot on both feet at once.
During the '63 season Joe averaged over 5 yards per carry and 23 yards per catch while leading the Little Ten Conference in scoring with 78 points. Richter also played in the defensive backfield, where he had more than his share of interceptions.
Then there was Denny (Horse) Marshall. Blessed with a hurdler's speed, good size, and soft hands, Marshall caught 23 passes for 404 yards and 6 touchdowns. He was also an exciting kick-returner, has he had proved during the Oconomowoc win. On top of that, he played a solid defensive end. Horse flat-out loved sports; and football was his best sport, to say the least.
Gary Hendricks was another integral part of the success of this team. With excellent size and speed, Gary played tackle on offense and line-backer on defense. Plus, he kicked the beejeepers out of the football on kickoffs and extra points. He was named second team all-state at the end of the season.
The final piece of the puzzle was quarterback Curt Powell. At 148 pounds, Powell hardly looked the part of an outstanding football player. But on the field he was something special. He threw a nice ball, averaging about 150 yards per game, and was on target for a rather remarkable total of 18 touchdown passes. On top of this, he, too, played defense. During games, Powell was all business. Sometimes, in the huddle, he might ask for opinions on whether a play might work or not. (Keep in mind, quarterbacks called their own plays back then.) He seemed to have a knack for staying calm during games, regardless of the situation. And he loved football. He used to draw up his own plays during study hall, and then show them to Coach Pluim, seeking approval to use them in game situations. (Sometimes, he DID get Coach's approval--as long as the blocking schemes were correct.) Coach Pluim and Powell had a good relationship--and being a quarterback, this was necessary for the success of the team. But Powell was not beyond the wrath of Coach when things went wrong. Coach got on him pretty hard after the Oconomowoc game for throwing too many passes. I guess coach was a little like Woody Hayes: he preferred a cloud of dust instead of the clear blue sky. But with the outstanding pass catchers this team had, there was going to be more than just a little passing.
The weather for the week leading up to the fifth game on our schedule, Mayville, was gorgeous again. Temperatures in the low to mid-seventies had us sweating during practice. And we were not taking Mayville lightly. Many of us seniors remembered that the Cardinals had handed us our first loss as freshmen. We had Richter playing quarterback at that time, and Marshall playing fullback; and we came into that game full of confidence and swagger. Well, swagger turned into stagger, and we staggered out of Mayville with a one-sided loss. So even though Mayville hadn't won a game yet this year, we were preparing for a tough fight.
Outside of football talk down at Toasties, Waupun was having a pretty quiet week. Gil Grabner was promoted to night shift captain on the police force (not much really happened at night in Waupun, so it wasn't a huge deal by any means), Bill Beisner rolled a 616 at Tulip Lanes, the '64 Studebakers were in (oh, heart, be still), and Bill Edmunds, Bob Core, Bob Gilmore, and Doc Kermeen were named as directors of the newly-expanded Waupun Little League. Oh, and Clodhopper was still managing the city dump as efficiently as one could expect.
When Friday finally rolled around, it found afternoon temperatures reaching near eighty degrees. Garret Vande Kolk drove the bus that took us over to Mayville. (Garret was one of our biggest fans--and sometimes one of the most critical.) After winding through the back roads of Dodge County, we drove up the hill to the ancient-looking football stadium that doubled as a baseball field. With its covered grandstand, this green old monstrosity looked like something out of the '20's when every town had a baseball team. Part of the game would be played in the damp infield of the baseball diamond.
This game, a 27-0 win, had its share of uglies. Ugly as in 6 fumbles--luckily only one was recovered by Mayville. And despite the fact that it had been a warm, gorgeous afternoon, the weather conditions at the hill-top stadium were windy and chilly. Powell threw only 13 passes in the breeze, completing 5 for 126 yards. The ground game accounted for 121 yards: 60 in 7 carries for Richter, and Gary Wilson, Rich Maastricht (back from an eye injury), Mick Liner, Tom
Wilson, and even Gary Hendricks carrying the rest of load for the running game for the Warriors. Mayville, on the other hand, was held to a total of 94 yards for the game.
Waupun's first touchdown came after Mayville, attempting to punt, snapped the ball over the punter's head, leading to a Waupun recovery on Mayville's 8 yard line. Two plays later, Richter ran in for the first score. Waupun's second touchdown in the first quarter involved a 62 yard drive which ended with Richter again going in for the score.
As the second quarter was drawing to a close, the Cards again fumbled deep in their own territory. End Gary Mullin hauled in a pass from Powell to put Waupun up at halftime, 20 to nothing. Waupun's final score came in the third period when Maastricht took a screen pass from Powell and followed his blockers in for a 65 yard touchdown. That was it for the evening as the Warriors posted their fourth win of the season, 27-0.
While the fumbles were a concern for the coaches, they had to be pleased with the defensive effort in this game. Tackles Butch Roberts and Dan Baber, players who played only on defense, and linebackers Hendricks and Randy Dykstra, another one-way player, and defensive back Wayne TerBeest had played key roles in shutting down quarterback Mike Ferge, running back Duane Bonack, and speedy fullback John Marx.
The mood on the bus ride home was up-beat, to say the least. But we knew we could enjoy only the moment: next week one of the big boys in the league was coming to town for the annual homecoming game: West Bend.
There was a lot of work to be done between now and then if we were going to keep Coach Pluim's record of being undefeated in homecoming games intact. CHAPTER 5
Homecoming week!
... [truncated due to length]Acquisition
Accession
2007.0016Source or Donor
Philip ButeynAcquisition Method
Gift