1940-44 HOME Return to Football Year-by-Year Update 8-18-2005
There were few victories for football fans during this period. The war was calling away many teachers and coaches. Coach Hess had to leave for induction to the Army immediately after the close of the 1942 season. Fr. Burak was called away to Kansas City to fill a post and Cpl. Dolan, an assistant finished the season in 1943. Dolan may have been stationed at the V.A. hospital (we need more research). Fr. Ed Smith handled coaching duties in 1944. CCHS took the normal pounding from Seaman - but Fr. Smith thought the Council Grove players "kneed" many of our guys causing 6 players to fall out of the game that was lost 31-7.
Eskridge dropped out of league play due to travel restrictions. An extra non-league game was played against Highland Park to fill the schedule. In 1943 two games are listed with THS Intramural All-Stars (also referred to as Topeka High Reserves). These games were reported in the paper with descriptions of scoring plays. I decided to count these as official games. The same squad was played in 1944 - but the paper reported no results and it was only referred to as a scrimmage. In those cases, I have not counted the scrimmage as an official game. 10-1-1940 scrimmage with Washburn Rural has a score reported - but report confirms that game was only for practice (scrimmage).
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1940 Immaculata game in Leavenworth (1941 SHAMROCK)
Pre-game warm up.
TDC State Champion: Topeka High (Class AA)
1940 | Mike Dluhy | 1 | 8 | 0 | |||||
9/20/1940 | Eskridge | L | 0 | 6 | Eskridge | Jayhawk | |||
10/1/1940 | Washburn Rural | XXXXXX | 0 | Scrimmage - Not counted | |||||
10/3/1940 | Silver Lake | L | 0 | 12 | Highland Park | ||||
10/13/1940 | Maur Hill - Atchison | L | 13 | 19 | Ripley Park | ||||
10/17/1940 | Alma | W | 13 | 6 | Highland Park | Jayhawk | |||
10/27/1940 | Immaculata-Leavenworth | L | 0 | 30 | Leavenworth | ||||
10/31/1940 | Wamego | L | 0 | 33 | Wamego | Jayhawk | |||
11/8/1940 | Seaman | L | 0 | 26 | Seaman | Jayhawk | |||
11/15/1940 | Osage City | L | 0 | 21 | Osage City | Jayhawk | |||
11/22/1940 | Highland Park | L | 0 | 12 | Highland Park | Jayhawk | |||
26 | 165 |
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TDC State Champion: Wyandotte (Class AA)
Starters for 1941 season: CAPT. Jack Haefele, Sam Burghardt, Max Haefele, Max Lascheck, Jack Redmond, Carl Mason, Pat Beebe, W. Addington, Obregon, J. Dore, Simpson, Artzer. These were names mentioned in the small game reports from the TDC and TSJ. Jack Haefele was the team leader and usually provided the scoring. Oddity of the times was the newspaper's identification of certain players. Whenever a black player was mentioned in a story "colored" was used as an adjective. "Burghardt at full, M. Haefele at guard and Gardenhire, colored end, worked well for the Capitol." (TDC 11-7-41). Only black players were given an extra designation. Richard Gardenhire saw action near the end of the season. This team was a bit more competitive than the 1940 squad - Osage City pulled out their win with a 99 yard TD off a fake punt.
1941 | Mike Dluhy | 2 | 5 | 1 | |||||
9/19/1941 | Washburn Rural | W | 19 | 6 | Highland Park | ||||
9/25/1941 | Eskridge | T | 13 | 13 | Seaman | Jayhawk | |||
10/12/1941 | Maur Hill - Atchison | W | 6 | 0 | Atchison | ||||
10/17/1941 | Alma | L | 6 | 27 | Alma | Jayhawk | |||
10/30/1941 | Wamego | L | 0 | 12 | Highland Park | Jayhawk | |||
11/6/1941 | Seaman | L | 0 | 12 | Seaman | Jayhawk | |||
11/14/1941 | Osage City | L | 14 | 19 | Ripley Field | Jayhawk | |||
11/21/1941 | Highland Park | L | 14 | 34 | Highland Park | Jayhawk | |||
72 | 123 |
1941 Statistics | RTD | PTD | RCTD | PAT | PAT-K | FG | S | TP |
Jack Haefele | 5 | 1 | 1 | 37 | ||||
Burghardt | 2 | 1 | 12 | |||||
Pat Beebe | 1 | 1 | 7 | |||||
Carl Mason | 1 | 6 | ||||||
TEAM/No Account | 1 | 4 | 10 | |||||
72 |
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TDC State Champion: Wichita East (Class AA)
1942 | Joe Hess | 2 | 6 | 0 | |||||
9/24/1942 | Silver Lake | L | 0 | 19 | Highland Park | ||||
10/4/1942 | Maur Hill - Atchison | W | 13 | 0 | Ripley Field | ||||
10/9/1942 | Osage City | L | 7 | 13 | Osage City | Jayhawk | |||
10/16/1942 | Burlingame | W | 25 | 6 | Burlingame | ||||
10/21/1942 | THS - Intramural All-Stars | XXXXXX | Scrimmage Only | ||||||
10/30/1942 | Highland Park | L | 7 | 18 | Highland Park | ||||
11/4/1942 | Wamego | L | 7 | 12 | Wamego | Jayhawk | |||
11/13/1942 | Seaman | L | 0 | 59 | Seaman | Jayhawk | |||
11/20/1942 | Highland Park | L | 0 | 7 | Highland Park | Jayhawk | |||
59 | 134 | ||||||||
Eskridge had to drop out of Jayhawk League due to wartime travel restrictions | |||||||||
Highland Park filled the Eskridge vacancy (not counted as league game). |
1942 Statistics | RTD | PTD | RCTD | PAT | PAT-K | FG | S | TP |
Bob Crook | 3 | 18 | ||||||
Richard Gardenhire | 2 | 1 | 13 | |||||
Jim O'Neil | 1 | 2 | 8 | |||||
Bill Cavanaugh | 1 | 6 | ||||||
Zeiglar | 1 | 6 | ||||||
Bob Krische | 1 | 6 | ||||||
Team/No Account | 2 | |||||||
59 | ||||||||
10/16/1942 Zeiglar 30 YD Interception Return included in RCTD | ||||||||
11/4/42 Krische Blocked Punt Return included in RTD |
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TDC Champion: Wichita East (Class AA)
1943 | Fr. George Burak | 0 | 1 | 0 | |||||
CPL. Ken Dolan | 2 | 7 | 0 | ||||||
9/23/1943 | Silver Lake | L | 6 | 13 | Seaman | ||||
10/3/1943 | Maur Hill - Atchison | L | 0 | 34 | Atchison | ||||
10/8/1943 | Osage City | L | 0 | 19 | Highland Park | Jayhawk | |||
10/15/1943 | THS - Intramural All-Stars | L | 0 | 20 | Chandler Field | ||||
10/22/1943 | Washburn Rural | W | 7 | 6 | Washburn Rural | ||||
10/29/1943 | Highland Park | L | 14 | 26 | Highland Park | Jayhawk | |||
11/3/1943 | Wamego | L | 7 | 12 | Seaman | Jayhawk | |||
11/12/1943 | Seaman | L | 0 | 41 | Seaman | Jayhawk | |||
11/18/1943 | THS - Intramural All-Stars | L | 7 | 13 | Ripley Field | ||||
11/25/1943 | Highland Park | W | 21 | 13 | Highland Park | ||||
62 | 197 | ||||||||
Fr. Burak was transferred to Kansas City after 9/23/43. Dolan finished the season. | |||||||||
1943 Statistics | RTD | PTD | RCTD | PAT | PAT-K | FG | S | TP |
Jim O'Neil | 2 | 3 | 7 | 19 | ||||
Earl Burton | 2 | 12 | ||||||
Gene Schmidt | 1 | 1 | 7 | |||||
Don Farmer | 1 | 1 | 6 | |||||
Ed Leinacker | 1 | 6 | ||||||
Al Mullin | 1 | 6 | ||||||
Dale Graham | 1 | 6 | ||||||
62 | ||||||||
11-25-1943 Graham fumble recovery in end zone included in RTD |
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TDC Champion: Hutchinson (Class AA)
Senior players on this team were Earl Burton (Co-Captain), Harry Down, Gerald Imming, Bob Kluge (Co-Captain), William Kennedy, Bob Lutz, John Shortall, Joe O'Donnell. Burton was named to the All-Star Jayhawk League team. Cpl. Nate Long assisted Fr. Smith and it appears he may have been the main coach for the team - at least in practice. Fr Smith was in charge on game day. Junior Don Farmer was the leading scorer on a team without much offensive punch. Once again, success was limited due to lack of numbers and frequent injuries to key players.
1944 | Fr. Ed Smith | 2 | 7 | 0 | |||||
9/21/1944 | Silver Lake | L | 0 | 25 | Seaman | ||||
10/1/1944 | Maur Hill - Atchison | L | 0 | 26 | Ripley Field | ||||
10/6/1944 | Osage City | W | 19 | 0 | Osage City | Jayhawk | |||
10/13/1944 | Burlingame | L | 6 | 12 | Burlingame | ||||
10/20/1944 | Council Grove | L | 7 | 31 | Council Grove | Jayhawk | |||
10/27/1944 | Highland Park | W | 6 | 0 | Highland Park | ||||
11/2/1944 | Wamego | L | 0 | 6 | Wamego | Jayhawk | |||
11/10/1944 | Seaman | L | 0 | 46 | Seaman | Jayhawk | |||
11/16/1944 | Highland Park | L | 6 | 19 | Highland Park | Jayhawk | |||
44 | 165 |
Highland Park played Hayden twice per year during WW II - only 1 game counted in Jayhawk League.
1944 Statistics | RTD | PTD | RCTD | PAT | PAT-K | FG | S | TP |
Earl Burton | 1 | 6 | ||||||
Don Farmer | 2 | 2 | 12 | |||||
Harry Down | 1 | 6 | ||||||
Bob Lutz | 1 | 6 | ||||||
TEAM | 1 | 1 | 2 | 14 | ||||
44 |
1944 Team w Nate Long - from the 1945 Yearbook
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Players: 1940-1945
1940: Lester Renyer Moe Waters
1941: Jack Haefele Pat Beeby
1942: Bob Crook Richard Gardenhire Bob Krische Jim O'Neill
1943: Jim O'Neill Dale Graham Gene Schmidt Al Mullen
1944: Earl Burton Bob Kluge Jerry Imming John Shortall Don Farmer