Manhattan High School - Blue M Yearbook (Manhattan, KS)

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29 U DEFEATED C AMPS Squad of Stars- Is Key tion. Harold Fielding was selected as an all-state guard and Ronnie Webster was named as an all- state half-back. Howard Elmer made the second team as an end and Bob Srack and Jim Drown were given honorable mention. Fielding, Webster, Cook, Srack and Elmer were on the all-conference first team with Miller. Drown and Whitney in second team positions. Harold Cary and Ted Grimes re- ceived honorable mention. Webster was selected as the all-league captain. ANY CHANGES were made in the positions before the scheduled season began. All of them turned out well, and one especially produced great results. Bob Brewer, when a freshman, start- ed playing at an end position and stayed there through his junior year, failing to earn a letter. This year he was switched to tackle. There he earned a starting call and was outstanding in many games. Non-League Victories For the first time Manhattan scheduled a game with Wyandotte High School of Kansas City. One Wyandotte player remarked at the conclusion of the game that the Indians football squad could pass as a track team, since they repeatedly ran off for scores. Lawrence was also trimmed in a non- league counter. The Lawrence squad was cham- pion of its conference. The league race was only between two teams. The others were fighting it out for placing honors. Like Salina, however, the Indians had a tough time in defeating the one team that lost every game. Clay Center allowed both teams only one touchdown, al- though Manhattan played them during a heavy rain on a muddy, slippery field. Ted Grimes saved the day in that game when he caught a speedy Clay Center back who was touchdown bound, and the Redskins never again came close to being at least tied. Dramatic Finale After some tough and a few easy games, five C. K. L. teams had been removed. One, Salina, was left. Neither team had been beaten or tied and they were even in the league standings. The winner had undisputed possession of the league crown . To the loser went the laurels of losing only one game. Many games of fierce competition were behind that one, and they were boiled down to a contest between two formidable teams, Salina and Manhattan. The Maroons were heavy, but com- paratively slow. The Indians were light and fast. Griffith field was the scene of the encounter. A crowd of 6,500 screaming, hysterical homecoming fans jammed into the stadium and the two teams clashed. The Indians struck quickly a few min- utes after the opening gun and later tallied again: then the superior weight of Salina began to wear the Redskins down. The teams exchanged blows, but the Maroons pushed over into paydirt on a pass. Then, in a mighty drive which saw eleven boys playing as one, Webster scored the last touch- down of the season. The Salina Maroons, suppos- edly an immovable object in the path to the C. K. L. championship had been removed, and the Indians were the idol of the league. I..-fi to Right- Mumzvr, llri-wer, Drown, Cary, Grimes, Whitney.

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28 S I DIANS UF '43- HE LARGEST turnout for football in the state reported at Manhattan High last fall and with a complete eleven of lettermen to form the nucleus of the squad, Lud Fiser and Bill Clark produced a team that fought its way through one of its tough- est schedules to emerge undefeated and untied, Central Kansas League champions, and rated as second in the state by the Topeka Daily Capital. The '43 team was the first undefeated, untied team in the school records and only the second unbeaten one. Manhattan scored 217 points to their opponents forty-seven. Curiously enough, the play which net- ted the most touchdowns bore the name 217 . The numerous scoring sprints ranged from line plunges to a ninety-yard gallop kickoff return in the Wyan- dotte game. Deceptive Play The team was the lightest in years, but, out- weighed in almost every game, the Indians com- pletely baffled their opponents with their decep- tiveness and perfectly executed ball-handling. When opponents got in the team's way and tried to hold them back, the Redskins became an irres- sistable force, unequaled ln precision, deception, perserverance, and speed. The Indians were never behind in a game, and always took the initiative and tallied before their opponents. From the first touchdown, scored by Kenyon Whitney in the Lawrence game, there was never any doubt that Manhattan High School was being represented by one of the greatest teams in the in- Perfect Season b Teamwork stitution's history. Spo1'tswriters were amazed at the offense of the team and exclaimed that hours on top of hours must have been spent in perfect- ing the unerring attack-and they were right! For the Indians. no weather was too unfavorable or no hours too long. There were nine tough teams to scalp and a determined tribe was going to do it. The boys accomplished more than any other team in the school's history, but the best was the defeat of the age-old rival. After losing for eleven straight years to Junction City, the Indians broke the jinx in a thrilling, rough battle on the Blue Jay field. After that game, it was but a matter of time until the Redskins took over the league crown. Two very capable boys, Bob Srack and Harold Fielding, led the team as co-captains this year. Srack did a superb job of calling signals, and Field- ing was the offensive excavator who cleared the way for the touchdown jaunts. Many Honored After the season was over, extra glory was heap- ed upon ten of the Redskins. Never before had the team made such a clean sweep of the all-conference team or placed so many on all-state elevens. Man- hattan High placed two on the all-state first team, more than any other school: one was named on the second team and two received honorable men- Left to Right-Webster, Srack, Elmer, Fielding, Miller, Cook.

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30 ine- Games to MHS 14, Lawrence 6 VEN McDonald, sensational twice all-state full- back from Lawrence, could not have taken the spotlight off the Indians as they started their un- defeated season with a fourteen to six victory over the Lions. Our fullback was out of the game too, and Max Cook, all C. K. L. center, also was a spec- tator. Charlie Miller set up the first touchdown when he blocked a punt in the first minute of play. Two plays later, Kenyon Whitney spun off tackle to take the honors for the first touchdown of the year. Webster made the other one and the Indians were righteously in the groove. MHS 6, Seaman 0 Harry Fielding was unable to play in the Sea- man game. but Dale Gessell did a fine job in his place. Max Cook suffered an injury again and was replaced by Tom Flannelly. Manhattan was un- able to score on a quick, lightning-like thrust this time due to slippery footing, but little Bobby Srack found pay dirt in the second quarter for the only touchdown of the game, to win six to nothing. MHS 34, Chapman 0 If the Indians ever served notice as to what they had in store for other teams, they did it in the Chapman game. The Irish were smothered thirty- four to nothing as the Indians galloped off with their first league victory. Ronnie Webster made twenty-two points and Bobby Srack made a seven- ty-yard touchdown jaunt behind interference by Fielding and Elmer. Howard Elmer made the last touchdown as he dragged an Irishman across the goal with him after receiving a pass. MHS 25, Junction City 14 Everyone agrees it was the roughest game yet when the determined Redskins broke a jinx that had lasted since 1933 against the Junction City Blue Jays. Srack scored first on an end run and the blitz was on. A few minutes later, Webster crossed over into pay dirt on a touchdown set up by a pass interception by Max Cook. A few min- utes later. Cook repeated the interception feat Live in Histor and the third touchdown came on a pass to Elmer, still in the first quarter. The Blue Jays almost tied it in the second quarter with two touchdowns, but the Redskins held and late in the final quarter. Webster scored again. Final scorefManhattan. twenty-fiveg Junction City, fourteen. MHS 7, Clay Center 0 Phew, talk about muddy games, this one was it. That flat dirt pile at Clay Center was a sea of clay after a stiff rain hit and then the rain continued throughout the game. Elmer. Drown. and Field- ing were out with injuries and that really threw a dent into the line. Manhattan, in the form of Webster, scored in the first few minutes before the field became worse, but apparently the Tigers were accustomed to playing in mud. for they gave the Indians trouble throughout the game, which ended seven to nothing. MHS 27, Wyandotte 6 Wyandotte didn't live up to expectations, but the Bulldogs certainly threw a scare into the Indians during the first half. Webster had scored. but Davies of Wyandotte came right back to tie up the game at six-all at the half. That did not last long, however. On the kick-off of the second half, Elmer took the pigskin on a reverse and sprinted ninety yards to pay dirt. The Bulldogs had not yet recovered when Srack went fifty-four yards for another touchdown. A few minutes later, Wyan- dotte, still dumbfounded, was scored upon again by Webster on a seventy-nine yard jaunt. Wyandotte was humbled twenty-seven to six. MHS 33, Abilene 0 It was a grand Dads night for the Indians as they scalped the Abilene Cowhands. All the boys were performing well and Coach Fiser substituted a lot to save his mainstays from possible injuries. An eleven made up mostly of sophomores and jun- iors made the second touchdown when Cleavinger S Left to Right Flanuelly. Cleavinger, Simuntuu, Nabours, Thompson, l'l'IIL'1',Fllllllltllli, Dirk:-ns, lfriek,