Paxton High School - Reflector Yearbook (Paxton, IL)

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game clinched their fourth straight Wauseca League championship. The score? We-ell, ah-just-ah-skip it. The last game of the rather disappointing football season was probably the biggest upset in years, for the Drummer eleven whipped us 19-7 after we had opened our schedule with an overwhelming four-touchdown defeat of them on the local field. Long passes and equally long runs were the causes of the Gibson victory. With the concluding of the football year, let’s look back and see just who the boys were who made up the ’33 eleven. First there’s Gene Carlson, pudgy little fullback who captained the team. Besides being a senior, Gene’s other distinguishing features were that he hit the line hard, tackled as if he meant it, and was a mighty good leader. Vernie Orr held down a quarterback post on Coach Hankenson’s team for two years. On off-tackle plays On-averaged three yards, something not to be sneezed at in any man’s game. It’ll be a long time before we forget Vernie hitching up his football pants (a trifle large), kneeling his exact two yards behind the line of scrimmage, and shouting his heps and signals. Another senior. Sam Earnest, the boy who’s always mentioned in connection with his weight, is only a junior, but this happy thought is overshadowed by the fact that Sam becomes twenty before next fall. Sam’s one hundred ninety pounds were a bulwark at center and fullback for the past three years. Hugh Stone, one hundred seventy-five pound guard, one of the squad’s best tacklers, nicknamed Bump, has a brother who made football history at Paxton. A junior. Figures don’t lie, so Bump ought to have a banner season next fall. Dick Nelson: When you can argue like Dick and love to tackle like Dick, you can begin to understand why this boy has pulled down two letters at end. Another worthy senior who will be missed by the local fans. Try guessin’ this one. Six feet, black hair, exceedingly shy and quiet, plays end, is a junior, weighs about one hundred seventy-five. Your guess is as good as mine. He’ll be a welcome figure to the coach next fall. Elmer Flan-nigan? Called that one, didn’t we? Another bashful lad. This one’s from Clarence. Bob Swanson could be found at either tackle or guard during his one year of football at P. C. H. S. Another home town lad that made good in the big city. Clarence Nuss: Nuss passed, punted and was blessed with a world of speed. Coach Hankenson expects great things of this sophomore halfback before he graduates. Leon Healy (better known as Bus) : Although a little light for a guard, Bus teamed with Bump Stone to make a hard-charging pair. Since most of our plays are off-tackle and the guards pull out to run interference, these boys were always in the thick of the fight. In the fall he leaves his saxophone and plays tackle on the Paxton eleven. Sounds like birds migrating, but in reality it’s only Bob Olson winning his football letter after four falls of hard practicing and waiting for his chance. David McKinney is a junior. An excellent dropkicker and passer, Jeb was always called in when Paxton was behind and needed a couple of points. Incidentally, he usually came through. Warren Stone is another boy who waited for four years for his chance to become a Paxton letterman. Another senior and end. Leon Henry figures to be a very prominent tackle in next year’s lineup. Henry is only a sophomore and weighs one hundred seventy-five, two facts which make him a welcome sight to any high school coach. Although he was not expected to play much football last fall, he broke into the lineup midway in the season and held a regular tackle position the rest of the time. Another sophomore who won a letter this past year was Kenny Jones, lightweight halfback. Where Kenny shone was on his ability to snag passes. With a few more pounds Jones ought to go places the next two years.

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FOOTBALL . . . Coach hankenson’s first can for football brought forth an assemblage of aspiring grid heroes numbering about forty-five. However, as is usually the case, before the first two weeks had elapsed, fifteen aspiring-stars had expired, and the number dwindled to thirty for the remainder of the season. Eight lettermen were among the aforementioned forty-five candidates, while nine more of said candidates had pulled down varsity “P’s” by the end of the Armistice game at Gibson. The returning lettermen were Gene Carlson (Capt.), Vernie Orr, Dick Nelson, and Wilbur Adkins, seniors; Sam Ernest and Hugh Stone, juniors; Harold Marlatt and Clarence Nuss, sophomores. The boys to win football letters for the first time were Don Lewis, Warren Stone, Bob Swanson, and Bob Olson, seniors; Elmer Flannigan, Bus Healy, and David McKinney, juniors; and Leon Henry and Kenneth Jones, sophomores. The 1933 grid season marked the first in three years that a freshman failed to win a letter. A 25-0 defeat of Gibson to start the season more than opened the fans’ eyes, while a second victory the following week at Milford gave Wauseca League followers the impression that the locals were the team to beat for the title. About that time, though, the turning point in our football year came; for a few minutes after the second half of the Farmer City game had started, Don Lewis, senior halfback, broke his leg, and with that leg our hopes for a successful season went glimmering. Kenney Jones filled in at left half the remainder of the season and played a hard, courageous game, but 118 pounds is far from sufficient to back up a line. The Farmer City tilt went on the wrong side of the ledger, 13-7, and the game the following week with Rantoul was lost by a 14-0 count. In each of these games the local eleven gained more ground than the opposing teams, but in each case the old punch was lacking when the goal line was especially inviting. In these two games and the following three, thirty, forty, fifty, and even sixty yard runs by the other teams’ backfield stars were the causes of successive defeats. Rossville, Little Six champs, came to Paxton, November 3, and after trailing at the half, 7-6, put on offensive splurges in the third and fourth quarters that left the Hankenson men behind, 18-7, at the final gun. A fast charging line, hard running, and aerial attacks featured the Vermilion county outfit. The next week-end we entertained Rex Benoit and his Onarga gridders and were perfect hosts in every respect, for Onarga’s victory in this

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BASKETBALL ♦ ♦ TWENTY victories out of twenty-seven games. That’s the record made by the P. C. H. S. quintet for the 1933-34 basketball season. This record, incidentally, happens to be the best that we fans have had to boast for a long time. To be really accurate, this is the best season Paxton basketeers have ever had. Winning eleven and losing three also happens to be the best a reserve five has ever done. Now that we’re all through with the records and what not, we’ll begin with the opening of the season and see just how these aforesaid victories were made. About forty boys responded to Coach Hankenson’s first call for basketball, and out of that number only four were lettermen- However, that had little to do with the formation of the team as a senior from a three-year school, several sophomores, and a junior beat out all but one of the lettermen. When the season began, the team lined up like this: Stine and Higginson, forwards; Harrington, center; Lunde and Hedrick, guards. It was this group of boys who had the most to do with how our season’s wins and losses totalled. When the Rantoul game in the semi- finals of the district tournament ended basketball for the year, it was this same bunch of fellows who were in there scrapping for a shot at the district title. Here’s a little resume of the letter-men. Everett Stine, forward, was elected captain of the team. Nearly always good for five points, probably the best shot on the squad from the sides and corners, and letterman for three years, Stine should be more than proud to look back over the record he helped to make this past season. Bill Higginson, a forward, and for part of the season a guard, was by far the most aggressive man on the team. A regular ball hawk and a good side shot, Bill quickly captured the fancy of the local crowds besides playing a bang-up game in every way. It’s been a long time since Paxton has had a center who could score as much and as consistently as Harrington. A product of a three year school, an excellent pivot shot with a height of six feet three to top it off, Harrington had more than a profitable season with the locals this year. He was cocaptain with Stine.