On a "beautiful football Friday night," members of the 1974 Wildcat Championship football team of Winside High got together to celebrate and reminisce their accomplished season of 50 years ago.
A total of 14 players, one student manager, and an assistant coach congregated at the Wildcat Bar & Grill on Sept. 20.
"It was a great evening filled with laughs, remember-whens, and good eats and drinks from the bar staff. The evening was capped off with the exciting Husker-Illini football game, ending in a disappointing loss," said Tyler Frevert, a member of the 1974 team.
"The ‘Cats (Winside) finished the 1974 season with a 10-1 record, besting Ponca in the Lewis & Clark Conference Championship game 12-7, on a snowy, cold, and windy November afternoon at the Wayne State Stadium," said Terry Luhr, who was a member of the championship team and was one of the organizers of the reunion.
"Some of us are bigger now, some haven’t changed a lot, but one thing is for certain…we all were and still are … teammates of a great football team. The team would like to acknowledge those teammates who are no longer with us: Brian Wade, Dennis Newman, Bryan Denklau, and our beloved Coach Doug Barclay," Frevert said.
Attending the reunion were players Mike Anderson, Dwight Lienemann, Greg Lage, Terry Luhr, John Mangels, Greg Carstens, Bob Hoffman, Brad Brummels, Bob Bowers, Dean Janke, Monte Pfeiffer, Tyler Frevert, Neil Wagner, and Ed Morris, student manager Kerry Luhr, and Assistant Coach Carter “Cap” Petersen.
"Thank you, also, to our spouses/significant others for your support of this event and attendance," Luhr said.
The following article was published in the Nov. 18, 1974 edition of the Wayne Herald and recaps the season finale win over Ponca.
Winside's defense wins school's first Lewis-Clark title
Winside High's football team Wednesday afternoon established a new mark for the best season record while becoming the first team in the school's history to win the Lewis and Clark Conference title.
The Wildcats shaved East division winner Ponca, 12-7, at Wayne State's Memorial Stadium for the school's first loop crown and a 10-1 record, bettering the old record of 9-1 when the Cats shared the conference title in 1965.
In addition, junior Tyler Frevert tied the school's record for pass interceptions in one game and for interceptions in one season.
Wednesday's game wasn't an offensive show, however. Both clubs had to rely on their defense to set up scoring plays when cold northwest winds, gusting to 35 miles per hour, shackled their strong passing games.
Winside's defense, ranked first in the conference by a hair over Walthill, put the Cat's on board first when Ponca was forced to kick from its 16-yard line in the second period. A hard Winside rush forced Ponca's Steve Bevelhymer to hurry his kick into a stiff wind, resulting in a two-yard loss.
Three plays later Winside had a 6-0 lead when the team's leading rusher, senior Gregg Lage, blasted into the endzone from six yards out. Lage, who had 49 yards in 20 carries, went eight yards the second play after Brad Brummels, second in rushing with 32 yards in 15 totes, tried for no gain.
Because of the strong winds, coach Doug Barclay elected to run the ball for the PAT, but Ponca stopped Lage for the two-point conversion.
The Cats found some breathing room with about nine minutes left in the game when the defense came up with another bi play to score the team's second TD.
Frevert and senior Mike Anderson teamed up for the score after the defense again stopped Ponca deep in its territory. With the ball on the 23, a snap to Bevelhymer went into the endzone. Frevert knocked the ball from Bevelhymer's hands and Anderson pounced on it. The conversion run failed.
"I think the weather was a factor," Barclay said, pointing out that high winds and cold temperatures made it hard for both teams to hold onto the nball. "But I still think the defense would have ben a factor in a good weather game," he added.
Not only did Winside defense set up scoring plays, but it also stopped Ponca when the Indians recovered two of Winside's four lost fumbles on the 12 and 27-yard lines in the first period to set up what looked like sure touchdowns. But Winside's defense, sparked by team leader Bob Hoffman with 15 tackles and Dennis Newman with 10, stopped Ponca near the five both times.
"I didn't think Ponca was going to hurt us in the middle because no one has hurt us inside due to our two linebackers, Hoffman and (Neil) Wagner," Barclay said. "They account for the majority of tackles because they're real rangey."
Winside's defense keyed on Ponca's outside threats, running back Bob Curry and quarterback Bevelhymer, to contain the Indians until about two minutes left to play. Bevelhymer threw a lateral to Curry that fell short, and Curry picked up the ball and ran 77 yards for the score. Craig Bobier kicked the PAT.
"If it weren't for that 77-yard run Ponca would have had a minus six yards for the game," Barclay said, adding that his second defensive unit was in the game when Ponca scored.
Several times Ponca's offense was forced to hurry passes due to strong rushes by lineman Newman, Greg Carstens and Brian Wade and ends Anderson and Brad Brockman.
That pressure enabled the secondary to intercept five Ponca passes, including three by Frevert to tie the school's record for one game interceptions and to better Dave Witt's season interception record.
Frevert stole all three passes in Ponca territory in the second half to boost this season mark to 10, on better than Witt's 1969 effort.
Frevert tied both his brother, Kevin, and Witt for the one-game record. Witt set that mark in 1969 against Emerson-Hubbard and Kevin tied it a year later against Walthill.
The Yardstick:
Winside had four first downs, 66 yards passing and six yards rushing to combine for 72 yards of total offense. Wisnide completed 1-9 passes, lost four fumbles an were penalized for a total of 20 yards. Winside had eight punts for 24 yards.
Ponca had two first downs, ran for 13 yards and threw for 58 yards. Ponca had 71 yards of total offense, and went 5-22 passing. Ponca lost one fumble, were penalized for 45 yards, and punted seven times for a total of 20 yards.
