"Grid Warriors" of 1924

The 1924 football team was only Cuba City's fifth--the first team was started in 1920. The team began the year in style with new "dressing rooms" in the school basement, complete with showers and a drinking fountain. Players also received new stockings and jerseys, which the first players had to provide themselves.

Thank you to Jeslyn Hayes Jackson for sharing this photo of the 1924 Cuba City High School football team! So far, five young men have been identified. Front row: ?, ?, ?, ?, Kenneth Brewer, Gordon L. Kay, ?, Coach Donald Fields. Middle row: Guerdon "Butch" McCrea, William "Billy" Griffin, Raymond "Bunny" Nicholas, ?, ? Back row: ?, ?, ?, Wallace Brewer. Other members of the 1924 team mentioned in local newspapers were Myron Hendricks, Keith Brewer, C. McDonald, R. Bair, E. Schmieder, E. Kluck, G. McCrea, Fiedler. 

It is not clear what the "1000" on the football in the photograph references, but the Cuba City squad's brief season was a successful one.  It included matches with Shullsburg (47-0), Dodgeville (20-9, 21-13), Mineral Point (6-6), and even an impromptu game against the Platteville Normal School (12-20). The team's final match against Mineral Point was a community affair, with businesses closing early and the Cuba City Military Band leading a parade to the football field!

According to Cuba City's centennial history, the first football games were played just east of the Cuba City Greenhouse. Thank you to Rachel Butts for sharing the following images of the 1924 team! These photographs belonged to Rachel's grandmother, Lillian (Heitkamp) Kirk.