Fifty years ago, football team came oh-so-close
From left is David Cheff, Rick Buzzell, Mark Souhrada, Bob Spencer, Steve Kracher, Rick Blades, Doug Cordier and Bill Brunett. In 1971, they were one point from an undefeated regular season.
Hungry Horse News
The Columbia Falls football team in 1971 came one point away from making the state playoffs and a perfect regular season.
The Wildcats had one loss, Oct. 8, to Anaconda Central, 8-7. The Cats thought they scored first when Steve Kracher caught a 20-yard pass from quarterback Rick Blades. But the play was called back on a motion penalty against the Cats. In the third quarter, it was still 0-0 when the Cats’ fullback Tom Ringo went into the end zone for a touchdown.
The point after attempt was good, and the Cats were up 7-0. But Anaconda put a touchdown on the board with 1:21 in the third and went for two points. The attempt was good and the Cats couldn’t get a score in the fourth. Fifty years later, some of the players on the team got together at Satterthwaite Field for a reunion photo before the Homecoming game against Libby.
The Wildcats ended the season at 7-1. Their final game was 34-8 drubbing of Polson. The Cats needed Whitefish to beat Anaconda for a shot at the playoffs, but the Saints hammered the Bulldogs, 47-0.
Both Anaconda and Columbia Falls ended with the same records, but because the Saints beat the Cats, they won the tiebreaker. Back then, not nearly as many teams made the playoffs as they do today, even though Class A had more schools across the state.