Powerhouse Raider football teams ran winning streak to 27 games
By KATHY PAULSEN
Staff Writer
The football season is upon us. Homecoming is here.
It’s a time to look ahead and to look back.
Nobody around here will likely forget the 1976 and ’78 state championships for coach Jim Simser’s New Richland-Hartland teams.
To the east, in Ellendale, one of the most memorable stretches ever occurred more than 70 years ago, in the early 1940s.
The Ellendale Red Raiders had a powerhouse back then, going undefeated for two consecutive seasons and outscoring opponents 353-0 in 1941.
Gary Underland and Jim Hanson (for his departed father, Paul) felt it was time to remind people of these noteworthy events and record it as history. It was hoped this could be shared before all of these great players, and their close family members, are no longer with us. Sadly, this is a little hard to do, but it should be to honor those players and also to remember family members who are still with us.Has any other football team accumulated such a fantastic record as the Raiders football team did in 1940 or 1941? The teams were able to accomplish some unbelievable scoring, victories and great seasons.
Lest we forget two major events during this time: the Armistice Day storm on November 11, 1940 and, on December 7, 1941, the bombing of Pearl Harbor. These events and stories were so significant they may well have taken away some of the glory and recognition that these Raiders football teams should have received. And back then, there wasn't the media attention and time element there is now.
We also may tend to forget and think football was always there. Local high school football didn’t begin until around the 1930s. These early Raider teams were young and inexperienced, small by today's standards, and as for equipment, it was primitive. They didn't have facemasks.
The first Ellendale Raiders football game was played in 1936 and the first Homecoming game was in 1938.
Many people today have a sense of pride in our pro/college teams. That pride may be a bit misplaced, as the majority of these athletes are recruited from other states or even other countries. In contrast, the local high school teams are composed of people that actually live in the community. They are your friends and neighbors.
And they gave Ellendale area folks a great deal to cheer about.
On November 6, 1940 the Owatonna People’s Press ran a story about the Raiders. The headline read: “Ellendale Has Finest County Record On Grid; Team Completes Year With Record Of 20 Consecutive Victories; Twelve Stars Of Three Unbeaten Years Will Be Graduated.”
The story read: “When rain and snow last week forced cancellation of the Ellendale-Alden high school football game the gridiron season was brought to a close for the Red Raiders who have not known defeat in more than three years and who have been winners in their last 20 consecutive games.
“The record is not expected to be extended far into next year as the Raiders will lose 12 men by graduation, many of them being veterans of three full years under Coach Seimers of Faribault.
“In the three seasons the Raiders outscored opponents 659-35. No opponents scored more than one touchdown in a game against the Raiders in the three years, with the two scores this season coming on an intercepted pass and a thrust against reserves with but 20 seconds of play remaining.
“Graduating from this year's squad will be Paul Goodnature, captain and tackle; Lloyd Loven, high scoring halfback who, like Goodnature, is scheduled for statewide all-star recognition; Stan Lageson, Darryl Jensen, Phil Pence, Marlowe Spurr, Allen Thompson, Walt Crabtree, Howard Nelson, Lowell Haug, Reuben Lageson, Beverly Fynbo; the list including five halfbacks, a center, three guards, two tackles and an end.
“Scheduled to return next year are Allen Miller, Louie Lageson, Odonn Lageson, Dick Dwyer, Leo Calverly, the Swearingens, Merlyn and Marlyn; Clair Ellingson, Ken Lee and James Kasper, along with other reserves of this years’ team. The Businessmen's Association of Ellendale, meanwhile, is planning to fete this year's team holder of the finest football record ever established by a high school or preparatory school combination in Steele County, and one of the finest in the entire Northwest.”
On November 8, 1940, Peoples Press headlines read: “Ellendale winds up its second straight football year without loss; outscores foes 353 to 0; Luverne Peterson Paces Team With 171 Points In Seven Games But Four Regulars Will Be Graduated; Village Goes Grid Wild.”
The story: “Their football uniforms turned in, Ellendale High School gridiron players are looking back on a pair of consecutive seasons without defeat, a current season's record believed unequaled in the state, and a coming season that will find all but four of this year's entire squad on hand.
“Supt. L. A. Arnold pointed out that the present year's team ran the string of school victories to 14 straight when it defeated Alden, November 1. ‘Last year,’ he stated, ‘We scored 119 points to 21 for opponents. This year we outscored them 353 to 0, winning seven games in each season.’ Scores for the 1940 season: Ellendale 38, Hayfield 0; Ellendale 48, Janesville 0; Ellendale 52, Blooming Prairie 0; Ellendale 45, Grand Meadow 0; Ellendale 72, New Richland 0; Ellendale 64, Freeborn 0; Ellendale 23, Alden 0.
“‘We had 30 boys out for football with others refused suits because of their size,’ Supt. Arnold continued. ‘Almost every able bodied boy was out for the sport.’ The team was captained by Luverne Peterson, 175-pound halfback who probably has few equals in the state at running to his left. He scored 117 points this year. Harlan Peterson (170) played fullback, called signals, kicked off and passed like a collegian. He scored 77 points. At left half was Lloyd Loven (160) who did plenty of ball carrying. Fast and plenty shifty he is a hard boy to bring down. At blocking back was Stan Lageson (155) who became effective at clearing the way. These four boys are completing their third year together. The Peterson boys are headed for college while Loven and Lageson are juniors. Although they have punted few times this year, Luverne Peterson and Loven are capable of booting the ball with the best. The reserve ball carriers are Marlowe Spurr and Darryl Jensen who have each added three touchdowns. A pair of identical twins, Marlyn and Merlyn Swearingen, who are freshman, also show plenty of promise.
"At ends are Allen Miller (178) a sophomore, and Laurel Johnson (135) a junior. Reserves were Luther Lageson and Reuben Lageson. At tackle were Don Cress (150) and Paul Goodnature (180). Goodnature averaged one blocked punt per game and was a bulwark on defense. Cress is a senior, Goodnature, a junior. They were backed by up by Odean Lageson (165), a sophomore, Phil Pence (165) a junior and Lane Lee (185) a sophomore. The guards were taken care of by Paul Hanson (165) a senior, Walt Crabtree (140), a junior, Howard Nelson (165) a junior, and Lowell Haug (156) a junior. The center position was handled by Allen Thompson (163) a reformed back and Dick Dwyer (202). Thompson is a junior, Dwyer a sophomore.
"The team was coached by Maynard Siemers, former St. Olaf halfback, who is in his third year. The year before he took charge the team won one game. His first year with most of the present team starting, Ellendale won only three games of seven, but lost a couple of close ones.
"It is doubtful if there is a town the size of Ellendale (365 people) where athletics are at such a high pitch as here. Ellendale lived practically at a standstill from one Friday to the next.”
All home games were played at night and Ellendale folks felt they had a pretty good lighted field.
In October 2013, an essay written by Paul Hanson some 20 years earlier about Ellendale’s glory days was printed in the Star Eagle. An excerpt: “The only thing that prevented the 1941 team from again going 7-0 was a terrible blizzard on the last night of the season that the opposing team did not want to reschedule. The 1942 team also went 7-0, and the victory string reached 27 before the bubble burst.
“By a strange coincidence, the University of Minnesota also won national championships during Ellendale's glory years and surprisingly enough with mostly Minnesota players. It was said that Coach Beirman drove the country until he saw a farm boy plowing with a walking plow. He would stop and ask directions; if the boy used the plow to point, he became a Golden Gopher.
“Most of the athletes from those teams were to play for Uncle Sam instead of a college, as their services were required in Asia, Africa, the South Pacific and European theaters of World War II. “Coach Siemers went on to coach at Faribault where his teams won several Big Nine championships in football and basketball, with a state tournament winner in basketball. Those who played for “Coach” can remember his philosophy: ‘Play hard, but play clean. Should I ever catch you playing dirty you will be turning in your uniform.’ Coach also stressed that the athletes of Ellendale High School were role models for the younger kids. He encouraged his athletes to go out of their way to talk to the elementary kids and encouraged them to work diligently to become Ellendale Raiders. He was a perfectionist who believed in fundamentals, clean play and firm discipline. No matter that some of his teams were high scoring machines, Coach Seimers had a way of deflating some fairly large egos, both during the game and during the season, and did not hesitate to pull star players if they believed they were bigger than the team.
“There would be other undefeated teams in Ellendale history, there would be other fine athletes to compete in, not only baseball, basketball, or football, but in wrestling and track as well; but the memory of the first undefeated team, the new lighted field, the fan interest and community pride in the Ellendale teams of the "Glory Years" set the standard for years to come.”
Someone in the community presented members of the teams involved in that 27-game winning streak with golden football watch chains to commemorate their achievements. Paul Hanson treasured his for his entire life. In the piece he wrote 20 years ago, he asked, “Just out of curiosity, how many of the gold, watch-chain footballs, emblematic of the 27-game winning streak, could still be found? Certainly, a great keepsake for those who still have them!”
It commemorates so much more than a winning streak. It is pride of our people, pride in their accomplishments, and pride in our community. And that pride is one reason we choose to live here!
Editor’s Note: Kathy would like to know more about the people involved in this remarkable record. If anyone has more information, please contact her at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., or Post Office Box 129, Geneva, MN 56035.