Milam County Historical Commission
Milam County, Texas
Milam County, Texas
Buckholts Perfection Reaches Golden Anniversary
by Tim Waits - Sports Correspondent
Temple Daily Telegram - November 2, 2014
We often hear it said about high school football that you can only play the hand you’re dealt. That is never more true than in the six-man game where there are far fewer cards in the deck.
Fifty years ago, the Buckholts Badgers were operating with a royal flush and they played it to perfection.
Neither in the quarter-century of Badger football that preceded, nor the half-century that followed has another Buckholts team won the full complement of a 10-game schedule. The Badgers won 22 straight and, in all probability, would have won some more if they had been able to play longer.
For the men who were part of that magical time in Buckholts history, the memories of those seasons are still held dear with a group of kids who had grown up together, played together and enjoyed great success together.
“All of the members of that team just gelled,” said Don Glaser, who quarterbacked the Badgers both of those unblemished seasons. “We didn’t have an attitude about it. It came naturally. Everyone enjoyed playing together.”
Calvin Shenkir, who was a wing-back and linebacker on those clubs, said they were a unified team with no dissension.
“It was tough, but it was a total team effort,” said Shenkir, who has owned a rental dealership in Temple for many years. “We just took each one that came and had a good time.”
The Badgers of the mid-1960s were a team that had the perfect combination of talent on both sides of the ball to run the tables on their opponents.
The likes of Lawrence Hanke, Dicky Jones, Jimmy Prater, Larry Shenkir, Larry Coufal, Larry Kudlacek, Tommy Gresak and Johnny Mekush were among the central figures for the Badgers in 1964 and most were back the next year.
While they had the right mix for success, they had the right coach to coordinate them in the late Jim Hauk, who spent virtually his entire education career in Buckholts. The football field bears his name and you would be hard-pressed to find anyone who had a greater impact on the school and the community in the latter half of the 20th century than Hauk.
“(Hauk) led in the motivation department,” Shenkir said. “One of his main philosophies was to let everybody play.”
The 45-point mercy rule was, and still is, in effect in the six-man game. Once a team is up by 45 points either at halftime or at some point in the second half, the game ends. Despite the Badgers’ dominance over their opponents, they purposefully never reached the 45-point margin in order to play four full quarters.
“Once we got up by two or three touchdowns, everybody got to play,” Shenkir said. “We had 17-to-19 players and we always played a whole game. We all admired him for that. Plus, it built up strength for the next year.”
Hauk wasn’t just a mild-mannered fellow who let them all play. He was an innovator with an attention to detail and preparedness. He introduced the run-oriented wing-T to the Badgers’ offensive arsenal while adding a keen emphasis on defense that is sometimes lost in six-man football.
Hauk went 67-37-1 in the 11 seasons he spent on the sidelines before transitioning into school administration. He was inducted into the Six-Man Football Hall of Fame in 2008, a decade after his death.
Despite not going for the early kill, the Badgers maintained a comfortable distance from their foes. They outscored their 1964 opposition 534- 147 in the 11-game campaign, with the closest score coming in the season opener against Milano, 32-6. The two teams met again a month later — not uncommon in those days — and Buckholts won again, 48-18.
There may not have been a particular turning point for the team from week to week, but when Buckholts defeated Oglesby, 61-32, in the ninth week at Oglesby, the Badgers were beginning to get a clue that they weren’t half-bad. Oglesby hadn’t lost a game on its home field in 8 years to that point. After closing out the regular season with a 41-8 rout of Jarrell, the Badgers faced Iredell in a regional playoff, with Buckholts coming out on top in typical fashion, 52-26.
Calvin Shenkir and Hanke combined for six touchdowns in the victory.
That regional title was as far as the UIL allowed six-man or Class B schools to go in those days and the reasoning for that has gotten cloudier as time has gone by. Whatever the reason, Hauk wasn’t inclined to go along with it and petitioned the UIL to allow for a true title game. There were only two other teams vying at the regional level that year, but the UIL dismissed it. Eight years later, the UIL finally allowed the smallest classifications to play for a state championship.
Nowadays, there are two divisions for six-man teams and multiple championships.
The most difficult opponent for the Badgers in the 1965 campaign would be one that was right up Highway 36 from them in Milano for the opener. Buckholts eked out a 44-36 victory. No team would be closer than 19 points — a 35-16 win over Jonesboro in the seventh week — in the remaining 10 games. Buckholts outscored teams 548-223 in 1965. The Badgers had a rematch with Milano for the bi-district title in Cameron — the first six-man game ever played at Yoe Field — and Buckholts cruised to a 40-18 triumph this time. Shenkir scored four times and rushed for 160 yards in that one.
Buckholts closed out the finest run the football program has ever known by topping Abbott 46-24 in West. Abbott came into that game undefeated and for a time neutralized the Badgers’ ground game. The Badgers went to the air instead and Glaser responded by firing five touchdown passes on a 12-of-18 night for 162 yards.
“That was a good run,” said Glaser, who lives in Waco. “I look back on that time with fond memories.”
Many small community schools like Buckholts either withered away as enrollment and population dramatically decreased or simply bowed to the pressure of consolidating with a nearby larger school. Hauk told me many years ago that he thought it was vital to keep rural community schools intact, and Buckholts has continued to honor his desire.
“He brought out the best in us, Glaser said. “We worked together really well and we just enjoyed being around each other. I’m glad we were there and given that opportunity.”
twaits@tdtnews.com
.
by Tim Waits - Sports Correspondent
Temple Daily Telegram - November 2, 2014
We often hear it said about high school football that you can only play the hand you’re dealt. That is never more true than in the six-man game where there are far fewer cards in the deck.
Fifty years ago, the Buckholts Badgers were operating with a royal flush and they played it to perfection.
Neither in the quarter-century of Badger football that preceded, nor the half-century that followed has another Buckholts team won the full complement of a 10-game schedule. The Badgers won 22 straight and, in all probability, would have won some more if they had been able to play longer.
For the men who were part of that magical time in Buckholts history, the memories of those seasons are still held dear with a group of kids who had grown up together, played together and enjoyed great success together.
“All of the members of that team just gelled,” said Don Glaser, who quarterbacked the Badgers both of those unblemished seasons. “We didn’t have an attitude about it. It came naturally. Everyone enjoyed playing together.”
Calvin Shenkir, who was a wing-back and linebacker on those clubs, said they were a unified team with no dissension.
“It was tough, but it was a total team effort,” said Shenkir, who has owned a rental dealership in Temple for many years. “We just took each one that came and had a good time.”
The Badgers of the mid-1960s were a team that had the perfect combination of talent on both sides of the ball to run the tables on their opponents.
The likes of Lawrence Hanke, Dicky Jones, Jimmy Prater, Larry Shenkir, Larry Coufal, Larry Kudlacek, Tommy Gresak and Johnny Mekush were among the central figures for the Badgers in 1964 and most were back the next year.
While they had the right mix for success, they had the right coach to coordinate them in the late Jim Hauk, who spent virtually his entire education career in Buckholts. The football field bears his name and you would be hard-pressed to find anyone who had a greater impact on the school and the community in the latter half of the 20th century than Hauk.
“(Hauk) led in the motivation department,” Shenkir said. “One of his main philosophies was to let everybody play.”
The 45-point mercy rule was, and still is, in effect in the six-man game. Once a team is up by 45 points either at halftime or at some point in the second half, the game ends. Despite the Badgers’ dominance over their opponents, they purposefully never reached the 45-point margin in order to play four full quarters.
“Once we got up by two or three touchdowns, everybody got to play,” Shenkir said. “We had 17-to-19 players and we always played a whole game. We all admired him for that. Plus, it built up strength for the next year.”
Hauk wasn’t just a mild-mannered fellow who let them all play. He was an innovator with an attention to detail and preparedness. He introduced the run-oriented wing-T to the Badgers’ offensive arsenal while adding a keen emphasis on defense that is sometimes lost in six-man football.
Hauk went 67-37-1 in the 11 seasons he spent on the sidelines before transitioning into school administration. He was inducted into the Six-Man Football Hall of Fame in 2008, a decade after his death.
Despite not going for the early kill, the Badgers maintained a comfortable distance from their foes. They outscored their 1964 opposition 534- 147 in the 11-game campaign, with the closest score coming in the season opener against Milano, 32-6. The two teams met again a month later — not uncommon in those days — and Buckholts won again, 48-18.
There may not have been a particular turning point for the team from week to week, but when Buckholts defeated Oglesby, 61-32, in the ninth week at Oglesby, the Badgers were beginning to get a clue that they weren’t half-bad. Oglesby hadn’t lost a game on its home field in 8 years to that point. After closing out the regular season with a 41-8 rout of Jarrell, the Badgers faced Iredell in a regional playoff, with Buckholts coming out on top in typical fashion, 52-26.
Calvin Shenkir and Hanke combined for six touchdowns in the victory.
That regional title was as far as the UIL allowed six-man or Class B schools to go in those days and the reasoning for that has gotten cloudier as time has gone by. Whatever the reason, Hauk wasn’t inclined to go along with it and petitioned the UIL to allow for a true title game. There were only two other teams vying at the regional level that year, but the UIL dismissed it. Eight years later, the UIL finally allowed the smallest classifications to play for a state championship.
Nowadays, there are two divisions for six-man teams and multiple championships.
The most difficult opponent for the Badgers in the 1965 campaign would be one that was right up Highway 36 from them in Milano for the opener. Buckholts eked out a 44-36 victory. No team would be closer than 19 points — a 35-16 win over Jonesboro in the seventh week — in the remaining 10 games. Buckholts outscored teams 548-223 in 1965. The Badgers had a rematch with Milano for the bi-district title in Cameron — the first six-man game ever played at Yoe Field — and Buckholts cruised to a 40-18 triumph this time. Shenkir scored four times and rushed for 160 yards in that one.
Buckholts closed out the finest run the football program has ever known by topping Abbott 46-24 in West. Abbott came into that game undefeated and for a time neutralized the Badgers’ ground game. The Badgers went to the air instead and Glaser responded by firing five touchdown passes on a 12-of-18 night for 162 yards.
“That was a good run,” said Glaser, who lives in Waco. “I look back on that time with fond memories.”
Many small community schools like Buckholts either withered away as enrollment and population dramatically decreased or simply bowed to the pressure of consolidating with a nearby larger school. Hauk told me many years ago that he thought it was vital to keep rural community schools intact, and Buckholts has continued to honor his desire.
“He brought out the best in us, Glaser said. “We worked together really well and we just enjoyed being around each other. I’m glad we were there and given that opportunity.”
twaits@tdtnews.com
.
All Credit for this article
goes to Tim Waits
and the
Temple Daily Telegram
goes to Tim Waits
and the
Temple Daily Telegram