Chick's Frankenmuth Football Trivia SPOTLIGHT

The 2024 Frankenmuth Eagles football team will be the 69th team in program history. Entering the season, the overall record for Frankenmuth Football is 497-162-4, a .751 winning percentage. The program ranks near the top in winning percentage throughout the State of Michigan. With the 500th win in program history close by, a 9-week series of articles of the eight decades of Frankenmuth Football will be summarized to illustrate the success, accomplishments, and importance of Frankenmuth Football. I look forward to sharing the success of Frankenmuth Football in this decade by decade nine-week series.

1956 – 1959

The Beginning of Frankenmuth Football

By Al “Chick” Rodammer

In 1955, it was decided that Frankenmuth High School would become a four-year high school with the first graduating class being in 1957. There was no doubt in the eyes of the administration, that there would be a football program. The support would come from Superintendent James Matteson. Athletic Director Marco Marcet started making plans to start a football program in 1955. What was needed was obtaining a man to teach local students the art of football. Harry Kaczynski, a coach at Belding High School, was chosen to build the program. Kaczynski attended Flint Central High School and starred in football from 1937 through 1939. He attended Central Michigan College in Mt. Pleasant where he again displayed his gridiron talents from 1940 to 1942 before entering the armed forces. After 40 months in the service, he returned to Central Michigan to continue his football career. After graduating, he began his high school coaching career at White Cloud from 1947 to 1952. In 1952 he moved to Belding. In 1955, the first year of Frankenmuth football consisted of no regular games but a year of practice games and conditioning drills to field a team with success and prevention of injury. The interest level in the community was high and the first of their four practice games against Carsonville had an attendance of 600 people. The field at that time was a makeshift field located across from the high school on the George Palmreuter farm for a rent cost of $2.00. During that 1955 season, it was evident that the team was far from a polished team, but learning the fundamentals, a successful program was being established. A makeshift football locker room was located southwest of the high school in the bus garage. The first thing they saw when they entered the locker room was a sign in bold eight inch letters “WE FURNISH EVERYTHING BUT INTESTINAL FORTITUDE”. Coach Kaczynski would build the program with that philosophy and what a start it was.

Putting a schedule together that first year was difficult as many of the area teams had already filled their schedule for the 1956 season. A partial JV schedule was put together to fill out an 8-game season. You may go to the Michigan High School Football website and see that they do not recognize those wins against those JV teams. But for a new program, the Frankenmuth program has always recognized those wins and always will for the respect of those pioneers of the start of Frankenmuth football in 1956. The first game was against Carsonville across the street on the Palmrueter farm because the current field’s grass needed some more time to develop. The first game was a 19 – 0 win with Jack Rummel scoring the first touchdown in Frankenmuth Football history. After defeating the North Branch JV team the second week under lights at North Branch, the Eagles would play their first game on the new home field the next week, defeating the Cass City JV 46 – 6. Harvey Zehnder scored two touchdowns on passes from Gary Heine. The next week would prove to be the toughest game of the season with a 14 – 12 win over undefeated Mt. Morris St. Mary. Trailing 12 – 0, Heine’s 85-yard kickoff return and Tom Block’s 4-yard run were the winning scores. The inaugural season would end with four more wins, 33 – 6 over Lapeer JV, 42 – 6 over Chesaning JV, and a 36 – 0 over Vassar’s JV. The season ending 37 – 0 shutout win over Millington was headed by Thom Schutt, Jay Poellet and Jim Weber outstanding defensive game. The first season with a 8 – 0 record. The 12 senior members of that first team were Tom Schutt, Jim Weber, Lance Martin, Ernie Kern, Don Fischer, Larry Huber, Jay Poellet, Eugene Rodammer, Eugene Moore, Karl Nuechterlein, Al Pavlicek, and Eugene Schmitzer. These seniors are the true pioneers of Frankenmuth football.

The 1957 season brought more success to the young football program with a second consecutive 8 – 0 record. The program’s first 1000-yard rusher was John Knight, a transfer from Florida when his father became the pastor at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Frankentrost. A potent rushing attack that averaged nearly 350 yards per game, besides Knight, had Tom Block rushing for 832 yards and speedster Don Voorhies averaging eight yards per carry. Fred Baker was the leading tackler with 49 tackles. The first game of the season against Seminary was cancelled because of many players ill from the flu. The season would begin with a 28 – 12 over Merrill and 26 – 13 over North Branch. Knight would score three TDs in a 27 – 6 victory over Gaines. In a 39 – 6 win over Arthur Hill JV, Knight electrified the home crowd with an 89-yard TD run. Kinde North Huron was the next victim 40 – 6. A key win in the season was a 25 – 0 win over Millington on a cold, windy night in Millington. The final game of the season was a 19 – 0 win over Seminary with Knight totaling 229 yards rushing. This was the game rescheduled after the season opener was postponed. The Eagles would be ranked #8 in the final Class C poll and a second consecutive 8 – 0 season. Knight and Harvey Zehnder were named Honorable Mention Associated Press All State selections.

1958 would bring a third consecutive 8 – 0 season with six wins coming by a shutout. The Eagles opened the season against Michigan Lutheran Seminary in the first night home game in Frankenmuth football history, winning 7 – 0. Consecutive 26 – 0 shutout wins over Merrill and North Branch followed. The Eagle offense rushed for 487 yards in a 46 – 0 win over Ortonville. Frankenmuth came from behind to swamp Lansing Vocational 47 – 14. In a 19 – 0 win over Millington, the Eagle defense consisting of Eugene Heinlein, Len Chase, Jim Baker, Mike Naegele, Ron Block, Tom Leach, Ken Worley and Jim Matzke pressured the Cardinals the entire game. The season finale was a 27 – 0 victory over Saginaw St. Mary’s for their third straight 8 – 0 record. The defense allowed only 20 points the entire season. Jack McConnell, a transfer student from Bridgeport, was the team’s leading rusher with 841 yards and Lenny Chase was the leading tackler with 82. The team would finish the season ranked #6 in the final AP Class ‘C’ poll. Fred Roedel and Leon Bierlein received All-State recognition. After three seasons, an improbable 24 – 0 start to Frankenmuth football.

For the 1959 season, Frankenmuth would be new members into the Thumb B League consisting of Cass City, Sandusky, Caro, Bad Axe, Marlette, and Vassar. Elkton Pigeon Bay Port, better known as the Lakers, would join the league in 1960. With a step up in competition, the Eagles would embark on the challenge. The season opener against Seminary was dominated by the Eagles in a 33 – 0 win. A 28 – 0 win over Millington was the third year in a row that the Eagles would shutout Millington. The third game of the season was the first game in the Thumb B conference against the Caro Tigers and the Eagles won by a 26 – 6 score. Two Randy Heine to Bert Bleke TD passing touchdowns led the way in the first Thumb B win. Wins over Bad Axe 27 – 13 and Sandusky 35 – 7 followed. Jack McConnell would score three times in the first ever meeting with Vassar by a 41 – 12 Muth win. A win over Marlette would extend the Eagles win streak to 31 consecutive games without a loss. In the Marlette 60 – 0 win, Tom Leach took a Marlette handoff and ran 95 yards for the defensive touchdown, which is still a record today. The final game of the season would be against Thumb powerhouse Cass City, who had won the previous three Thumb B Championships and brought a strong squad to Frankenmuth to decide the League Championship. Cass City proved worthy of their status, defeating the Eagles 26 – 7 to snap the 31-game win streak. The Eagles led at half 7 – 6 but Cass City controlled the 2nd half. The final season record was 7 – 1. Jack McConnell led the Eagle rushers with 962 yards, followed by Randy Heine with 770 yards. Ken Bickel and Detlef Olsen led the Muth defense with 85 and 61 tackles respectively. The Eagle team was named Saginaw Area Class C Champs and a #6 AP ranking. McConnell, Tom Leach, Ken Bickel, Jim Baker, and Randy Heine all received All-State recognition.

With the first four seasons of Frankenmuth football in the record books, Coach Harry Kaczynski, A.D. Marco Marcet, and Superintendent James Matteson’s vision of Frankenmuth football was established with a 31 – 1 start. Coach Kaczynski’s motto “WE FURNISH EVERYTHING BUT INTESTINAL FORTITUDE”, would be a motivational theme that has stood firm throughout the history of Frankenmuth Football. What would the 1960’s bring? Next week will be the second in a series of the history of Frankenmuth Football of the 1960’s decade.