There are so many stories that simply can’t be told through numbers alone. The stories listed below are notes I have collected while also collecting statistics. I have organized them by chronological order.

Stories of the 1890's to 1950's

In 1895 Henry Detling scored the first TD in Sheboygan High school history, against Manitowoc. Sheboygan beat Manitowoc 12-0 in the first ever Sheboygan high school football game.

In 1895 teachers were allowed to play high school football, and Sheboygan's teachers played a pivotal role in leading Sheboygan High School to an undefeated season. In 1896 a rule was made to ban teachers from playing.

Games in 1895 were listed as being played at Mineral Park and Vollrath Park.

The year 1896 Sheboygan High School played Marquette University on Thanksgiving Day. The game ended in a 0-0 tie.

It was listed that 1896 games were played at Gilmans Athletic Park.

Sheboygan Ref W.M. Zierath is hit over the head by a woman from Manitowoc with a tin horn, after Sheboygan's 0-5 loss to Manitowoc in 1898.

In 1900 school organized high school football was believed to be banned in Sheboygan. Although students would organize teams themselves with much trouble in the early 1900's. In a 1900 edition of the Lake Breeze it's admitted that the 1900 football season, was a disaster due to lack of student involvement.

An influenza outbreak in 1918 prevented A.O. Iverson from fielding a competitive team in his first year as coach. Sheboygan only played one game, and lost 0-12 to the Falls Motors team.

In 1922 Sheboygan High School played Marinette in Green Bay on December 9th. The game was hailed as the unofficial state title game. Sheboygan was the state's south champion, while Marinette was the state's north champion. Sheboygan lost respectably to a heavily favored Marinette team, 3-6. A disappointing crowd, led to Sheboygan reporting an $80 dollar loss from the game.

The year 1923 is believed to be the first year of organized play in the Fox River Valley Conference.

After their game against Sheboygan in 1923, three Fond du Lac players were charged with disorderly conduct and vandalism at Campfield Restaurant in Sheboygan.

Lunch was to be blamed for the 7-13 Sheboygan loss to Racine in 1923. The team's bus blew out a tire on the way, and made the team late. When they arrived in Racine, they had to eat and play immediately afterwards.

In 1929 legendary football player Cub Buck makes a mistake while officiating, and cost Sheboygan a game against Green Bay West. West punted the ball, and a West player soon touched the ball, however Buck gave the ball back to West. They soon scored and went on to win 6-0.

A 13-7 win over Fond du Lac in 1930, was followed by a celebration in which Sheboygan fans to take down the goal post at Reuping Field in Fond du Lac.

Sheboygan's 1935 game against Marinette is believed to be the first high school football game to be played under the lights in Sheboygan.

In 1938 Sheboygan North is constructed, and Sheboygan High School becomes Sheboygan Central.

Roger Loving scored Sheboygan North's first points against Kaukauna. L.H. Laack's field goal scored the first points in Central history.

4,000 people attended the first Central vs. North game in 1938.

1939 was the first year North played in the Fox River Valley conference.

In the 1940's games were played at Northside Athletic Park.

Sheboygan Central's 1941 game against Oshkosh was called at half-time, with the score being 0-0. Flood lamps broke from heavy rain and glass was on the field.

Fred Fairchild, a sophomore on the Central JV team, passes away due to injuries sustained during his team’s game against Oshkosh at Kiwanis Park. It's the only death to ever occur from high school football in the city of Sheboygan.

Just a little over 4,500 fans watched Sheboygan Central beat North 34-7 in 1946.

In 1950 Green Bay East running back Tuffy Young scores 4 TD's against both North and Central.

It's believed that the 1952 season was the last year any Sheboygan team had a home game under the lights, until the mid 1990's. It's also believed that Urban Field despite troubles over previous years hosted football games for the first time in 1953.

In 1958 Sheboygan North's Jerry Hummitzach's records interceptions in the first 3 games of the season against Kaukauna, Green Bay West, and Appleton.

Stories of the 60's

Sheboygan South is constructed in 1960. South retains Central's nickname and colors. Ness Flores scored Sheboygan South's first touchdown.

In 1961 a Fond du Lac missed extra point, gave Sheboygan South a 14-13 victory.

The 1961 version of North vs. Manitowoc ended up in a 6-6 tie. However North thought they had won when a 17-yard field goal by Bill Dwyre went through the uprights. However the officials ruled the kick happened after the game clock had run out.

Oshkosh fumbled the ball the first four times they touched the ball in their 1962 game against Sheboygan South.

In 1962 Manitowoc running back Phil Roher who was averaging 15.5 yards per carry, was held to -17 yards by the strong South defense on five plays.

Sheboygan South’s won the unofficial state title in 1962, by holding the states #1 poll ranking when the season concluded.

Two hours before their second to last game of their 1963 campaign. Four Sheboygan South players, including two star running backs, were dismissed from the team after a police investigation into vandalism. South would drop their game against Oshkosh that day, and to Sheboygan North the next week; they were shutout in both games. In the fallout succesful head coach Andy Anderson announced his resignation.

Sports Illustrated published an article in 1964, which included Sheboygan native Dr. Robert M. McCormack . The article was about the most successful athletes after their football careers were over. McCormack played on Sheboygan High School’s 1934-1935 teams. He played football in college at Swarthmore. Afterwards he enjoyed a successful career as a plastic surgeon.

Fond du Lac's 7-0 win against Sheboygan South in 1965, was Fond du Lac's first win in 27 games.

North's Mike Martin took a Mike Kechle screen pass, and raced 44-yards for a touchdown. It was the first points scored against a powerful Oshkosh defense in their first four games of the 1965 season.

In 1965 Sheboygan North scored a touchdown late in the fourth quarter against Green Bay Preble. They attempted the game winning extra point, but it was blocked. However a penalty gave North another try, this time the kick went through for the victory. Once again though a penalty flag was thrown on the field and North's third attempt at the game winning extra point was blocked, leaving the game tied at 6-6.

In 1966 Sheboygan North upset Appleton 17-2. Appleton came into the game ranked #1 in the state.

Sheboygan North's only lost of the 1967 season, came in the season opener, a 12-14 lost to Green Bay West. The game ended when West scored on a dramatic Jerry Tagge 4-yard touchdown pass to Ron Knaus with only six seconds remaining on the game clock. The play was setup by a West player feigning an injury, which stopped the clock. North coach Ron Nieman was so irate that he drew a 15-yard unsportsmanlike penalty by referee Bud Lowell. West would go on to win the conference title that year.

Sheboygan South's home game against Oshkosh in 1967 was the first game played at South High School. Up until than games were played at Sheboygan North's Urban Field, and occasionally at Kiwanis Park.

Green Bay West QB Jerry Tagge had a flair for the dramatic against Sheboygan opponents in 1967. Against North he threw a 4-yard game winning pass for a 14-12 victory. Against South with three minutes to go, and down 3-7, Jerry Tagge threw a 49-yard touchdown pass, and West won 9-7.

In 1967 against Green Bay Southwest, Sheboygan North pulled off one of the more unique plays in conference history. North QB Mike Krueger threw to Mike Martin. Martin than threw the ball to John Koehn. Koehn threw it back to Krueger, and than Krueger threw it to Dick Rasmussen, to complete a 29 yard touchdown play.

Before the 1968 game against Appleton West, a moment of silence was held for Sheboygan South's Greg Bray, who had passed away in a shooting accident that week.

Stories of the 70's

In the 1970 opener Sheboygan North faced Fond du Lac, the #1 ranked team in the state. North upset Fond du Lac 28-14. The 28 points North scored, were 15 more points than Fond du Lac had allowed during the entire previous season.

In 1970 Sheboygan North was ranked #1 in the state during middle October, up until their loss to Green Bay East at the end of October.

In 1971 Sheboygan North's Terry Litz led an 11-play, 72-yard drive, capped by his 1-yard sneak, and Mark Matthias game winning extra point to defeat Green Bay Southwest 15-14.

In the 1973 Sheboygan North vs. Sheboygan South game, North went for a two point conversion in the 2nd quarter, instead of going for the easy one point field goal conversion. North attempted the two point conversion because they didn't think they scored a TD on the previous play. That mix up would cost North at least a tie with South, as they lost 12-13.

During 1975 Sheboygan South QB Gordy Zastrow had a streak of 13 straight completions, over a two game period.

Manitowoc coach Ron Rubick used 12 different players to run the ball against Sheboygan North in 1976.

Sheboygan South QB Gordy Zastrow scored the winning TD on a 1-yard sneak, with only 29 seconds left to beat Green Bay Southwest 14-7 in 1976. (Thanks to Jim Hoppert for this correction.)

Sheboygan South QB Gordy Zastorw hit nine straight passes in the 1976 game against Green Bay Preble.

In 1976 Sheboygan South played Green Bay Southwest, in a game which marked the last time a Sheboygan team would at Lambeau Field on Friday nights. Throughout the 1960’s and 70’s North and South would play Green Bay Southwest and Green Bay West at Lambeau Field. The Packers kicked the high schools out, after the negative effects of extra use and heavy rain had on the playing surface. (Thanks to Jim Hoppert for this information.)

In 1977 Sheboygan North played in Sheboygan's first football overtime game against Manitowoc. North won 10-7.

North's 3rd consecutive overtime game in 1977 was coincidentally played in three overtime periods. North beat Green Bay Southwest 27-26. After a North touchdown in the 3^rd overtime period, an extra point try failed off of a bad snap to the holder. North’s Ken Hummitzch's desperation pass was 1-yard short of the goal. But Southwest was charged with a face mask call and an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. The extra point kick on the second try was again no good, but Southwest was penalized again, for the rarely called penalty of jamming. North went for two on their third extra point try, and QB Jeff Goetz sneaked in for the win.

The 1977 North vs. Green Bay West game which North won 10-7, was North's fourth consecutive overtime victory. Sheboygan North was the first team in the nation to play and win four consecutive overtime games.

In 1979 Green Bay Preble back Glen Cieslewicz scored 4 TD's against both Sheboygan North and South.

Stories of the 80's

Green Bay East running back Rocco Canadeo, the grandson of Packers Hall of Famer Tony Canadeo, scored a 99-yard TD against Sheboygan South in 1980.

In 1984 Sheboygan South QB Jeff Koellmer led South on a 59-yard drive with 50 seconds to go, to setup a Chad Meier 32-yard game winning field goal with seven seconds left, to beat Green Bay East 16-14.

The 1985 South vs. Fond du Lac game was called due to lightning. Play resumed 2 days later, with South winning 7-0.

The 1984-85 seasons, the best of the Jim Brookins era, were overshadowed by a Manitowoc program that won three straight state titles from 1984-86. In 1985 South's only loss was to Manitowoc, 6-28. At the time only conference winners were eligible for the playoffs.

Manitowoc's 44-6 victory against Sheboygan North in 1987, gave Manitowoc their 45^th win in a row.

During the first week of the 1988 season, Bob Schroeder, a Sheboygan South teacher, and father of the future Packers receiver Bill Schroeder, passed away. That week against Kimberly, Bill Schroeder threw the winning touchdown to Anthony Arenz to beat Kimberly 7-6.

Green Bay Southwest Brad Infante runs for 130 yards against Sheboygan South in 1988. Infante is the son of former Packers head coach Lindy Infante.

In 1989 Sheboygan North is the first Sheboygan team to beat Manitowoc since 1981. The game is won by a Darrin Timm 18-yard field goal with six seconds left.

Stories of the 90's

The 1991 Sheboygan North vs. Fond du Lac game was postponed. Four days later Fond du Lac won on a 19 yard field goal with 1:43 left.

In 1993 Sheboygan South changes its nickname from Redmen to Redwings. The Redmen nickname dates back to Sheboygan High School and Sheboygan Central.

In 1993 Green Bay Southwest's Mike Bruckner hit's a 28-yard game winning field goal with six seconds left to beat Sheboygan South 17-14. A heartbreaking loss for a team that didn't have any wins that season.

In 1994 Sheboygan North fans were surprised when Green Bay West came out for a 65-yard field goal attempt. The play turned out to be just a pooch punt.

Sheboygan South played Wisconsin Lutheran at Urban Field. It was the first time in over 40 years that a high school football game was played under the lights in Sheboygan. Sheboygan South would play all their home games at Urban Field in 1995-1996. Lights were installed at South's field in 1997.

Sheboygan North played Watertown at Camp Randall in 1995. They lost 19-27.

Port Washington's 63-6 win against Sheboygan South in 1996, was Port Washington's coach Bob Urness's 200th win.

Sheboygan North had a win wrapped up against Green Bay Notre Dame in 1996. Notre Dame had missed a 42-yard field goal, but North was called for roughing the kicker. Notre Dame subsequently marched down the field and scored on a 2-yard TD run to win 23-18.

In an emotional ending to their winless 1996 season, Sheboygan South seniors walked across the field together one last time. Manitowoc moved aside at the end of the game, and applauded and cheered the South seniors.

In 1997 Sheboygan North had 17 players suspended before their game against Watertown. The players were suspended for their involvement in a school protest over a changing of the lunch periods. North lost to Watertown 6-38.

During the 1997 North and South game, someone turns the lights out at South's field and the game is delayed 17 minutes.

Sheboygan South's Nate Bergemann rushes for 200+ yards in all of his first three games of 1998. South's opponents were Beaver Dam, Green Bay Preble, and Green Bay Southwest.

Sheboygan South and their opponents combine for an amazing 180 points in consecutive games in 1998. The games were against Green Bay Preble 42-48 OT, and Green Bay Southwest 41-49 OT.

In 1999 Jeremy Hendrickson of Sheboygan South picks off three Green Bay Southwest passes in the end zone, to help lead South to a 22-17 win.

In 1999 three Sheboygan South receivers each gain over 100 yards against Manitowoc in 1999. The three receivers were Aaron Hotz 12-140, Jim Granacker 7-132, and Dan Goldman 5-113.

Stories of the 2000's

In October of 2000, Jim Brookins of Sheboygan South, the man who coached more games than anybody else in Sheboygan football, passes away.

South's game against Green Bay Southwest in 2001 is called with 11:53 left with lighting in the area. North's game against Green Bay West is also affected by the same storm when their game is delayed 90 minutes.

In 2002 Sheboygan South's Tom Mervar kicks a 40-yard game winning field goal against West Bend East. Mervar had missed two previous field goals. Mervar's kick was setup by a quick Tim Stubbe completion to Brad Schwark for 25 yards, after a West Bend East's 40-yard touchdown pass.

In 2003 North lost 13-30 to Port Washington. A week later Port Washington forfeited the game because they used an ineligible player.

Sheboygan North's 2003 Homecoming, the University of Wisconsin marching band preformed their famous 5Q routine, after North's 28-21 win over Green Bay Preble.

Against Green Bay West in 2003, Sheboygan South's Eric Donoval ran for 4 TD's in the 2nd quarter.

In 2003 Sheboygan South made its first playoff appearance, playing against heavily favored and undefeated Oshkosh North on the UW-Oshkosh campus. South gave a solid effort in a 26-36 loss.

The 2004 Sheboygan South season was a historical one for not only South, but for the city of Sheboygan. South won a city record 11 games, was the first team in Sheboygan history to win a playoff game, and was the first team in Sheboygan to make it to back to back playoff appearances.

In their first playoff game in 2004, South beat Fond du Lac 28-18.
The victory against Fond du Lac broke a streak of city teams losing to Fond du Lac in the playoffs. North basketball in previous seasons had lost to Fond du Lac in the playoffs, and North football lost to Fond du Lac in the first round of the 1999 playoffs. Despite the loss, Fond du Lac had one of the better highlights of the night, when their kicker A.J. Hanson booted a 50-yard field goal.

In their second playoff game in 2004, South traveled to Madison East. The game was played on a cold and windy Saturday afternoon, but South would prevail 35-15. The next Friday South would face Neenah at home for a chance to go to the state championships. South and Neenah both played great defensively, but Neenah managed to score one more point than the Redwings and South lost 6-7.

With the playoffs on the line North beat South 18-15 in the 2006 version of the rivalry. North capped an 80-yard drive at the end of the 4^th quarter with a go ahead 26-yard TD pass and reception from Stephen Maraffino to Cesar Raygoza, with only 23 seconds left. It was Raygoza’s third catch of the drive.

In 2006 North makes the playoffs. However they draw Mequon Homestead the #1 ranked team in the state. Homestead extended its winning streak to 41 games.

In 2007 Sheboygan North and South joined the Fox River Valley Classic conference. The Fox River Valley Classic combined teams from the Fox River Valley Conference, and the Bay Conference. It marked the end of an era. The Fox River Valley had existed since 1923 with Sheboygan High School being a charter member in the conference.

Sheboygan North snapped a 12 game losing streak against Pulaski in 2008. North won in overtime 28-27 when a two point conversion attempt by Pulaski failed.

In the 2009 North vs. South game, North had a 28-0 lead at halftime. South came back in the second half to score 26 points, but missed two 2 point conversions, and a North TD plus a two point conversion gave North a 36-26 victory over South.

In 2010 both North and South started their conference seasons 3-0. The only other time both North and South had three or more game winning streaks was in 1963 (four game winning steaks).

Coaches Stories

A.O. Iverson was a strict coach, an example of this was in 1926 when he kicked two players off the team for smoking. In 1927 he quit coaching football, basketball, and track to become the co-principal of Sheboygan High School. Iverson played football at Ripon College.

Before he came to Sheboygan, Abe Abendroth coached at Edgerton and Fort Atkinson. He was the second Sheboygan head coach to have attended Ripon College.

Jake Sheffy the first Sheboygan North head coach, had to resign in 1942 because of WWII and his call into the service.

Marv Peterson who took over at Sheboygan North in 1943 was a star back for Manitowoc. He even lead the conference in scoring in 1930 with 42 points.

Phil Belfiori the Sheboygan Central head coach from 1945-50, was a starter for the University of Minnesota through 1937-39. Belfiori left in 1950 to coach UW-River Falls.

Andy Anderson the coach of Sheboygan South from 1960-63, was WR for the University of Texas, catching footballs from Bobby Layne. Before coming to Sheboygan, Anderson coached at Kenosha, Wilmont, Sheboygan Falls, and Kohler. After his sudden resignation in 1963, Anderson was hired as head coach at Lakeland College. He ended his coaching career at Stevens Point.

Sheboygan North hired Ron Nieman in 1963. At the time he was only 27 years of age. He was an All-American baseball player at the University of Wisconsin, and was drafted by the Detroit Tigers. After coaching Sheboygan North to their most successful season in 1963, Sheboygan North held an assembly and named it Ron Nieman day, which included a presentation of a letter from Governor John W. Reynolds, offering his congratulation to Nieman. In 1968 Nieman left his coaching post for one season to study at the University of Michigan.

Jim Brookins the longtime head coach of Sheboygan South was a star center at Oshkosh High School in the 1940's.

Jerry Holub who was Sheboygan North's head coach from 1974-78, was a semi-pro football player with the Sheboygan Redwings, and had previously coached Luther College to two conference titles.

Dewey Stevens a North coach from 1989-97 was a former semi-pro Sheboygan Redwing player.

Greg Enz who led North to a conference title in 1999, left that year for a head coaching post at Little Chute which he still currently holds onto.

Dave Pfeiffer of Sheboygan South was named the Green Bay Packers High School Head Coach of the Week during week seven of the 2004 season.

Sheboygan South Head Coach Chris Hein was a four year letterman LB at Wisconsin from 1991-94. He was a starter for Wisconsin during the 1993-94 seasons. Wisconsin won the Rose Bowl during the 1993 season, as well as the Hall of Fame Bowl (Outback Bowl) during the 1994 season.

Sheboygan’s First and Second Team All-State AP Players

Rich Athan, B, North, 1947 first team

Tom Posewitz, QB, Central, 1959 second team

Gary Kampman, QB, South, 1962 first team

Tony Kaboord, End, South, 1962 first team

John Cinealis, T, South, 1962 second team

Randy Becker, G, North, 1963 first team

John Koehn, WR, North, 1966 second team and 1967 first team

Mike Krueger, LB, North 1967 second team

Gordy Zastrow, QB, South, 1976 first team

Riley Tutas, WR, South, 2010 first team

Stories of Sheboygan Football

There are so many stories that simply can’t be told through numbers alone. The stories listed below are notes I have collected while also collecting statistics. I have organized them by chronological order.