71 and Done

The Trojan Triumph That Halted Hobart’s Home Streak

BY BRIAN WADDLE
RSN Contributor

It was the night nobody would have expected to see the end of the Purple Reign.
The Hobart Brickies, coached by the legendary Don Howell, had a 71-game regular
season winning streak. The Class 4A defending state champion Brickies came in 4-
0; Chesterton was 1-3.

Nobody – and I mean NOBODY – saw this one coming.

Final score: Chesterton 21, Hobart 17.

A monumental winning streak that started on October 14, 1977 came to a
screeching halt on September 23, 1988.

Hobart’s Purple Reign of terror on the gridiron ended in a shocker. How big was
the historic winning streak and the shocking end to it? USA Today and Sports
Illustrated made a mention about it.

Believe it or not, Chesterton – which went on to go 0-18 over the next two
seasons – was down 17-0 after the first quarter. Three Chesterton turnovers
didn’t help. Playing at the Brickie Bowl didn’t help. Oh, and it was Hobart’s
homecoming game. You think somebody scheduled it that way on purpose?
“I still remember (first-year Chesterton) coach (Tom) Peterson say: ‘What’s 17
times 4?’” recalled sophomore reserve Scott Lawson. “I don’t know if he was
talking to somebody or just thinking out loud, but I’ll never forget that. I’m
thinking to myself that’s like 60-something!”

After that epic victory, Chesterton lost the next 10 meetings to the mighty Brickies
by a combined score of 375-57. It’s so crazy to think that Chesterton won two
straight games after that victory – and then went on a 20-game losing streak.
“I think we all tried to forget that,” joked Tracey Callaway, Chesterton’s
quarterback at the time. “But it really was like a world championship. Hobart was
all football, all that town thrived around, and if anyone was against it, they’d hurt
you in some fashion.”

Added Lawson: “Chesterton was known for speech and debate championships;
Hobart was known for football state championships.”

After the game, Howell was interviewed by sports writer Kurt Ruoff.

“It was probably just our time to lose out there … The good Lord gave us 71 and
I’m not going to get upset because he didn’t give us 72,” Howell told the
newspaper.

Rumor has it, Hobart had purple and gold balloons with “72” on them waiting to
fly after the game. Some say they had 7,200 balloons under the home bleachers
ready to launch. Others say 720.

Regardless, none of them sailed that night.

“We caught wind afterwards they had parties set – not sure if a state
championship get-together, a class reunion – we just know we spoiled the party,”
Callaway said.

So many things went Chesterton’s way that night. Former players and coaches will
tell you being down 17-0 was a death sentence to Hobart – especially at the
Brickie Bowl. The field conditions were a disaster.

“It was messy, muddy — that was the historic Brickie Bowl,” recalled standout
Keith Davison, a two-way end for Chesterton. “I just remember it was slippery and
extremely hard to get your footing.”

Some say the turning point of the game was Callaway’s scramble and desperation
heave to Tom Moodie in the second quarter. Callaway scrambled during the play, hit Moodie at the 11-yard line and he outraced the Hobart defensive back for the 89-yard score.

It was a busted play from the get-go – a potential sack – but it changed the
momentum of the game.

“In all honesty, my true intention was to throw the ball out of bounds,” Callaway
admitted. “I didn’t really see (Moodie) all the way down there; I just chucked it. It
just so happened he was there, I overthrew the defender, he got it and just took
off.”

Even more amazing is Chesterton rallied to take a 21-17 lead into halftime. It
ended up being the final score.

So many things went the Trojans’ way that night. They say a Hobart receiver was
wide open on a play – the Chesterton safety slipped and fell down – but the
receiver dropped the pass. Others – like the boys on the Chesterton sideline – will
tell you it all came down to assistant coach Dennis Evans’ fiery speech at halftime

Evans, believe it or not, didn’t even know he was speaking to the team until the
squad was walking to the locker room.

“Coach Peterson said he couldn’t do the halftime speech, so I figured I’d better
come up with something,” Evans recalled. “All I could think about was this
legendary speech by Illinois football coach Ray Eliot. It’s called ‘The Proper State
of Mind.’”

The last-second heroic speech was a game-changer. Chesterton didn’t allow a
point the rest of the way and held on for dear life for the historic victory.
In a nutshell Evans summarized “The Proper State of Mind” to the players.

It goes back to Wisconsin fullback Alan Ameche, the 1954 Heisman Trophy
winner. Ameche and the Badgers were going in for the go-ahead touchdown
against Illinois. The 1953 Illinois-Wisconsin game is remembered for a legendary
goal-line stand by the Illinois defense. The story goes that Illinois linebacker Chuck Boerio was asked during the week about facing Ameche — one of the most formidable backs of the era. His four words: “Send Ameche at me” weren’t just words, they were backed up by his stellar play in Illinois’ 41-20 victory. In that goal-line stand Ameche was stopped at the 1-yard line – as Boerio and the defense rose to the occasion – when nobody thought Ameche could be tackled. Itadded to Boerio’s reputation as being a fearless leader and became one of the legendary moments in Illinois football history.

“To be honest, that speech could have been totally fictionized – but Coach Evans
looked like Hulk Hogan so it worked,” Callaway said. “He could have made the
whole thing up as he walked in, but it worked. It just inspired us that night.”
Added Davison: “Coach Evans was a fantastic motivator and we just loved him. He
was passionate, caring – just an intense dude – and he had that bar mustache to
boot.

“I don’t even remember the speech, but I know we would have run through a wall
of bricks. It was a fire and brimstone type of thing.”

Evans was a teacher and coach at Chesterton for 35 years. All the players
remember that night from him was his fists pounding the lockers and chalkboard
at halftime and motivating them with his speech.

“I just remember they had tears in their eyes when I got done,” Evans said.
“Looking back it was just a fantastic night for us.”

Ironically, it was Chesterton’s only Duneland Athletic Conference victory that
season besides a forfeit win against Michigan City Rogers. The Trojans went 0-12
in DAC play over the next two seasons.

Hobart went on to win state in three of the next five seasons.

Most at Chesterton don’t remember anything from that time besides the Hobart
upset. Nobody wants to talk about losing.

They only remember the Hobart victory. Chesterton players had bricks made after
the win. Some will tell you they took a chunk or two from the Brickie Bowl that
night. It was a piece of history.

It was one for the ages.