Anamosa - A Reminiscence 1838 - 1988

IX
Sports — A Time to Play
Wonder Team of '25
Football Mania Attacks City
The following article was published in the Anamosa
Eureka-Joumal in 1971. written by the then editor
James A. Mayer.
“We had 9 or 10 formations and we knew 100
plays."retired Supreme Court Justice Robert Larson of
Iowa City said Thursday about the 1925 Anamosa high
school team he coached to second place in the state.
Members of the team of '25. and from the two years
prior to that. held a reunion at Woody's Arrow Cafe.
Thirteen of the greats of Anamosa attended. and relived
those three great seasons.
The boys were undefeated in 1925 and. after the first
two games which ended in ties. Anamosa had only one
TD scored against it the rest of the season. It was one of
11 undefeated teams in the state that year. The boys
also were undefeated in 1924.
Howard Porter. who was one of the leading scorers in
those years. said in 1924 Vinton had beaten Anamsoa.
13-7. but later forfeited the game. "We were undefeated
in three years." he remembers.
Prior to 1922. Anamosa High didn't have football for
a decade or more. Before the turn of the century. the
school played on the gridiron. but then the sport was
dropped.
William Bronson remembers how the team played on
Friday afternoons. except on Armistice day and
Thanksgiving.
“We always played Monticello on Armistice day and
Thanksgiving." Porter. now of Redlands. Calif.. said.
"Thanksgiving closed the season."
There were no lighted fields in those days. so all
games were played in the afternoon. The fellows
remember how they practiced from the time school was
over until dark.
"Then we had to run six times around the field and
back to the gym after practice". Don Goodman said.
and Coach Larson nodded his approval.
Goodman. who was a lineman on the team.
remembers how the field was down in the valley where
the state and county road shops are now located. east of
Scott street.
"The gas plant was to the north and the ditch to the
south. And if you got too far to the east. you ran into the
creek. But that pile of cobs on the north end was a good
place to stop." Goodman smiled.
The squad was not large in numbers. The line-up in
the Eureka in 1925 listed only the ll regulars and five
subs.
“We used to have to recruit fellows from uptown to
scrimmage against us." one of the men said. Schwirtz
remembers racking up the coach in one scrimmage
when the coach carried the ball for the second team.
By virtue of her decisive win over Marion high
Thanksgiving day. 26-0. the local football team was one
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Football Greats of the 1923-25 era at Anamosa High
gathered for a reunion. Left to right. standing. are
Judge Warren Rees. Lacey Gees. Joe Soper, Julius
Westphal. Howard Porter. Howard Robertson. Carl
Underwood. Tom Snyder: seated. William Bronson.
Bill McGovern. Judge Robert Larson. coach. Don
Goodman and Bernell Schwirtz. captain of the I925
team. The team was undefeated in 1924 and 1925.
and was ranked ‘second' in the state in 1925. (J-E
Photo by JAM)
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