X Days until 2017 Leatherneck Football

[wiu712]

Back in my mother's day, there was a Morgan Gym (which I believe burned down).

Morgan Gym sat adjacent to the Heating Plant (just east of the Seal Hall parking lot). It was re-named "Brophy Hall" when Western Hall opened.

For some visual context, the first photo, taken in 1970, shows the former Brophy Hall (what was formerly named the Morgan Gymnasium) after the building suffered the worst fire in Western history in November of that year. The fire came during Thanksgiving Break.



The second photo, c. 1920, shows the location of Morgan Gym (building on the far right) in relation to Garwood Hall.



Morgan Gymnasium was named for Western's third president, Walter P. Morgan, while Brophy Hall (both the former building and the current building) was named for Kathleen Brophy, who was hired at Western in 1936 and retired in 1968, and taught in, and served as the head of, the Women's P.E. Dept.

[sealhall74]

The "New Training School" may be more correct than just "Training School":
https://www.cardcow.com/509033/new-trai ... ge-macomb/

As for answer to how many states, the answer lies at bottom of this sheet:


Also of note, I think I have found St. Alban's (Knoxville, IL):
http://www.illinoishsglorydays.com/id948.html

[ST_Lawson]

Ok, so this one is kinda different....
#34, up until a couple of days ago, was RB Steve McShane. He's moved to #5 now (shared with DB Aaron Diggs), although I don't have a photo of him wearing #5 yet, so on the front page, he's still today's "countdown" #34. As for talking about him, I'll save that for 5 days out.

The current #34 is Redshirt Freshman Linebacker Larry Harleston
He's a very new addition to the team though...based on his history (from South Milwaukee/Racine, WI), I'm pretty sure this is him:

If it's the same Larry Harleston, he played at the University of Dubuque (DIII) last season.
Here's some video of him:
[youtube][/youtube]

Other #34's in Leatherneck History include:
William Iser.............................1962-64
Ted Kozinski................................ 1966
Bill Lucky................................1967-68
Curt Christenson......................... 1969
Greg Lee................................1974-76
Rodney Thomas.....................1980-81
Nate Williams..........................1983-84
Tom Keeley.............................1989-90
Reggie Mathews.......................... 1991
Steve Schalk............................... 1996
Alvin Burleson............................. 1999
Reggie Thomas........................... 2001
Nasir Sadat.................................. 2004
J.J. Payne...............................2005-06
Derrek Blackwell.......................... 2007
Ryan Waldron......................... 2009-11
Jeremy Curry............................... 2012
DeAndre Daniels....................2013-14
Steve McShane........................... 2015

Curt Christenson was named to the Leatherneck Hall of Fame in 2002. A phenomenal receiver and kick returner, Christenson holds the WIU record for Punt Return Yards in a Game (139 against Northeast Missouri State in 1970). He also shows up on the following records lists (a few might be slightly changed once last year's stats are taken into account):

• 9th in Receiving Yards per Game in a Season (79.0 in 1970)
• 10th (tied) in 100+ Receiving yard games in a season (3 in 1970)
• 13th in career receiving yards (1,385)
• 5th in Yards per Reception in a Career (17.2 ypc)
• 8th (tied) in 100+ Yard Games in a Career (5)
• 9th (tied) in Receiving TDs in a Career (12)

Greg Lee was inducted into the Leatherneck Hall of Fame in 2007.
Lee was a very talented CB and kick returner, and his 26.2 average yards per kick return over his career is the best in Leatherneck history. He's 6th (tied) on the list for career interceptions with 10 and was an AP First Team All-American in 1976. He was then drafted in the 1977 NFL Draft by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 11th round.

[ST_Lawson]

Sorry I'm a bit behind, but it's been a busy weekend for me.

Yesterday (Saturday) was 33 days left, and #33 on the current roster is now actually Kicker Nathan Erickson, who we profiled back at #49, because he wore #49 last year (and was listed on the roster as such until just a couple of days ago.
Here's that post if you want to revisit it.

But, who else has worn #33 in the past:
Pat Kulisek.............................1972-73
Al Bussone.............................1977-78
Erskin Bassette......................1980-82
Marcus Ballard.......................1984-86
Derek Swanson......................1987-90
Kevin Hart.................................... 1991
Jim Hagedorn.............................. 1992
Chuck Bodady........................1994-95
Derrick Varnado......................1997-98
Erik Johnson...........................2002-05
Justin Robertson......................... 2006
Josh Gabelmann.................... 2008-11
Nathan Knuffman....................2013-15

Marcus Ballard was the kickoff return leader on the team in 1983 with 9 returns for 186 yards (20.7 per return). He was also the punt return leader in 1985 (10 for 27 yards) and 1986 (13 for 85). He is 6th (tied) on the career interceptions list with 10 and was second team all-conference in 1984 and 1985, and first team in 1986. Also in 1986 he was an AP Honorable Mention.

Derek Swanson is tied for the most receptions in a game with 14 against Western Kentucky in 1988. He was also the team's kickoff return leader that same year with 12 returns for 293 yards (24.4 per).

Kevin Hart was a second team all-conference FB in 1991. He is #14 on the list of yards in a season performances with 1,085 in 1991, which is the team's record for a FB. He was also the team's scoring leader that year with 7 TDs.

Derrick Varnado (what a great name) was all-conference honorable mention in 1998 and first team in 1999, when he also received a FB Gazette Honorable Mention. He's tied for 6th for passes broken up in a season with 12 in 1999 and 10th for the same stat in a career with 20 (over only two years).

Josh Gabelmann was an all-conference honorable mention FB in 2009 and 2010. He was also academic all-conference honorable mention in 2010 and received the President's Academic Excellence Award in 2011.

Nathan Knuffman was the team's scoring leader in 2014 with 69 total points (36 PATs and 11 FGs). He's tied for 3rd most punts in a game with 11...wait...is that a good record?...I mean, it's great that he can punt so much, but that really says more about our offense not doing so well, right? Similarly, he's #3 for punts in a season with 74 in 2013. Now, here's some better ones...Knuffman is tied for 9th (he's there twice actually) for field goals in a season with 11 in both 2014 and 2015 and is at #8 on the same list with 12 FGs last season. His 37 career FGs puts him at #5 on the list of career FGs and his 139 career PATs puts him at #4 on that list.

[ST_Lawson]

And today (well...the 30ish minutes left of it) is 32 days...

#32 is Sophomore Kicker Sam Crosa

Sam is a RPTA major from Columbus, OH. He was a preferred walk-on and redshirted at Bowling Green in 2015 and did not play in 2016. He transferred to Western (I believe) before spring semester and is eligible to play as a sophomore this season.

Other #32's in Leatherneck History include:
Dan Washkevich.....................1958-61
Chuck Paradiso........................... 1966
David Lumley..........................1973-75
Greg Lawson............................... 1977
Herb Simpson.............................. 1978
Beau Williams.............................. 1983
John McCue...........................1984-86
Mark Calbert...........................1988-90
Tim Ardis.................................1991-94
Joe Lopez...............................1996-00
Cornell Middlebrook...............2001-02
Derrek Blackwell.....................2003-04
Sam Dancer..................... 2005-07, 09
Nate Bowman................... 2010, 12-13
Brock Broughton.......................... 2015

Dan Washkevich was inducted into the Leatherneck HOF as part of the undefeated 1959 football team.

David Lumley is in the Leatherneck record books at 3rd (tied) for assisted tackles in a season with 89 in 1975.

Greg Lawson was discussed in the #38 post.

John McCue shows up at #5 on the list of longest fumble returns with a 47-yard return against Central Missouri in 1983.

Tim Ardis is 9th on the list of TDs in a career with 20 and was the team's scoring leader in 1993 with 9 TDs. He was first team Academic All-Conference and received the President's Academic Excellence Award in 1994. That same year he was a CoSIDA Academic All-American.

Joe Lopez was the team's kicking leader in 1998, '99, and 2000. He is 3rd on the list of consecutive extra points made with 44, is tied for the 3rd longest FG in Leatherneck history with a 55-yarder against Missouri State in '98 and is tied for 15th on the same list with a 50-yarder against Nicholls State in 2000. He had 10 extra points in a game against Morgan State in 2000, which ties him for 3rd on that list. In a season, Lopez comes in at #3 and #7 for most FGs with 18 in 1998 and 12 in 1999. He is at #s 5 and 8 for XP's in a season with 44 in 2000 and 41 in 1999. For his career, he ranks 4th in FGs with 38, 4th in 50+ yard FGs with 2, 4th in XP's with 117, and 4th in kick scoring with 231 total points. He was second team All-Conference in 1998. He was also first team Academic All-Conference in '98, '99, and '00 and received the President's Academic Excellence Award in '99 and '00.

Cornell Middlebrook had the unenviable task of following up two Buck Buchanan Award winners at LB. He never quite equaled James Milton or Ed Hartwell, but still ended up one of the better LBs we've had (in a long string of very good LBs). He still holds the record for the longest fumble return in a game with a 90 yard TD against Northern Iowa in 2002. He racked up 101 solo tackles in 2002, which ranks him as having the 5th best season at that stat. That same year, his 154 total tackles ties him for 9th in the record books. He was named to the conference all-newcomer team in 2001 and was an all-conference honorable mention in 2002.

[ST_Lawson]

#31 on the current roster is Redshirt Freshman Running Back Josh Franke
I don't have an official photo of him from athletics yet, but here's a photo from Hudl:

He's listed as a MLB and DE on Hudl, but a RB for us, so idk if he did a lot of working out to be more of a big RB-type guy, or what. He's listed on our site as 6'0" and 246 lbs. Josh is an Accounting major from Litchfield, IL.

Other #31's in Leatherneck history include:
Peter Hittmeier.......................1961-62
Jack Hughes................................ 1966
Michael Moore............................. 1969
Charlie Boston........................1971-73
Mike Decker................................ 1974
Percy Tompkins......................1979-82
Todd Auer.................................... 1983
Dean Dalton................................ 1984
Derek Swanson........................... 1986
Mario Malone..........................1990-92
Ryle Irish................................2000-02
Phil Archer................................... 2003
Justin Poma................................. 2004
Eric Lines......................2005-06, 2008
Patrick Smith..........................2010-12
Luke Otto................................2014-15

Charlie Boston has the 3rd best (tied) season for interceptions in Leatherneck history with 7 in 1973. He also is 4th (tied) on the career interceptions list with 11.

Percy Tompkins was a second team All-Conference DB in 1981. He has the 6th longest interception return with an 80-yard return against Northeast Missouri State in 1981. His 16 passes broken up in 1982 ties him for the most in a season and his 12 in 1981 ties him at 6th in the same stat. He has 10 career interceptions (tied for 6th) and 36 career passes broken up (tied for 1st).

Todd Auer was a second team All-Conference DL and named to the National Strength Team in 1985. He was first team all-conference in 1986 as well as being a CoSIDA Academic All-American, FB Gazette First Team, Kodak First Team, AP Honorable Mention, and AFCA First Team. He is tied for 7th on the list of most sacks in a season with 11 in both 1984 and 1986. In his career, he had 162 solo tackles (10th on the list), 36 tackles for loss (9th), and 28 sacks (#1 by 7 sacks over #2). Following his Leatherneck career, he was picked up by the Green Bay Packers but only ended up playing in 3 games for them. He then went into coaching and is currently the defensive coordinator at Western State Colorado.

Derek Swanson was discussed in the #33 post a couple of days ago.

Ryle Irish was a Macomb native that was the team's interceptions leader in 2001. As a DB, he snagged 3 interceptions that season.

Phil Archer was named to the conference All-Newcomer team and second team All-Conference in 2003. That season, he finished with 102 solo tackles, ranking him tied for the 3rd best performance for a season.

Eric Lines received the conference's President's Academic Excellence Award in 2008.

[wiu712]

Ryle Irish was involved in the sledgehammer incident at the end of the playoff game with Western Kentucky at Hanson Field.

Luke Otto was on the team 2014, 2015, and 2016. He graduated in May and will be playing for Northwestern this fall as he will be working on a Masters there. He will also wear "31" for Northwestern.
http://www.nusports.com/roster.aspx?rp_ ... h=football

Luke has been featured in one of the 30-second TV commercials for Western's "Success Story" campaign.
[youtube]
[/youtube]

[ST_Lawson]

30 days...that's 4 weeks from this Thursday...wohoo!

#30 is Junior Defensive Back Justin Fitzpatrick

Justin is a Broadcasting major from O'Fallon, MO. He's played in 20 football games in his Leatherneck career, recording 33 total tackles and defending 6 passes.

Justin is also an outfielder on the baseball team, having just finished up his sophomore season.

His average over two years (53 games) is .181 in 105 at bats (19 hits, 4 doubles, 1 triple). He's recorded 7 RBIs and has a fielding % of .975 (2 errors).

Other #30's in Leatherneck History include:
Nels Hanson...........................1969-70
Gary Birch..............................1971-73
Mike Marquardt........................... 1974
Lonnie Love................................. 1975
Keith Whitehead.....................1977-79
Ron Johnson..........................1984-85
William Brazill.........................1987-88
Bernard Holloway...................1989-90
Marc Payton...........................1991-92
Rory Lee.................................1993-94
Tyrone Noble............................... 1996
Antwain Davis.........................1997-98
Pat Crosby..............................1999-03
Kevin Hart.................................... 2006
Vince Veltre............................2007-08
Anthony Ventrella........................ 2012
Dwayne Phillips........................... 2013

Gary Birch was a kicker who is #8 for XPs (84) and for Kick Scoring (108 points) in a career. According to the Leatherneck record books, he played for the Buffalo Bills in 1974 and the Patriots in 1975, although he might have been a practice squad player, as I am unable to find any listing for him on those team's rosters for those years.

Ron Johnson was a DE who was a conference player of the week in September of 1985.

Bernard Holloway was an honorable mention All-Conference RB in 1990. He was the team's rushing leader (480 yards, 46.3 per game) and kickoff return leader (285 yards, 15.4 per return) in 1989. In 1990, he was the team's scoring leader with 6 TDs (3.3 pts per game).

Rory Lee recorded two kicks returned for TDs against St. Ambrose in 1993. This achievement places him on quite a few Leatherneck records lists for things like "Kicks returned for TDs" in a game, and in a season as well as kick return yards for TDs in a game and season. He also has the highest average kick return yardage in a season, with a 32.9 return average in 1993.

Kevin Hart (not the comedian) was discussed earlier in the post for #33: http://www.leathernecknation.net/forum/ ... 432#p16432

[ST_Lawson]

#29....is.....nobody currently, but in the past...

Mike Wagner..........................1968-70
Bernard Murray........................... 1973
Reggie Johnson.....................1977-80
Pat Madden............................1982-85
Trevor Grimshaw....................1989-91
Anthony Pierre........................1994-96
Damon Williams........................197-99
Shannon Foster........................... 2005
Jerry James................................. 2006
Vince Simpson............................. 2011
Richard Chungong...................... 2013
Aaron Diggs................................. 2014

Mike Wagner is a name that most Leatherneck fans are likely familiar with. He was a NAIA All-American Honorable Mention in 1969 and holds school records for most interceptions in a season (9 in 1969), second-most (tied) interceptions in a career (15) and most interception return yards in a career (343 yards). Following his collegiate career, Wagner was drafted in the 10th round of the 1971 NFL Draft by the Pittsburgh Steelers, where he would play safety for 10 seasons. As a member of the backfield that backed up the famed "Steel Curtain" defense, Wagner was a member of 4 Super Bowl Championship Steelers teams and was named to the Pro Bowl twice. Wagner was inducted into the Leatherneck Hall of Fame in 1976.


Damon Williams was a All-Conference Honorable Mention DB in 2000 and 20001.

Aaron Diggs is tied for having the second-longest interception return with a 95-yard "pick 6" against Northern Iowa in 2015.

[sealhall74]

The year 1928 was nothing spectacular for the Leathernecks on the gridiron (2-3-3). Those 3 ties are a little noteworthy as they all ended in 7-7 final scores. What are the odds of that? That year may be far better known as year when sound was introduced to feature Hollywood films. That is a nice segue to this week's Throwback Thursday Trivia question:

Which of the following were NOT movie theaters on or near the town square in Macomb at some time in history?

1) Chandler Theater
2) Illinois Theater
3) Lamoine Theater
4) Lark Theater
5) Regal Show Theater