Maysville Football History
Source: DeKalb County Herald, November 25, 1909, Page 6.
Football ORganized in 1909
Maysville High School first organized a football team in 1909. They scheduled a Thanksgiving Day game at 2:00 pm against King City one mile east of town at Riggs Park. Another game was scheduled against Cameron but never materialized because of poor weather.
Maysville played a few games during the early 1910s. The school board denied a petition to form a football team in 1914. World War I was on the the minds of many.
Football Returns in 1919
Maysville resumed their football program in 1919. Students petitioned to the Board of Education to play football. The Board granted the wish of the students and superintendent Herman Crookshank was named their coach. 50 students reported to the first practice. The first opponent of the season was King City. The Maysville Games were played at the Maysville Fairgrounds. The fairgrounds were located about a mile south of town past the railroad tracks. That area today is field off of Water Street just outside of town. The team finished with a 1-3 record.
Source: Maysville High Sports History: Four Decades (1909-1949), Ken Rhodes, 2008
Football game played at the Maysville Fairgrounds in 1919
Source: DeKalb County Historical Society
The 1919 MHS football team. Photo taken on the west side of the school.
Front Row L to R: Stafford Owen (RE), Raymond Farris (RT), John McClure (RG), Lowell Grady (C), Landis Bourrette (LG), Elza Redman (LT), Ronald Larrance (LE)
Back Row L to R: Ray Stevens (RH), Sam Owen (FB), Ernest Sherard (QB), Walter Dunham (LH)
Not pictured: Gordon Thompson (team captain), Head Coach: H.L. Crookshank
Source: DeKalb County Historical Society
1923 team playing on the home field. Photo was taken by Keith Cox.
Source: DeKalb County Historical Society
The Roaring 20s for Wolverine Football
Maysville found a lot of success in the 1920s gridiron. The 1923 team went undefeated with an 11-0 record and won the Northwest Missouri Athletic Association Championship. They repeated as champions, beating an undefeated Maryville team by a score of 26-0 in the 1924 season. They finished that year with a 9-1 record. These special teams were coached by Joe Flint. Teams of the 1920s were very successful. Some notable players that went on to play college ball from this period include Goldie 'PeeWee' Bourrette, Bill 'Tiny' Meek, Earl Duse, Loyd McMillan, and Kern Reece.
Grand River Six Created, Wolverines Continue success
On December 4, 1929, in the offices of Stanberry Superintendent L.A. Zelliff, several schools met to form an athletic conference in Northwest Missouri. The conference was established to schedule football and basketball games and track meets to help cut down on travel expenses. Other goals of the conference were to increase interest among the member schools and increase gate receipts.
By December 6, King City, Stanberry, Maysville and Bethany had paid for the membership fee of $2. Grant City had signified their interest and Albany was also being considered. The conference named F.E. Patrick of Bethany as their first president, and R.H. Watson of King City as their first secretary-treasurer.
By January of the next year, Grant City and Albany had joined, but the conference was still without a name. Princeton also applied for admission at the time but was denied due to travel concerns and conditions of the roads in those days. The naming of the conference was left to students of the six schools. The name “Grand River Six” was selected. The name was chosen over “Grand River Valley Conference”, “Grand River Conference”, “Blue Grass Conference”, “Northwest Six”, “Little Six”, “Big Six”, “Small Six”, “Quad County Six”, “Pine to Palm Conference”, “Athletic Six” and “Ever Ready Conference”.
Source: grandriverconference.com/history
An early 1930s football team Coached by Lon Wilson (back row second from the right).
Source: DeKalb County Historical Society
Wolverines see Instant Success, Back to Back Champs
Under the direction of Coach Lon Wilson the Wolverines were GRC Champions in 1931 and 1932. They compiled a conference record of 9-0-1 in those two seasons and a 14-2-2 record overall.
Maysville Kicked out of GRC, no Football team in 1933
In the fall of 1933 Coach Wilson faced a problem. Only 13 boys came out to play football that season, with some weighing under 100 pounds. Worried about the health and safety of his boys, Coach Wilson decided to cancel the football season.
Other members of the GRC did not see the situation the same way Coach Wilson did. They believed Wilson did not field a team because the team would not be a winning team that Maysville was used to. Wilson argued that, "the boys were not big enough to play football at all except at great risk to their limbs and their lives."
In a meeting October 18, Maysville was ejected from the conference. A main cause of frustration for the other schools was that the football schedules had been made many months in advance. It was not until after the school year had started that Wilson stated Maysville would not field a team.
The Grand River Conference wasted little time, offering Conception College high school an invitation to join in the same meeting. They joined in the spring the following year.
So what factored into Maysville having such low numbers? There are multiple reasons.
1.) The district boundary was really only the size of the city of Maysville. Much different than our boundary today. If a student from a country school wanted to attend Maysville they would need to pay tuition.
2.) Transportation was a huge issue. Some students walked 6 to 7 miles one way to school just to play on the team in 1932. Those boys graduated that year.
3.) The Class of 1933 had 44 graduates whereas the Class of 1934 only had 28.
4.) The country is in the middle of the Great Depression. The boys were expected to help work to help their family make ends meet. It was a tough time througout the nation and Maysville was not excluded.
Source: Maysville High Sports History 1909-1949, Ken Rhodes, 2008.
Source: DeKalb County Herald September 14, 1933.
Source: Stanberry Herald-Headlight October 26, 1933.
Source: DeKalb County Herald March 7, 1935.
Football returns, GRC brings Maysville back
Under new coach George Calvert, the Wolverines returned with just three returning lettermen from the 1932 team after takinga year off. They finished with a meager 3-4-1 record. The GRC voted on February 26, 1935 unanimously to bring Maysville back to the conference.
Coach Calvert Called to help Fight in WWII, 19 new coaches Roam Sidelines Next 40 years
Coach Calvert unexpectedly left Maysville in 1942. Originally his intent was to leave for a new principal job in Brookfield, Missouri but that never happened. In August he was in a car wreck and once he returned home there was a telegram accepting Coach Calvert as a PE instructor at a training base in Miami, Florida.
Coach Dayle Allen stepped in to replace the long time coach. His time as head coach would not last long as he was soon called into naval service during the war. In fact, from 1942-1982 there would be 19 head football coaches roaming the sidelines for the Wolverines compiling a combined record of 144-197-20 (compared to a 101-59-17 record from the 22 years prior). There were four winless seasons during this time period and one conference championship.
Maysville played their games where the current New Gym is today. This surface was known around the area as being very unforgiving to players and filled with many rocks. The current football field was created in 1963. Source: 1953 MAHIAN
Source: DeKalb County Herald August 27, 1942.
Source: DeKalb County Herald January 13, 1944
Jerry McFee works his way through Rock Port defenders during the 1998 season. Jerry was a senior and was an all state running back. Source: 1999 MAHIAN
5 District Championships close out the 1980s and 1990s
Four coaches to close out the milenium were each able to rally their teams to district championships. The coaches of the time period were Gary Hogue, Gary Damron, Tony Braby, and Wes Croy. Hougue was able to win 2 conference titles in the mid-80s. Coach Braby's 1992 team made it to the state quarterfinals losing to Milan 21-27. A few seasons later Coach Croy was also able to move his 1998 team to the state quarterfinals, but ultimately fell to state champion North Platte.
All-State players of this period include Todd Yarnell (punter), Shawn Kanak (tight end), Jim Kerns (linebacker), Jon Warner (running back), Danny Sweiger (tackle), Mark Cole (guard), Jerry McFee (running back), Wyatt Harms (linebacker), Daniel Earhart (tackle), James Rider (end), and Blair Smith (defensive back).
2000s brings new success
Coach Croy left after the 2000 season to take a job at South Harrison. He eventually found his way back to his hometown of Trenton and had much success after leaving Maysville. The 2005 team under Coach Jason Melnick got hot late in the season and won a district title. Two seasons later under a new coach, Greg O'Connor, the Wolverines won another district title.
All-State players of this time period include Jimmy Smith (running back), Jaret Smith (receiver), Aaron Bridgeman (running back), Matt Jundy (receiver), and Trent Best.
Jake Mazurkewycz (#1) hands off to Heath Boyer (#44) in a game against Albany during the 2007 season. This team won a district championship in Coach O'Connor's first season. Source: 2008 MAHIAN
Coach Cole leads the team in some preseason practices. Coach Cole was head coach from the 2013-2019 seasons and won two conference titles. Source: St. Joseph News-Press, August 25, 2013.
MHS Alum, Cole, returns to MHS sidelines as head coach
1996 graduate Mark Cole returned to the sidelines as head coach during the 2013 season. Coach Cole started his coaching career assisting Wes Croy at Maysville and later became a very successful head coach at Gallatin and Savannah. Success followed Coach Cole to Maysville early in his tenure when he captured two GRC championships (the first ones since 1985).
All-State players during this time period include Josh Riggs (offensive line), Reid Steiner (defensive back), Matt White (quarterback), Troy Powers (running back), Clayton Gibson (defensive line), and Nick Evans (linebacker).
Troy Powers (#30), sophomore, is ready to stiff arm an East Buchanan defender. Powers once made the all-state team in later seasons. Source: St. Joseph News-Press, August 23, 2014.
Nick Evans stiff arms a Mid-Buchanan defender to gain a first down. Nick was an all-state linebacker when he played. Source: St. Joseph News-Press August 26, 2017
Winston joins the football team, contributes immediately
Maysville and Winston schools entered a cooperative sports agreement starting in fall 2016 for Winston to send junior high and high school football players to Maysville. Sports co-ops have taken over the landscapes of small schools around northwest Missouri and have provided some schools their first chance of having a football team. This was the first football team Winston was able to ever provide their boys. They have provided a spark to the teams and been great contributors.
Winston's own Spencer Pliley finds the hole against Polo's defense. Spencer played all six years of football at Maysville thanks to the co-op agreement.
Source: Mass Media, 2022