1985 Football State Champs

The 1985 WCHS state football championship can be covered from many angles. There are many side-stories that weave together to tell a fascinating tale. One main question is, where does the story begin?

The story may begin with the hiring of John Venturi as coach in 1979, although the coach whom he replaced, Bill Farrell, had a very good record during his time as coach (53-36). Venturi’s 147-60 record over his 20-year career, with 16 playoff appearances, speaks for itself.

The story may begin with the school’s switch to the Mid-Illini Conference in 1982, which allowed the scheduling of tough non-conference opponents and brought us annual games against competitive rivals such as Metamora and Morton.

The story may also begin on prom night, May 5, 1984, when a head-on collision on Route 24 with a drunk driver broke every bone in the left leg of Scott Underwood.

With Underwood’s 1984 season ruined by the accident, his family’s choice was to sit out of school, retaining his year of eligibility in athletics, in essence “redshirting” the 1984 season. It is an act that is against IHSA policy now, but then it was allowed, but not encouraged. There was precedent in the Peoria area as in 1981 Charles Walls of Peoria Manual sat out the 1981 school year with a broken wrist and was able to come back for the 1982 season.

With Underwood sidelined, the 1984 Panthers started practices for their season. During one of these preseason practices, junior quarterback Brad Fuller broke his collarbone. The Fullers also decided for Brad to not attend WCHS to retain a year of eligibility.

This decision led to many complaints being leveled at the school and the program, but both were at the mercy of the families’ decisions, and the families were simply working within the confines of the IHSA rules. The 1984 Panthers, sans Underwood and Fuller, would go 5-4 and miss the playoffs, but big things were on the horizon.

As the 1985 season began, one big question was going to be the quarterback position. With Fuller returning and junior Scott Foster having a solid season in 1984, the position was crowded. On all fronts, it was clear the Panthers were loaded and if they stayed healthy, they had a good chance of being very successful. Fuller won the quarterback position, with Foster remaining on the field as a wide receiver, opposite Doug Wilson.

The running backs were returning from the previous year, including Keith Shurman and Denny Klein, both having solid 1984 seasons. Included in the mix would be Eric Klein and Ed Foster, both more than capable of stepping in when needed. The defense would revolve around Underwood and Todd King.

On to the season. Week 1 was a 20-6 win at Springfield Lanphier, working out the bugs and getting rid of the jitters. It was a useful and necessary tune-up as week 2 was against Morton, who was also 1-0 after a decisive win against Peoria Manual. It was a game everyone expected to be a battle.

It wasn’t. Venturi found a weakness on the Potter’s defensive line and exploited it to the tune of a 49-6 victory for the Panthers in Morton. The defense in this game was especially stellar, holding Morton to -9 rushing yards in the first half.

Week 3 was the home opener for the Panthers, a 34-6 blowout against Canton. A key defensive play in the game was stopping Canton on their first drive on 4^th and inches at the goal line. This type of defensive toughness would be a staple of this team.

At 3-0 with three lopsided victories, people started talking. Could this team be as good as the state runner-up team from 1983? Most people thought so, but it takes a lot of luck as well as talent to make it that far.

Week 4 was more of the same, crushing East Peoria 48-0, in a game where East Peoria would total only 53 yards of total offense.

That led to a week 5, Saturday afternoon homecoming showdown against Metamora, and the game did not start well. Metamora jumped out to a 13-0 lead in front of a standing-room only crowd at Babcook Field and had the ball at Washington’s 8-yard line poised to score again when Scott Underwood forced and recovered a fumble. With Washington needing a spark, Keith Shurman took the ball 92 yards on a handoff for a touchdown, and the momentum had turned on a dime. When the final horn sounded the game was tied at 28. In overtime, Metamora failed to score on its possession on another Washington goal line stand. Washington did score, securing a 34-28 victory, one of several heart-stopping victories of the 1985 season.

Week 6 brought Chicago Collins to Washington, with a 4-1 record and the third leading rusher in the state in Anthony Andrews. Collins was no match for the Panthers as they rolled 43-6, holding Andrews to 33 yards on 11 carries.

During this exact same time the Chicago Bears were also making their Super Bowl run and quest for an undefeated season. It was a tremendous time to be a fan of both.

Washington and its 6-0 record headed into week 7 against an upstart Limestone Rockets team in a game that essentially would decide the conference championship. In an absolute knock-down drag-out battle, the Panthers emerged victorious 16-0.

With a week 8 game against IVC on the horizon and week 9 schedule against Pekin, talk turned to an undefeated season. 9-0 became a goal, something that had never happened before in football at WCHS. Washington disposed of IVC 36-0, and headed into week 9 one win away from accomplishing that goal.

Pekin had a record of 4-4, Washington was 8-0. The game was at Washington, senior night for those playing their final regular-season home game at Babcook Field. The script was set.

Washington jumped out to a 14-0 and the script for the evening was being followed nicely. In the fourth quarter, Pekin scored a touchdown to make it 14-6. On the two-point conversion attempt Pekin fumbled the ball back to the 23-yard line, their runner picked it up, and somehow eluded the entire Washington defense to make it a 14-8 game. It was at that point that doubt started to creep in.

Washington, desperately needing to run out the clock, couldn’t move the ball on offense and had to punt. Aided by 30 yards in Panther penalties, Pekin scored with 2:07 left in the game to take the lead 15-14. A meaningless Pekin touchdown as time ran out set the final score. Washington had lost 21-14, leaving everyone aghast. The scene was not dissimilar to the Chicago Bears losing their week 13 game to the Miami Dolphins in the same year in their quest to finish undefeated, and maybe both teams can look back at those games in retrospect as something that helped them reach their ultimate goal.

In the playoffs, Washington drew a first round game against Morton, surprisingly IN Morton. The results were the same as the week two matchup, a 42-12 drubbing of the Potters.

That led to a second round matchup at home against Springfield Griffin and the state’s best quarterback Chris Ondrula. In a rough back-and-forth game, Washington put together a tremendous final drive in the game’s waning minutes to beat Griffin 21-18. A Brad Fuller to Doug Wilson pass with 43 seconds remaining in the game was the difference maker.

From Springfield Griffin to Geneseo. Not an easy task. Round 3 of the playoffs found the Panthers facing perennial playoff power Geneseo, again in Washington. In another defensive battle, Geneseo scored with no time remaining in the game to get within 14-12. They needed a two-point conversion to tie the score. The pass attempt on the conversion was deflected by Todd King and fell incomplete, sending Babcook Field into a frenzy as the Panthers moved on.

The Panthers next battle took them to Roxana. With a win WCHS would be in the championship game. The Panthers steamrolled Roxana, with 417 yards of offense and won 28-15.

In the title game against Rockton Hononegah, the Panthers weren’t satisfied just being in the championship game, like they possibly were in 1983 when they were pounded by Woodstock 41-28. They were on a mission, and jumped out to a 21-0 lead en route to a 28-12 victory, and the very first team state title in the history of the school.

In 2002 the 1985 team was inducted into the Greater Peoria Sports Hall of Fame.

In 2018 they were part of the inaugural class of the Washington Community High School Hall of Fame.