Overview of 1930-1939

Though SHS continued to field successful teams into the 1930s, perhaps the most important happening of the decade came off the playing field, as Staunton’s first and only mascot was chosen during the 1935-36 school year. Before that time, local teams had always been referred to by their school colors. However, mascots were taking hold across the state, and the administration left it up to the student body to vote on proposals. Norm Norvell, a junior at the time, successfully lobbied for “Bull Dogs,” which later was changed to “Bulldogs.” However, the school retained its colors of myrtle and maroon for several years.

Despite average team success during the decade, as well as the context of the Great Depression, participation in high school sports continued to thrive into the 1930s in Staunton. In fact, a survey conducted during the 1030-31 academic year showed that only seven percent of boys in the district did not play sports, and that most athletes participated in at least two activities. It is worth noting that a few individuals competed in tennis during the decade. While not much is known about the popularity or staying power of the sport, it is known that at least four individuals qualified for the State in the 1930s. Interestingly enough, the first “S” Club was formed at the school during the decade. The organization, which was later discontinued, reached its heyday in the 1960s.

While basketball was not very popular in Staunton at the time, perhaps the biggest event in the area was the annual rendition of the Macoupin County Tournament. During the 1030s the tourney included 16 schools. Each year, teams from Benld; Brighton; Bunker Hill; Carlinville; Chesterfield; Gillespie; Girard; Hettick; Medora; Modesto; Mt. Olive; Palmyra; Scottville; Shipman; Staunton; and Virden competed for county bragging rights. Finally, the SCC has experienced tremendous change throughout its history, and the first such shakeup occurred in 1932-33. That season saw the SCC fall to nine teams with the departure of Shelbyville. Litchfield followed suit two years later, leaving the organization with eight teams. However, the SCC went back to nine teams in 1935-36, as Benld was welcomed to the fold.

Class of 1930

Basketball (Boys)

Staunton welcomed a new coach for the 1929-30 basketball season, as Judson Jones took over the program. SHS graduated many key competitors from the prior two seasons, and unfortunately youth and inexperience took their toll as the team suffered to a record of 4-18, including 2-10 in the SCC. The team’s win total came in a six-game span, as the squad opened the year with twelve straight losses and finished with four straight defeats. A stretch of strong play came at the Macoupin County Tournament, as the team thrilled fans with many close games before bowing out in Fourth Place. The event started with a close win over Mt. Olive (18-17). SHS then narrowly defeated Benld in overtime by a score of 17-16. Unfortunately, Modesto ended the team’s title hopes with a 9-7 victory, after which SHS was soundly defeated by Carlinville. Out of the four wins in the campaign, three came against Mt. Olive.

Football

After the flu epidemic forced the 1918 season to be canceled, SHS reeled off ten straight winning campaigns, many of which were spectacular seasons. However, Staunton stumbled to a 1-6-1 record under coach Judson Jones in 1929, including 0-5 in the SCC in his first season on the job. The lone victory came in Week One when SHS defeated GRanite City by a score of 18-6. After a scoreless tie with Edwardsville, the Maroons went on to lose the rest of their games to Gillespie (7-6), Pana (51-6), Benld (17-7), Hillsboro (57-0), Carlinville (19-0), and Mt. Olive (7-0). Hillsboro captured the first of two straight SCC titles that season.

Though the team did not fare well on the field, SHS once again saw a large group of players participate in football. In 1929, the roster included: Herman Bachelor; Winston Bachelor; Ernest Borsch; Art Bozue; Ed Burgoyne; Jim Burgoyne; Ted Charley; John Conway; George Courtney; Jim DeQuire; Elmer Graham; Al Haase; Clettis Hebenstreit; Bob Herschel; Mel Hiffman; Otto Horky; Lewis Jacobs; Rob Jones; Joe Kapila; Junior Kaseman; Layton Lamb; Rich Lorenzini; Edgar Lorsen; bill Marland; John Masser; Ted Melton; Leroy Miller; Bill Mosser; Joe O’Neal; Elmer Schnaare; Fred Schulte; Adler Spotti; Elmer Spotti; Myrl Stiegemeier; George Swain; Harry Walters; Walt Yaeger; and Fred Yauornik.

Tennis (Boys)

It appears that Staunton High School added a tennis team, or at least allowed individuals to compete, for the spring season of 1930. Al Haase and Fred Schultz were particularly effective, as they advanced to State in doubles and made a run for the title before finishing in Third Place.

Track (Boys)

Staunton was unable to three-peat as SCC champions in 1930, as the team fell to Third Place in the standings under coach Judson Jones. John Masser was the lone bright spot for SHS, setting a conference record in the pole vault and later advancing to State in that same event.

Class of 1931

Basketball (Boys)

Coming off a poor season from the year before, the 1030-31 basketball team looked to improve under the leadership of Judson Jones. Coach Jones welcomed back six letter winners, including seniors Rich Lorenzini and John Masser, as well as underclassmen Corbett Dietiker, Stand Filipwcz, Ted Melton, and Adler Spotti. Although the team did not attain a winning season, the squad did improve, finishing 7-8-1 overall and 3-6-1 in the SCC.

Ties in basketball are very rare, and in fact the one in 1931 was the only tie in the program’s history. SHS played Gillespie in Staunton, and the boys in myrtle and maroon led 22-21 with just seconds left in the contest. At that point, a Gillespie player stole the ball and hit a half-court shot to seemingly win the game. However, the score table disagreed on whether or not the shot had beaten the clock. The referees eventually decided that overtime should be played to determine the winner. But, by that time the crowd would not settle down, and the same officials decided to end the game on the spot and call it a tie.

The Macoupin County tournament was fairly uneventful for SHS, as Staunton defeated Virden before losing to Carlinville by a score of 11-10. However, one interesting note about the event is that 1931 marked the first year that tournament administrators decided to play all of the games at night. Instead of a two-day affair that saw games begin on Friday morning and end Saturday night, the tournament switched to a Wednesday-Saturday format due to low attendance. Though Staunton did not fare well, Masser took home All-County honors at the event, which was won by Chesterfield for the third straight season.

Football

The 1930 Staunton football team fared better than the previous year, finishing 4-4-1 overall and 3-2-1 in the SCC. Judson Jones coached the team in his second season with the program. Though Week One saw the team lose to Palmyra by a score of 13-0, it is believed that the game was the first in Macoupin County history to be played under lights. SHS dropped a tough game to Edwardsville (12-6) in Week Two but started off the SCC slate on the right foot with a shutout of Taylorville (18-0) in Week Three. In Week Four, Staunton and Gillespie played a scoreless tie before Carlinville nipped Staunton (13-12) the very next week. Two shutout victories followed, as Staunton downed Litchfield (34-0) before pulling a big upset in defeating Jacksonville Routt (7-0). A loss to eventually SCC champion Hillsboro preceded the annual Thanksgiving game against Mt. Olive, with SHS winning by a score of 21-0.

Tennis (Boys)

The 1931 tennis team ventured to Collinsville and defeated the host squad to capture the District championship.

Track (Boys)

Judson Jones’ 1931 track team finished Fifth at the SCC Meet, with only one individual, John Masser (pole vault), capturing gold. The team fared much better at the Macoupin County Meet, with Masser again winning the pole vault. However, this time he was joined in the winner’s circle by Elmer Graham (hurdles), Ted Melton (long jump, 400 meters), and Bill Pervinsek (shot put). Walt Meyer, a senior, continued his track career at Illinois College.

Class of 1932

Basketball (Boys)

As the Great Depression set in, newspaper space became limited, and thus results for sports other than football are hard to uncover, and in reality some have probably been lost to history. In particular, basketball coverage suffered, perhaps because the community viewed basketball as a minor sport, or due to the fact that the program had not been overly successful throughout its history. Either way, it is very difficult to determine the record of several teams of the 1930s, and the 1931-31 season is no different. In the four results that were found, Staunton was 0-4 under coach Judson Jones.

Football

Judson Jones’ 1931 football team got off to a very hot start, winning the first four games of the season. After a three-game losing streak, SHS closed with two victories and thus finished the season with a record of 6-3, including 4-2 in the SCC. After the season, team members Elmer Graham and Layton Lamb were both named First Team All-Conference. Senior Ted Melton continued his football career at Millikin University.

Week One saw Staunton clobber Mt. Olive by a score of 45-0. The shutout victories continued the next two weeks, as both Palmyra (25-0) and Shelbyville (27-0) suffered losses at the hands of the Green Wave. Staunton was able to squeak by Gillespie (7-6) in a Week Four matchup between the two rivals. Close losses to Nokomis (6-0), Carlinville (14-6), and Benld (7-6) ensued before Staunton pulled off an epic upset of Hillsboro in Week Eight by a score of 13-12. The Hiltoppers were undefeated coming into the game, and by many accounts they would surely beat a reeling Staunton squad. However, SHS held on for a close victory and went on to defeat Mt. Olive (12-0) for the second time on the season in the annual Thanksgiving game. The close losses to Carlinville and Nokomis came back to haunt SHS, as those two schools eventually tied for the SCC crown.

Track (Boys)

Judson Jones’ 1932 track team had an average season, finishing Sixth at the SCC Meet and Fourth at the Macoupin County Meet. However, the team did receive outstanding individual performances from two members, as Bill Pervinsek set SCC records in both the discus and shot put, while Ted Melton won a conference title in the long jump. At County, Pervinsek set a record in the discus while also winning the shot put, and Melton repeated as champion of the long jump. It is worth mentioning that in 1932 event officials decided to switch from awarding individual medals to instead giving out ribbons to each winner. Surely this was a cost issue, partly due to the economic situation that the country faced at the time.

Class of 1933

Basketball (Boys)

Though the program played a full schedule, only partial results were found for the 1932-33 basketball team. The squad finished 2-8 in those games under the direction of Judson Jones.

Football

On paper, the 1932 football season was one of the worst in school history at the time, as the squad finished winless on the year with a record of 0-5-4, including 0-4-3 in the SCC. However, a closer look at the results reveals that every game on the schedule was competitive, and in fact the team only allowed 78 points the whole year. Unfortunately, SHS only scored once during the season in an age of defensive excellence. The team was coached by Judson Jones in his last year with the program. A bright spot for the club was the play of senior Layton Lamb, an All-Conference selection.

The season started with a 6-0 loss to Mt. Olive, followed by scoreless ties with Litchfield and Collinsville. Losses to Gillespie (15-0) and Benld (13-0) followed before the team battled Carlinville to a 7-7 tie. The two straight losses to Pana (13-0) and Hillsboro (24-0) put Staunton in a precarious situation, as the boys in myrtle and maroon had to knock off SCC front-runner Mt. Olive to win their only game of the year. Though SHS did not win the game, it did play Mt. Olive to a scoreless tie, thus forcing the boys in purple and gold to share the league crown with Gillespie. On a side note, and unfortunately as a sign of the times, Litchfield dropped its football program after the season due to budgetary constraints.

Track (Boys)

Judson Jones’ 1933 track team took Second place in the athletic portion of the Macoupin County Meet. However, the students scored well in the literary portion the previous day, and thus the school actually won the Championship Cup. In the sporting portion, Ted Charley took gold in the pole vault, as did the 800 meter relay team. At the SCC Meet, Wil Leonard took First Place in the 400 meters.

Bulldogs defeat Tri-City 40-26