A look back at the 1976 Horlick football team

BY PETER JACKEL, Aug. 30, 2001

The winter of 1976-77 was destined to become one of the coldest on record and the first signs of what was to come descended on the dark practice field that late afternoon in November.

Only adrenaline was keeping members of the undefeated Horlick High School football team reasonably warm as they trudged into the fieldhouse following their final practice together on Nov. 10, 1976. What a contrast it was to the dog days of August, when coach Dick Wojick unmercifully challenged them under a sweltering sun to develop into the team they would become.

Within 24 hours of that frigid night, they would be on a bus en route to Oshkosh for an historic date against Antigo in the first public school state championship football game held in Wisconsin. But there was one last order of business to take care of first. Before those exhausted and grimy players were allowed to go home to their calculus homework and English papers, they were ordered back onto the practice field by Wojick for one last round of an exquisite torture known as the "Green Bay Grass Drill.''

Charging out of Horlick's fieldhouse into the darkness, the weary players lined up in rows, diligently ran in place, hit the turf with their stomachs whenever Wojick blew his whistle and then bounced back up on their feet and resumed pumping their legs. As conditioned as they were by this point of the season, gasps for air became more pronounced as Wojick pushed them harder and harder.

"Antigo's at home now eating dinner and you're here!'' Wojick shouted in encouragement between the shrill tweets of his whistle as players counted out in unison the steps of this drill. "What you're doing right now is going to make you better than them!"

TWEEEEEET!

"One-two-three-four!"

"Come on, Kevin Dhennin, keep those feet moving! That a way, Donny Heinkel! That's what I wanna see!"

TWEEEEEET!

"One-two-three-four!"

"No one is out here in the middle of the night doing these things! When that team is breathing down your neck, you will bond together because of this!"

When it was finally over, those gasping players filed into the fieldhouse and a pall of silence descended over that dark field.

"I just have such a vivid memory of that night,'' said Roy Wittke, Horlick's senior quarterback that season. "Nobody questioned having to go back out on that field, nobody thought anything about it being unusual. That's what Dick demanded of us and that's what we did.''

What they became was something historic. The Rebels used an efficient offense and dominating defense to outscore their opponents by an average margin of 33-7 during their undefeated regular season, become the state's top-ranked team and be invited to the first state playoffs for public schools teams in Wisconsin's history.

"I think we had a team that was exceptionally dedicated to do whatever it took to excel,'' said Don Heinkel, a quarterback, running back and safety for the 1976 Rebels. "The work ethic that the coaches instilled in us was unheard of at that time.''

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The origin of what became known as the "Horlick Rebel Machine" dated back to the Rebels' 13-6 season-opening loss to Milwaukee Marquette in 1975. Wojick, an old-school disciplinarian from Chicago's south side , made an immediate impact upon arriving at Horlick in 1972, transforming a team that was coming off an 0-8-1 season into one that went 6-3. But then things stagnated.

After regressing to 5-4 in 1973 and 4-5 in '74, the Rebels appeared to be at a crossroads following that loss to Marquette. When would Wojick's methods, which included an uncompromising year-round commitment to football from his players, finally take root?

And then it happened. Partially because Wittke solved an unsettled quarterback situation by being named the permanent starter the following week against Sheboygan South, the Rebels went on to win their final eight games in 1975. By the 1976 season, the core of that team and a talented group of juniors elevated the Rebels to the status as perhaps the finest high school football team in Wisconsin.

The seasoned Wittke was back at quarterback. Pat Sura, a standout defensive end, punter and occasional tight end who went on to play for Kansas State, is remembered by Wittke as perhaps the Rebels' finest player. John Huston, the middle linebacker with a wild side who went on to play for Kansas, brought a renegade edge to Horlick. The massive Greg Miskinis, who signed with Wisconsin, was a dominating presence on both sides of the line.

And then there were the juniors. Heinkel, a talented overall athlete who went on to become the NCAA's all-time leader in victories as a pitcher at Wichita State, shared time with Wittke at quarterback, filled in at running back when Zenith Driver was injured and started at safety.

Steve Schonert gave the Rebels a dominant kicking game and would go on to come within an eyelash of making the Minnesota Vikings in 1983. And at right offensive tackle, Kevin Dhennin was considered by some as the most physically gifted of all the Rebels.

"I would have loved to have stayed at Horlick just to watch him develop,'' said the semi-retired Wojick, who lives in Lemont, Ill.

But perhaps Horlick's most essential player was the late Tony Azarian, the 5-foot-9, 170-pound nose guard and fullback who oozed with inspiration. He had the size of a defensive back, but Azarian was such a ferocious competitor that he earned All-State honors as a nose guard.

"He was the heart and soul of that team,'' Wittke said. "He was an emotional leader. He was a leader by example.''

The Rebels' regular season was a mixture of blowout victories and stirring comebacks. They opened at Kenosha with a 38-0 rout of Tremper, which was just three years away from putting together back-to-back undefeated state championship seasons. Other blowouts included a 51-0 victory over Gary (Ind.) West at Pershing Park Sept. 25 and a 67-0 rout of Milwaukee Washington at Horlick Field one week later.

But there was also drama. They escaped with a 21-20 victory over Madison Memorial at Pershing Park Sept. 10 when Heinkel came on in relief to throw a three-yard touchdown pass to the late Ross Panyk with 27 seconds left to send the game into overtime. Heinkel then scored on a one-yard touchdown plunge in overtime to give Horlick the victory.

One week later, Angus McNeely set up Dave Barrera's winning touchdown run in a 14-7 victory over Madison East when he made a diving 35-yard catch from Heinkel in the final seconds.

And then there was the Rebels' dramatic 21-16 victory over Case during a downpour at Horlick Field Oct. 8. Case was ahead 16-14 at its own 18-yard-line with 3:19 left when Miskinis slammed into quarterback Mark Trossen and the ball popped into the hands of Jim Buchholz. Azarian followed with an 18-yard touchdown run for the winning margin.

"I think we walked away from there thinking whatever anybody was going to throw at us, we were going to find a way to win,'' Wittke said.

During that first season of playoffs, there was a field of just four teams that were invited based on a point system. In the semifinals, the Rebels beat South Milwaukee 23-14 at Horlick Field while Antigo rolled past Milwaukee Madison 36-16 at UW-Oshkosh's Titan Stadium.

The stage was set for a showdown between two 10-0 teams for the state championship at Titan Stadium. Antigo, coached by Gordy Schofield, was consistently one of the state's top-ranked teams during the 1970s, winning 49 of its previous 50 games going into the showdown against Horlick, and allowing just 35 points during the '76 regular season.

Antigo's offense was nowhere near as impressive, scoring just 143 points. Surely, that "Rebel Machine" defense would be up to the task, meaning Antigo was going to need a break.

It got one on the first play of the game. Azarian, taking a handoff from Wittke, lost control of the ball and Antigo recovered on Horlick's 28-yard-line. A few minutes later, Antigo's Randy Zoern scored on a 10-yard run and, following a missed extra point, Horlick trailed 6-0 with 6:31 left in the first quarter.

Little could anyone realize at the time that those would be the only points scored on that freezing night.

The Rebels were held to 86 total yards and three first downs by Antigo's swarming defense, but they still had a chance to win in the closing minutes. Antigo quarterback Dan Thorpe fumbled after getting hit by Sura and Miskinis recovered at Antigo's 41 midway through the fourth quarter.

After driving to Antigo's 32, the Rebels faced a fourth-and-one with 5:15 to play. Azarian was sent into the left side of Horlick's line in a desperate effort to keep the drive alive, but Antigo tackle Dan Neis handled Heinkel, the lead blocker, and Azarian was stuffed.

Wittke asked for a measurement, but there was none. The ball went over to Antigo and the game, not to mention the dream, was over.

"There was no question it was stuffed,'' Schonert said. "I think if we would have picked that up, we would have won the ballgame, I really do, because the momentum was switching to us.

"It was frustrating because I really believe we had the better team, but the better team didn't win that day.''

Within five months, the 37-year-old Wojick would be gone, taking a head coaching position at Illinois' Lyons Township High School in the aftermath of the third teachers' strike in five years in Racine.

"If it wasn't for the circumstances, I'd probably still be coaching at Horlick,'' Wojick said.

He took with him the spirit of those '76 Rebels.

When Wojick was inducted into the Illinois High School Coaches Association in 1999, he had something dear to him inscribed on part of his ring.

Those words were "Horlick Rebels."

"I just have glowing thoughts of that team,'' Wojick said.