Menu
The mighty Red Willow Zephyrs
During the school year, 1958-59 the Red Willow Zephyrs won Nebraska State High School Championships in football, basketball, and track -- the first time that a Nebraska school had achieved such a record. Since then only a handful of schools have equaled that record -- perhaps no one else in the three "major" sports of football, basketball, and track. (Note: Red Willow is now a part of the Southwest School System.)
In 2008 the Nebraska Sports Hall of Fame is honoring Red Willow School and its male athletes (virtually the entire male population of the school) as the 50th Anniversary Team(s) at a Gala Banquet at NU's Lied Center in Lincoln on Sept. 28.
Red Willow was long known as a sports powerhouse among the small schools in Southwest Nebraska. Because of the size of the school (25 boys, 25 girls) -- one of the smallest in Class D -- almost all the boys in school went out for at least one of the three sports. In that era, the only sport available for girls' participation was volleyball, and true to form, the Red Willow girls fielded strong Volleyball teams.
In the late '50s Red Willow began to separate from the pack and began to play at a higher level. This surge to excellence coincided with the hiring, in 1953, of former McCook athletic star, Don McKillip as coach, for football, basketball, and track. By '58 McKillip, who continued to teach classes, had also been named Superintendent of Red Willow High School -- and the Red Willow trophy case was bursting at the seams.
By 1957 Red Willow had become the team to beat in Southwest Nebraska. Don Reiners, of rural Indianola, was a senior in 1959. He remembers that the '57-'58 teams were probably stronger than the ones in '58-'59. The '57 football team was unbeaten, and the track team won the Class D Championship, but the basketball team was runner-up to Clatonia in the State Tournament. In those days there were no playoffs for football, so Champions were "chosen" by the Omaha World Herald and the Lincoln Star/Journal.
In 1957 the Hastings Chamber of Commerce promoted a "Big Brothers Bowl", to select a true Champion in Eight Man football. Red Willow defeated previously unbeaten Dakota City 44-7 in that game, on the neutral Hastings gridiron.
By 1958 there were 150 schools in Nebraska playing 8-Man football (most small schools having switched from 6-Man to 8-Man). There were two classes of 8-Man football, A and B. There was no doubt that Red Willow was best in Class B.
With the loss of All-Staters, Det Malleck, Larry Reiners, and Jim Mackey from the '57 team, Coach McKillip was forced to revamp his line-up, but with All Conference guard, Marv Teel switched to quarterback the team scarcely missed a beat.
The '58 Red Willow team went undefeated (for the 2nd straight year). Their closest game was a 14-12 victory over Hayes Center. They were the consensus Champions by the state's major newspapers. Four members of the team -- Bill Lashley, Raymond (Doc) Fisher, Marvin Teel, and Don Reiners received All-State recognition.
Exeter, ranked No. 1 Class A 8-Man, was invited to play the Zephyrs at the end of the season to settle the controversy for Overall Eight-Man Champs. They declined and were thereupon declared No. 1 in Class A 8-Man Football and Red Willow #1 in Class B, and there was nothing more that the boys from Red Willow could do about it.
In basketball, the '58-'59 Red Willow Zephyrs were a scoring machine, scoring more than 70 points a game nine times. The team was determined to improve on its runner-up position in the Championship game of a year earlier, but a midseason stumble, a game which Indianola won 42-40, caused some concern. Don Reiners and Vern Esch, members of that Red Willow team, remember that game vividly. Things had not gone well, and when Coach McKillip came into the dressing room they expected to be chastised royally. McKillip was very calm.
"I'm not surprised. You fellows have not played up to your potential for the last several games. You have to decide how far you want to go. It's up to you." With that he walked out of the dressing room. That was their wake up call. They didn't let up again, finishing a 27-1 season by winning the Class D Championship, downing Beaver Crossing, 63-59 in the finals of the State Tournament at Lincoln.
In an after-season interview McKillip said, "Before the season started I had no idea that we'd go this far. The attitude of these boys has been tremendous. They're the best working unit I've ever coached."
(He was referring to Red Willow's five senior starters, Don Reiners, Marv Teel, Ray Fisher, Virgil Couse, and Vern Esch.)
Reiners and Esch say it was true. There never was just one star on the team. They seemed to take turns in being high scorer, or pitching in winning free throws.
For the 1959 Red Willow track team, the story was more of the same. Seniors, Marv Teel, Virgil Couse, Vern Esch, and Don Reiners were joined by Junior Ronnie Hanthorn and Freshman Mike Milbauer to form another well balanced team that captured the Class D High School Championship, in Lincoln, with 20 1/5 points. This victory completed Red Willow's clean sweep of Championships -- in football, basketball, and track -- an achievement that was widely recognized by the state's newspapers at the time.
Interest in this year's reunion at the Hall of Fame Banquet is strong, and a fun reuniting of teammates, schoolmates, and friends of 1950s Red Willow School is assured in Lincoln the last weekend in September. However, the event, celebrated as it will be will carry a sad note for the men who played on the Red Willow sports teams. Don McKillip, Superintendent, Teacher, and Coach for all three of the sports Championships will not be present for the celebration. He passed away earlier this year.
McKillip attended St. Pat's Elementary School in McCook and graduated from McCook High School. He lettered three years in football, basketball, and track. He played football at McCook Junior College, then at the University of Colorado. But it was as a coach that he left his mark in Nebraska Sports History.
His record in six years at Red Willow was spectacular, leading to his selection of "Prep Coach of the Year" by the Omaha World Herald in 1957-'58, the first time that a Class D coach had won that honor. He climaxed his stay at Red Willow, of course, the next year, when he ran the table in garnering all three sports Championships.
Following the '58-'59 season McKillip moved on to coach football at McCook Junior College, where he continued his winning ways. (During two summers at McCook McKillip coached the Legion Baseball teams and took those teams to the State Tournament both years.)
In 1962 he was named "College Coach of the Year by the World Herald, earning his place as one of Nebraska's all-time most successful coaches.
Don Reiners and Vern Esch feel fortunate to have played for McKillip, whom they refer to as "A Great Coach."
"He taught us so much," they say.
"We learned the fundamentals of the sports, and he instilled in us the desire to win, certainly, but so much more.
"He taught us sportsmanship, to look out for each other, and work together as a team to get a job done, how to act like gentlemen at all times -- and how to persevere when things got tough.
"Those are the things that have stayed with us, and helped us these past 50 years."