50th Kuemper football game reunion built on David vs. Goliath win

By RENEE WEBB
Content and Design Coordinator
When the Carroll Kuemper Knights faced the Sioux City Heelan Crusaders on the gridiron 50 years ago, the Knights were the big-time underdogs.

Russ Hoffman of Greene County, a member of the 1974 Kuemper football team, said Bishop Heelan was a 4A powerhouse at the time, dominating everyone they played.

“They were 50-point favorites over us. The game was said to be David against Goliath,” he said, recalling the Crusaders dressed 68 players and the Knights dressed 36.

Just as David overtook the giant, Kuemper beat Heelan - edging out the favorites by one point, 7-6.

“The game was a big deal to the team and created its own little life. That game meant so much to the program. We hadn’t had much success and then beating Heelan when they were No. 1 has been a big deal for the Kuemper football team over the years,” said Russ Rupiper, a member of the 1974 Kuemper team who now resides in Omaha. “It lives on.”

That game meant a lot to the Kuemper players, Hoffman even kept a binder with newspaper clippings and mementos from the game. It was when he was reminiscing about that game with John Steffes, current President of Kuemper High School, that the idea of having a reunion for the game’s 50^th anniversary emerged.

“It was a great football season from 50 years ago and the big upset over heavily favored No.1 Heelan was the highlight of that season in 1974,” said Steffes.

Heather Pietig, advancement director of Kuemper Catholic School, said the 50^th anniversary reunion will be held at the football game on Aug. 30 when the Knights play Bishop Heelan. The reunion is for anyone who was a part of the 1974 football team, marching band or cheer squad.

“Team members will be recognized at half-time of the game and plan to gather at a local brewery afterward,” she said. "While we're going to celebrate the past, we're also excited about the future of the Kuemper program. We hope the current players understand the legacy they’re part of and continue to uphold the pride and tradition that these past players started."

It is their hope, noted Pietig, that anyone who was a part of the memorable 1974 season will attend the reunion.

Steffes said Kuemper always enjoys alumni coming back to Kuemper to celebrate with their classmates and reconnect whether it is a class reunion, a team’s reunion or even a musical’s reunion. Last year, the school hosted a reunion for three classes that took part in The Music Man production at Kuemper.

“Homecoming weekend is always our biggest weekend for alumni, bur our alumni department is doing a great job at inviting other celebrations at Kuemper such as the 1974 football team,” said the Kuemper president. “It’s important to stay connected with not only fellow classmates, teachers and friends but these reunions also help alumni stay connected to their faith which is our number one mission.”

Hoffman, whom he believes was the only member of the team to play college football, is hopeful many will return for the reunion. The 1974 season at Kuemper was his senior year. From there he played a year at Iowa Central Community College before moving on to Buena Vista College (now university) in Storm Lake.

As the football reunion approaches, the former Kuemper players reminisced about football in the state at that time which featured 434 high school teams, just shy of the all-time record with 21,750 students playing. Currently, there are 341 football teams.

While Kuemper enrollment was much larger back in the 1970s, the players noted the football team was not.

“With Carroll located in the middle of nowhere, we were the team that had to visit all of the big schools and a lot of times we got our butts kicked by the bigger schools back then,” said Rupiper. “My junior year we went up to Sioux City Heelan and got beat 66-0.”

That’s one of the reasons why beating the Crusaders the next year generated so much excitement and lasting memories.

Hoffman relayed a few highlights from the big game, noting that Knights’ quarterback Tom Nurse threw the winning touchdown for Kuemper that gave them the lead of 7-0 early in the game. He also noted that Rupiper blocked Heelan’s extra point that gave the Knights the win.

Rupiper was quick to note that while he did make the block, he had made a bad play resulting in Heelan’s touchdown. The block – which happened through efforts of many players - gave him redemption.

“It was a good team effort. Somehow we kept the game close and we won at the end. Everyone played a good game,” he stressed. Plus, the team’s new coach had some plays that worked against Heelan’s triple option game.

Rupiper remembered how Bishop Heelan’s football coach Beanie Cooper sent Kuemper a letter congratulating Kuemper on their win. The Heelan coach said if they had to lose to anyone, he was happy it was Kuemper.

The team had received the support of many that year, noted Hoffman, including two clergy who are now deceased – Father Ed Tiedeman and Msgr. Thomas Donahoe.

Kuemper concluded the season with a record of 6-3 that year, which they noted was a good season for them. The Knights of 1974 continue to cherish their win over the Crusaders that year, notching one of just four wins over Bishop Heelan in football through the years. That record stands at 4-34.

Reflecting on the 50 years, Hoffman noted, it “seems like a blink. Time goes by but great memories like this do not.”