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Minnetonka Football Tradition
The Early Years of Minnetonka Football
(From Minnetonka Football - The First Half Century by Miles Jon Cohen)
The Minnetonka School District, which is now known as District 276, was organized on March 15, 1949 when voters approved the consolidation of six small school districts into one large consolidated district: Clear Springs, Deephaven, Excelsior, Groveland, Minnewashta, and Tonka Bay.
The Minnetonka High School's precursors date back to the mid-1800's. Deephaven School, later to become Deephaven High, was organized in 1892 and Excelsior High School evolved in 1915. The merger of the two high schools into one new facility in 1952 as historic, according to Bob Miller, class of '54 graduate and founding member of the Alumni Association. It was the "first major consolidation of high schools in the state of Minnesota"; he was quoted as saying in the Sun Sailor article.
Our high school's history may not have been if it weren't for the "founding father" and visionary William O. Nilsen. Not only did he plan and lead the merger, he also served as the new district's first superintendent (the first of only five in MHS history) until 1968.
In the late 1890's, Southern Minnesota High Schools led the way in adopting the game. Early entrants from the Twin Cities area include: Minneapolis East, West, and Central; St. Paul Central and Mechanics Arts High Schools. Records for the early teams at Excelsior High and Deephaven High are hard to come by but we do know the boys were "hitting hard" out in the Lake Minnetonka Area all through the 1900s. In fact, older adults still talk about the 1928 Excelsior Blue Jay team rated as one of the best in the entire nation.
Deephaven High only played six-man football until 1945 and had only about 500 kids in grades K-12. They were not a part o f the Lake Conference but played in the old Minnesota Valley conference along with Bloomington, Chaska, Eden Prairie, Shakopee, Waconia and Watertown. Excelsior, the larger of the two schools, played eleven man football in the Original Lake Conference comprised at the time of Wayzata, Mound, Hopkins, St. Louis Park, Edina and University High. In 1940, Robbinsdale replaced University High in the conference.
Earl Christ became the first varsity football head coach at the newly consolidated Minnetonka High School in 1952. Don Eliason, was his right-hand coach (and former head coach of the Excelsior Blue Jays) at MHS.
THE TRADITION BY DECADE
1950s
1960s
1970s
1980s
1990s
2000s
Minnetonka Lore
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