(From Minnetonka Football - The First Half Century by Miles Jon Cohen)
| 1952 |
The first football year of the newly named Minnetonka Skippers (named after much debate for the proximity to the lake) was 1952 with the merger of Excelsior High School Blue Jays and the Deephaven High School Wolves. Our first head coach, Earl Christ was quoted in that year's yearbook, "In our first year of football at Minnetonka we started with an unknown, untried squad. With the loss of the outstanding 1951 graduates, we came into the new high school with a rebuilding job on our hands. The squad responded to the challenge. They worked long, hard hours before school started in the fall. We felt that by season's end we had accomplished the goal set, to work for good school spirit and winning teams. Although we did not win as much as we had hoped, we felt a good start was made. The squad spirit lasted all season, a lot of which was due to some good leadership from the Co-captains Gary Marx and Pete Bergren."
MHS in its first inaugural season (playing on the old Excelsior Strafford football field) finished a surprising 2 wins, a tie and 4 losses including a heartbreaking loss by one point to Mound. It as a solid beginning by these 41 "Original" players – the next half century would build on this outstanding foundation.
| 1953 |
The 1953 yearbook leads off by stating that "Football is considered one of the most popular sports at Minnetonka and you can hear the crack of shoulder pads and the thud of high punts any crisp fall afternoon. The enthusiasm of the coaches and players provide an amount of competitive spirit".
The second full season of the "New" MHS provided plenty of lumps and hardships for the continuing re-building effort. Coach Christ in summing up the season said "This season from a won/loss perspective, was not successful, but as in many things in life, setbacks help build stronger organizations. I think the boys we have at Minnetonka are the type to fight back and will eventually give us a championship. I wish to take nothing away from this year's team. We lacked size and experience. Even with the beatings we took, the team camp up to the last game of the season with plenty of spirit and determination."
| 1954 |
Football again claimed a great amount of interest on the part of the Minnetonka fans and players. The grid iron season brought out a record 50 boys for practice who worked hard the entire year.
It was a full season of activity and hard work and those playing on the team would long remember the experience, friendships, and rivalries that they gained.
The season was winless but did include another close loss to Robbinsdale 14-13 and ended on an upnote with a 20-20 tie against the arch rival Wayzata.
| 1955 |
This was a year of change for the Minnetonka Skippers. A new formation (split-T with a balanced line) and direction came about under the new head coach, Mr. "Bud" Andrus who took over from Mr. Christ who would concentrate on Basketball and ultimately lead the Skippers to their first State Championship ten years later.
As usual, it is always difficult in such transitions for a new coach to step in, but Mr. Andrus and the team made rapid adjustments and were able to finish the season strong with two big wins over St. Louis Park and Wayzata. The other six games were very hard-fought losses except for the thrashing at the hands of Edina 0-54. That game Bud had pneumonia and couldn't attend but the kids learned a valuable lesson and practiced hard and won their last two games with a "no-huddle" offense. Yet there continued to be signs that this "new" small high school could indeed make its mark in the powerful Lake Conference.
| 1956 |
| 1957 |
The Skippers went 5-4 for their first winning season and best record to date. The team continued its upward climb in firmly entrenching itself as a strong contender in the Lake Conference. The team played the #1 ranked teams in the state - Robbinsdale and Edina. The latter's coach commented, "Minnetonka played a better game than anyone else against us" even though on the losing end of a 7-20 score.
Tonka also broke through and won its first Homecoming game ever (35-13 over Hopkins). The Skippers were led by a senior line with an underclassmen backfield many felt would "run wild" the following year! Finally, the depth and quality were beginning to pay off as the suburb began to increase its population base. Thirty-five varsity players suited up that year with a large JV contingent as well.
| 1958 |
Tonka's best season to date and as predicted the prior year, was led by its fourth head coach in the past seven years, Ray Christesen. Ray was named Conference coach of the year in his inaugural season.
With an "M" on the front of the helmets, the mighty Skippers finished the season with a record of 7-2, tied for second place in the final conference standings. This was the best record in Tonka's modern history and brought their cumulative seven season mark to 19-35-2.
The climax of the season was when the team rose up victorious over St. Louis Park, a conference power this year, in the final game. With Park leading 6-20 at the half, chances did not look good. However, determination excelled in the 2nd half as the Skippers exploded for 33 points and as the gun sounded the Skippers prevailed 36-26.
Coaches and Players said "we believe most of the credit for this year's record should go to our linemen, both offensive and defensive. We knew our success depended upon their development. However, we can't forget the dependable second and third strings and the job done by Coach Christesen and his staff".
Another important aside in this year was that a petition was given to the high school requesting a medical doctor be on the field during all games after an injury incident to Jim Tremann. This established the still used precedent of having medical people always on site at Skippers games.
| 1959 |
The 1959 edition of the Skippers faced a tough season after their superlative previous year and fell to a record of 3-5-1. Highlights were three shutouts over Wayzata, Fairmont and Hopkins by combined 87 points. Lowlights were a 0-28 drubbing at the hands of St Louis Park and a tough season ending loss to Mound 0-6. The weather was a negative factor all season but especially the final against the Mohawks with 13 degree temps, snow and lots of wind. A homecoming defeat by 31 points to Bloomington didn't help matters either.
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