(From Minnetonka Football - The First Half Century by Miles Jon Cohen)
| 1980 |
Coach Soukup (assisted by Mike Grant who went onto become the dynasty building head coach at our neighbor, Eden Prairie) called this year's team "the best he has ever coached certainly on a par with the 7-2 1975 unit. The Skippers finished the year 6-3 in the won/loss column including the all-time heartbreaker to future State Champ Burnsville by the final score of 10-14!
Our conference this particular year was the toughest in the state and early on we were ranked 8th in the Coach's poll.
| 1981 |
This was Coach Soukup's final year as head coach of the Blue & White after a decade of fielding another quarter century to our football program since ably coaching sophomores, assisting the Varsity with Coach Ginther, working at all levels with our youth program even to his day under Coach Nelson after retiring from a distinguished teaching career.
Even though this year's edition finished with a 3-6 won/loss record, our numbers continued to improve and Skipper spirit remained high.
| 1982 |
Another new coach, our 8th head coach in 30 years, John Erickson, was placed in a difficult position organizationally with little notice. John was also the Skippers' successful head boys hockey coach and he drew heavily on the expertise of long-time former head coach and athletic director Walt West, Bill Josephson and Mike Sundeen.
There was a lot to overcome with our numbers down to around 59 players and scarce resources and not a lot of time to prepare for the tough Lake competition. Therefore, we only won one game, a 12-9 upset over Armstrong in our third game of the year.
Coach Erickson commented at the season's end, "this team and all the individuals gave it their best shot and never gave up despite several close and hard fought losses."
| 1983 |
In the words of second year coach, Erickson, this edition of the Blue and White "experienced another frustrating and disappointing season". The team was crushed by a tough 6-10 opening loss to Osseo; then came back to win its only game of the year, 14-9 over Fridley in our first meeting ever with this squad.
We averaged over 300 yards per game but just had a hard time all year long scoring more than once and clicking in the "red zone". Again we had exemplary athletes who were much more skilled than their final record reflected.
| 1984 |
It was tough for Coach Erickson the prior two years. He was an excellent Hockey coach and yet the football program was struggling. The only decision for the school and Brad Board, Athletic Director, was to conduct a thorough search resulting in the hiring of the new head football coach Myles Ginther. Our numbers had eroded and the Administration realized we needed to commit more resources to football.
Coach Ginther was the ideal man having graduated and played at both St. Thomas Academy in Mendota Heights and at St. Norbert's in Wisconsin. He had done an excellent job teaching and coaching at a small program in North Dakota and was looking for an excuse to get "home". Thus, our 9th head coach was retained with the charge to "revitalize" the football program through teaching basic fundamentals at all levels of competition (including the youth program, TFA). His only assistant that first year was former head coach Walt West.
Our numbers had been dwindling, the ambulance was on the field a lot the year before, and for the first time in MHS history the JV schedule was dropped. We had to rebuild from the prior year's less than 35 player roster so Coach Ginther got on the phone and into the halls to roust up recruits to come out for football. His hard efforts paid off and we opened the season with about 55 guys dressed.
A tough group of Sophomores who were undefeated as the "Tonka Chiefs" were coming up and the Juniors really went to work preparing for their Senior year.
| 1985 |
What a difference a year can make, especially under a well-disciplined, organized coach and a vibrant Booster organization. To start the year off right, a Minnetonka booster, Joseph Durda, and his wife Dolores wrote a check for $20,000 to rebuild our football field putting in drainage tiles, new turf and making other improvements including our aged press box otherwise known as the crow's nest. The team also painted the bleachers and goal posts Tonka Blue.
Last year's Sophomores (now Juniors) had had a great sophomore season under George Soukup beating Burnsville among other Lake powers after years of winning at the MAA level. Our fans remained loyal and they knew the quality of our past teams was not as bad as our cumulative 2-25 three year record.
Anchored by a defense that recorded three shut-outs and allowed a mere six points per game to the opposition, this team turned heads real quick in the football neighborhood. With a 5-4 won/loss record was the first winning record since 1981.
| 1986 |
Last year's turnaround season got even better this year. If it wasn't for a raft of injuries to top players, this edition of the Blue and White could have won more than six games (final record 6-4). It was a first year we won the Lake Blue Conference.
Last year a new tradition began with an annual bumper sticker-rallying cry/motto and this year's theme was appropriately "Power Mix for '86"! This fit this team to a tee as they were one of the strongest squads (in terms of the 300 weight club) in our history. The final game, against Wayzata, is remembered by all Tonka followers for the courage displayed by several injured Tonka warriors (a heartbreaking loss 14-19).
This season was only the 2nd time in our history we had entered the State playoffs and our boys were not about to sit it out! The team was very well-balanced with power on both offense and defense. The Skippers rushed for 1443 yards in 317 carries (for a 4.55 average gain) and threw 134 passes for 52 completions.
| 1987 |
The tough losses hurt the teams' confidence and we finished the year a disappointing 1-8. Coach Ginther stated if the players start preparing to get stronger and work on skills in the summer passing leagues, we can have a better record next season. A lot of excellent players gave their all this season.
| 1988 |
The injury curse hit us again this year but our guys finished very strong and put the conference on notice to not take the Blue & White for granted.
| 1989 |
Our team finished third in the conference and drew the toughest draw possible in the playoffs in Bloomington Jefferson. We lost 7-24 but tailback Mike Cohen was a yard into their end zone on our first drive of the game yet the referee said we did not score; they got the ball on the one-inch line and, with the air out of our sails, the Jaguars drove the length of the field. Old time Tonka observers have said it was the worst call they've ever seen in such a crucial contest - even Jefferson fans were baffled. Coach Ginther commented, "Football is such a team sport and you rely on everybody". He further commented, "we relied on everybody and they all did their jobs; this team was one of my most intelligent in the classroom as well".
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