CCHS finished undefeated season 64 years ago

On November 14, 1953, CCHS football won the Eastern Montana C Football Championship, completing the team's only undefeated season. That year, there was no six-man state championship. The game was played in Ekalaka, as was the divisional championship played the week before against Sacred Heart, which CCHS won 56 to 6.

According to local historian Ernest Tooke, the day was warm, somewhere around 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Multiple players from that team also went on to play college ball. The full story from the November 20, 1953 issue of the Ekalaka Eagle can be found below.

Bulldog Outfox Honkers To Cop Championship Here November 14

Both sides played hard and with dynamite when the Bulldogs met Medicine Lake on the Ekalaka field, Saturday, November 14 to win the Eastern Montana C football championship 51 to 36.

It became apparent that the game was for keeps on the part of both teams, when Lake fumbled on the first play and the Bulldogs recovered the ball. The Lakers held for the downs and then kicked upon receiving the ball. The Bulldogs ran the kick all the way back for a touchdown.

A crowd estimated 200 persons were on hand to root for Medicine Lake, and fully as many supported the Bulldogs while partisanship added to the show on the sidelines.

Medicine Lake had a hard-slugging team, capable of exploding at the slightest break, while the bulldogs seemed to have an edge on precise timing, speed, and coordinated effort. This coordination saw Bob Lasater in scoring position most often, while Tom McCamish lead in a defensive which did credit the entire team. Bob Lasater snipped off 7 touchdowns, ran over one extra point and kicked two to account for 45 points. H. McCamish made the other TD. More than once, T. McCamish was deciding factor in breaking up a Laker charge toward the goal. Medicine Lake used substitutions freely, a tactic which the Bulldogs could not afford. They did not have the reserve strength necessary, so that the starting lineup, H. McCamish, Lasater, Pod Wash, Rich Malmquist, Ellis Williams and T. McCamish perforce staged an "iron man" performance.

The Bulldogs recovered at least three fumbles, which were in the nature of lucky breaks, but along the breaks route, things generally were about even, with the Bulldogs having some poor luck at various times.

One fumble almost on the Bulldogs' own goal line was a run back for an Ekalaka touchdown. Lakers first score came in the first quarter on a long pass from Barness to Stevens.

Outstanding game for the Lakers was Johnson's exhibition of versatility. He started at the center, and before the game ended had filled in at every position on the team. In the final minutes of the game, he still had enough soup left to spring a sensational run which nearly connected for a TD.

Officials were Harry Vinson, Glenn Crone and Carl Horn from Miles City. They did an admirable job of keeping the game under control.

The score by quarters:

Bulldogs ................12 37 37 51

Med. Lake ................6 18 30 36