By all accounts, 1968 was one hell of a year for the world, the nation and South Whidbey.
The year began with a perceived defeat by U.S. armed forces in Vietnam — the Tet offensive — and ended with the election of Richard Milhous Nixon. As the year progressed, war protesters clashed with police at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago and two national leaders, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert Kennedy, were assassinated.
In 1968, the Beatles released their “White Album,” Tom Wolfe’s “The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test” was published, “Oliver!” won the Oscar for “Best Picture” and CBS debuted a new television show called “60 Minutes.”
In sports, the Green Bay Packers won Super Bowl II and the underdog Detroit Tigers took seven games to beat the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series.
On South Whidbey, sports fans were closely watching their own underdog, the 1968 Langley High School Falcons, a football team picked by the experts to place, at best, fourth in the league that year.
“Expectations were low because we’d lost a number of seniors to graduation,” said Tom Kramer, Falcon offensive tailback and, for the past 36 years, history teacher and tennis coach.
“But Coach (Jim) Leierer had simplified the plays so everyone knew exactly what was expected of them,” he said. “And we were able to execute those plays pretty well.”
Indeed they were. Langley outscored its opponents 254 to 31, including four shutouts, ended the year undefeated at 9-0.
The team was voted second best in the state behind Toledo by the Associated Press. But the Falcons never got a chance to play for a state title.
“We would have beaten Toledo, too, but there were no playoffs for high school football until 1972,” Kramer said.
At 5 p.m. Friday, Oct. 16 — before the Falcon’s 7 p.m. homecoming game against Granite Falls — the 1968 team will enter the South Whidbey Falcon’s Walk of Fame during an awards banquet and will be recognized with the placement of a team photo and plaque. Everyone who was on the team is invited to bring pictures, newspaper clippings and their remembrances of things past.
The first full team to be inducted, they’ll join previous inductees Leierer, cross country’s Carl Westling and volleyball’s Mike Parnell.
Kramer recalled that by mid-season, his teammates had finally come to believe they were something special, a belief that gained strength after a 47-0 win at Stanwood.
“They had some great players, but that night we could do nothing wrong, stopped them cold and held them scoreless,” Kramer said. “People started to take us seriously after that.”
Coach Leierer said that every team he ever coached had the right attitude before they ever walked on the field.
“All week long, we won the game mentally, concentrating on running the plays as they should be,” he said.
Leierer was a lifetime multiple-sport coach for Langley and South Whidbey high schools from 1953 until he “retired” in 1988. The day of his Record interview, he was headed to football practice to offer his counsel and advice to the latest crop of football players.
He has never missed a Falcon home football game. Never.
“We had good leadership that year, kids that didn’t want to lose,” Leierer recalled. “If they got knocked down, they just got back up and that’s how we won.”
“It was a fun team because no one thought we could do it; no one had faith in us. Heck, we could have beaten the University of Washington that year,” he added.
He said that after shutting out Meridian, he contacted the state’s athletic association to see if there was any way to challenge Toledo for the state title.
“Is there any way we can get a game with these guys?” Leierer asked. “Didn’t happen, but it was situations like this that got them to change the rules after a few years.”
Offensive tackle Mick Heggenes said that, after the loss of core players in key positions the previous June, the team ended up with a lot of untested fellows who stepped up to be counted.
“We didn’t really have any superstars on the team, just a bunch of scrappy guys that the coach fashioned into a real machine” he said. “Our quarterback, Jim Lehman, wasn’t real fast but he was great at hiding the ball and he threw well. He was a real surprise. Especially to the other team’s defensive lines.”
Falcon quarterback Lehman remembers the cigar smoke drifting across the high school field and, at each home game, more and more fans showed up on the sidelines to cheer them on.
“As individuals, we weren’t that good, but as a team, we were great,” he said.
Lehman added that he was proud of his ability to fake people out, getting through the line into the flats and throwing the ball.
“There’s an art to that,” he said.
Not that Langley didn’t face a few superstars. Heggenes said Meridian did have a strong, fast fullback who was helping keep the Warriors undefeated.
“But, on that night, he only got a few yards on us,” Heggenes said.
Part of the 1968 miracle revolved around Coach Leierer’s “110 Percent Club.”
Dean Hatt was a wide receiver and defensive back on the ‘68 team.
“We were all members of the club,” Hatt said. “The coach expected us to give our whole heart, then go beyond. If you hit somebody, you had to get up and find someone else to hit until the whistle blew.”
Hatt credited the coach and the unique circumstances that brought him and his teammates together.
“Our backgrounds, personalities, talents and level of dedication just clicked that year,” he said. “Everyone did their job.”
When all is said and done, 1968 was a helluva year for South End football fans.
“It was special, something never to be forgotten. I know I haven’t,” Kramer said.
1968: The Falcon’s undefeated season
Langley 13, Concrete 0
Langley 13, Granite Falls 6
Langley 28, Mount Baker 6
Langley 34, Lynden 6
Langley 13, Sultan 6
Langley 47, Stanwood 0
Langley 33, Monroe 7
Langley 40, Tolt 0
Langley 33, Meridian 0
Booster Club dinner
The South Whidbey Athletic Boosters will hold a special dinner from 5 to 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 16 — before the Falcon’s homecoming game against Granite Falls — honoring all of this year’s Walk of Fame inductees. Hamburgers, baked beans, dessert and a drink is $5 for everyone. For details, call Ursula Shoudy at 321-7319.
Jeff VanDerford can be reached at 221-5300 or sports@southwhidbeyrecord.com.
