Skip to main content

1939 Football Team - League Champion

Name
1939 Football Team - League Champion
Class
1939
Category
HoF Team
Induction Year
2018

The 1939 football team earned high accolades by being voted the number one football team in the state of Washington by the Seattle Post Intelligencer and sports writer Harold Shaw. This mythical state title was awarded the Monday following Longview and Kelso’s Thanksgiving football contest won by Kelso 6-0. The Lumberjacks and Hilanders tied for the league championship with a six win, one loss record. These ratings with only three people barely over six feet tall, the Lumberjacks played with tenacity, hard work, and were based on a “strength” of schedule and percentage basis. At the time of this Seattle P.I. article gathered from the Longview Daily News of November 27, 1939, Longview’s season record stood at nine wins and one loss.   Kelso and Everett tied for second place with eight win, one loss records in this poll. Kelso had one final football game on Saturday, December 2, 1939. They tied Bellingham 12-12.  In League play Longview and Kelso were very close in scoring. Longview scored 168 points and allowed only 18. Kelso scored 164 and gave up 45. One of Longview’s highlights may have been their 38-6 victory over Vancouver high school, the third place team in league play.   Jerry Connell, Don Andrews and Red Franklin were selected all league performers. Ralph Smathers, Don Packard, Scott Wilt and Stan Grieb made 2nd team all league.

This football team had the first ever radio sports broadcast of a high school football game on October 4th 1939 when they played Chehalis at Chehalis.  Radio station KWLK had to get special permission from the Federal Communications Commission to be on the air for the night game and the Daily News staff did the commentating.  It was a real treat for the fans who were able to sit at home in their comfortable chair and enjoy listening to the play by play of the game.

Roster:

  • Roy Tidd
  • Jerry Connell
  • Ralph Smathers
  • Don Packard
  • Les Smith
  • Roland Wills
  • Val Quoidbach
  • Don Andrews
  • Scott Witt
  • Elmer Clark
  • Stan Grieb
  • Arthur Franklin
  • Walter Alter
  • Tim Ward
  • Bill McIntyre
  • Delbert Fischer
  • Don Belding
  • Howard Tucker
  • Leonard Cobb
  • Clyde Wakefield
  • Bobby Cass
  • Morrie Wright
  • Tommy Sale
  • Clyde Kalahan
  • Gale Gregg
  • Frank Donahue
  • Clarence Gauthier
  • Arnold Des Jardins 
  • Louis Le Mieux
  • Harold ‘Pop’ Keeney (Head Coach)