Winnipeg’s long junior football history

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This article was published 30/07/2018 (2939 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Winnipeg Rifles have been battling to keep high-level junior football alive in Winnipeg for more than 15 years.

The team’s 2018 season opener is scheduled for Aug. 18 at Maple Grove Park against the Edmonton Wildcats.

Junior football in the city can be traced back to the 1920s. Winnipeg teams had their greatest success from the mid-1950s until 1961. During this period the Rods captured our province’s only Canadian junior titles, winning three times.

In 1953 the Rods and the Winnipeg Weston Wildcats joined forces with the Saskatoon Hilltops and Regina Rams to form the Manitoba-Saskatchewan Junior League. The battles were epic among the four opponents. The Rods were known as the “Clenched Fisters” for their aggressive style of play.
The Rods first reached the Canadian final in 1954, losing to Windsor AKOs. The team’s initial title came on Nov. 19, 1955 at Winnipeg Stadium. The Rods hosted the defending champion AKOs, and triumphed 19-13.

Halfback Eugene Wlasiuk led the attack with two touchdowns and two converts. Barry McQueen ran 75 yards for the third TD. Cornell Piper, who later had a great career with the Blue Bombers, was a 60-minute-man on the line for the winners.

The Rods won again the next November in Toronto, beating the hometown Parkdale Lions 21-10. End Garfield Day caught two long passes from quarterback Charley Weekes for touchdowns. An interception by defensive half Dave Blanchard late in the final quarter set up the Rods clinching score by future Bomber Tony Kehrer.

Now calling St. James home, the Rods won Manitoba’s last junior title in 1961 by beating Montreal Rosemount Bombers 16-13 in the first-ever Shrine Little Grey Cup game in Calgary. Rods got touchdowns from John Davidson and from Gary Robson on a 56-yard pass-and-run play with QB Gord Irwin. Robson added a convert and Brian Lunney punted for two singles.  

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According to Football Manitoba Hall of Fame chairman Bud Ulrich, the shrine is taking its annual induction ceremony to another level this year. Instead of a luncheon, a dinner to honour the 2018 induction class of eight individuals and two teams will be held at the Viscount Gort Hotel on Sept. 20. Ulrich, who is an inducted official in the HOF, said that tickets can be ordered online for $100 through Eventbrite or by contacting him at 204-792-7740.  

CFL commissioner Randy Ambrosie and former NFLer Israel Idonije, both former members of the University of Manitoba Bisons, will be inducted along with Gary Rosolowich, who played for the Bombers and coached in Hawaii.

Local coaches Rick Hudson and Paul Normandeau will be recognized for their lengthy contributions to amateur football as will Swan River coach Richard Wowchuk, the current MLA for the area. Longtime CFL official Ken Lazaruk also will be inducted.

Entering as teams will be the 1956 provincial high school champion Daniel McIntyre Maroons and the 1968-69 national senior champion St. Vital Bulldogs.

Bob Toth, who died in October 2017, will be inducted posthumously. Toth, a running back for Kelvin High School and the Weston Wildcats, was noted for his speed. He once sprinted against a race horse at Osborne Stadium.

Memories of Sport appears every second week in the Canstar Community News weeklies. Kent Morgan can be contacted at 204-489-6641 or email: sportsmemories@canstarnews.com