Express History: The last Villisca win

It's been nearly 17 years since Villisca last beat Stanton in football.

We mentioned in Tuesday's print edition of the Red Oak Express that the last win Villisca had over Stanton in football was 1995.

The Blue Jays won over Stanton in the final week of the season, 25-8, on Oct. 27. Villisca's win was part of an area recap written in the Halloween edition of the Red Oak Express by former sports editor Vern Olson.

Olson had also written recaps for Griswold's win over St. Albert and Nishna Valley's win against Essex.

Villisca's win over Stanton in '95 marked the end of their best season (6-3 overall, 4-1 district) since '91. In '91, Villisca had also beaten Stanton.

Carl Johnson, who still teaches part-time at Villisca, was coach for the Blue Jays.

Villisca was able to dominate the Vikings on the ground, rushing for 300 yards. Adam Fast, who was moved to fullback for the game, led the Blue Jays with 176 yards rushing.

It was the Blue Jays that jumped out to an early 18-0 lead. Stanton responded with their lone score of the game in the fourth quarter on a pass-lateral play, according to Olson's article.

Villisca's 4-1 record in the district was not enough to advance them to them to the playoffs as Bedford finished 5-0. Earlier in the month, Bedford beat Villisca, 26-13.

Former Stanton Head Coach Don Hicks said following the game Villisca's control of the line of scrimmage made the difference in the game.

"I can't believe Villisca lost three games. They were the toughest team we played all year. We did as well as we could," Hicks said in the article.

Other games

Essex and Griswold also picked up wins that night. Essex defeated Nishna Valley , 26-17. The Trojans finished 5-0 in their district, setting up a first round game against Bedford Nov. 1. The Bulldogs won the game 51-0.

Griswold came from behind in their game against St. Albert and won 27-21. The Tigers trailed 21-13 in the fourth quarter when Nick Turner had a 23-yard touchdown run and tied the game on the PAT.

Jedd Taylor, who had 118 yards rushing for the game, scored the final touchdown on a six-yard run. Griswold finished 4-3 in the district, tying them with Tri-Center.

Red Oak football had also played Oct. 27 as they lost to Denison, 41-7. Denison rushed the ball for 424 yards as the Tigers finished the district season with a 1-6 record.

Of course, volleyball was the talk of Red Oak as the girls volleyball team was making their run to the state tournament. The first page of sports focused on Red Oak's regional final match against Adel-DeSoto-Minburn. We'll write about that state title run another time.

The Halloween edition also featured photos of the costume contest winners. In news, the top story was about the Gary Lee Walker verdict and there was also a preview about the upcoming city elections.

Definitely an interesting read for the Halloween edition!