Ridgefield ‘40s highlights include historic football team

RIDGEFIELD – In 2014, the Ridgefield Spudders won five more games than they did the year before when they went 0-9. The Spudders appear ready to continue that improvement during this season, which got underway Friday night.

While the Ridgefield High School football program appears to be entering a good period of time, it’s likely not going to compare to the Spudders’ teams in 1940 and 1941.

In 1940, the Ridgefield High School football team won its second straight Trico League championship, accomplishing something that few teams have ever done in the history of football at any level.

Not only did the 1940 Spudders not lose a single game, they also were never scored upon, while posting a perfect 9-0 record. Ridgefield received one forfeit and defeated its other eight opponents by the combined score of 220-0.

The next season, Ridgefield added a third-straight Trico League title and three players from that team still live in the area today.

Ed Claiborne, Ed Murray and Bennie Wray still live in the Ridgefield area and memories of those glory years of Ridgefield football are shared with friends and family to this day.

• Claiborne was a junior center on the 1941 team and he also played on the undefeated 1940 team that wasn't scored upon. A description of Claiborne after the historic season read, “performed like a veteran centering the ball back and played a great defensive game whenever he was playing.’’

• Murray joined the Spudders the next year as a sophomore and he also played on the line. “Playing his first season for Ridgefield, Ed did well holding up his side of the line,’’ read the description of Murray’s performance on the team.

• Wray was listed as a reserve on the 1941 team.

The 1940 team had nine returning lettermen, but the Spudders lost John Hinckle two weeks before the first game. Hinckle spent the entire season in the hospital battling a leg infection.

“The nineteen forty football team of R.H.S. achieved the highest goal which every team tries to accomplish,'' coach John Fadness wrote in a summary of the 1940 season. “It went through the season, unbeaten, untied and unscored upon, as well as winning the Trico football championship for the second consecutive year.''

An account of the season written by Kazuo Kato mentioned that the following players were named to the all-league team by the Clark County Sun: Wink Bottemiller, left end; Howard Hayden, right guard; Merlin Hawkins, right tackle; Jack Bratlie, quarterback; and Burton Johnston, fullback.  Bottemiller, Dale Read (left tackle), Hayden and Johnston were named to the all-league team selected by the coaches.

Kato’s account of the 1940 season also included the week-by-week scores:

• R.H.S. 7, Kalama 0

• R.H.S. 32, Parkrose 0

• R.H.S. 51, Mill Plain 0

• R.H.S. 33, La Center 0

• R.H.S. 1, Deaf School 0 (forfeit)

• R.H.S. 15, Battle Ground 0

• R.H.S. 21, Stevenson 0

• R.H.S. 27, Washougal 0

• R.H.S. 34, Woodland 0

“I enjoyed working with the boys very much,’’ coach Fadness wrote in his summary. “We worked hard but work was not regarded as work because we symbolized it as fun and enjoyment which it truly was. The squad was very cooperative. They always played as one unit and gave to their best ability.

“Much credit is also due to those who did not see action in the games, but were pushed around during scrimmage practices in developing such a successful team,’’ Fadness added.

Claiborne heads off to war

As the Ridgefield High School football team attempted to repeat as Trico League champions in 1941, another battle was taking place. War was raging in Europe.

The Spudders were attempting to win their third straight league title. The year before, the team had not only won every game, but no other team had scored against them. When the 1941 football season ended, the Spudders, under the coaching of John Fadness, were once again the Trico champs.

Three of the original players still live in the area: Ed Murray, Bennie Wray, and Ed Claiborne, who still resides on the Ridgefield farm with his wife Jeanette, where he raised beans, and where many young people in the area worked during the summer.

Ridgefield resident Shirley Bjur recently sat down with Claiborne in his living room with some of his family members. She wanted to hear about this winning team. However, she was also very interested in hearing about the bigger battle being fought. Just weeks after winning that third Trico championship, the bombing of Pearl Harbor had taken place.

“I asked Ed, ‘What was the reaction among his classmates and fellow players?’ Bjur said. “His reply – ‘Life went on.’ And it did as Ed headed to Washington State University in Pullman that next fall. He was there six months when he received news that his very close friend had been killed in action. Leaving school, he enlisted and was sent to Kansas, where he actually enrolled at the University of Kansas and became a member of the Jayhawks football team.

“His career there was short lived as he was sent to Chicago before being deployed overseas,’’ Bjur added. “On board ship, Ed had the dubious honor of ‘peeling spuds, which was pretty appropriate for a Spudder.’ Ed ended up in the Philippines stationed with General MacArthur. He tells how the men would hang out around MacArthur’s quarters in hopes of saluting ‘Dugout Doug’ when he would make an appearance.

Bjur asked Claiborne where he was and what was he doing when he heard the news of the war’s ending.

“Watching the proverbial wheels turn in Ed’s head, he said he was on base in the Philippines standing by a fence when he saw a lone Japanese plane flying over,’’ Bjur told The Reflector. “Shortly after, Commander William H. Hansen gathered the men around and said, ‘Fellows, the war’s over, and we’re going home.’

“As Ed began to share this part of his story, he, along with all of us in the room, began to tear up and it almost felt like a sacred moment,’’ Bjur said. “He told how everyone began celebrating the good news of the war’s end. Leaving the Philippines and as his ship approached San Francisco, he said, ‘Thousands of people were there to welcome us home. They were hanging all over the Golden Gate Bridge. I was so thrilled to get back to the U.S. – it was unreal.’

Bjur reported that Ed and other fellow soldiers were sent to Bremerton on a troop train, and Edgar Claiborne, Ed’s father and the Ridgefield postmaster, was able to catch the train at Ridgefield and rode as far as Winlock with his son.

Returning home to Ridgefield, Claiborne married Jeanette Jones, his wife of almost 70 years.

“Several of the men on that historic football team settled in the area and three of these men’s sons played on the Spudders’ 1965 Trico Championship team: John Hinckle’s son Bob; Walt Anderson’s son Steve; and Ed’s son Bruce,’’ Bjur reported. “Several of these men’s families are still in the area, where their grandchildren and great-grandchildren are attending Ridgefield schools at the present time. Currently, Ed’s daughter Bonnie Harris works for the Ridgefield School District and is involved in helping preserve some of the rich heritage of the Ridgefield area.’’