More Gophers
Three more Bluejays played at the ‘U’; plus there was a Longhorn
I had a few responses to last week’s newsletters regarding Jackson County Central’s Ronan Voss committing to play football at the University of Minnesota and an ensuing piece about some other athletes who played their high school football in Jackson.
Thanks for that. It’s always appreciated.
Voss committing to the ‘U’ was big news statewide and beyond.
My son, Brett, along with his wife, Whitney and their children Lainey and Aiven, attended a wedding reception in the Twin Cities this weekend. Several attendees who knew they were from Jackson County had questions to ask about Roman and said that they were excited to have him stay at home.
It’s been a bit of a running gag since Roman announced that Minnesota and Alabama were his final two choices that it can’t have happened very often that those schools were the finalists for any player.
Well, it has happened at least once before. And it was also an athlete who played his home high school football games at the field along Springfield Parkway and Dewey Street in Jackson.
Rick Vacura, a 1970 JHS graduate, made visits to the campuses of the Gophers and Crimson Tide.
He also visited Colorado and Notre Dame.
And after all that, he signed with Texas.
The previous season, the Longhorns had been declared consensus national champions.
Texas edged Arkansas 15–14 in the "Game of the Century”. That game was watched by an estimated 50 million viewers on ABC television, and President Richard Nixon was in attendance to present a plaque to Longhorns' coach Darrell Royal as national champions.
The national championship was finalized on New Year’s Day when top-ranked Texas beat No. 9 Notre Dame 21-17 in the Cotton Bowl.
A few weeks later, Texas coach Darrell Royal flew into Jackson to sign Vacura to his letter of intent.
Vacura was a two-time all-Southwest Conference player at Jackson and was named all-state as a senior. The Bluejays won the conference title that year. That was three years before Minnesota began a state high school football playoff format.
Vacura played two seasons with the Longhorns before a knee injury sidelined him.
Other players from that JHS team that played college football include Charlie Clarksean (South Dakota State), Steve Peterson (North Dakota State) and Brent Chozen (Augustana).
Sensational 60’s
Vacura was a standout on Bluejay team that wrapped up a remarkable decade for Jackson, which was a football power recognized statewide during the decade of the 1960’s.
The Bluejays had a stretch where they scheduled games with schools with considerably larger enrollments from the Big Nine Conference, Albert Lea and Owatonna that drew statewide interest.
Here’s a year-by-year account for the Bluejays in that decade. Listed are year, record and conference titles where applicable.
1960: 5-2-1
1961: 6-1, Southwest Conference champions
1962: 6-2, Southwest Conference champions
1963: 4-5
1964: 7-0-1, Southwest Conference champions
1965: 8-0, Southwest Conference champions
1966: 6-3, Southwest Conference champions
1967: 5-4
1968: 8-1, Southwest Conference champions
1969: 7-1-1, Southwest Conference champions
Totals: 62-19-3 (.756), 7 Southwest Conference champions
Vacura family
Rick came from a lengthy line of Vacuras that played for the Bluejays.
Listed are name, position and years played for JHS:
Rudolph Vacura, guard-tackle, 1924-25
Harold Vacura, right tackle, 1927-28
Cyril Vacura, halfback, 1928-29
Gordon Vacura, left end, 1934-35
Walt Vacura, tackle, 1942-43
Godfrey Vacura, tackle, 1942-44
Ken Vacura, guard, 1949-51
Jim Vacura, halfback, 1953-55
Jerry Vacura, halfback, 1965-67
Rick Vacura, halfback, 1966-69
Jerrod Vacura, lineman, 1987-89
Other Gophers
Thanks to Paul Meium and Dean Walters, who passed along the names of Bluejays who went on to become a Gopher. We’ll pass along a bit of their stories here.
John Lee played two seasons as a fullback and linebacker on JHS teams that didn’t lose a game as the Bluejays were 7-0-1 in 1964 and 8-0 in 1965. The 1965 team only allowed 26 points in eight games, recording six shutouts.
Lee went on to the University of Minnesota where he joined former Bluejay teammate Dennis Hale, who graduated from Jackson a year before.
According to a history of JHS football compiled by Tyrone Wacker, Lee is considered by many as the best defensive player to ever play at JHS.
He played one year as a linebacker at Minnesota.
Less than a decade later, two more Bluejays made their way to the ‘U’.
Scott Bargfrede and Rick Ailts played on Jackson’s 1973 JHS team that won the Southwest Conference title after a three-year drought for the Bluejays. Both were named to various all-state teams and both wound up with the Gophers.
Bargfrede wore No. 29 for the Gophers and played strong safety.
Rick Ailts doesn’t show up on Minnesota’s all-time roster, but there is a Brad Ailts who wore No. 26 in 1974, which fits the time frame, so that could be a misprint.
Track and field standout
Rick was also an outstanding track and field athlete at Jackson.
He was the lone Bluejay to qualify for the state meet as a senior in 1974. There were three classes at the time, AA, A and B. Jackson competed in Class A.
Ailts competed in three events and was first in each. That allowed Jackson to place third as a team, trailing only Crookston and Elk River.
He won the discus (167-2), shot put (55-3) and long jump (22- ½).
And before you ask, I did check on where that would have placed him in this year’s state Class 1A meet, where Jackson County Central competed.
Ailts would have placed second in discus and third in both shot put and long jump.
In Rick’s junior season in 1973 he was first in discus and second in shot put behind an athlete from Eden Prairie, which was in the middle of the three classes for enrollment at the time.
We’ll have to write more about his track prowess sometime, although it might wait until next track season.
Among other JHS graduates that went on to college football was Larry Armstrong. Larry graduated from JHS in 1969 and went to South Dakota State.