By DIANE GASPER-O’BRIEN
Special to Hays Post
The city of Victoria in the coastal plains of Texas is home to a beautiful Catholic cathedral and tradition-rich football.
It’s hard to compare that Texas city with Victoria, Kan., whose “Cathedral of the Plains” actually was raised to the status of a minor basilica in 2014.
But when it comes to spinning tales of their town’s success in high school football, Victoria, Kan. (population 1,150) can definitely share bragging rights with cities as large as Victoria, Texas, a city of 65,000-plus just 50 miles from the Gulf of Mexico.
In fact, “our” Victoria – smack dab in the midst of land-locked rural Kansas – more represents the small town on which the book and movie “Friday Night Lights” were based than does the metro area of Victoria County, Texas.
That popular sports film was based on a true story from the 1980s. When the film was released in October 2004, Victoria High School (the Kansas version) was well on its way to winning its first eight-man state football title.
The Knights went on to claim three more state championships during the next 11 years and are currently enjoying a season that has taken them deep into the 2023 playoffs, cementing their legacy in Kansas eight-man football.
But ask anyone associated with the Knights in the 1980s, and they will tell you that the tradition of winning football state championships began long before the calendar turned over to 2000.
Victoria rode the momentum of its first state football title in 1981 – when it won the Class 2A, 11-man division – to two more championships in 1985 and ’88.
Several players and coaches from the teams of the ‘80s still live in the area and remain supporters of the Knights today. Some will take to the road to Dighton for Friday’s sectional game or tune in to the radio broadcast on KFIX Eagle Radio 96.9 FM.
Numerous players from the ’80s showed up for a reunion in their hometown last month to watch some outstanding high school football – and reminisce.
Members of those first three state championship teams were honored at halftime of the Friday night game, then gathered at one of the former players’ garage afterward. They were back together again Saturday night at the local VFW building for a supper and more storytelling.
Chris Windholz had the distinction of playing on a state championship team (1988) and serving as the head coach for the first eight-man title team (2004).
Some made the trip from all across Kansas – and even several other states – for the reunion. And Doug Moeckel, head coach of the 1985 and ’88 teams, came in from Topeka.
“We just felt so much support and didn’t want to let our school or our city down,” David Younger said of the Knight squads that followed the 1981 team.
Younger, who now lives in Windsor, Colo., was a fifth-grader that year and was a freshman on the 1985 title team before starting as a senior on the 1988 squad.
“I’ll always remember the camaraderie among us,” Younger said. “It was special.”
Rod Goetz (1981 team), who still lives in the Victoria area, agreed. He told how he and his classmates decided to trade partying for working out the summer before their senior season.
“We got a lot closer that summer, and I think it really made a difference in the fall,” he said. “After working out, we would go out to eat out together and all got along really well.”
Two players from that team even roomed together growing up.
Twin brothers Stan and Stuart Dome both stayed around Ellis County after graduation and still support the Knights.
Some players and coaches gave talks at the Saturday dinner. They and others in the crowd got emotional as they relived their glory days.
“You guys taught us the things that make us the men we are today,” Stan Dome told the coaches present.
Bob Leikam, who scouted opponents for the 1981 team and was a long-time teacher in Victoria, said the feeling of appreciation was mutual.
“People ask me what’s so special about Victoria,” Leikam said. “It’s hard to put into words, but it is special. I spent 33 years here, because I wanted our children to grow up with you kids. I’m thankful to have been a part of it.”
Each team had something different to talk about.
The 1981 team will always be remembered for a fake-punt play in the championship game that ultimately gave the Knights the momentum en route to upending previously unbeaten Frontenac to finish with a 12-1 mark.
The 1985 team started the season 2-4 before reeling off seven-straight wins – the last two by 8-6 scores, outlasting Centralia on a snowy field in the title game.
And the 1988 squad went undefeated to finish 13-0 (including four shutouts) while outscoring its opponents 394-107.
“It takes a lot of luck to win it all, but that’s not the main thing,” added Jerry Brungardt, an assistant coach for all three of the state championship teams in the ’80s. “It’s the character of people that floats the boat.”
An online description of the heart of Texas high school football is “a celebration of unity and community pride, where towns and cities come alive on game days, rallying behind their local teams. The fervor and passion surround each matchup of Texas high school football are unparalleled.”
Stan Dome, for one, would beg to differ on that last sentence.
“I remember back then, we often had a larger crowd for our away games than the home team,” he said. “It was something we’ll never forget.”
That senior season meant so much to the Dome brothers that they later had clocks made with a photo of them standing by the state championship trophy.
“That clock is still hanging, too,” Stan Dome said, “and it still keeps good time.”
Good times continued long after that special 1981 season. Several players from that first state title team had relatives later win state championships in either 11-man or eight-man.
One of those was Dave Kisner, whose younger brother, Jeff, was a member of the 1985 team. Jeff’s two sons also get to experience the joy of winning it all, too, during the Knights’ eight-man state championship runs.
“It was such a wonderful ride,” said Jeff’s wife, Janine, who also grew up in Victoria. “… great memories.”
The Knights of the 2020s hope to make more good memories.
If Victoria (8-1) beats Dighton (6-4) Friday night, it will advance to the sub-state championship round. Because of the east-west formula for the playoffs, the sub-state site won’t be determined until the conclusion of the Minneola-Coldwater sectional game. The state championship game is set for Nov. 25 in Newton.
Stay tuned. If all goes as planned, the Knights will be making a road trip on Thanksgiving weekend.