Fifty odd years ago there was no ESPN around to telecast early-season football clashes between high school powerhouses. Most are simply lost memories. One game that author John Decant is convinced deserves better was a showdown he calls the greatest in Nebraska high school football history. The biggest name in this contest belonged to halfback Gale Sayers of Omaha Central, who eventually was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Sayers had scored 70 points in his team’s first four games, but defending state champion Creighton Prep held Sayers in check in a defensive battle that resulted in a scoreless tie. Both teams won their remaining games and wound up sharing the state title. A crowd of 15,000 witnessed the game in Omaha’s now-demolished Municipal (later) Rosenblatt Stadium, but thanks to Dechant’s detailed account, the game, including its buildup and aftermath, will enjoy a permanent place in schoolboy football lore.
Here’s an excerpt from Scoreless:
“The following morning, at his parents; house in Council Bluffs, Creighton Prep punter John Bjelland got out of bed and walked into the kitchen. His parents were waiting there with the morning edition of the Omaha World-Herald. They told him a surprise awaited him. Bjelland sat down and read Don Lee’s headline: '14,500 SEE CENTRAL, PREP BOTCH LONE TOUCHDOWN CHANCES, BATTLE TO 0-0 TIE.’ Then he read the recap of the game in its entirety.…
“When he finished, Bjelland looked up at his parents.
“ ‘That’s great. But what’s the surprise?’
“Then Bjelland took a second look at the article. Directly above the headline on the front page of the sports section was a large Maurice Shadle photograph. It captured Bjelland’s shoestring tackle of Ardell Gunn on the infield dirt at Municipal Stadium. In no small way, the tackle, as had so many other plays during the game, preserved the 0-0 tie. A photograph with such billing had the potential to make Bjelland, just a sophomore, a celebrity among his peers, at least for a week. He was pleased.”
