For the 1973 undefeated Milledgeville football team, the IHSA playoffs came one year too late, but their legacy will be honored with induction into the Northwest Illinois Sports Hall of Fame on October 17 in Savanna. The team will also be inducted into the Milledgeville HOF the night before.

“The hype over the playoffs overshadowed us,” said quarterback Norm Deets, who was instrumental in presenting Milledgeville’s case before the NWI committee. “We never got a chance to contend for a state title. This was a team with no weaknesses and one that was ahead of its time with the way we ran our offense.”

How dominant were the Missiles? Opponents only scored two touchdowns against them, while a potent offense averaged 35 points a game.

“The key to our offense being so good was that we could take risks because our defense could bail us out,” Deets said. “It was senior-dominated, while the offense had more juniors. We didn’t realize it, but those eight seniors pulled us along and are pillars of society today.”

Unlike today’s spread offenses, 1970s high school football was primarily run-oriented- the 3 yards and a cloud philopshopy of dust philosophy popularized by Ohio State coach Woody Hayes. Milledgeville was different.

“We were 50/50 on the run and pass,” said running back Bob Hawkins. “It was play-action every time. Norm would fake or hand off. On passes, we would send out three receivers, and he had innate ability to scan field. If it was not there, he would run and you have to remember, he was 6-foot-3 and very athletic. It kept defenses on their toes.”

One of Hawkins’ favorite plays on the wide-open offensive attack orchestrated by head coach Les Snow was a reverse, with Deets doing a 360-degree spin before handing off.

“I loved that play,” Hawkins said. “We never got anything less than 15-20 yards when we ran it.”

Hawkins, who was injured his junior year and didn’t play, joined top returning Gary Mosher and talented junior Jeff Baughman in a backfield that gave opponents fits with its receiving and running talents. Lining up in the Wing-T behind an outstanding line and a pair of ends that could block and catch, Milledgeville had a 262-0 scoring advantage after the first six weeks.

“The strength of the line was lots of tough country kids,” said center and DT Dwight Daub. “As a team, all of us benefited having great mentors as coaches. They made us play tough. That’s how it was in that era.”

Assistant coach Rick Malson had already instituted a weight-lifting program, which was years before its time. Malson, 90, still resides in Milledgeville.

“We were tough and athletic,” Daub said. “You normally don’t have that type of team in a small town.”

With a 22-man roster, the majority of the seniors played both ways. In the beginning, Deets described the team as dysfunctional.

“The seniors were smash-mouth,” Deets said. “The 14 juniors were a different mold, favoring speed and technique. With those two cultures, it took a while for us to come together. We were both committed to win and would figure it out later.”

That came in a Week 4 non-conference contest against Argyle, Wisconsin. The Missiles couldn’t run the ball. After conferring with his coach, Deets was given the green light to throw. The result was a 42-0 Milledgeville win on 6 TD passes.

“We discovered another dimension and got on a roll,” Deets said. “In an oddity, we ended up with 21 touchdowns running and 21 passing for the season. I had some freedoms to do what no other quarterback in Milledgeville history had. Our coaches were so progressive. The older I get, the better they were.”

The big game of the year was against Mt. Carroll, who beat the Missiles the year before. Fans completely circled the bowl around the home football field, with vehicles parked above that circle.

“If you didn’t take your car there the night before or in the morning, you wouldn’t find a spot,” Daub said.

Before a crowd of close to 3,000, the Hawks were able to slow down the vaunted Missile running game, but couldn’t stop the arm and legs of Deets. The Missiles racked up 235 yards rushing and 124 passing, building an 18-0 lead before Mt. Carroll scored the first touchdown of the year on Milledgeville.

“They thought they played a much tougher schedule than us and would beat us,” Hawkins said. “Adding to the rivalry was the fact that Coach Snow and Mt. Carroll coach Ed Knirlberger didn’t like each other.”

The team’s toughest test came in the finale at Riverdale from the old Illowa conference in frozen conditions. The Missiles wrapped up a 9-0 season, but only won 16-8 and were legitimately scored upon for the first time all year, as Deets phrased it.

In 1974, stars Deets and Baughman got the chance to compete in the first year of the playoffs, while Daub, Hawkins and the other seniors were left to wonder what if.

“If the ’73 team played the ’74 team, they would win 10 times out of 10. That’s how good they were,” Deets said.

The 1973 squad joins Snow’s other undefeated teams (1966 and 1968) as members of the NWIHOF. Snow, Malson, Deets, Baughman and Daub also are individual members. Milledgeville continued its gridiron prowess, going 63-10 over the next eight years and tasting what it was like to be in the playoffs.

“In high school, the expectation was that you would play football for Milledgeville,” said Daub, whose father, Floyd, was school superintendent and has the field named for him. “It became a tradition in the 60s and 70s and has carried on.”