School: Hulett
Nickname: Red Devils
Colors: red and black
Stadium: Red Devil Stadium
State championships: None
Times worth remembering: Hulett was a true statewide power for two separate spans. From 1957-61, the Red Devils went 29-6 and reached the playoffs twice; from 1992-96, the Red Devils played in the state championship game four times in five years.
Times worth forgetting: Hulett’s stretch from 1972-78 was not only the worst in school history, it might be the worst in state history. In those seven seasons, Hulett went 1-56. Yes, you read that right — one win in 57 attempts. The Red Devils’ only victory in that span was a 3-0 triumph over Sundance on Oct. 11, 1974; Hulett only broke into double digits on the scoreboard eight times in those 57 games and was shut out 21 times. Then, after a brief respite with a 3-5 season in 1979, the 1980 squad went 0-7, the 1981 squad played mostly a JV schedule and the 1982 season was canceled due to a lack of players.
Best team: It’s a toss-up: The 1961 squad was Hulett’s only undefeated team and would have been in line for a state championship, except the 8-man playoff system had been abandoned the year before. The 1961 team won its six games by an average of 46-9. Conversely, the 1994 Hulett team went 8-1, winning one game by forfeit, but lost the 9-man title game to Burlington thanks to a spate of turnovers. In the seven games leading up to the championship, the Red Devils won by an average of 40-3. I’ll give the nod to the ’94 team led by hard-running fullback Alan Ista. (I might be partial to that team because I saw it play; I was the ball boy for Hulett’s 44-0 beat down of Midwest).
Biggest win: The 1992 Red Devils weren’t expected to do much, reaching the playoffs with a lackluster 4-4 record and a second-place finish in the three-team East. For the semifinals, Hulett had to hit the road to play Dubois, which was 6-2 and West Conference champions. But somehow, some way, the Red Devils beat the Rams 23-21 to advance to their first championship game in 32 years. Although Hulett lost the title game to Burlington the next week, the win helped set the stage for most of Hulett’s success throughout the mid-1990s.
Heartbreaker: The Red Devils of 1959 were coming off a playoff appearance and were just about hitting their prime. But Moorcroft rudely interrupted Hulett’s plans for sustained success — twice. Moorcroft beat Hulett 18-7 in the first game between the two teams that season; Hulett later avenged the defeat 13-0 in the second game of the round-robin conference schedule. The split regular season led to a playoff game for the championship, as was the style at the time; Moorcroft won that game 6-0 in Sundance. Moorcroft advanced to the championship game, losing to Big Piney 15-12, while Hulett had to wait a year before reaching its first state championship game.