Kudos to Zac Hereth for his wonderful front-page story about the 1920 Everett High School national champion football team (“They were the kings of prep football 100 years ago,” The Herald, Jan. 1). This was a glorious achievement and Hereth captured the moment so well. And, as he observed, the national title was the culmination of an Enoch Bagshaw coaching era that brought a frequently divided community together.
Bagshaw set the stage for a marvelous century of Everett High School football. Under future coaches such as Jay Kempkes, Jim Ennis and Dick Abrams, Everett claimed several state championships. In his 2015 book “All the Way to No. 1: The Story of the Greatest High School National Championship Teams of the 20th Century,” Tim Hudak, an acknowledged expert on the history of high school football history, ranks Everett High as the the 20th century’s sixth best high school for football and the best west of the Mississippi River. Quite an honor!
Also, the the Seagull name for Everett High School football teams can be traced to the Bagshaw era. In the final four games of the 1920 season (including the Jan. 1, 1921 finale), Everett fans shrieked whenever a seagull soared over the field. The graceful bird was identified as an “Emblem of Victory.” It took a few years but by the end of the 1920s, all Everett High teams were known as the Seagulls.
Many more stories abound. But for now, Hats off to Enoch Bagshaw and Everett High School football – and to Zac Hereth for telling the tale.
Larry O’Donnell
Everett High School Class of 1955
Everett
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