MONROE — The Monroe Cheesemakers are playing their final season of football at T.R. Holyoke Field. Next year, they will play their home games at a brand new facility, Badger State Ethanol Stadium, next to the new high school. Prior to 1964, the Cheesemakers played their home games at Recreation Park with the football field positioned across the outfield, according to Dave Deininger, who was a senior on the Monroe football team in 1964.
Monroe opened the 1964 season with a nonconference win on the road against Beloit Catholic, 14-7. A week later, the Cheesemakers played their Badger Conference opener against Stoughton at T.R. Holyoke Field, at that time, a state-of-the-art facility.
“It was a beautiful field and track,” recalled Deininger.
Under head coach Gary Ruge, who was in his first year coaching the Cheesemakers, Monroe went 4-3 and finished in second place in the Badger Conference. Deininger remembered the start of the football season was a pleasant surprise.
“Basketball was king back then. But we had a lot of good athletes in a lot of sports,” said Deininger.
Monroe had not had many winning seasons on the gridiron prior to playing at T.R. Holyoke Field. But, 1964 was different. The Cheesemakers routed Stoughton 46-7 in that first game at the new stadium. They followed that up with a 12-6 win over Jefferson. Monroe fell in Week 4 to Sun Prairie 13-7 but rebounded with a 26-7 win against Middleton in Week 5 to secure a winning season. The Cheesemakers lost to Fort Atkinson 6-0 and were shut out in the final game of the season by Monona Grove, 18-0.
“I’d say the Stoughton game was a highlight because Stoughton was so good for so long,” Deininger said.
The Cheesemakers were led by quarterback Dan Franklin and co-captains Jim Martin and Gary Blackbourn. Keith Burington was All-Area and named First Team All-Conference on defense and Second Team All-Conference on offense. Bob Bucholz and Jim Dearth were other key contributors. Deininger was a 155-pound center on that 1964 Monroe team.
“Obviously, there were a lot of big guys lined up across from me,” said Deininger. “I couldn’t move them, but I could keep them from getting into the backfield.”
In those days, Wisconsin did not have football playoffs. Teams celebrated conference championships and the seasons always began in September and ended in October. Football playoffs weren’t played in Wisconsin until 1976. Wisconsin did have post-seasons for boys basketball and the Monroe High School Class of 1965 played a big role in the Cheesemakers winning the one-division 1965 state basketball championship.
After graduating from high school, Deininger enrolled in the Naval Academy before entering law school. He was a practicing attorney in Monroe from 1986 to 1994 and served three-and-a-half terms in the Wisconsin State Assembly. Deininger was elected Circuit Court Judge where he served from 1994 to 1996. Deininger then served on the Court of Appeals from 1997 to 2010.
