Manitowoc Lincoln is celebrating homecoming this week, and during Saturday’s football game, the school will be honoring the 1985 state championship team.
The ’85 team went unbeaten and knocked off Menomonee Falls 17-0 in the championship game.
This was in the middle of an at the time record 48 game win streak stretching from 1983 to 1987.
Damon Ryan was the play-by-play announcer for those seasons on WOMT Radio, and he recalled watching the Ships take home their second of three consecutive state championships in 1984, ’85, and ‘86.
“Menomonee Falls was a really stout opponent,” he recalled. “But the ships were able to impose their will as the game went on.”
While the product on the field was tremendous, Damon was even more impressed by the character of the players and the coaches on the sideline.
“Of course, led by Hall of Fame head coach Ron Rubik. They had guys like Don Davey, who went on to Wisconsin and was the first NCAA Academic All-American before being drafted by the Packers,” Ryan noted. “Eric Olson, who went into the Air Force. Jeff Miller was part of all three state championships. (He) went on to play at the University of Wisconsin as a center.”
One of the biggest lessons taught by Coach Rubick was that of humility, best exemplified by how he approached each season.
“We’d always have a pre-season meeting at Coach Rubick’s house,” the local radio legend explained. “We’d ask him for a prediction and he’d say, ‘Oh, maybe upper middle or lower middle’ or something like that. He never put too much pressure on before the season, but lo and behold, he had a very good team.”
Damon Ryan was also honored for his decades of calling football and basketball for the Ships, as he was inducted into the Lincoln Wall of Fame in 2018.
Members of the 1985 team will be honored during the Shipbuilder’s game against Green Bay East at the field named in honor of their late coach.
Coverage of the game will be on 980 WCUB and CubRadio.com starting at 1:00 p.m.
