A Blast from the Past
Xavier's Rocky Bleier breezes past Pacelli
By TIM "SHOE" SULLIVAN
Special to The Gazette
"Catching Rocky Bleier was like trying to catch a tornado." (Jim Bourn, 1999).
Sept. 14, 1963, was a happy day in Stevens Point Pacelli football history. That particular Saturday was the last time the Cardinals would have to face Robert Patrick Bleier on the gridiron.
The Appleton Xavier Hawks of the Fox Valley Catholic Conference stormed into Goerke Field in Stevens Point on September 14, 1963, and the underdog Pacelli Cardinals had one goal in mind. All Pacelli, of the Central Wisconsin Catholic Conference, had to do was win its first game of the season while snapping Xavier's 23-game winning streak.
The Appleton powerhouse had not lost a football game in the four-year history of Xavier. Unfortunately, stopping Xavier also meant stopping Rocky Bleier.
Rocky Bleier's incredible story is well-known. The son of an Appleton bar owner, Bleier was an all-state high school running back in 1961, 1962, and 1963. Wearing uniform No. 23, way before Michael Jordan, Rocky scored 55 touchdowns in three years. He scored at least one touchdown in every game he played. He gained more than 1,000 yards in each of his last two seasons, averaging 12.4 yards per carry. The 5-foot-10, 177 lb. Bleier, who also was an all-conference defensive back and linebacker, usually was done for the day by halftime.
In his book "Fighting Back," Bleier brought up the temper of Xavier coach Gene "Torchy" Clark. He said: "In football, we never saw his true ire because we never lost a game. We had three 9-0 seasons and one state championship in my junior year which was decided by a poll of sportswriters and broadcasters around Wisconsin."
Bleier also played trumpet in the school band and averaged 12 points a game in basketball. Torchy Clark's Xavier hoops team finished third in the state during Bleier's sophomore year in 1961. In Rocky's junior year, Xavier went 25-0 and won the state title. In his senior year, Xavier was 24-0 but lost to Marinette Central Catholic in the state championship game.
Following his high school career, Bleier won a grant-in-aid to Notre Dame. As a running back under coach Ara Parseghian, Rocky played on a national championship team in 1966. He was the captain of Notre Dame in 1967.
Rocky was drafted twice in 1968. The NFL's Pittsburgh Steelers picked him in the 16th round in January ... and the U.S. Army called him in November. Bleier went from dodging linebackers at Purdue to carrying a grenade launcher in Vietnam. On August 20, 1969, Bleier's Company C third platoon of the 196th Light Infantry Brigade was involved in heavy fighting near Hiep Douc in the Que San Valley. Rocky's platoon was moving out on a dike between two rice paddies when the NVA (North Vietnamese Army) opened up with machine gun fire. Bleier was shot in his left thigh. He crawled about 200 yards to a position he thought was safe. Then a NVA grenade exploded directly at his feet. Hit first by a machine gun bullet and then by a grenade, it took Bleier six hours to crawl two miles to safety. The army described him as 40 percent disabled. Bleier immediately began rehabilitation and limped into the Steelers' training camp in July of 1970. Following several operations and a brutal training program, he accomplished the impossible. In 1974, Rocky was playing better than before.
He helped lead the Pittsburgh Steelers to a Super Bowl win in 1975. But before Notre Dame and Vietnam, Rocky Bleier was no stranger to the Pacelli Cardinal faithful. From 1961 through 1963, Bleier and Appleton Xavier hammered Pacelli 34-0, 39-0, and 40-0.
On Sept. 17, 1961, the 1-0 Appleton Xavier Hawks invaded Goerke Field in Stevens Point to take on the 0-1 Pacelli Cardinals in a non-conference game. Pacelli, with Dick Dargis as the head coach, was about to run into a buzzsaw.
The sunny afternoon turned ugly as soon as Xavier went on offense. Appleton halfback Pete Werner picked up 45 yards on two carries and Xavier's other halfback, Bob Bleier (Rocky), gained 13 on two tries. Bleier ran it in from the two and the rout was on. Leading 7-0, Xavier scored again in the first quarter when Bleier took a lateral from Werner and raced 20 yards down the left sideline to paydirt.
Eight Xavier carriers combined to gain 275 yards rushing as Appleton won 34-0. Werner romped for 116 yards on eleven carries while Bleier added 62 yards in eight carries. Ron Kutella gained 55 yards on 15 attempts for Pacelli.
The Cardinals almost dented the scoreboard twice. Late in the first half with the ball on Pacelli's 34, Cardinal halfback Bill Davis connected with end Mickey Berard on a long bomb which took the ball to Xavier's 16. Quarterback Bill Knoedler's next pass was intercepted by Bleier.
Pacelli just missed scoring in the fourth quarter. Kutella was wide open on a fly pattern, but Knoedler's long pass was inches out of reach.
Xavier was going for its 15th straight gridiron win in 1962 when Pacelli played the Hawks in Appleton. Under new head coach Nubbs Miller, the Cardinals had opened the season one week earlier with a tough loss against powerful La Crosse Aquinas. La Crosse was undefeated the year before.
Once again, Bleier set the tone. He intercepted Knoedler's pass on Pacelli's first possession and Xavier was in the end zone seven plays later. Fullback Tom Peeters took it in from the seven.
Quarterback Tom Wiesner's extra point attempt clanked off the upright to leave the score at 6-0.
Cardinal end Roger Stroik recalled: "We thought we were in good shape when they blew that extra point. We had them on the run."
Stroik's recollection was accurate. Pacelli played a tough first quarter. It ended at 6-0 and the Cardinals were constantly in scoring position. Pacelli's showing was a lot better than Xavier's first opponent, Escanaba Holy Name, which never got past midfield the whole game.
Xavier scored two touchdowns in the second quarter. Bob Rammer hauled in an eleven-yard pass from Wiesner for one tally and Peelers plunged in from the six. The Hawks led 19-0 at halftime.
Appleton came out roaring in the second half. Bleier's 3-yard dash gave Xavier a 25-0 lead, and Dick Boots raced 77 yards on a pass from Wiesner upping the score to 32-0. Bleier's 48-yard run in the fourth quarter set up Paul Putzer's eight-yard scamper making the numbers read 39-0.
Pacelli almost scored in its final drive of the game. Kutella ran for 13 yards and Knoedler added a 17-yard rollout. Knoedler's seven-yard pass to end Roger Stroik put Pacelli on Xavier's 3, but two plays proved unsuccessful and the time ran out.
For the record, Bleier gained 112 yards in nine carries while Peeters had 61 yards in eight attempts. Kutella's 46 yards in nine carries led the Cardinals.
So just how good was the Appleton Xavier football team in 1962?
Well, the Hawks beat Pacelli, 39-0 ... and the Cardinals went on to win the championship of the CWCC.
(See second part next week)